Complying with user expectations with respect to usability heuristics will ensure advertising content is delivered seamlessly and that brand image holds integrity.

Posted on July 28, 2017 - Posted in: Blog, News

It is fair to say that public opinion does not favor most online ads — ABCO Technology’s research confirms this fact. In a recent study, we collected open-ended responses to understand what truly makes or breaks an online advertising experience. From the 200 responses we received, comprised mostly of negative comments, combined with our insight from a presentation by Charles Pascal and Bob Castaneda at ABCO Technology’s User Experience class in 2017, we were able to distinguish five user requirements for interacting with advertisements. Complying with these will make your ads less insufferable and may even make customers like you:

•User control
•Instant gratification
•Placement
•Predictability
•Relevance

User Control

One of the 10 usability heuristics is user control and freedom. Not surprisingly, people complained when the ad took control of the interaction and forced them to perform actions (e.g., watch a video ad) against their will. In contrast, they expressed positive affect when the ad was triggered by their action or when they could opt out of the interaction.

For example, if users clicked a button to play a video and the video started with an ad, they were less annoyed than if the video had started playing by itself (autoplay). Additionally, being given the option to skip or dismiss an ad was a valued capability which gave users a sense of control.

Not surprisingly, modal ads, which take away user control and interrupt the current task, while requiring users to interact with the ad — either by dismissing it or selecting a call to action within the ad — were among the most disliked ad types both on mobile and on desktop.

Examples of user comments:
•“The best ads are the ones that you can simply click on to close and you don’t have to view them anymore while you’re on the webpage.”
•“I like ads that do not obstruct content. I can glance to the side and decide if I want to open [them] but am annoyed when I don’t have that choice.”
• “I hate having to close something to seek content on a site. That is nonsense — I didn’t ask for that and I tend to dislike the company even more.”
•“I strongly dislike ads that I’m forced to watch…”

Instant Gratification

Respondents often complained about ads that “delayed” or “blocked” access to content of interest. Examples of such ads include prevideo advertisements, modal ads, or ads that slowed down the loading of the page. The inability to skip an ad hinders access to primary content. The additional load time and delayed content delivery divert attention from the main task, increase cognitive load, increase time between interaction and feedback, and often do not support the user’s primary task.

Examples of user comments:
•“Any ad that makes a page difficult to load or read is annoying.”
•“Video ads before a video you want to watch are okay as long as they are short and give you an option to skip after so many seconds.”
•“I dislike especially the ones that start and don’t let you close for 5 seconds”

Placement

This dimension refers to physical obstruction of content. For example, a modal advertisement with a dark background will obscure the primary content, and a persistent banner will physically occupy many pixels on a page, thus pushing information below the fold — especially on a mobile device. On the other hand, an advertisement in the right rail does not impede the use of primary content, and is in a location conventionally used for advertising. Respondents often complained about ads taking up “space” or “covering” the desired content.

Examples of user comments:
•“I hate disruptive advertising. An online ad should be no more intrusive than a standard magazine ad. That is, it should not flash, demand action, or be placed in the middle of an article. Off to the side or below is best.”
•“I am fond of links to the side and at the end of my pages. I can’t tell you why, but I like them and am much more likely to click on them and check them out than anywhere else.”
•“Since ads are a necessary evil, they must exist. I can tolerate ads that just sit in the right-hand side of the screen, and do nothing. Ads in the middle of Facebook, are okay, unless I see the same one often.”

Predictability

Predictability relates to the user’s ability to anticipate the behavior and response of a site (and is related to the user’s ability to feel in control). Typical unpredictable interactions involve videos that start playing automatically when the user lands on a new page (thus violating the users’ expectations that audio will only play after they have initiated an explicit “play” interaction), or text that gets shuffled around to make room for an ad that was just loaded.

ABCO Technology’s ratings data shows that ads that were highly predictable and easily identified as ads (e.g., appearing in the right rail) were less disliked than others.

Examples of user comments:
•“I hate when ads pop up in the middle of a page while I’m already trying to read, making me lose my place.”
•“Least disruptive are ads that don’t make any noise, or fit well into social media timelines.”
•“Videos that suddenly start as you go to a page can be very disruptive, and shockingly sudden. These also are embarrassing if you are in public and your volume is not turned off.”

Relevance

Relevance refers to whether the ad is related to the user’s goals or interests. Relevant ads are perceived as less annoying than completely unrelated ones. For example, social media advertisements and retargeting ads tend to be based on user’s previous “likes” — which increases the likelihood that the advertisement will be similar to the user’s interests.

This effect is only true to a point. Ads which are “too” relevant tend to become annoying and intrusive, and lose their perceived value. Additionally, if the ads were once relevant, but are no longer relevant (i.e. the item was already purchased or the user did not want the item anymore), the value of the ad (and the brand) was diminished. Those retargeted red shoes that you see on every website quickly become annoying, and after a few weeks turn the corner into being infuriating.

Related links are, by definition, relevant to the user’s current goal. Not surprisingly, they were rated as the least disliked ad type — both on mobile and on desktop.

Examples of user comments:
•“And I know lots of people think it’s frustrating to have ads show up with items you’ve been searching for, but I like it!”
•“… I always find it unnecessary when I see ads for the exact product I was searching, it would be better if they showed similar products instead.”
•“I HATE that something you searched for pops up later on other websites. Way to ruin Christmas!”

Violating User Requirements Increases Annoyance

As discussed above, based on user comments, we identified 5 factors most likely to affect users’ annoyance. The top most disliked advertising techniques in ABCO’s study violate at least 3 out of these 5 factors. For example, modal ads take away control by interrupting the current task and requiring the user to take an explicit action in order to dismiss them. Their placement also covers content of interest and are usually unpredictable.

Autoplay video ads violate user expectations of predictability — audio suddenly starts, startling and embarrassing the user. Often it forces her to fumble around, trying to locate the source of the noise and a way to shut it down. Autoplay video prevents the user from controlling the presentation of content (the ad plays when the system dictates, not when the user does) and delays gratification by adding an extra step: locate the source of the audio, close it, and continue to primary content.

