External links – what are they and what are they for?

Posted on November 28, 2023November 28, 2023 by gigaadmin

External links – what are they and what are they for?

We tell you why external links are needed, what they are, and how not to harm your site with link promotion.
One of the effective ways to promote a website is the use of external links; they affect the ranking of the resource and its authority. They can raise it to the TOP 10, and if used incorrectly, force search robots to ignore the resource. To prevent this from happening, you need to understand how link promotion works.

What are external links

An external link is a path to a page on one site located on a page on another site.

In an ideal situation, this is a recommendation for the user to go to another page with useful content. The more recommendations, the more people come, and the higher the search engine ranks the site, because it considers it to be of high quality and reliable.

In reality, in order to increase the link mass, webmasters buy backlinks, which are needed only to transfer weight, and traffic from them is rather an additional bonus. Search engines struggle with such methods of promotion, so simply placing as many backlinks as possible to raise it in the search results will not work.

First, let’s understand the terminology.

External links can be incoming or outgoing:

Incoming (reverse) or backlinks (backlink) – links that lead to your site from other resources;
Outgoing ones are those that lead to other resources from you.

Within a site, links can also be incoming and outgoing, but relative to a specific page.

Link mass or link profile is a collection of indexed links that lead from other sites to yours.

Donor site or donor domain is a resource on which a link to another site is installed.

The acceptor site or acceptor domain is the resource to which the link leads.

In this article we will use the term “external links” to mean external incoming links.

How links help with SEO

Promotion with backlinks is one of the aspects of external optimization , that is, actions outside the site.

Growth of positions in search results

For search algorithms, backlinks are one of the parameters for evaluating a site, but only if they are posted on trust resources that are similar in topic. The better the link profile, the higher the site ranks in search results. In the case of low-quality donor domains, the opposite effect may occur.

Attracting traffic

Backlinks can generate traffic if they are placed on resources with a live audience.

Transitions alone are not enough – it is important that users follow the link and stay, view and interact with the content, and go to other pages. If they leave quickly, this will increase the site’s bounce rate and its position in the search results will decrease. Search robots find links that have no clicks at all and may consider them spam.

Relevance by topic and keywords

When one site mentions another, similar in topic, the second’s rankings for targeted queries increase. In the past, webmasters would place links on unrelated sites simply to gain links. Now this will have the opposite effect.

Search robots analyze anchor and near-anchor text , as well as the theme of the entire page, even for links that do not convey weight.

A highly simplified example:

You have an online store for gardening supplies. Some website about house plants referred to one of your products in an article about fertilizers. The search robot will analyze the link, find a connection between the content and conclude that the page with this product should be shown for queries related to fertilizers.

Irrelevant links are much easier to get, but they will not be useful and may even cause harm. More relevant links mean better rankings.

Increased awareness

By posting links to other resources on your page, you can contact their owners and ask them to mention you in return. This way you will receive relevant links and traffic, and increase awareness.

Search engines consider this a prohibited method, so it is important that the links can be explained logically – indicate the source of the news, give an example of a product or service, provide a link to instructions.

Static weight – link evaluation indicator

Static weight is a conditional value that determines the authority of a page, the result of comparing the quantity and quality of its incoming links. One page can convey another weight through a link. Previously, this was the basis for ranking documents on the Internet. Google had PR (Page Rank) until 2014; Yandex had the TCI (Thematic Citation Index) until 2018.

Related materials:

Google PageRank is not dead: why and how to work with links

What really affects the site’s ICS in Yandex

Page Rank was calculated as follows: Google interpreted a link from page A to page B as a vote of A in favour of B. Not only the number of votes was taken into account, but also the quality of the voting pages. The indicator was abandoned because webmasters began to use various manipulations to bring the site to the top of search results.

But links are still ranking factors. For example, in the EEAT Authoritativeness indicator, that is, the authority of the site, among other indicators, it also implies link mass.

For Yandex, when calculating TCI, the thematic proximity of the acceptor site and donor sites was important. The number of links to a resource itself also influenced the indicator, but the sum of their weights was more important. With an external link, one site shares some of its static weight with another. The larger the page’s CB, the greater the share that it could transfer.

