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Predict future cash flows effortlessly with Microsoft Excel’s Forecast ETS function. Quick Tech Talk With Steve Yoss CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Stephen Yoss. View the full article

Predict future cash flows effortlessly with Microsoft Excel’s Forecast ETS function. Quick Tech Talk With Steve Yoss CPE Today Go PRO for members-only access to more Stephen Yoss. View the full article

Recruiting top talent isn't enough. Firms must master retention. By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Recruiting top talent isn't enough. Firms must master retention. By CPA Trendlines Research Go PRO for members-only access to more CPA Trendlines Research. View the full article

Reddit Ads is introducing a suite of new tools aimed at helping small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) streamline campaign management, optimize ad performance, and improve data accuracy. Easier Campaign Setup and Management: Campaign Import. Reddit Ads now allows advertisers to import campaigns directly from Meta in just three steps. After signing into their Meta account within Reddit Ads Manager, users can select an ad account and campaign to import, then customize it to fit Reddit’s platform. This seamless process enables advertisers to leverage high-performing Meta ads on Reddit quickly. Simplified Campaign QA. A new review page in the Reddit Ads Manager now consolidates all campaign details for a clear overview. Advertisers can easily identify errors or inconsistencies and make edits before publishing. Enhanced Signal Quality and Conversion Tracking: 1-Click GTM Integration for Reddit Pixel. Setting up Reddit’s website conversions tag just got easier. With the new Google Tag Manager (GTM) integration, advertisers can install the Reddit Pixel in a few clicks, enabling fast and accurate conversion tracking. This simplifies measuring customer journeys and optimizing lower-funnel strategies. Event Manager QA. The Events Manager’s enhanced Events Overview page now provides a detailed breakdown of conversion events from the Reddit Pixel or Conversions API (CAPI). This update helps advertisers verify event data accuracy, troubleshoot issues, and run effective lower-funnel campaigns. Why we care. The new Campaign Import feature lets advertisers quickly repurpose high-performing Meta ads on Reddit, saving time and effort. The simplified QA tools helps with quality checking to reduce as many errors as possible before launch, while the 1-click GTM integration and improved Event Manager provide deeper insights into customer behavior and campaign performance Bottom line. These updates reflect Reddit’s ongoing commitment to making its ad platform more accessible and effective for SMBs. By reducing setup friction and providing better visibility into campaign performance, Reddit Ads aims to help businesses reach niche communities and drive impactful results. View the full article

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. I posted three different Google March 2025 core update polls...View the full article

Summer is on the way—at least for those of us in the northern hemisphere—and Google has pushed out some useful upgrades across several apps to make your travel planning a little easier (and a little more reliant on AI). First, the AI Overviews that you've no doubt noticed up at the top of Google search results are being expanded to cover travel itineraries for regions and countries, as well as cities. All you need to do is ask for a plan for a certain place (like the south of France), together with any requirements (such as kids or a specific budget), and the AI will do the rest. You get a day-by-day breakdown of where you should go and what you should do, and you can check out photos and reviews left by other users—as well as quickly share recommendations via Google Docs or Gmail, if you have fellow travelers. This is live now for U.S. users, but heed Google's own warning that generative AI is experimental: Double-check the details with information from actual human beings. AI Overviews can now produce itineraries for regions and countries. Credit: Google Secondly, there's a new price tracking option over at google.com/hotels. This works like it already does for Google Flights, where Google will email you if prices change for certain dates at a hotel you've got your eye on—so you can grab a bargain quickly. It's a useful feature for saving money on plane tickets, so it's good to see it available for hotels too. This feature is now rolling out globally. Third, there's going to be a new Screenshots feature in Google Maps: If you choose to enable it, the app will scan your screenshots for place names, and quickly get you to those spots on the map. If you're someone who's always collecting screen grabs of places you want to visit, this should prove helpful, and all the AI text detection work is done locally. This place recognition feature seems to be based on text alone, rather than combining images and text, so your screenshots will need recognizable locations that appear as text. This is appearing now in Google Maps for iOS for U.S. users, and is apparently "coming soon" to Google Maps for Android. Google Maps is now able to pick out places from your screenshots. Credit: Google And there's another recent AI upgrade for Google Maps that isn't mentioned in Google's latest official blog post. As spotted by Android Authority, if you select a place in Google Maps on Android and then enable Gemini with a voice command or button push, you get an Ask about place shortcut above the main input box. You can then ask whatever you want about the selected location. It's not a new feature, but it's now easier to get to. Back to Google's official announcements: The last two are more reminders about features that have already gone live. As Lifehacker reported a couple of weeks ago, custom Gemini Gems AI bots are now available to all users, with or without a Gemini Advanced subscription—so anyone can create a Gem specifically for travel advice (from popular spots to visit, to what to pack), Google suggests. Finally, Google again promotes the capabilities of Google Lens for your travels. In the Google app for Android and iOS, you're able to tap the Lens (camera) icon in the search box, snap a picture, and ask questions about what you're looking at—like "what is this used for?" or "what's the history of this place?" You then get AI-powered responses above regular search results. View the full article