This exercise can be applied more broadly to all of the ad types: the greater the number of expectations violated, the greater the likelihood that the ad will be hated. On that same note, the fewer requirements violated, the greater the likelihood the ad will be tolerated. Thus, if user experience practitioners wish to create engaging ad campaigns, it is in their best interest to meet as many user requirements as possible, while using contextual information to provide meaningful experiences at the right time. Here are some practical guidelines that may help advertising professionals as they design campaigns:

1.Be polite. Ensure your user consents to seeing the information being presented.
Consider your current designs and identify the circumstances in which your advertisements are presented. Do they interrupt your readers mid-sentence? Do they dive into an audible monologue while your customer is busy doing something else? In short — pretend your advertisements are uninvited dinner guests. You wouldn’t want your dinner guests to waltz in, unannounced, and burst into a prepared speech before you know who they are. Let the user decide when to listen. Don’t use autoplay audio or video. Don’t use modals to barge in on the user’s main tasks. Use the periphery to allow your advertisements to make themselves known, so that your users can view and interact with them on their own terms.

2.Don’t delay the delivery of primary content.
Don’t slow your users down. Acknowledge when your users might be more open to novel information; usually this doesn’t happen when they’ve just landed on your site. Wait for them to walk around and find some content of interest, gain their trust, and then present ads. Be nonobtrusive by placing the ad on the right side or bottom of the screen. Better yet, if your advertisement enables them to reach the desired content more quickly, they might be more inclined to view it, but calling an extra step by another name doesn’t change the fact that it is still an extra step to reach content.

3.Prioritize high value interactions when considering advertisement placement.
While your stakeholders might insist that conversions are the highest-priority interactions, it is a designer’s responsibility to balance the priorities of the business with the priorities of the user. If your most valuable screen real estate is being used for intracontent advertising and persuasive modal dialogs, beware of the potential to convey the wrong message: that the company’s revenues are more important than your users’ goals. After all, we cannot even begin to accomplish business goals until we accomplish user goals.

4.Consider platform conventions; limit any unwelcome surprises.
When you are courting a potential customer, you are essentially building a new customer relationship and establishing trust. Unconventional and unpredictable behavior (in a person or in a product) diminishes trust over time. In the effort to be creative, designers sometimes create interactions that are uncomfortable and jarring. In order to win over and put new customers at ease, make it easy for them to locate primary content and your advertisements. If users are confident that they can find what they’re looking for, they will be in a state of cognitive ease, and will be more likely to trust the advertisements you present.

5.Don’t compete with primary content. Enhance it.
Relevance can be hard to achieve, but if your user is looking at a piece of content, it is in your best interest to amplify the current content rather than to compete with it. Using a user’s personal information is potentially beneficial, but runs the risk of being intrusive and even ruins holiday and birthday surprises for some users and their families. Which is more certain: that a user will still need that pot she’s been shopping for this past week? Or that the user may be interested in the article she is reading right now? Use the current content as a basis for how to shape your advertising content.

Conclusion

Even though our discussion in this article has been focused on 3rd party advertising, the guidelines are equally applicable to a site’s own promotions for its own products and services. In fact, self-promotion is even more likely to generate distrust and dislike if done too aggressively, because users have nobody to blame except your company for every single annoyance triggered by your own promos.

For regular advertising, the blame for any user annoyance is shared between the site hosting the ad and the brand being advertised. Both parties have an interest in avoiding antagonizing their customers:
•The website will eventually lose traffic if users decide that the pain and suffering imposed by aggressive ads aren’t worth the trouble. Loyal users are the way to build a durable business on the Internet, but you won’t foster loyalty if ads virtually muscle their way through (or over) content every time a user visits.
•The brand will build a negative reputation if users consistently hate its advertising. Why pay to erode the integrity of a brand and make that brand less valuable?

E-commerce is the future of retail. While bricks and mortar jobs are on the decline, online retail jobs are growing. If you want to join this group of professionals who have skills, which are in demand, it’s time for you to take action and change your working life.
You can accomplish this goal by contacting ABCO Technology. Reaching our campus by telephone is easy. Call us between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday at: (310) 216-3067. Send your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all qualified students.

 

ABCO Technology has moved. We are located at 11222 South La Cienega BLVD in STE #588. Our mailing zip code is 90304.
Build exciting websites, which will bringtraffic and sales today!

Database Administrator jobs rapidly growing in 2017

Posted on July 26, 2017 - Posted in: News, IT Career Training

Database administrators are growing in importance and salary for the past decade. The question many students want to know concerns, which database is the best one to obtain a vendor certification. Before we look at this question, let’s examine the career in a holistic view by analyzing the big picture.

Pros / Database administrators have the potential to earn a high wage.

Cons / Some database administrators are required to be on-call 24 hours a day.

 Verdict, you should Pursue this field if you have great attention to detail and enjoy organizing all types of information.

A database administrator builds and maintains custom databases to meet the specific data needs of a company or organization.
The job requires certification in one or more kinds of platforms, such as Oracle or Microsoft, as well as good communication skills to determine the multiple purposes that a system will be used for within an office. Increase in demand is expected in computer careers such as this over the next 10 years, although there are fewer database administrator jobs anticipated than in other similar fields, such as a network security specialist or a telecommunications specialist.

Databases streamline the data-entry process by making data in like fields similar in format, which is essential in accessing and sorting data more efficiently. Common types of systems are those that maintain inventory at a retail store, data on a shopping cart website or a data warehouse that stores accounts payable and accounts receivable information. In addition, the health care field is experiencing a large pickup in demand for database administrators because of the huge amount of regulations requiring reporting of all treatments and procedures.

If you are employed in these types of IT jobs, you transfer data from one system to another during an upgrade. In addition, you provide maintenance to databases such as when one malfunctions or when additional functions need to be added, including a different kind of report or a new field on a form. You also manage access to the system. Because databases usually contain confidential or sensitive data, different kinds of access are established for employees with different security levels.