The TCI indicator no longer works, instead it is now the SQI (Site Quality Index), which is based not on the link mass, but on the usefulness of the resource for visitors.

However, according to a study by Ashmanov and Partners, link mass is still important for promotion in Yandex.
What are the links?

Links can be classified by origin, openness and closedness, presence or absence of an anchor, that is, text that contains the link.

Nofollow, or closed links

Nofollow links are used to mark the page of another resource, but do not share link juice with it.

The Nofollow attribute appeared in order to not transfer weight to links from comments on forums and from other content that was difficult for the site owner to control. Search robots did not take these links into account. Over time, webmasters began to close almost all outgoing links in order not to receive sanctions for them, so the link connections of resources became difficult to analyze. Since 2020, Google takes nofollow links into account when ranking a site – it checks the anchor and text around it, as well as all page content to assess relevance, but weight is still not transferred to them.

There are two more attributes:

Sponsored – this is how the advertisement is marked;
UGC is a marking of user-generated content.

More information in the article How nofollow, sponsored and UGC links affect SEO

Dofollow, or open links

These links differ from nofollow in that they transfer weight. Dofollow does not need to be set if you link to some unpopular resource, for example, when indicating the source.

When purchasing links or submitting a guest article, you may want to discuss the type of link with the owner of the donor site.

In one of the articles, we described in detail what nofollow and dofollow links are , and how many of them should be on the page.

Anchor and non-anchor links

Anchor (from English “anchor”) link is the text that the user clicks to go to another page.

Another definition is that a link anchor is the text placed between the < a > and < /a > tags .

In html code it looks like this:

<a href=”https://sitename.com/ru/”>Anchor text</a>

If possible, do not use exact entries, this will serve as a signal that the link has been purchased.

Fine:

In this tool you can check how many links there are on a page.

Badly:

Conduct an SEO analysis of a website page in a couple of clicks.

You can learn more about anchors in Google Help under Link Spam.

Anchors can be commercial, that is, in addition to the main key, they can contain the words:

Buy;
Sell;
Price;
Order;
Inexpensive.

Non-anchor links are links inserted into content in the form of general phrases – “here”, “there”, “here”, “by link” or in the form of a URL.

Example:

We wrote an article about anchors, here it is: https://pr-cy.ru/news/p/8215-polnoe-seo-rukovodstvo-po-ankornym-tekstam

They can also look like branded queries – website address, company or service name in different cases, in transcription, maybe even with errors if users constantly distort the name. For example, the brand name Wildberries is often written as “walberis” or something similar. In the service industry, you can use the name of the specialist.

Brand anchor with incorrect spelling

Another option for non-anchor links is links from images. If you do not fill in the meta Alt tag, such a link will be safe from the point of view of sanctions for spam in anchors.

A safe link profile has something like this:

60-80% non-anchor links;
20-40% with anchors.

Where to get backlinks?

There are several ways to get backlinks:

Purchase;
Rent;
Natural growth.

Natural links can be difficult to obtain and almost always take a long time, especially if the site is small and not very well known. Honest webmasters write articles, try to create viral content and get into collections.

Buying and renting

Search engines consider buying and renting to be prohibited methods, but in fact, almost everyone does it. If you choose this route, it is important to choose your donors carefully. Here are some basic evaluation criteria:

General website indicators – Trust Rank, Domain Rank. Can be checked in our domain analysis tool;
Subject – a site about gardening can post a link to a seedling store, but not to an online English school. The theme of the site as a whole should be clear;
Geo – choose donors in the same country, or better yet, in the same region;
Domain age and history – it is better to be placed on sites that are at least a year old;
Traffic – the site must be lively, with an ever-growing audience;
Security – make sure that the resource is not under filters;
SEO characteristics – titles, meta tags, number of keys in content, indexing;
Technical characteristics – 4XX errors, low loading speed;
Placement on link exchanges – if a site actively trades links, it is better not to place your own on it;
The quality of published links – on the pages of the selected site there should be no blinking links or backlinks to dubious resources;
The ratio of external outgoing and external incoming links – a strong gap in favor of outgoing ones indicates the low quality of the site;
The highest quality and most authoritative pages on a site – which pages on a site bring the most traffic and where users stay the longest.

