Digital Marketing Essentials Certification Exam!

It’s true. A keyword does not have to be a single word. In fact, it’s ideal if a keyword consists of 3 or more words. This helps taper your results, decreasing your costs and increasing your relevance. (Module 4, Personas, Albee)

It’s a mistake to simply focus on the number of fans or followers you have. If they don’t share, or they don’t influence anybody, those numbers may look good on the report but aren’t actually accomplishing any business goals. The influence of your fans/followers is much more important, as they have the ability to reach and persuade many more eyeballs. (Module 10, Intro to Social, Bhargava)

It’s called Slideshare and it’s worth knowing about if you’re involved in putting together powerpoint presentations. Note that the web address is slideshare.net. (Module 1, Intro to Digital, Bhargava)

True, it’s important to mention the specific problems that your target perfect customer is trying to solve. This way, you keep those specific problems in mind as you market your solutions to these problems. (Module 4, Personas, Albee)

It’s important to offer an incentive. Fans and followers have an expectation that they’ll get something if they engage with you via social media. It’s not enough just to ask; you have to provide value. (Module 10, Intro to Social, Bhargava)

A SWOT analysis is an analysis of your Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and threats. It’s a common marketing planning strategy, but the idea here is to apply it strictly to digital. (Module 2, Digital Strategy, Chaffey)

Though many will tell you that it cannot be done, it is actually possible to rewrite a url for SEO purposes. In general, the shorter the url the better. Additionally, it’s possible to include key search terms in the url itself. In general, when a technical person says something is impossible, it may just be the case that they’ve never done it or haven’t heard of it. Always question whether anything is truly impossible before dismissing it. (Module 6, Understanding SEO beyond the technical jargon, Boggs.)

Because the video doesn’t “live” on your website, but rather on the YouTube website, any information you want to know about it will have to be collected via Javascript collectors and cookies. Your web server log files can only tell you about items that “live” on your web server. The bottom line is that the two ways of collecting data are very different. (Module 8, Foundational Analytics, Craver)

The rule of thumb for copy on a landing page is “the least amount necessary”, the key word being “necessary”. You may need just a little, and you may need a lot of copy to convince a user to take a particular action. But do not add extraneous copy that doesn’t address the action you want the user to take. (Module 5, Chemistry of the Landing Page, Brian Massey)

Archive it. No social media initiative is forever, but it becomes a graveyard if you leave it active but never pay any attention to it. So leaving one final message, with a link to something you are still actively working with, will allow anyone who was actively involved with it to continue to be actively involved with you. If you delete it from existence, you can’t gain anything from it. (Module 10, Intro to Social, Bhargava)

Social is a subset, just a part of, Digital Marketing. It’s a somewhat common misconception that they’re the same thing, but there is actually much more to digital marketing than just social media marketing. (Module 1, Intro to Digital, Bhargava)

Many people think of usability as entirely user-focused. Is the website navigation easy for the user? Is it satisfying for the user? Etc… But it’s important to understand that website usability isn’t ONLY about making the user happy; it’s also important that website design and architecture contributes to business goals as well. (Module 12, Usability Foundations, Turow)

It’s called a bounce, and these can worth measuring in certain situations. (Module 8, Foundational Analytics, Craver)

Because inboxes are more crowded than ever, it’s existing customers who are much more eager to respond to email marketing than are new prospects. Don’t make the mistake of using email marketing primarily to attract new customers. (Module 7, Email Marketing Strategy Development, Talavera)

Yes, it’s possible to track those visitors with promo codes and redirects. Simply advertise your website with a promo code, such as www.yoursite.com/newspaper, then redirect all visitors to that web address to your normal website, such as www.yoursite.com. Web analytics can help you count how many people visited the web address with the promo code. (Module 8, Foundational Analytics, Craver)

Your landing page should resemble, both visually and verbally, the ad that refers people to that particular landing page. This helps fulfill the promise of the click, giving the user exactly what was hoped for. Your landing page should absolutely not resemble your home page, with all the navigation elements usually associated with a home page. The goal of the landing page is for the user to take a particular action, not to browse other elements of your website. (Module 5, Chemistry of the Landing Page, Brian Massey)

It’s close, but with 37% of consumers researching online and purchasing offline, it’s crucial to consider multi-channel integration. Further, it’s important to understand that the full value of online marketing is not reflected solely by online purchases. Online marketing has a significant impact on offline purchases so some portion of offline purchases should be attributed to the online marketing endeavors. (Module 2, Digital Strategy, Chaffey)