According to the US Department of labor, starting salaries for database administrators average $42,930 annually, and you can expect to earn up to $118,720 depending on your region in the United States. If you are employed in a full-time, permanent position, you are often eligible for health insurance and other benefits.

Presently, 118,700 database administrators are employed throughout the United States, and 19,900 job openings are expected to be created by 2022. A range of companies and organizations that need to store data may hire you, or you may work for a consulting firm, which builds databases for business clients. You are most likely to be hired by a college or university, an insurance carrier or a merchant wholesaler. The states with the highest concentration of database administrators include the District of Columbia, California, Colorado and Virginia.

Individuals in these types of computer jobs often receive a bachelor’s degree in information technology at an accredited university, or you can enroll in an accredited vocational school offering specialized programs for database administrators.

Certification is also needed in one or more platforms such as Oracle and Microsoft. An understanding of internet programming languages is also helpful for managing online systems, which are becoming more and more prevalent.

Database administrators who are employed in a permanent position by a company to maintain an internal database often work full-time. Depending on the size of the company and whether the company is international, you may be required to work swing or graveyard shifts. For those who maintain online systems which are accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week, individuals are often required to be on-call when they are not in the office. If a database malfunctions, you may work over a weekend or holiday to get that database functioning properly again.

ABCO Technology offers a comprehensive program, which will enable you to acquire the skills, certifications and confidence to apply for a job as a database administrator. If you believe this career path is for you, it’s time to contact ABCO Technology. You can reach our campus by telephone at: (310) 216-3067 from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday. If email is your desired way to communicate, email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu

Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for it.
ABCO Technology has recently moved to a new and expanded campus. ABCO is located at 11222 South La Cienega BLVD in STE #588 Los Angeles, Ca. 90304.

Database professionals are in demand, join this group today and change your working life.

Linux Jobs are in demand in 2017

Posted on July 24, 2017 - Posted in: IT Career Training, Blog, News

According to a study conducted earlier this year by Dice, the tech career site, 93 percent of hiring managers are looking to employ Linux professionals. If you want one of those high paying jobs, a great way to increase your chances to get that job offer from that company of your dreams is to go to human resources with either the CompTIA Linux + or as a Certified Red hat Network Administrator.

Linux-based-certifications

The fact that Linux jobs are in demand has not gone unnoticed. According to Dan Brown, The Linux Foundation’s PR & Marketing Manager, “The Linux Foundation’s Intro to Linux courses, which can help with basic prep for the CompTIA Linux + or Red Hat Systems administrator Exam, has had over 270,000 registrations from 100+ countries.” That has made this course the biggest ever for Linux. The enrollments show a high employer demand. Candidates wouldn’t be taking these courses unless they were told to by human resource departments.

Why are some many people interested in obtaining Linux certifications?

The answer boils down to one important area of information technology, which the media reports about as Cyber security.

Cybercrime is on the rise. Linux is an open source operating system, which network administrators can configure in certain ways to make it very difficult for hackers. Hackers want easy targets and a system using Linux, which is properly configured, is not an easy target. Therefore, companies are turning to network administrators who are proficient in both Windows and Linux operating systems. In many large companies, Linux runs in the background. The average employee working at one of these companies will believe the company’s operating system is Windows when in fact the system’s back end is operated with Linux. Complex systems using dual operating systems create jobs, which only the right trained information technology professional can fill.

While these Linux Foundation certifications are designed to be complementary to the lower-level Linux Professional Institute (LPI) certifications, they’re more comparable to high-level certifications such as Red Hat’s Certified System Administrator (RHCSA) in that they’re quite difficult to pass.

If you are someone interested in working with open-sourced information technology, getting those certifications will be your key to success. The best way to accomplish your goal is to find a school who offers instructor led hands-on training. Hands-on training offers many benefits, especially when the training is taught by a live instructor. Live instructors will pass on their actual work experience. With most certification exams, the methods for performing a particular on the job task are very different from what is on the test. In order to successfully pass this exam, a candidate must learn the material with two mindsets.

The first being to acquire the knowledge and skills to do the job. The second path is to learn how to past that exam, which will stand in your way if you don’t understand the procedure.

If you want to become certified for Linux, it’s time to call ABCO Technology today. You can reach our campus by telephone at: (310) 216-3067 from 9 AM to 6 PM. Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu

 

Financial aid is available to all students who can qualify for the financial assistance.
Apply for a great job today, get trained and certified in Linux!

Cybersecurity jobs

Posted on July 23, 2017 - Posted in: News

Cybersecurity jobs are there for the taking. Are you ready?
By 2020 there is expected to be 1.5 million unfilled cybersecurity positions.

It takes more than technical know-how to be an essential part of an IT security team, reports Greg Masters of Sans Institute. Hands-on experience is required. Attending a training program, which offers hands-on training opportunities will improve your job search.

One might think that a net increase of 13,000 information technology jobs in February is a sign of healthy growth in the field, but a comparison to previous employment numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) paints a more complex picture, which benefits the cyber security professional.

While the numbers prove conclusively that February was the best month since last September in terms of job growth for IT professionals, there is something a bit unsettling about performance over the last three months of the year, David Foote, CEO and chief research officer at Foote Partners, a Vero Beach, Fla.-based IT analyst firm and research organization, said in a report. The report clearly indicates cybercrime is on the rise.

OUR EXPERTS

Joyce Brocaglia, CEO, Alta Associates
Domini Clark, principal, Blackmere Consulting; director of strategy, InfoSec Connect
Rajiv Gupta, CEO, Skyhigh Networks
Scott Laliberte, managing director and leader of global IT security and privacy practice, Protiviti
Michael Potters, CEO, Glenmont Group

“Only 7,533 jobs were added on average in this period compared to 11,533 jobs per month in the first nine months,” he wrote. While he pointed out that a three-month span is insufficient for a true analysis of labor numbers, still, the February results indicated “volatility and uncertainty in the marketplace for U.S. tech jobs.”
What appears to be holding them back is companies are building new cyber security systems and creating new policies.
Foote’s conclusion was that companies are cautious about hiring on full-time staff for technology-enabled solutions they are experimenting with. Rather, the call is going out to consultants and contingency workers to fill roles. This way, enterprises can remain flexible as they develop their security implementations.