Before posting, make sure the quality of the donor sites. The free Bulk Domain Checker can check indexing, domain age and ending, traffic, link count, and other metrics to help you make a decision.
Perpetual links are paid for once and placed on the site until the end of its life. They constantly bring traffic and weight, if the donor domain does not lose authority and position over time, they usually look organic in the content of the pages and are the least suspicious for search engines.

Their main disadvantage is their high price. In addition, you will become dependent on the owners of donor sites – you may lose money if the resource on which the link is placed falls under sanctions. It may also be deleted or the owner may change, who will not comply with the agreement and will delete the link.

Rented (or rented) houses are placed for a period of time. They are paid by the day, month or year – depending on the agreement with the owner of the donor site. They are easy to manage – if the tasks change, you can refuse the rental. The choice of donors is usually larger than for perpetual links.

At the same time, there is less likelihood of natural transitions – rental links are usually placed in inconspicuous places: the footer or to the side of the content. If the optimizer does not monitor when the payment period ends, then there may be pauses in the operation of the link, the so-called blinking – this is a negative factor.

We wrote about how to buy links and not harm the site in another article.

How to save money when purchasing

Backlinks are usually purchased on exchanges and through special services. As a rule, this is a turnkey service – you select sites, and the owners of donor sites or intermediaries do the rest. You can try to reduce the cost of the process:

Write your texts

Usually an article is written to post a link. If you want to reduce the cost, write the texts yourself or hire a copywriter. This may be cheaper than if the articles are prepared by the owner of the donor site;

Collaborate directly

The link exchange, like any other aggregator, makes money from commissions from users. Often on the site you can find the administrator’s contacts, contact them and buy a link without a commission.

Natural links

These are links that appear without your participation. The point is to interest users and owners of other resources so that they mention you on their websites, forums or social networks.

Another option is to get links that look natural. For example, offer your product or service for review, write instructions or a case study and ask to be featured on thematic resources. We wrote about where else to place a link to a site for free and not receive sanctions in one of the articles. The process is long, but brings good results.

A natural link looks like this:

The theme of the donor site is similar to yours;
The anchor is harmoniously integrated into the test, contains partial occurrences of keys or a link without an anchor;
The link was published with the article, not added later;
There is live traffic;
There are no other references in the document or they are placed appropriately.

Placement of links on the page and nesting level

In addition to the indicators of the donor site, it is important to consider the level of nesting of the page with the link and its location on the page.

Page nesting

The closer the donor page is to the main page, the more weight it will transfer. Specify how many clicks the user must make to get there. There is an opinion that there should be no more than three clicks;

Placement

The best option for link location is the main content, text. Such links are more significant for search robots and visible to users. It is worse to be placed in the footer, sidebar and other blocks.

How many backlinks should a site have?

There is no perfect link profile formula that suits everyone.

The easiest way to figure out how many inbound links you need is to check your competitors. Find sites that are ranking for your keywords and check who is linking to them. Consider real competitors, and not catalogues, aggregators or large sites like Avito; you still won’t be able to beat them in the search results. If your business is regional, check competitors in the same region rather than similar resources across the country.

You can check your competitor’s link profile in our website analysis service .

Enter your competitor’s URL and go to the “Site Links” section. There are three reports: New Links, Top Links, and Most Cited Pages.

In the “Top Links” report, you will see links that can be sorted by Link Rank or Domain Rank – the quality of the domains on which they are installed. If resources with competitor backlinks are suitable for you, try to negotiate so that you are also mentioned.

How to promote a new website?

Immediately after indexing the site in a search engine, you can begin its internal optimization. To do this, you should choose the crowd. These can be links on forums, in comments, etc. In moderation, crowd links reduce the likelihood of getting sanctioned, and for Google, crowd links look like the most natural type of link.

