We’ve come a long way since the days when one false stroke of the typewriter key would render a document unusable. Now we can access entire presentations from any device, translate them into a completely different language, and see the changes in real-time, all without ever worrying about hitting the save button.

It’s the Googleverse. We’re just living in it.

Think you know your way around Google Drive? Chances are you haven’t even scratched the surface. Ahead are a small handful of underutilized and overlooked capabilities that could reconfigure your workday. Even two or three off this list will be enough to seriously impress the boss and boost your productivity.

1.     Dictate your next report.

Whether you critically injured your hand or simply want to work while you meal prep for the week, Google Docs can receive full dictation down to the last comma. Seriously. It puts Siri to shame. A quick visit to the voice-commands guide will get you up and running with fine point proficiency. Plus, it renders spell check virtually unnecessary. (Though we always recommend a final read-through.)

2.     Scan and upload files.

Did you know your Android phone doubles as a scanner? Save yourself a trip to the office by taking a photo of the document you want to scan directly from Google Drive. You can later edit the PDF without ever leaving the platform (take that Adobe!). Once uploaded, simply right click on the PDF or image and it’ll open up in an editable converted Google Doc.

3.     Translate documents and drawings.

International collaboration just got a whole lot easier. Google speaks hundreds of languages and can easily translate entire documents from one tongue to another save for a few minor grammatical issues. Download the translate app and you can also interpret handwritten words, phrases, or symbols.

4.      Create and embed a QR code.

Whether you want to amplify your ads, supercharge your invoices, or give your events a virtual boost, QR codes are the way to go. To identify a specific user or locate important info that won’t fit in an excel-sized cell use Google’s free QR code generator. It’s a simple piece of script that only needs the specific cell you’re referencing to be added. Conversely, you can also create a QR code in other free online generators that links to a Google Doc or Spreadsheet you want coworkers or clients to have access to.

5.     Host a virtual Q&A during your presentation.

Select the ‘present with audience q&a’ feature from your drop-down menu and onlookers can submit questions and comments as you go through each slide. All they need is the link which can be easily shared in advance of your presentation.

6.     Enhance your suite with extensions and add-ons.

Though Google Drive may seem all-powerful we all get by with a little help from our friends. In this case, there’s an entire industry of apps, add-ons, and extensions to support your work together. One aptly-named Drive Companion creates a desktop application that can easily access files in windows that won’t disrupt your flow. Some others we like are Grammarly, which auto-magically reviews anything you write, alerting you to misspellings and possible grammar issues. We also couldn’t work from home effectively without docu-sign. It allows you to upload and virtually sign a set number of documents each month. You can even save your version and email back to the recipient all within the site.

But the fun doesn’t stop there. You could get a veritable masters degree in Google Drive with all its productive pit stops. Although, there’s something beautiful about the a la carte method, too. Really, it’s not a matter of whether Google Drive can help you navigate your workflow, but how.

Want us to lead your journey through Google Drive? There’s no app for it (yet), but feel free to make contact the old fashioned way.

Over the years, our full-service marketing agency has seen a lot of good businesses suffer from bad marketing. Their products are top-of-the-line, their services are the best in the biz, and their customers are wildly happy. Problem is, no one knows about them.

How can it be that a company who performs so well in every other respect struggles to get their name out?

Simple. They don’t have the in-house digital marketing abilities they need to stay competitive. Not that we’re blaming them. Most companies are rightfully focused on the core of their business. They may not have the time or staff to help with anything that feels ‘extraneous.’

But a myriad of SEO algorithm updates, social media changes, and digital marketing trends power our modern day marketplace. Successful businesses, small and large, must have a command of the digital landscape or get left in the dust.

Have you been considering making a change to your marketing strategy in the New Year? See if any of these following scenarios sound familiar. Any one of them could be an indication it’s time to hire a full-service agency.