To stay competitive, enterprises must scale quickly, Foote said. This means positions are being added in areas that prove effective – such as cloud, Big Data, mobile or digital technology –because the outlook shows these professionals having an impact for a long time.

“What will drive new job creation in 2017 will be hiring in niche areas – such as Big Data and advanced analytics, cybersecurity and certain areas of applications development and software engineering, like DevOps and digital product development,” he said.

Other experts point to the growth of the cloud as a determining factor in opening a wide berth between jobs to fill and candidates skilled enough to fill them. The move to the cloud and evolving threats have transformed the skill requirements for IT departments, exasperating the skill shortage, says Rajiv Gupta (right), CEO, Skyhigh Networks, a global cloud access security broker with U.S. headquarters in Campbell, Calif. “With the prevalence of cloud services, IT professionals are more valuable if they can understand user needs, educate employees on risk and balance the needs of security with business,” he says.

Many customers his firm works with have set aggressive timelines to eliminate most or all their datacenters, he explains. “A CISO empowering an efficient, secure company-wide cloud migration can have a significant effect on their organization’s business.”

As companies build out their software development programs, IT security will move to a front-office role and work directly with application teams to deploy solutions more efficiently and without compromising sensitive data, says Gupta, adding that more than two-thirds of IT professionals believe communication with non-IT departments and executives will become more or much more important in the next five years.

Gone are the days that companies are searching for CISOs based on their technical competencies alone, says Joyce Brocaglia (left), CEO of Alta Associates, a Flemington, N.J.-based boutique executive search firm specializing in cybersecurity, IT risk management and privacy. “The CISO role is now valued as a bridge for business enablement, so these leaders need to demonstrate collaboration and influencing skills with business stakeholders, be able to effectively and succinctly present to the board, interact with regulators and have the capability for the development of an overall risk strategy for their companies.”

As if that’s not enough, she adds, those in this role need to have a combination of true leadership skills, the gravitas and capabilities to build consensus, influence culture and be an evangelist for their programs internally and externally.

Considering by 2020 there is expected to be 1.8 million unfilled cybersecurity positions, Brocaglia – also the founder of the Executive Women’s Forum – says the gap will never be closed by ignoring half of the population, women. She points to “The Women in Cybersecurity Study,” co-authored by the Executive Women’s Forum on Information Security Risk Management & Privacy and (ISC)2, which was released in March. “It is an eye-opening report on the stagnation and underrepresentation of women in cybersecurity,” she says.

Highlights of the report show:
•Women are underrepresented in the cybersecurity profession at 11 percent, a number that has been stagnant since reported in 2013.
•Women have higher levels of education than men, with 51 percent holding a master’s degree or higher, compared to 45 percent of men, yet hold fewer positions in management.
•Globally men are four times more likely to hold C and executive level positions, and nine times more likely to hold managerial positions than women.
•51 percent of women report various forms of discrimination in the cybersecurity workforce, compared to 15 percent reported by men. Women report higher levels of discrimination, as they rise in an organization with 67 percent of C level women reporting discrimination.
•In 2016, women in cybersecurity earned less than men at every level
•Women who feel valued in the workplace have also benefited from leadership development programs in greater numbers than women who feel undervalued
•Women who receive sponsorship and mentorship are more likely to be successful.

Since 2002, the Executive Women’s Forum on Information Security Risk Management & Privacy (EWF) has been committed to addressing the issues highlighted in this report by delivering programs and events that help women to succeed, says Brocaglia. “So I’m not surprised to see that this study reflects what women have been telling us for the past 15 years: That they are most successful and feel most valued when they are given access to thought leaders, mentorship and leadership development programs and provided a safe and trusted environment to interact.”

 

Would you like to enter the field of cybersecurity? If you are a lady who wants a career in cyber security,, there are numerous opportunities available to you in Los Angeles. Call ABCO Technology between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. You can reach our campus by phone at: (310) 216-3067.
Email your questions to info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all qualified students.
ABCO Technology has moved. We are now located at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588 in Los Angeles, Ca. 90304
Ladies, join the exploding job field of cyber security today!

Five important strategies to conquer semantic search

Posted on July 20, 2017 - Posted in: Blog

The key question I am constantly asked in my classes is: What is semantic search? Broadly speaking, it’s a term that refers to a move towards more accurate search results by using various methods to better understand the intent and context behind a search.

Or as Alexis Sanders very eloquently explained it on the Moz Blog,
“The word “semantic” refers to the meaning or essence of something. Applied to search, “semantics” essentially relates to the study of words and their logic. Semantic search seeks to improve search accuracy by understanding a searcher’s intent through contextual meaning. […] Semantic search brings about an enhanced understanding of searcher intent, the ability to extract answers, and delivers more personalized results.”

Google is constantly making tweaks and changes to its documentation and features linked to semantic search. Many of these involve things like structured data and Schema.org, rich results, Knowledge Graph and so on, and the vast majority go unannounced and unnoticed – even though they can make a significant difference to the way we interact with search.

But there are some eagle-eyed members of the search community who keep tabs on changes to semantic search, and let the rest of us know what’s up. To aid in those efforts, I’m rounding up five recent important changes to semantic search on Google that you might not have noticed.

100% of the credit for these observations goes to the Semantic Search Marketing Google+ group (and specifically its founder Aaron Bradley), which is my source for all the latest news and updates on semantic search. If you want to keep in the loop, I highly recommend joining.

Videos and recipes are now accessible via image search.

Earlier this week, Google made a telling addition to its documentation for videos, specifying that video rich results will now display in image search on mobile devices, “providing users with useful information about your video.”

A mobile image search for a phrase like “Daily Show YouTube” (okay, that one’s probably not going to happen organically, but I wanted to make the feature work) will fetch video thumbnails in among the grid of regular image results, which when selected, unfold into something like this:

You then need to select “Watch” or the title of the video to be taken to the video itself. (Selecting the image will only bring up the image in full screen and won’t redirect you to the video). So far, video rich results from YouTube and Wistia have been spotted in image search.