With a correctly defined target audience, promotion with crowd links will help you earn initial traffic in a few months.

Why don’t the links work?

This is almost always due to two main problems: link quality and site quality. If everything is fine with the links at first glance, check the site itself: relevance and optimization of content, loading speed, security, behavioural factors. A poorly optimised website cannot be brought to the top of search results by any number of links.

Another possible reason for sanctions is the so-called link explosion, when a site suddenly has a lot of links. This in itself is not a problem if the backlinks are high quality. For example, Google’s Penguin filter can recognize link spam and ignore it, so a few random dubious backlinks won’t harm your site. But this will attract the attention of the search robot, and if it turns out that most of the donor domains are dubious, you can get a manual filter.

How to disavow unnecessary links?

If any of the backlinks bother you, you can disavow them using a special tool in the Search Console.

Create a document in txt format and add a list of URLs from which you consider inappropriate links.

7 steps to create a website with Adobe XD

Posted on November 28, 2023 by gigaadmin

7 steps to create a website with Adobe XD

Customer experience is at the heart of any successful business. Yet the question that arises is: how can you improve this experience in a meaningful and effective way? An increasingly popular answer to this question is the use of conversational artificial intelligence (AI). In this article, we’ll explore how conversational AI can transform your relationship with customers, improve customer satisfaction, and drive business growth.

What is conversational AI?

Conversational AI is a technology that allows machines to communicate naturally with humans. It uses advanced algorithms, such as natural language processing (NLP) and voice recognition, to understand and respond to customer requests like a human would. This means that chatbots and virtual assistants can have realistic conversations with customers, using natural language and understanding the context of the conversation.

What is Conversational Design or Conversational UX?

Conversational Design, also called Conversational UX , is a design approach focused on creating fluid, efficient and natural interactions between users and computer systems, particularly through conversation-based interfaces, such as chatbots, voice assistants and messaging apps.

The main goal of Conversational Design is to improve the user experience (UX) by making exchanges between humans and machines more intuitive, engaging and satisfying. This approach takes into account the following aspects:

Natural language understanding: Conversation systems are designed to understand and interpret human language accurately, in order to respond appropriately to user questions and needs.
Interaction design: Conversational designers create conversation scenarios that guide interactions, defining how systems respond to user queries and how they handle different stages of the conversation.
Personalization: Interactions are tailored to users’ individual needs and preferences, which may require the use of artificial intelligence and data to personalise responses.
Feedback and improvement: Conversational systems allow users to provide feedback, ask questions, and report issues, helping to continually improve the experience.
Testing and iterations: The conversational design process often involves iterative testing to refine the system’s performance and ensure it meets user expectations.

Conversational Design is particularly used in areas such as customer service, e-commerce, healthcare, education and other industries where interaction with automated systems is common. The ultimate goal is to create enjoyable and productive user experiences while facilitating communication between humans and machines.

The benefits of conversational AI for customer experience

24/7 Availability : One of the main benefits of conversational AI is that it is available 24/7. This means your customers can get help and information at any time, even outside office hours.
Fast and accurate responses : AI-powered chatbots can answer customer questions instantly and accurately. This reduces waiting time and improves customer satisfaction.
Personalization : Conversational AI can collect customer data and personalise interactions based on their preferences and purchasing history. This creates a more relevant and engaging experience.
Reduction in human workload : Repetitive and simple tasks can be handled by AI ( chatbots ), freeing up time for human agents to focus on more complex matters and provide higher quality service.

How to integrate conversational AI into your business

Integrating conversational AI into your business may seem intimidating, but it can be done gradually and efficiently. Here are some steps to get started:

Step 1: Needs assessment

Start by assessing the needs of your business and your customers. Identify areas where conversational AI could have the most impact, such as customer support, order management, or common problem solving.

Step 2: Selecting a solution

There are many conversational AI solutions on the market. Find the one that best suits your needs and budget. Make sure it offers customization and integration features with your existing systems.

Step 3: Training and customization

Once you’ve chosen a solution, be sure to train your team and customise the AI to match your business voice. The more adapted it is, the more authentic the customer experience will be.