1. Your freelance staff can’t keep up. There’s no shortage of independent contractors available for hire. While using them as a temporary stopgap may make sense for a time, there eventually comes a point when even they can’t take your business to the next level. They may become overwhelmed with the work and unable to educate themselves on important industry updates at the same time. For that, you need a digital agency who’s already rocketed ahead of the curve, anticipating changes and making adjustments before updates negatively impact your brand.
2. You don’t have the budget for a full-time marketing department. Between benefits, payroll taxes, and training or relocation expenses even a one-person department can cost you a fortune. You also have to spend valuable time and energy onboarding and risk disrupting your team’s established dynamic. When you work with an SEO agency, you get all the benefits of a fully-fledged department without any of the expenses or complexities.
3. You’re feeling creatively uninspired. It takes a lot of mental reserves to consistently supply the kind of compelling content that increases your web traffic and conversions. If you’re already leaving the office every day mentally drained, attempting to create a campaign in your beleaguered state could actually hurt your brand’s reputation. An agency is a cornucopia of creativity with naturally clever marketers who all feed off one another’s ideas. It’s an environment that encourages and cultivates creativity in an ever-renewing cycle.
4. Your core business needs some extra attention. Most folks start a business because they’re really good at a particular job. Neglecting this foundation in order to try and create mediocre marketing materials is likely to cause a collapse. Leaving this role in the capable hands of a full-service digital marketing agency ensures you’re able to concentrate on the core of what makes your brand so great.
5. Your branding isn’t consistent. You only have one chance to make a first impression. These days, that first impression is happening online more and more. If a prospective customer is getting conflicting messages when they research your brand, they’re likely to find someone for the job. By contrast, a marketing or advertising agency will make sure you’re represented professionally and consistently across all applicable social media platforms and online channels.
6. Your business is rapidly expanding. Whether your brand has just landed a huge account or you’re poised for a huge expansion, you’ll need to scale your marketing deliverables to keep up. If you’re looking to grow your business but aren’t sure how, try working with a full-service digital agency who can improve your Google ranking with high-powered online advertising campaigns, masterful content marketing, and more!

Does one or more of these ring true from your business? Time to make contact, and expand your brand.

Sometimes less is more. Except when it comes to time. In which case, more is always more. But just like money, time can’t be created. It simply has to be saved. And as a vital ingredient to any truly productive workday, an extra few hours here and there can accumulate into big bucks.

Searching for some tech tools to help you make 2019 your most productive to date? These new or updated time management apps can do just that.

1. Google Calendar. Ok, ok hear us out. No, it’s not new and has even been the staple of many scheduling platforms. However, the almighty Google Calendar has finally released an iPad app complete with iOS notifications. Alongside the widget is a drag and drop feature and a fresh, modern makeover to modernize this longtime favorite. We wouldn’t be surprised to see other third-party calendar applications step up their game to stay competitive.

2. Grammarly. Any successful digital marketing strategy requires consistent and compelling content marketing. From web copy and blog posts to social media profiles and press releases, words work to increase traffic and sell more. That is, provided you use them appropriately. Grammarly lets you spend less time editing your content and more time writing it. Download the app or extension for a built-in editor that will help ensure your spelling, punctuation, and, yes, overall grammar are by the book.

3. Linkio. Link building is integral to any effective SEO strategy. For the last two years, Linkio has been at the forefront of SEO project management – and for good reason. After all, how can you secure more links to your website if you can’t track your progress? Download Linkio to help you plan which sites to contact, give you the status of each at a glance, and even generate reports to tell you how effective your link building campaign is doing. It’s also perfect for multiple users, making it ideal for your entire team.

4. RescueTime. If time is money then RescueTime is worth its weight in gold. The internet is a black hole of distractions – distractions which can cost you big if not corralled. If you suspect you or your team is getting sidetracked, RescueTime can help you monitor and amend your unproductive online habits. Let it run in the background of your laptop or smartphone and it’ll track how long you spend in certain platforms, websites, or applications. Reports are generated at the end of each day to show you how you’ve been spending your time. Can’t seem to quit that mid-day Facebook scroll? The app also lets you block specific sites or apps based on parameters you set for yourself. Talk about self-discipline!

5. InTime. We don’t know about you, but commutes to our Dallas digital marketing agency are brutal in North Texas traffic. The InTime app aims to change all that. Now, you have the ability to set your alarm based on real time traffic flows so you’ll never again be late because of an incident. It’s especially helpful if you travel out of town for work a lot and are unfamiliar with the typical rush hour traffic patterns. Simply set the destination to your next appointment and it’ll calculate when it’s time to leave so that you arrive on time or early.