Google’s documentation for recipes also now features a similar addition: “Rich results can also appear in image search on mobile devices, providing users with useful information about your recipe.” So now you can do more than just stare at a mouthwatering picture of a lasagna in image search – you might be able to find out how it’s made.

Google’s documentation gives instructions on how to mark up your videos and recipes correctly, so that you can make sure your content gets pulled through into image search.

Rich cards are no more
RIP, rich cards. The term introduced by Google in May 2016 to describe the, well, card-style rich results that appear for specific searches have now been removed from Google Developers.

As identified by Aaron Bradley, Google has made changes to its ‘Mark Up Your Content Items’ on Google Developers to remove reference to “rich cards”. In most places, these have been changed to refer to “rich results”, the family of results which includes things like rich cards, rich snippets and featured snippets.
There’s no information as to why Google decided to retire the term; I think it’s usefully descriptive, but maybe Google decided there was no point making an arbitrary distinction between a “card” and a “non-card” rich result.

It may also have been aiming to slim down the number of similar-sounding terms it uses to describe search results with the addition of “enriched search results” to the mix – more on that later.

Google launches structured data-powered job postings in search results

Google has added another item to the list of things that will trigger a rich result in search: job postings.

This change was prefigured by the addition of a Jobs tab to Google’s ‘Early Access and partner-only features’ page, which is another good place to keep an eye out for upcoming developments in search.

Google also hinted at the addition during this year’s Google I/O, when it announced the launch of a new initiative called ‘Google for Jobs’. In a lengthy blog post published on the first day of the conference, Google CEO Sundar Pichai explained the advent of Google for Jobs as forming part of Google’s overall efforts towards “democratizing access to information and surfacing new opportunities”, tying it in with Google’s advances in AI and machine learning.

“For example, almost half of U.S. employers say they still have issues filling open positions. Meanwhile, job seekers often don’t know there’s a job opening just around the corner from them, because the nature of job posts—high turnover, low traffic, inconsistency in job titles—have made them hard for search engines to classify. Through a new initiative, Google for Jobs, we hope to connect companies with potential employees, and help job seekers find new opportunities.”

The new feature, which is U.S.-only for the time being, is being presented as an “enriched search experience”, which is another one of Google’s interesting new additions to semantic search that I’ve explored in full below.

And in a neat tie-in, reviews of employers are now due to be added in schema.org 3.3, including both individual text reviews and aggregate ratings of organizations in their role as employer.

Google introduces new “enriched search results”

Move over rich results – Google’s got an even better experience now. Introducing “enriched search results”, a “more interactive and enhanced class of rich results” being made available across Google.

How long have enriched search results been around? SEO By the Sea blogged about a Google patent for enriched search results as far back as 2014, and followed up with a post in 2015 exploring ‘enriched resources’ in more detail.

However, in the 2014 post Bill Slawski specifically identifies things like airline flights, weather inquiries and sports scores as triggering an enriched result, whereas in its Search Console Help topic on enriched search results, Google specifies that this experience is linked to job postings, recipes and events only.

According to Google:
“Enriched search results often include an immersive popup experience or other advanced interaction feature.”

Google also specifies that “Enriched search enables the user to search across the various properties of a structured data item; for instance, a user might search for chicken soup recipes under 200 calories, or recipes that take less than 1 hour of preparation time.”

Judging by this quote, enriched search results are a continuation of Google’s overall strategy to achieve two things: interpret and respond to more in-depth search queries, and make the SERP more of a one-stop-shop for anything that a searcher could need.

We’ve seen Google increasingly add interactive features to the SERP like new types of rich results, and Google Posts, while also improving its ability to interpret user intent and search context. (Which, as we established earlier, is the goal of semantic search). So in the recipe example given above, a user would be able to search for chicken soup recipes with under 200 calories, then view and follow the recipe in a pop-up, all without needing to click through to a recipe website.

Needless to say, this could be bad news for website traffic and click-through – even more than featured snippets, answer boxes, the knowledge graph, quick answers and other rich results already are.

Google makes a whole host of changes to its structured data developer guides

 

Finally, Google has made a wide-ranging set of changes to its structured data developer guides. I recommend reading Aaron Bradley’s post to Semantic Search Marketing for full details, but here are some highlights:
◾Guides are now classified as covering the following topics: structured data, AMP, mobile friendly design
◾Structured data has a new definition: it is now defined by Google as “a standardized format for providing information about a page and classifying the page content.” The old definition called it “a text-based organization of data that is included in a file and served from the web.” This one definitely seems a little clearer.
◾Twice as many items now listed under “Technical guidelines”, including an explanation of what to do about duplicate content
◾There is now less emphasis on the Structured Data Testing Tool, and more on post-publication analysis and testing – perhaps Google is trying to get users to do more of their own work on structured data markup, rather than relying on Google’s tool?
◾All content types are now eligible to appear in a carousel.
If you want to improve your webpage’s performance, it’s time to contact ABCO Technology today. Visit our new campus located at 11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE #588 Los Angeles, Ca. 90304. Or call us at: (310) 216-3067 from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday.
Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all qualified students.
Join the Internet of things revolution today. Build Webpages, which will attract traffic and increase return on investment.

Seven Secrets for optimizing your PPC campaign

Posted on July 19, 2017 - Posted in: News

Once you’ve learned the fundamentals of PPC, how can you improve on the results of your efforts? Here are seven tips to take your campaign to the next level.
I recently gave eight tips to my Search Engine class at ABCO Technology to help our students get their first campaign off the ground, with my lecture ‘PPC 101: Eight tips to get started‘. This article is the sequel to that lecture, thought of as PPC Advanced, with seven more tips to help you improve on what you’re already doing.
You don’t have to be a PPC expert to create a successful campaign with strong ROI. All you need is the time to understand how PPC works and to improve your efforts in a series of small but effective steps.