E stands for engagement. The final stage of the marketing funnel occurs after a customer has purchased a product or service and then becomes part of your marketing mix, becoming an advocate and recommending you to their friends. (Module 2, Digital Strategy, Chaffey)

You may hear it spoken of as the “Meta title”, but it’s more properly called the page title and it’s the most important piece of content on any page. It’s what comes up in the blue browser bar on any page and often the content that appears as the search engine result. Simply changing the page title can move your search result from the second page to the first page of Google results, so it’s important to consider the strength of your page titles and leverage keywords where appropriate. (Module 6, Understanding SEO beyond the technical jargon, Boggs.)

It’s audience, which isn’t as much a business value as it is a consideration when thinking about certain strategies or tactics. i.e. “Who is my audience for this initiative? Existing cutomers? New customers? Employees?” It’s important to think of “value” as more than just sales. Business value can be gained through increasing efficiency, inspiring a team through innovation, and, importantly, retaining the customers you already have. (Module 1, Intro to Digital, Bhargava)

It’s true. Large arrows test well. When you want a user to do something, pointing at it with a big, graphical arrow can help. (Module 5, Chemistry of the Landing Page, Brian Massey)

Keyword research is the foundation of any Search Marketing strategy. (Module 6, Understanding SEO beyond the technical jargon, Boggs.)

Code weight does not refer to the density or number of lines of a text on a page. Rather, it refers to the number of lines of back-end code associated with a page. The more lines, or the “heavier” the code is, the longer the page takes to load. Google downgrades search results with longer load times. So if someone says, “We’ve got to reduce the code weight,” you now know what that person is talking about. (Module 6, Understanding SEO beyond the technical jargon, Boggs.)

Web analytics data won’t be exact, so should not be understood the same as financial data. Web analytics data should therefore be used as trending data, measurements over time, rather than as exact data. (Module 8, Foundational Analytics, Craver)

False. Conversation is good but it’s not the end goal. You do not have to allow comments on anything you post. Consider not allowing comments if the potential for negativity outweighs the potential benefits. (Module 10, Intro to Social, Bhargava)

Ratings and reviews can build trust, so they qualify. Social media icons provide distraction, which can lead to abandonment. A site navigation menu does the same thing. Finally, while it may be true that a company mission statement build trust, but generally, if you’re talking about yourself on a landing page, it won’t lead to conversions. (Module 5, Chemistry of the Landing Page, Brian Massey)

Your web analytics won’t tell you whether a particular keyword is driving assists such as visits to your store or calls to your business. So before you drop a keyword with zero or very few direct conversions, it’s very easy to set up a dedicated phone line tied to that keyword and measure whether it’s driving calls. If it is, then it’s still a good keyword and you’ll be glad you didn’t just drop it. (Module 11, The business case for PPC, Smith)

The most important goal of email marketing is that it’s measurable. In order to justify email marketing spend, you must be able to produce the justification with numbers, as opposed to justifying with fuzzier goals such as brand awareness and engagement. (Module 7, Email Marketing Strategy Development, Talavera)

It’s all about content. Fun is fun. Exclusive offers are great. But, if you want to drive traffic to your website through your email marketing, promise (and deliver) relevant, worthwhile content. (Module 7, Email Marketing Strategy Development, Talavera)

This is false. Sales impact is not the only business value to be gained from digital marketing. There are four distinct pillars of business value: Sales, Efficiency, Innovation, and Retention. One mistake marketers make is trying to tie every activity to sales. (Module 1, Intro to Digital, Bhargava)

There are 5 ways to engage an audience: Ecommerce (buying), Information (learning), Community (sharing), Service (getting help) and Entertainment (entertaining). Listening and helping are company functions, not ways to engage an audience directly. (Module 1, Intro to Digital, Bhargava)

False. Session-based measurement would view one customer as three different people if that customer visited the website from a smartphone, a tablet and a laptop computer. That’s not what Google is after. It’s more accurate, and the ideal that Google is moving towards, to view those three activities as all originating from the same single customer in a user-centric view. (Module 3, Analytics, Cutroni)