While Prime Video hasn't released a full list of content coming to the platform in April, the streamer is dropping a handful of original series and films throughout the month. Étoile (April 24), a new series from the creator of Gilmore Girls and Prime Video's hit The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, is a drama/comedy about the competitive world of dance set in New York and Paris. The eight-episode show also stars The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel cast members Luke Kirby and Gideon Glick. Fans of horror and gore (and Kevin Bacon) may want to catch action series The Bondsman (April 3), in which Bacon plays a murdered bondsman who has been resurrected by the devil and sent on a mission to collect demons that have escaped from hell. Also in the action genre (and for fans of Die Hard) is new original film G20 (April 10), in which Viola Davis stars as the U.S. president trying to save the world when the G20 summit is taken over by terrorists. Prime Video's April lineup includes new seasons of two reality shows, starting with the second installment of America’s Test Kitchen: The Next Generation (April 1). The culinary competition hosted by Jeannie Mai and judge Dan Souza pits 11 aspiring cooks against each other for a spot on America's Test Kitchen. At the end of the month, fashion personalities Clinton Kelly and Stacy London—of What Not To Wear fame—will reunite for Wear Whatever The F You Want (April 29), a reimagining of their original style-makeover show. Here are all the originals coming to Prime Video in April. What’s coming to Prime Video in April 2025Available April 1America's Test Kitchen: The Next Generation Available April 3The Bondsman Available April 8Mobile Suit Gundam GQuuuuuuX Spy High Available April 10G20 Available April 13Godfather of Harlem Available April 17#1 Happy Family USA Leverage: Redemption (US + UK only) Available April 18LOL: Se Rir, Já Era! Available April 24Étoile Available April 29Wear Whatever The F You Want View the full article

On Friday, a 7.7 magnitude earthquake hit Myanmar in the northern part of the country. Reuters reports the quake’s epicenter was about 17.2 km (about 10.6 miles) from Mandalay, the country’s second-largest city with a population of about 1.5 million people. The quake destroyed buildings, roads, bridges, and other critical infrastructure in the country. So far, 1,700 people have been confirmed dead and 3,400 injured, but officials say the final death toll may pass 10,000. The quake also hit neighboring Thailand, bringing down a 33-story building with people inside. In Myanmar, the effects of the natural disaster are intensified due to the civil war the country has been engulfed in since 2021. As a result of the conflict, many of the country’s public services, infrastructure, and access to aid were already operating under reduced efficiency. Outside observers, including journalists, have also been limited, which now makes it hard to get a full sense of the true devastation in the Southeast Asian nation. How to donate to Myanmar’s earthquake victims There are ways people outside the country can help Myanmar earthquake victims. This comes via donating to various international relief organizations. Here are five agencies you can donate to right now to help the earthquake victims in Myanmar. Doctors Without Borders (Médecins Sans Frontières): The nongovernmental organization (NGO) provides doctors on the ground to help those who are injured. You can donate to Doctors Without Borders here. International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies: The IFRC is accepting donations for Myanmar earthquake initiatives on its dedicated Myanmar earthquake portal. Donations will help the agency provide the urgent support that is needed on the ground. You can donate to the IFRC here. Project HOPE: The humanitarian organization is deploying staff in the region to help with supply chains and to get health professionals, medicines, and other medical supplies to the people who need it the most. You can donate to Project HOPE here. Save the Children: There are a large number of children in Myanmar who have been affected by the quake. The organization’s Save the Children’s Emergency Fund is designed to provide assistance, including shelter. You can donate to Save the Children here. UN Crisis Relief: Run by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), UN Crisis Relief collects donations to distribute to organizations working on the front lines of humanitarian crises. Donations will go to support lifesaving assistance for the victims of the quake. You can donate to UN Crisis Relief here. View the full article