Set up conversion tracking

It’s really important to be able to measure your PPC efforts and this can be achieved by setting up the tracking pixels on your pages. Right before you start with PPC ads, you can add a conversion code to your site to be more prepared for the analysis of your campaigns.

This will allow you to understand which ads work better for your audience, bringing you closer to conversions. It can be extremely useful for PPC beginners to learn what counts as an effective PPC ad and whether their first attempts can bring them closer to ROI.

Conversion pixels make analysis of your campaigns more specific by offering the right insights on the ads that make leads and sales easier.

Focus on quality keywords

Keyword research is among the first steps to take when planning a PPC campaign. The end result of this can be a long list of keywords to explore, but do you really need to test them all? It’s tempting to try all of them until you find the most successful ones for your business, but it’s usually more effective to focus on the most important ones for your goals.

Quality keywords are not the same for all businesses or even every campaign, and this depends on what you want to achieve. These may not even be the most popular, but they will probably have more chances of converting than the rest.

Focus on what you define as quality keywords, even this is quite a limited pool. This will save you both time and budget.

Learn more about your audience

As we mentioned in my first PPC lecture, it’s important to find your audience before you set up a PPC campaign. This tip is helping you take the understanding to the next level. Once you do find the ideal audience for your ads, it’s good to spend the right time to learn as many things as possible about them.

It might be useful to develop personas that help you understand your audience’s habits to be able to create more effective ads that lead to higher conversion rates.

Once you understand your target audience, it’s time to analyses how they function in all the stages of your funnel. Where does your target audience sit as part of your sales cycle? How does that affect your ads and your set goals?

For example, it’s different targeting new prospect leads compared to past customers you want to retarget and this can be reflected in your planning for your next PPC ads.

Set a landing page that matches your ads

Every PPC ad should lead to a relevant landing page to ensure that the audience is exposed to the right details after clicking on an ad. This may include more information about the product, answering questions, offering options for the next steps and most of all, speaking the same language as the ad.

It’s not just about creating effective PPC copy for your ad – it’s equally important to maintain consistency between the ad and the landing page your audience visits. This increases the chances for more conversions, as users can feel that the message resonates throughout all the pages.

Focus on the image of your ad

A successful PPC ad consists of compelling copy, but also an appealing and relevant image. As the internet becomes more visual year by year and people become accustomed to visual content, an image can significantly aid the effectiveness of your search ads.

Pick carefully the image you’ll use in every ad, aiming for:
◾visual appeal
◾relevance
◾high quality

It would be ideal if an image could create an association with a product or a company, as this could increase the chances for a long-term experience.

Be careful though, as the image still has to be relevant to the ad. Visual appeal on its own cannot increase conversions if the image is irrelevant to the ad.

Optimize your ads for mobile

As more and more users increase the time they spend on mobile devices, they are exposed to more advertising on mobile. We often talk and think of mobile optimization in terms of optimizing mobile websites, but optimizing your mobile ads is just as important.

According to Mary Meeker’s Internet Trends Report 2017, internet advertising saw a growth of 22% the last year, with mobile advertising contributing significantly to this increase.

This serves as a good reminder of why all PPC campaigns should be mobile-optimized to target a growing audience.

The process of mobile optimization for a PPC ad includes paying special attention to:
◾ad copy
◾ad image
◾habits of mobile users
◾landing page

Once your campaign is underway, an analysis of the conversions can tell whether mobile users found the ad interesting enough to click on it.

Explore PPC ads holistically

PPC advertising can be very useful by itself, but it’s still more effective to consider as a component part of your entire digital marketing strategy.

It’s not just about launching a successful PPC campaign to reach the desired results, as these will still be aligned with your broader marketing and sales goals.

For example, a PPC campaign can lead to more improved results when it’s aligned with SEO strategy, social media marketing and email marketing.

A multi-channel approach is more popular among marketers as it is more reflective the way people consume content and view ads through multiple channels and devices.

The acquired data from a holistic approach to your marketing allows you to see how other channels interact with your PPC ads. It also helps you to understand your audience and create even more effective PPC ads in the next campaign.

Overview

Here are some tips to keep in mind when improving your PPC campaign:
◾Install a conversion pixel before you start your campaign
◾Only focus on quality keywords
◾Learn as much as possible about your audience
◾Make sure your landing page matches the expectations that your PPC ad sets
◾Pick the right visual for your ad
◾Create mobile optimized PPC ads
◾Think of PPC niches

 

ABCO Technology offers comprehensive courses in the fields of E-commerce, Social Media and Search Engine optimization. Call our campus today to learn how we can help you to build highly successful websites. You can reach ABCO Technology by phone from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday at (310) 216-3067. Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
ABCO Technology has moved to a new and modern facility located at 11222 South South La Cienega Blvd. in STE # 588. Our campus is in zip code 90304.
Financial aid is available to all qualified students.
Learn to beat your competition today!

Visual Search, Your key questions answered

Posted on - Posted in: Blog

Visual search is one of the most extremely complex and fiercely competed sectors of the search industry. Earlier in July, Bing announced their new visual search mode, right on the heels of similar developments from Pinterest and Google.

Ours is a culture dominated by images, so it stands to reason that visual search has assumed such importance for the world’s largest technology companies. The pace of progress is truly quickening; but there is no clear visual search ‘leader’ and nor will there be one soon.

The search industry has developed significantly over the past decade, through advances in personalization, natural language processing, and multimedia results. And yet, one could argue that the power of the image remains untapped.

This is not due to a lack of attention or investment. Quite the contrary. Cracking visual search will require a combination of technological skills, psychological insight, and neuroscientific know-how. This makes it a fascinating area of development, but also one that will not be mastered easily.

Therefore, in this article, we will begin with an outline of the visual search industry and the challenges it poses, before analyzing the recent progress made by Google, Microsoft and Pinterest.

What is visual search?

We all partake in visual search every day. Whenever we need to locate our keys among a range of other items, for example, our brains are engaged in a visual search.

We learn to recognize certain targets and we can locate them within a busy landscape with increasing ease over time.

This is a trickier task for a computer, however.