6. Universal Password Manager. Data breaches impacted some “765 million in the months of April, May and June alone”, according to USA Today. Even credit reporting agencies like Equifax had unprecedented hacks in 2017. All the literature warns to have different passwords for each account, passwords that are complex and varied in numbers, symbols, letters, and capitalization. But how is one to keep track of all the variations? And what application can possibly be safe enough to house such sensitive information? Universal Password Manager. Its encrypted database operates on multiple platforms, safely housing your usernames and passwords. It can even furnish you a specific password to keep you safe while logging in on public or shared devices.

If you’re really prioritizing your productivity this next year, consider hiring a digital marketing agency to handle all your SEO tactics. Make contact to see how we can help your business blow the lid off 2019.

By and large, most folks enjoy feeling special. We want to be catered to, and we like to have unique, one-of-a-kind interactions with others. Many shopping and social media platforms have picked up on this phenomenon and have designed their websites and apps to give their users a “personalized experience.” By analyzing your browsing history and search queries, groups and businesses can often deduce the kinds of things that you like, dislike, are intrigued by, or scroll past without a second thought. And with every bit of data gathered, they get a little better at only showing you things that you want to see. Sounds great, right?

In today’s video, we’ll explain the downside to this constant personalization: when we only see internet articles, social media recommendations, and news reports that cater to our biases, our beliefs tend to calcify. Instead of our worldview being shaped by the constant reception of new information or ways of thinking, we simply exist in an echo chamber that reinforces what we already think is correct. This is known as the “Filter Bubble” phenomenon.

To fight the Filter Bubble, we must make a conscious effort to seek out perspectives that we either don’t understand or don’t agree with. Yes, doing so can be unpleasant or frustrating. But it’s also an important exercise for keeping your mind open to different ideas and opinions!

Marketers spend a significant portion of their working lives attempting to get inside the heads of consumers. What better way to peer into the minds of internet users than to review their search histories?

Whether we realize it or not, every query we plug into a search engine is like a digital diary of our thoughts, our wants, our curiosities. Businesses looking to harness this information need look no further than the Google Trends tool.

Its recent redesign focuses on ‘editorial data-based stories’ helping content concerned marketers tailor their blog topics, key in on keywords, and solidify their social media strategies by utilizing trending data from trillions of online searches.

The data explorer lets you see what users around the world are querying in real-time and overtime – for free. It’s like looking at key topics in Google’s search engine with a magnifying glass. Newer features also let you drill down and get granular, as though you were analyzing searches with a microscope.

What else should you know about the Google Trends update and how can you use it to improve your digital marketing strategy? That’s what we aim to unpack.

Redesign Features

It all starts with a search term. Type your topic of choice into the search bar at the top, and you’ll see four subcategories below. These drop-downs let you contextualize trends based on geographic location, timeframe, different industries, and, most notably, types of search.

Since Google’s algorithms, and search results, are so multi-faceted it makes sense to broaden yours beyond web links alone. The update allows you to also refine your exploration across verticals like videos, news, and images.

In addition to these, other standout feature updates include:

• Real-time trending search data denoted by the word ‘breakout’.
• Curated data stories courtesy of the Google News Lab team. (Plus real-world visualizations created by international newsroom designers.)
• Aggregated official Year in Search information for the last 17 years, showing how various topics have performed over time.
• Intensity mapping and info graphs for meaningful topic comparison.

Once you have the data, it’s time to put it to good use!

Best Ways to use Google Insights

Internet users have done the work of popularizing certain terms. Now, it’s your job to put them to use. Next time you sit down with your team to create or present a content strategy, make sure you leverage Google Insights and Trends to help you pique the interest of your target audience.

Some of the best ways we’ve found to make use of Google trends are:

1. Optimizing your keywords for your PPC and online advertising campaigns.
2. Creating content calendars and press releases that resonate.
3. Marketing to potential customers based on what they’re searching for in their location.
4. Researching which keywords have grown in popularity from year to year.
5. Seeking out new audiences that resonate with your products and services.
6. Visualizing your product with new photos that correspond to different markets.
7. Utilizing the related topics section to create compelling video content based on searches.

Simply put, anyone with a Google account has access to this wealth of info, and businesses looking to increase their web traffic and conversions have found it to be an invaluable part of their marketing plans. The way we see it, as far as free tools go, this one is more than a passing trend.

Want some help analyzing Google Trends? We’ll help you strategize into the stratosphere!