The deal, expected to close by the end of 2025, will place Mr. Cooper CEO Jay Bray as president and CEO of Rocket Mortgage. View the full article

With the rise of AI-powered features, search engines are not just directing users to information but delivering answers directly. This shift is redefining how people interact with the web, raising questions about the future of SEO, content discovery, and digital marketing. Here’s what’s coming next. From ChatGPT to Grok 3: The breakneck pace of AI advancements The world has seen rapid and significant advances in AI technology and large language models (LLMs) within two years. Looking back just three years ago, Google’s Gemini and Meta’s LLAMA did not exist, and OpenAI’s ChatGPT was later released in late November 2022. Fast-forward to January 2025, the public was introduced to DeepSeek R1. This open-source large language reasoning model astounded the AI community with its speed, efficiency, and affordability, especially compared to OpenAI’s o1 GPT model. A few weeks later, Elon Musk’s company xAI launched Grok 3, which impressed users by topping a key AI leaderboard with its complexity and fewer guardrails (see: unhinged mode). More recently, Anthropic released Claude 3.7 Sonnet and Claude Code, an LLM that excels at code creation and debugging to a degree that has made many software engineers a bit uneasy. These LLMs are just the beginning of AI’s rapid progress, with more breakthroughs on the way. Google’s AI Mode: A glimpse of the future AI isn’t just bringing new products – it’s transforming existing ones, too. On March 5, Google announced they were expanding AI Overviews with a new experimental feature called AI Mode. This interactive feature allows users to: Engage with web search in a chat-like manner through multimodal understanding. Refine long-tail queries in a back-and-forth manner. AI Mode, powered by Gemini 2.0, enhances research using a “query fan-out” technique to gather real-time data from multiple sources and generate detailed, in-depth summaries. This may make SEOs uncomfortable, as it potentially reduces clicks to publisher sites and further promotes a zero-click ecosystem. With Google integrating Gemini 2.0 into its suite of products and its dominance of 89% of the search industry, its AI innovations demand close attention. These technologies will likely be added to search, and AI Mode offers a preview of what’s ahead. Two terms for the future of search: Agentic and deep research We’ll likely hear two terms used more often in the AI and search space: Agentic AI models. Deep research models. Deep research models can browse the web and focus on conducting intensive, in-depth research to provide users with informative summaries on complex topics. Unlike previous LLMs, which use a single-step information retrieval system through RAG (retrieval-augmented generation), deep research and agentic models can: Conduct multi-step research through a series of actions, pulling information from multiple sources to provide comprehensive summaries to the user. Take proactive actions, such as executing tasks and complex instructions. Google’s Project Mariner and OpenAI’s Operator already showcase these capabilities by allowing users to perform tasks within their browsers while understanding multi-modal elements such as text, images, and forms. Dig deeper: How to use OpenAI’s Deep Research for smarter SEO strategies How these models could change search Suppose you want to plan a trip to Tokyo and know the best season to go, the weather, and where to stay. Typically, this type of research takes a few days or weeks, and you gather information from various sources, such as travel websites or YouTube videos. A deep research model can do the heavy lifting by searching the web, gathering information, and summarizing relevant content, which saves you time. It can also “read, listen, and watch” various sources to provide a thorough answer. An agentic model could also book your hotels and flights, navigating checkout flows to complete the purchase. AI is moving in this direction as companies like Google work toward AGI (artificial general intelligence) – machines that can reason across diverse tasks like humans. Deep research and agentic models are key milestones in building practical AI solutions for everyday use. AI Overviews have already impacted click behavior and organic traffic. Now, we must consider these AI features’ long-term effects on the content ecosystem. