Mark here and it is indeed my very first time to post to Medium. Like many others here on this medium i am going to introduce to you a casual 4 minute read, the idea of it is to distract you from doing your actual work. As I am working in tech and spend a lot of time with my hands dirty in the nitty gritty of daily tasks (metaphorically speaking of course, I actually have beautifully manicured hands fyi!), I am also intrigued by the changing landscape of software development. Someone recently said to me (perhaps in jest) I should put pen to paper, so I started a newsletter. I like to find out about all the cool new stuff out there, but also to look at how it influences our behaviour and shapes society. I am the type of person that is kind (arrogant? stupid? narcissistic?) enough to share my thoughts with you.
How I add people to my magic newsletter list?
Well the list is made up from the following categories:
(a) You are a great person and I want to be more like you.
(b) I am working with you currently or have done so in the past.
© We share a deep meaningful personal connection outside of the office and I have just gone and made it professional.
(d) You are a bit of a randomer that I happened to meet at a networking event, in a bar, or perhaps on tinder.
Now if you are not on the list, i.e. you are reading this on LinkedIn and did not receive the email. It is dead simple. You can sign Up here:https://digitalchief.ie/newsletter-sign-up/
What am I going to write about?
Interesting stuff! We all want something that makes our day just that little bit brighter. So these emails will be a little bit about what is happening in the magical world of the internet, new and cool products that I think could be useful for you personally or professionally. Finally some general interest stories or facts that might have flown under the radar but that could genuinely change your life.
How often?
I will send you an email never more than once a week, I will try to keep my humour or lack therof to a minimum. The one promise I do make is that only ever in the very last line of an email will I include the softest of sales pitches for whatever I might be selling on that particular day or week.
Now tell me did you know…? The Sheriff has changed the rules (again)!
For commonly used search terms, Google recently increased to 4 (from 3) paid Ads at the top of their search results page. They have also changed the colour of the highlighted Ad notification to match the green of the url link. This may not seem like a big deal, but, for popular search terms you will only see paid Ads and most likely a map above the fold (i.e. on the screen before scrolling).
What this means for you the internet user:
Be careful what you are clicking on, the results returned from your search two months ago will be quite different than what it is today. Is this the most relevant result for what you are searching for, or is it simply the company that has paid the most to attract your eyeballs?
What this means for the business with a website:
It is the wild west out there and Google is very much the Sherriff in town. It is indeed very much their town, so they get to make the rules. The thousands you invested in SEO is not wasted, but it is a constantly evolving landscape and it is important keep up to date with how the changes have affected your site.
One final thing!
The internet is 10099 days old today, (not in itself all that interesting).
But the mad thing is that there is website dedicated just to telling you this: http://howoldistheinter.net/
(Thanks Toby, we would have been lost without ya fella!)
Keep it digital,
Mark
p.s. as many of you are unaware of; I went out on my own earlier this year and set up Digital Chief.
What do we do all day?
Build and manage websites, integrate hot 3rd party tools and send out cool newsletters.
Sign up for your monthly slice of enlightment here: https://digitalchief.ie/newsletter-sign-up/