Step 4: Monitoring and continuous improvement

Monitor conversational AI performance and collect customer feedback. Use this information to make constant improvements and refine the experience.

Example of the contributions of conversational AI in the hotel industry:

Conversational AI: state of the art and perspectives

Conversational artificial intelligence is one of the most exciting and promising applications of AI. It has evolved significantly in recent years, providing more natural interactions between humans and machines. In this article, we’ll explore the current state of conversational AI, review recent advances, and discuss the challenges that remain.

The foundations of conversational AI

To understand where conversational AI is, it’s essential to go back to its basics. At the heart of this technology are artificial neural networks and deep learning algorithms. These allow systems to learn from large data sets of text and voice, allowing them to understand and generate human language.

Language models

Language models, such as GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), have marked a major turning point in the field of conversational AI. These models, pre-trained on large text corpora, are capable of generating coherent, high-quality text in response to questions or comments.

Chatbots

Chatbots are conversational AI applications widely used in customer service, problem solving, and marketing. They can offer automated and personalised responses to users, thereby improving the customer experience.

Recent advances in conversational AI

In recent years, conversational AI has seen major advances that have revolutionised many fields.

Smarter Chatbots

Modern chatbots have become smarter through the use of advanced language models. They can understand complex instructions, interact more naturally with users and adapt to the specifics of human language.

Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa have dramatically improved their understanding and ability to complete practical tasks, from scheduling appointments to ordering products online.

Automatic translation

AI-based machine translation systems have achieved a high level of accuracy, facilitating instant multilingual communication.

Health care

Conversational AI is increasingly being used in healthcare to answer patient questions, provide medical information, and assist healthcare professionals with diagnoses.

Current challenges in conversational AI

Despite the impressive progress, conversational AI faces persistent challenges.

Algorithmic bias

Language models may reflect biases present in the training data, which may result in inappropriate or discriminatory responses. Mitigating these biases is a critical challenge.

Contextual understanding

Understanding the context of a conversation remains a challenge, as systems must be able to track complex discussions over long periods of time.

Security and Privacy

Data security and privacy protection are major concerns. Interactions with chatbots may involve the disclosure of sensitive information.

Ethics

Conversational AI raises ethical questions, particularly regarding the creation of false content and the manipulation of public opinion.

Future prospects

The future of conversational AI is bright. Several trends should be monitored:

Even more powerful models

Language models will continue to improve, allowing for even more natural and precise interactions.

Voice Integration

Voice processing systems will improve, enabling smoother voice interactions and increased use in autonomous vehicles and home devices.

Advanced customization

Conversational AI will increasingly be able to provide highly personalised responses, drawing on user data.

Conclusion

Conversational AI has come a long way, but there is still much to explore. Recent advances show how beneficial this technology can be in many areas. However, it is imperative to address issues of bias, privacy, and ethics to ensure that conversational AI is a positive force in our society. With continued research and development efforts, the future of conversational AI looks bright.

How to create a logo with Figma?

Posted on November 28, 2023 by gigaadmin

Having a good logo has become essential for any business wishing to prosper. It is at the same time the major element of its graphic charter, the face of its brand and the first representative of its identity. All companies are, therefore, encouraged to allocate the effort and budget necessary to successfully complete this step. But, creating a unique and professional logo can seem intimidating. Fortunately, with Figma it becomes easy and fun.

Whether you are an entrepreneur looking to create the visual identity of your brand or a designer asked to design logos, Figma will be of great help to you. Additionally, it allows you to create a logo that is eye-catching and perfectly suited to a complete user interface developed by the same software. Let’s see together how to succeed, step by step, in such a project.

Figma for beginners

Before learning how to create a logo with Figma , it is important to understand the basics of this software. Figma is a primarily web-based vector design and prototyping tool. It is used by UX/UI designers to create ergonomic and interactive user interfaces and mockups for web, mobile and software media.

The first major advantage of Figma is its accessibility. The tool, being accessible via a web browser , allows designers to create designs that they can share in real time with their various collaborators on the cloud. This allows you to gain speed and efficiency. The tool is also easy to use, in particular thanks to the wealth of its different features and plugins to free you from futile tasks that waste your time.