Image search, in which a search engine takes a text-based query and tries to find the best visual match, is subtly distinct from modern visual search. Visual search can take an image as its ‘query’, rather than text. In order to perform an accurate visual search, search engines require highly sophisticated processes than they do for traditional image search.

Typically, as part of this process, deep neural networks in our brains are put through their paces in various types of tests, with the hope that they will mimic the functioning of the human brain in identifying targets.

The decisions (or inherent ‘biases’, as they are known) that allow us to make sense of these patterns are more difficult to integrate into any machine. When processing an image, should a machine prioritize shape, color, or size? How does a person do this? Do we even know for sure, or do we only know the output?

As such, search engines still struggle to process images in the way we expect them to. We simply don’t understand our own biases well enough to be able to reproduce them in another system.

There has been a lot of progress in this field, nonetheless. Google image search has improved drastically in response to text queries and other options, like Tineye, which also allows us to use reverse image search. This is a useful feature, but its limits are self-evident.

For years, Facebook has been able to identify individuals in photos, in the same way a person would immediately recognize a friend’s face. This example is a closer approximation of the holy grail for visual search; however, it still falls short. In this instance, Facebook has set up its networks to search for faces, giving them a clear target.

At its zenith, online visual search allows us to use an image as an input and receive another, related image as an output. This would mean that we could take a picture with a smartphone of a chair, for example, and have the technology return pictures of suitable rugs to accompany the style of the chair.

The typical ‘human’ process in the middle, where we would decipher the component parts of an image and decide what it is about, then conceptualize and categorize related items, is undertaken by deep neural networks. These networks are ‘unsupervised’, meaning that there is no human intervention as they alter their functioning based on feedback signals and work to deliver the desired output.

The result can be mesmerizing.
This is just one approach to answering a delicate question, however.

There are no right or wrong answers in this field as it stands; simply more or less effective ones in a given context.

We should therefore assess the progress of a few technology giants to observe the significant strides they have made thus far, but also the obstacles left to overcome before visual search is truly mastered.

Bing visual search

In early June at TechCrunch 50, Microsoft announced that it would now allow users to “search by picture.”

This is notable for a number of reasons. First of all, although Bing image search has been present for quite some time, Microsoft actually removed its original visual search product in 2012. People simply weren’t using it since its 2009 launch, as it wasn’t accurate enough.

Furthermore, it would be fair to say that Microsoft is running a little behind in this race. Rival search engines and social media platforms have provided visual search functions for some time now.

As a result, it seems reasonable to surmise that Microsoft must have something compelling if they have chosen to re-enter the fray with such a public announcement. While it is not quite revolutionary, the new Bing visual search is still a useful tool that builds significantly on their image search product.

A Bing search for “kitchen decor ideas” which showcases Bing’s new visual search capabilities

What sets Bing visual search apart is the ability to search within images and then expand this out to related objects that might complement the user’s selection.

A user can select specific objects, hone in on them, and purchase similar items if they desire. The opportunities for retailers are both obvious and plentiful.

It’s worth mentioning that Pinterest’s visual search has been able to do this for some time. But the important difference between Pinterest’s capability and Bing’s in this regard is that Pinterest can only redirect users to Pins that businesses have made available on Pinterest – and not all of them might be shoppable. Bing, on the other hand, can index a retailer’s website and use visual search to direct the user to it, with no extra effort required on the part of either party.

Powered by Silverlight technology, this should lead to a much more refined approach to searching through images. Microsoft provided the following visualization of how their query processing system works for this product:

Microsoft combines this system with the structured data it owns to provide a much richer, more informative search experience. Although restricted to a few search categories, such as homeware, travel, and sports, we should expect to see this rolled out to more areas through this year.

The next step will be to automate parts of this process, so that the user no longer needs to draw a box to select objects. It is still some distance from delivering on the promise of perfect, visual search, but these updates should at least see Microsoft eke out a few more sellable searches via Bing.

Google recently announced its Lens product at the 2017 I/O conference in May. The aim of Lens is really to turn your smartphone into a visual search engine.

Google Lens logo, which looks like a simplified camera with a red and yellow outline, blue lens and green flash.

Take a picture of anything out there and Google will tell you what the object is about, along with any related entities. Point your smartphone at a restaurant, for example, and Google will tell you its name, whether your friends have visited it before, and highlight reviews for the restaurant as well

ABCO Technology teaches comprehensive courses for web development where you can utilize visual search. ABCO has moved to a new location at:
11222 South La Cienega Blvd. in STE 588
Los Angeles, Ca. 90304. You can reach our campus by telephone at: (310) 216-3067.

 

Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu
Financial aid is available to all students who qualify.
Get ahead of the web development crowd. Start learning how to design websites that will capitalize on visual search today!

Local Opportunities for Coders

Posted on November 8, 2016 - Posted in: News
Tagged: , , ,

local opportunities for coders

What are the local opportunities for coders? Recently while driving through Playa Vista, a suburb of Los Angeles sometimes known as “Silicon Beach”, I was amazed by the number of new companies opening in this area. Approximately 75% of the new firms were developing games for iPhone and androids. Many of the new jobs require knowledge of Java, Unity, C++, and a basic knowledge of networking.

To name just one, Electronic Arts, which is located in the Playa Vista area, is expanding their hiring.

The majority of the new hires come from a demographic under the age of 35. These new programmers don’t have college degrees. Instead, they have a passion for developing games, a certification in the area of programming and a willingness to work long hours in order to complete a project.

One of these companies, based in Canada, recently called one of our students to offer him a job. This company plans to open a gaming development office in Los Angeles in four months. The new company told our student they wanted to be in Los Angeles, because “that is where the best talent is located”.

Taking Advantage of These Opportunities Means Getting Training

It’s much easier than you think to train for a job in this exciting field. At ABCO Technology, our career-focused training takes six months. As a programmer and applications developer, you will learn to program in Java, Unity, C++ and PHP. Some programmers can become certified for Microsoft by obtaining their Microsoft Certified Program Developer. The programming track has several paths, all of which are good choices for a student who finishes and passes the certification exams.