In fact, it’s important that you do NOT ask for as much information as possible up front. Collect info little by little, as further contacts are made. This is called progressive profiling. Asking for as much information as possible up front has a strong chance of scaring the lead away. (Module 4, Personas, Albee)

It’s not that PPC should be used as the benchmark for all other marketing tactics; it’s the other way around. Use the ROI of your other marketing efforts as a benchmark for measuring the ROI of PPC. As you refine your ongoing PPC efforts, you’ll see that ROI change, perhaps drastically, so you don’t want to use it as a benchmark. The other three answer choices are absolutely reasons for a business to engage in PPC efforts. (Module 11, The business case for PPC, Smith)

It’s the Key Performance Indicators (KPI’s) so it’s imperative that you choose your KPI’s wisely. Bottom line: In order to measure the performance of your website, you have to decide what you want it to accomplish, and then measure those activities that indicate the performance of your website toward those goals with simple, agreed-upon KPI’s. For example, measuring conversions is nice, but measuring the conversion rates so you can determine where to focus ad spend is nicer. (Module 11, The business case for PPC, Smith)

This is what website usability is. (Module 12, Usability Foundations, Turow)

False. Usability tests are conducted one-on-one, not as a group. (Module 12, Usability Foundations, Turow)

While reciprocal linking used to be common, it is no longer seen as a best practice due to its transparency as an artificial tactic to raise SEO. While some links can and will occur naturally, it is not in your best interest to simply trade links with an unrelated site. (Module 6, Understanding SEO beyond the technical jargon, Boggs.)

False. Click-through rate is a quick, immediate indicator, but the better indicators are conversion rate and cost per conversion as the ultimate deciding factors. (Module 11, The business case for PPC, Smith)

It’s holistic measurement that looks at measurement through the many different touch points that encompass online marketing. What’s at the center of all the different ways that businesses market? The customer. So measuring through that lens helps bring all the different marketing silos together into one holistic measurement. (Module 3, Analytics, Cutroni)

Rather than focusing on keywords, an alternative is to focus on search behaviors. For example, gardening business focuses on those searching for outdoor furniture in general, and keywords of “Garden sheds” and “patio furniture” are developed from that behavior. (Module 2, Digital Strategy, Chaffey)

If a customer adds a purchase to a “cart”, but then does not follow through with an actual purchase, it is imperative that you send an email. The person was so close to buying that you need to follow up. In fact, you can expect to recoup up to 15% of lost revenue with this simple triggered email tactic. (Module 7, Email Marketing Strategy Development, Talavera)

Your content marketing should be addresses to a particular persona. Persona development is an important aspect of content marketing. Producing content is one thing, but addressing a particular persona with the right content at the right time leads to the monetary impact that content marketing should have for your business. (Module 9, Content Marketing, Johnson)

They’re all differences. “Push” marketing means pushing your message out to as many people as possible whereas “pull” marketing means pulling to your offering those prospects who have indicated interest. Before the internet, almost all marketing was “pushed”. Today, much more is “pulled” from those who have already indicated interest by searching for a specific term, for example. Part of the business case for PPC is that “pull” marketing is more effective. (Module 11, The business case for PPC, Smith)

It’s A/B and multivariate testing that can improve your conversion rates for your website. Re-targeting is more for optimizing email conversions and SEO is more for optimizing search conversions. But to optimize your website, test different versions of your landing pages, such as images, copy, and offer. (Module 2, Digital Strategy, Chaffey)

It’s good to record those interviews so you can pay attention the specific language your customers use. This can help inform your SEO efforts, your marketing materials, and much more. It’s not how you describe your product or service that matters; it’s how your customers do so that is important to understand and market towards. (Module 4, Personas, Albee)

Email is the best for getting a prospect to act immediately, whether it’s making a purchase, beginning an inquiry, or something else. Because email marketing has such an immediacy of effect, it’s important to understand your customers’ buying process so you can use your email to accelerate, enable or streamline that process. (Module 7, Email Marketing Strategy Development, Talavera)

A persona allows you to get inside the head of a representative customer. It’s NOT just a list of attributes and it’s not a profile of an actual customer. It’s a representation designed to show what motivates your target customer to make purchase decisions. (Module 4, Personas, Albee)

The point of the story isn’t who you are or why you’re the best. Frame your company’s story in terms of how the products and services you offer benefit your customers. All your content should be customer-focused, not focused on you. (Module 9, Content Marketing, Johnson)