We are devoting part of this article to the presentation of one of the flagship plugins to help you create your logo more independently and quickly.

Create a logo with Figma in 6 steps

While it is always recommended to take good training to master Figma correctly, creating a logo with this software is considered child’s play. Here are the steps to follow.

1/ Create a new Figma project

You need to start by launching Figma via your web browser and creating a new project. To do this, click on “File” then directly use the “Create a new project” command or the “Ctrl + N” shortcut from your keyboard. You can choose the size of your document according to your needs. For a logo, we recommend choosing a size of 1024 x 512 px in order to adapt your design to all platforms.

It is, however, a good idea to keep all the work for a project in a single file, as this will make it easier for you to move and duplicate elements between different frames.

2/ Create a background

In order to have the cleanest result, you must add a background which will allow you to define the edges of your design. Click “Add Frame” in the left toolbar, select “Rectangle” and draw a rectangle for your background.

You are then free to modify or not the colour of your background. To do this, select the “Fill” tool from the toolbar and choose your favourite colour.

3/ Add shapes

Most logos, especially those of companies, are designed using simple geometric shapes. On Figma, you can deliberately add different types of shapes (circles, squares, triangles, etc.). To do this, use the “Shape” tool in the left toolbar and draw the ones you want to include in your logo.

Use the “Fill” tool to colour your shapes and the “Contour” tool to have a better graphic projection. Don’t hesitate to take advantage of the colour gradients offered by Figma to add a more professional effect to your logo.

4/ Insert text

You are now starting to see the beginnings of your logo. It is therefore time to insert your text (if you plan it for your design).

Click the text tool in the toolbar and start typing your text. You can also choose the font, size and colour of your text.

5/ Add effects

Figma also offers interesting features to optimise the visual appearance of your design. We therefore recommend that you use the special effects options in the toolbar to add more nuances and gradients to your logo. You can insert shadows, highlights, outlines, etc. into it.

6/ Export your logo

Your design is now finished, you can export it as a PNG or SVG image. To do this, click “File” in the menu bar, then “Export”. Select the image format you want to use and choose where you want to save your logo.

The Logoipsum plugin for express logos on Figma

As mentioned above, Figma offers several extensions that help you succeed in your designs. When it comes to logos, we recommend using the “ Logipsum ” plugin.

The latter simply assists you in creating your logo by providing you with a variety of free and ready-to-use models to replace or personalise your logo.

All the logos offered by this plugin are designed to be abstract and flexible enough to adapt to the graphic style you are looking for. They are, therefore, compatible with your own layout and easily integrated into any user interface designed with Figma.

Finally, whether you use this plugin or another or whether you want to create your logo from scratch, be sure to respect these basic rules:

Use simple colours and shapes to make your logo easily recognizable.
Avoid varying text fonts.
Make sure your logo is responsive design, i.e. easily readable and visible on web and mobile media.
Avoid using overly complex images or fine details

Figma logo creator plugin

If you’re looking for logo inspiration for your next project on Figma. You can use the Logo Creator plugin with pre-built logo collections.

You can create your own logo by choosing a variety of shapes or select the best logo from a collection of over 300 logos.

Good design!

The benefits of working with a local agency for your SEO strategy

Posted on November 27, 2023November 28, 2023 by gigaadmin

In the increasingly competitive landscape of the online world, there is little doubt about the crucial importance of search engine optimization (SEO) to the success of a business. However, as businesses strive to perfect their SEO strategies, a fundamental question arises: is it better to work with a local agency or opt for one with an international reach? This article examines why working with a local agency can be a winning strategy for optimising your online presence.

A thorough understanding of the local market:
When it comes to creating an effective SEO strategy, there is no substitute for intimate knowledge of the local market. Local agencies have a significant advantage in this area because they are rooted in the region and have a deep understanding of the particularities that influence the online behaviours of local consumers. Here are some reasons why working with a local agency can be beneficial:

Adaptation to local trends;
Knowledge of local cultures;
Highlighting local events: Local events such as festivals, trade shows or sporting events can be unique opportunities to generate traffic. A local agency will know how to integrate these events into your strategy to maximise impact.