The training will teach you how to work with a game engine, which is a bit similar to a website building template such as Dreamweaver or WordPress. Only in this case, the game engine provides shortcuts for building that winning game.

Learn to develop that winning game now. Contact ABCO Technology. You can reach our campus between 9 AM and 6 PM Monday through Friday. Call us today at: (310) 216-3067.
Email your questions to info@abcotechnology.edu
Start gaming today!

Cyber Security Success Story

Posted on September 6, 2016 - Posted in: Blog, IT Career Training
Tagged: , , , ,
cyber security success
Sometimes the right certification can make the difference between unemployment and career success.

In April 2015, a woman with a master’s degree in computer science walked into ABCO Technology. She told me she’d been on the job market for nine months and sent out 750 resumes. But at that point, she’d received no solid job offers. How, then, was she going to turn her academic training into a cyber security success story?

Industry Certifications make a Big Difference

After a long discussion, we determined that she wanted to work in the field of network administration with cyber security. Like many students who had worked very hard to obtain an advanced degree, she was reluctant to place her trust in the certification process. She had trouble with the fact she spent all of that time and money attending school, only for a very disappointing outcome. It took a lot of documentation and a bit of hand holding, but she enrolled at ABCO and started in the networking and cyber security program.

The student began her courses, and within 11 months she completed a solid list of certifications, including

and finally the Certified Information Systems Securities Professional/CISSP.

Our student then applied to the US Department of Defense for a DOD 8140 cyber security clearance. Within 4 weeks she received the DOD 8140 cyber security clearance.

Candidate Finds Cyber Security Success in the US Military

Candidates who receive this clearance have their contact information placed on a special directory maintained by Sans Institute. Before long, an Air Force Recruiter in Las Vegas gave our student a call. The recruiter told her about an opportunity to work in Cyber Security at Creech Air Force base in Nevada. The job offer had several excellent benefits, and our student was excited to accept the offer.

As of August 2016, she is very happy in her new role as a cyber security professional. I don’t know the specifics of her job or the nature of the security work she is doing.  But I can tell you that this was one case where becoming certified in a list of information technology areas was a definite life-changing event.

ABCO Technology – Equipping Students with IT Skills since 2000

Since its founding in 2000, ABCO Technology has witnessed countless situations where students changed their lives by achieving certification in a field of information technology.

The manner whereby candidates receive jobs has completely changed over the past 15 years. It used to be that the 1980s and even into the mid-90s, employers were willing to train a college graduate from square one to work on their products. However, changing business conditions combined with the fact that the average person no longer remains on a particular job for their whole career has caused the training landscape to change dramatically. Today, employers want their candidates to have a set of predetermined skills and qualifications before applying for a particular job. This condition is particularly true for information technology. In summary, the certified candidate gets the job.

Acquire the necessary skills and get certified for that great information technology job you’ve always dreamed about.

If you would like in a solid career in information technology, pick up your cell phone and call ABCO Technology. You can reach our campus from 9 AM to 6 PM Monday through Friday. Alternately, you can email us at: info@abcotechnology.edu

Get certified and change your life today.

8 Tips on Acing IT Certification Exams

Posted on August 31, 2016 - Posted in: Blog, IT Career Training

IT Certification Exam

The information technology industry has moved toward strict standards for IT certification in many areas. Employers from over 2,000,000 companies in the United States will not hire someone for a particular job in information technology unless they can show certification. After all your education, how do you make sure you pass the exam on the first try?

Becoming certified involves passing a particular certification exam offered by a vendor of either software or equipment. For example, CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco, Oracle and even Linux offer certification exams.

The venders listed above moved toward this business model because having certified professionals handling product saves both time and money.

In fact many insurance companies along with leasing firms require certification as a condition for equipment they use. Completing a class in a particular area of information technology will not be recognized by most employers as a qualification for hire. All classes are not taught in the same way and certain instructors may not have covered all of the material necessary for a new candidate to do a specific job.

How to Ace an IT Certification Exam

1. Pick a Good School

Find an accredited school that features certified trainers for your particular subject. Ensure your instructor has at least five years of practical experience and 2 years of teaching experience in your selected program.

2. Attend Classes

It’s amazing that people will pay good money to get a higher education, but skip class anyway. Learning from a textbook and trying things out at home can help you pass the exam; taking part in discussions, getting to know your instructor and participating fully will enrich your experience. Don’t shortchange yourself: show up to class, arrive early, and participate.

3. Make sure the school you select assigns labs

Labs are the hands-on components of IT education, and the groundwork of a career in IT. Complete all lab assignments. Students who fail certification exams admit they only read through lab assignments and didn’t actually complete them. This is a crazy decision when your career will depend on your practical experience.

4. Write practice exams, often

Take your practice exams over and over, until you receive a score of 95% or higher. When you take the actual certification exam, I guarantee your score will drop by a factor of at least 10%. Everyone gets a bit nervous when taking a new exam. If you are overly prepared, your tension on test day will decrease.

5. Do extra work in your subject

You can join a chat group on your subject, read professional blogs and use the Internet to conduct additional research about the topics covered in your class and program. In addition, reach out to people who have taken your certification test and ask them for suggestions.

6. On exam day, relax

When taking your exam, don’t be in a hurry. Whether the exam gives you 90 minutes or 3 hours, use all of your time.

7. Read the instructions

Be sure to follow the exam’s instructions. I know of one student who failed a Cisco exam because he didn’t follow the exam’s instructions.

8. Be passionate about your subject

My final tip is to have passion for your subject. If you have a vision of yourself engaged in this type of work three or five years from now, this will give you that added incentive to do that extra work, which will bring you to the promised land of certification.

Are you interested in learning information technology and gaining a new career, which will change your life? If so it is time for you to take that big step and contact ABCO Technology. You can reach us by telephone at (310) 216-3067 from 9 Am to 6 PM Monday through Friday. If communicating by email is easier for you, send your questions to ABCO Technology. Email your questions to: info@abcotechnology.edu