💌:SEO, Zoom, & John Deere

👋 Hello everyone, and happy Sunday! Welcome to the latest edition of Forgematic! This week we have lots of interesting SEO stuff, the ultimate guide to Zoom and video presentations, and some cool TikTok write-ups.

I hope you enjoy, and let me know what you think!

🔎 SEO

• If you do SEO, here’s a good tip on adding FAQ schema to your top of funnel pages that points to your bottom of funnel aka money pages.
• In more SEO interestingness, here is a DOPE breakdown from backlinko that visualizes what happens if you don’t rank on the first page of search results. Even when you do reach the first page, what happens when you don’t have the top spot? Not super shocking, but if you don’t have the top three or four positions, then you have work to do.
• For anyone of you that has had to deal with Google Tag Manager and any sort of consent tracking tools, you know it’s a hot mess (I’m speaking from experience). Looks like Google is going to be adding native consent features to Tag Manager. This way you can tell each tag to only fire under certain circumstances.

🤳 Social

• Here’s a sentence you probably didn’t expect to read: John Deere is crushing it on TikTok and other social media. Here’s how they’re doing it.
• Twitter is planning to expand the default “like” action to a set of reaction emoji, and they’ve started testing it with some users now. Check it out.
• This morning brew article on the shifting demographics of TikTok is interesting. It’s not just for Gen Z anymore as “Women in their thirties love TikTok, and brands are taking notice.” You know we couldn’t make it through one week without a TikTok story.
• Well, here’s another one! The New York Times has a great profile of a rising TikTok star that has popped up in everyone’s feed’s recently. How Khaby Lame Took Over TikTok.  I actually learned a lot about Italy from this as a bonus.
• Twitter threads are the way to go if you want to grow an audience. Writing a good one should take hours. Here is a good recap of some Thread principles as well as general twitter tips for growth from user @RamilJohn

🎨 Design & Presentations

• Oli Gardner, co-founder of Unbounce, has a new startup focused on how to give effective presentations. They put together The Ultimate Guide to Giving Virtual Presentations on Zoom. This is one of the few times I’ve seen something titled “Ultimate” and it lived up to it. Check it out if you’re interested in leveling up your Zoom game!
• HubSpot has a great article on visual hierarchy. This is great because even if you aren’t a web designer, you can get some design tips and understand what makes people act on the internet.

✍️ Content

• Here’s an excellent breakdown of the dos and don’ts of writing an article introduction that emotionally hooks your reader: 14 Blog Intros That Emotionally Hook Readers And Reduce Bounce Rate
• This guide on Hero images from Hubspot is great. Check it out for inspiration for your next home page / product page / blog post design.

📚 Interesting Reads

• Last week’s edition included an article about influencer burnout. Here’s another banger via Harper’s Magazine about that very same topic: The Anxiety of Influencers. This is a long read, and gives great insight into the perils of being an always-on TikTok star. Are we harming ourselves to be entertained and to chase clout? All signs point to yes.

That’s all for this week. I’m super grateful to you for reading! Reply and let me know if you liked any of these stories or links — I respond to everyone!

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• Share this newsletter either by forwarding to someone or sharing the website to your network
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Thank you again and see you next Sunday 💌

Forge