If your business operates in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region, choosing an SEO agency in Lyon can offer you an unrivalled understanding of local trends to optimise your online visibility.

Adapting to cultural and linguistic trends

A local agency excels in the art of adapting to cultural and linguistic trends, which proves to be a major asset for a successful SEO strategy.

Indeed, its mastery of the linguistic nuances specific to the region allows it to identify relevant keywords and therefore adapt the content to use everyday language and colloquial expressions that resonate with the local audience.

Additionally, a local agency understands region-specific cultural sensitivities and taboos, allowing them to avoid embarrassing or offensive errors in content that can harm online reputation.

Knowledge of local competitors

Knowledge of local competitors is a cornerstone of any effective SEO strategy and a local agency provides a significant competitive advantage by identifying and analysing local competitors.

Indeed, the latter can identify not only national competitors, but also local competitors who could have a significant impact on your online visibility.

By identifying these local players, it paves the way for a more specialised SEO strategy and can direct you towards local market niches which are often under-exploited. This way, you can focus your resources and efforts on keywords and topics that have less competition, while still remaining relevant to your target audience.

Please note that knowledge of local competitors is not limited to simple identification, but also translates into precise adaptation of your strategy. This may involve adjustments in keyword choice, creation of region-specific content, or even optimizations in backlinking techniques. This way, your SEO strategy is shaped to align with best practices and tactics that work specifically in your region.

Local networking and relevant backlinks

Local networking and obtaining relevant backlinks play a vital role in an effective SEO strategy. The importance of local backlinks lies in their ability to build your authority in the eyes of search engines, signalling that your business is a trusted source of information for the local community. Plus, they improve your visibility in local search results, which is essential for businesses that primarily target local customers.
Additionally, these local backlinks, from local partners, chambers of commerce or community organisations, build trust in your business, increasing your chances of converting visitors into customers.

A local agency is your best option for getting relevant backlinks. Indeed, it has in-depth knowledge of the local economic fabric, allowing it to identify potential partners for backlink exchanges. Additionally, it can help you participate in local events, trade shows or community initiatives where you can build relationships with other local businesses to gain backlinks. Finally, a local agency can create content specific to your area, which encourages other local businesses to cite you and link to your website.

Are the measurement and monitoring of results made easier?

To start, a local agency is able to collect accurate information specific to your local market, and they are usually well versed in using local tracking and analytics tools, ensuring that the data collected is relevant to your region.

Additionally, a local agency can analyse specific metrics such as traffic from local searches, visibility in Google maps, and conversions associated with local searches. This ensures that your SEO strategy is aligned with your region-specific business goals.

By monitoring these local indicators, a local agency can adjust your strategy in real time to maximise results.

External links – what are they and what are they for?

What are external links

How links help with SEO

Growth of positions in search results

Attracting traffic

Relevance by topic and keywords

Increased awareness

Static weight – link evaluation indicator

Nofollow, or closed links

Dofollow, or open links

Anchor and non-anchor links

Where to get backlinks?

Buying and renting

How to save money when purchasing

Natural links

Placement of links on the page and nesting level

How many backlinks should a site have?

How to promote a new website?

Why don’t the links work?

How to disavow unnecessary links?

7 steps to create a website with Adobe XD

What is conversational AI?

What is Conversational Design or Conversational UX?

Conversational Design, also called Conversational UX , is a design approach focused on creating fluid, efficient and natural interactions between users and computer systems, particularly through conversation-based interfaces, such as chatbots, voice assistants and messaging apps.

The main goal of Conversational Design is to improve the user experience (UX) by making exchanges between humans and machines more intuitive, engaging and satisfying. This approach takes into account the following aspects:

Natural language understanding: Conversation systems are designed to understand and interpret human language accurately, in order to respond appropriately to user questions and needs.

Interaction design: Conversational designers create conversation scenarios that guide interactions, defining how systems respond to user queries and how they handle different stages of the conversation.

Personalization: Interactions are tailored to users’ individual needs and preferences, which may require the use of artificial intelligence and data to personalise responses.

Feedback and improvement: Conversational systems allow users to provide feedback, ask questions, and report issues, helping to continually improve the experience.

Testing and iterations: The conversational design process often involves iterative testing to refine the system’s performance and ensure it meets user expectations.

The benefits of conversational AI for customer experience

24/7 Availability : One of the main benefits of conversational AI is that it is available 24/7. This means your customers can get help and information at any time, even outside office hours.

Fast and accurate responses : AI-powered chatbots can answer customer questions instantly and accurately. This reduces waiting time and improves customer satisfaction.

Personalization : Conversational AI can collect customer data and personalise interactions based on their preferences and purchasing history. This creates a more relevant and engaging experience.

Reduction in human workload : Repetitive and simple tasks can be handled by AI ( chatbots ), freeing up time for human agents to focus on more complex matters and provide higher quality service.

How to integrate conversational AI into your business

Integrating conversational AI into your business may seem intimidating, but it can be done gradually and efficiently. Here are some steps to get started:

Step 1: Needs assessment

Start by assessing the needs of your business and your customers. Identify areas where conversational AI could have the most impact, such as customer support, order management, or common problem solving.

Step 2: Selecting a solution

There are many conversational AI solutions on the market. Find the one that best suits your needs and budget. Make sure it offers customization and integration features with your existing systems.

Step 3: Training and customization

Once you’ve chosen a solution, be sure to train your team and customise the AI ​​to match your business voice. The more adapted it is, the more authentic the customer experience will be.

Step 4: Monitoring and continuous improvement

Monitor conversational AI performance and collect customer feedback. Use this information to make constant improvements and refine the experience.

Example of the contributions of conversational AI in the hotel industry:

Conversational AI: state of the art and perspectives

The foundations of conversational AI

Language models

Language models, such as GPT-3 (Generative Pre-trained Transformer 3), have marked a major turning point in the field of conversational AI. These models, pre-trained on large text corpora, are capable of generating coherent, high-quality text in response to questions or comments.

Chatbots

Chatbots are conversational AI applications widely used in customer service, problem solving, and marketing. They can offer automated and personalised responses to users, thereby improving the customer experience.

Recent advances in conversational AI

In recent years, conversational AI has seen major advances that have revolutionised many fields.

Smarter Chatbots

Modern chatbots have become smarter through the use of advanced language models. They can understand complex instructions, interact more naturally with users and adapt to the specifics of human language.

Virtual assistants

Virtual assistants such as Siri, Google Assistant and Alexa have dramatically improved their understanding and ability to complete practical tasks, from scheduling appointments to ordering products online.

Automatic translation

AI-based machine translation systems have achieved a high level of accuracy, facilitating instant multilingual communication.

Health care

Conversational AI is increasingly being used in healthcare to answer patient questions, provide medical information, and assist healthcare professionals with diagnoses.

Current challenges in conversational AI

Despite the impressive progress, conversational AI faces persistent challenges.

Algorithmic bias

Language models may reflect biases present in the training data, which may result in inappropriate or discriminatory responses. Mitigating these biases is a critical challenge.

Contextual understanding

Understanding the context of a conversation remains a challenge, as systems must be able to track complex discussions over long periods of time.

Security and Privacy

Data security and privacy protection are major concerns. Interactions with chatbots may involve the disclosure of sensitive information.

Ethics

Conversational AI raises ethical questions, particularly regarding the creation of false content and the manipulation of public opinion.

Future prospects

The future of conversational AI is bright. Several trends should be monitored:

Even more powerful models

Language models will continue to improve, allowing for even more natural and precise interactions.

Voice Integration

Voice processing systems will improve, enabling smoother voice interactions and increased use in autonomous vehicles and home devices.

Advanced customization

Conversational AI will increasingly be able to provide highly personalised responses, drawing on user data.

Once you’ve chosen a solution, be sure to train your team and customise the AI to match your business voice. The more adapted it is, the more authentic the customer experience will be.