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. What could the future search landscape look like? Google’s AI Overviews and agentic advancements are here to stay. If AI Mode succeeds, it will be the first deep research feature in Google Search. So, what’s next for the search landscape? Here are some possibilities. Continual rise of zero-click searches Since launching in May 2024, AI Overviews have significantly reduced clicks to informational queries. As AI search capabilities advance, users will likely rely even more on AI tools for quick answers rather than clicking through to websites or articles. AI Mode and future search innovations could accelerate this shift by prioritizing fast, AI-generated summaries over traditional browsing. As zero-click searches become the norm, you must rethink how you measure value and engagement. Traditional KPIs may no longer accurately reflect user behavior, so focusing on brand visibility and awareness will be more critical than ever. Increased personalization LLMs and AI systems are revolutionizing search by personalizing responses with unmatched speed and scale, surpassing traditional algorithms. Leveraging Google’s vast user data, AI can train on existing information and refine queries in real-time to deliver more tailored results. As these systems continuously learn, they will become even better at recognizing, remembering, and adapting to individual user preferences. As AI-driven search becomes more personalized, it’s worth considering whether hyper-niche content is the key to reaching your audience. Multimodal search Google’s AI-powered multimodal capabilities are already embedded in many of its products, including Project Astra, an AI assistant unveiled at Google I/O 2024. During a live demonstration, Astra used multiple tools – such as Google Lens – to identify objects in real time and respond to voice queries. In my own experience at Google I/O, the AI assistant: Accurately classified animal figurines. Distinguished between similar names (“Bob” vs. “Rob”). Even created a story about the figures. While some of these advanced features haven’t been integrated into Google Search yet, multimodal search through Google Lens and voice search is already shaping how users submit queries. As Google develops these capabilities, you should anticipate what’s next, look beyond text-based queries, and optimize for image, video, and audio search. Dig deeper: From search to AI agents: The future of digital experiences Commercial queries can still draw users to websites AI-generated results have reduced clicks for informational queries, but commercial and transactional searches still offer opportunities for website traffic. During the decision-making process, potential buyers research extensively – comparing products, reading reviews, and exploring multiple channels before making a purchase. While it’s unclear how AI-generated search will impact this journey, think about how AI can streamline multi-touchpoint decision-making while still driving users to your website. When users move closer to making a purchase, user-generated content – like reviews – will still play a crucial role in conversions. Content quality still rules Despite AI’s growing role in search, one thing remains constant: high-quality content is essential. Whether users rely on traditional search engines or LLMs, visibility will still depend on the strength of the content itself. Since both Google Search and LLMs use RAG to pull from vast datasets, ensuring these systems have access to accurate, high-quality information is critical. Content demonstrating E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness) will continue to rank higher in AI-driven search results. Your brand will also play a bigger role in search visibility, making it essential to create valuable, well-optimized content across multiple formats. Dig deeper: Decoding Google’s E-E-A-T: A comprehensive guide to quality assessment signals View the full article

Want to appear in AI-generated search results? E-E-A-T is key. Learn how to establish authority so AI models and search engines rely on your content. The post The Role Of E-E-A-T In AI Narratives: Building Brand Authority For Search Success appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

In the iOS 18.2 update, Apple gave users a dedicated Default Apps tab, finally letting us pick our own default apps for messages and calls. Unfortunately, not many apps have been updated to take advantage of this yet. I previously talked about DefaultSMS, which takes over the default messaging app and redirects it to WhatsApp, Signal, or Telegram, but at least one of those now has an official option that you can use instead. Yes, WhatsApp has finally been updated the to support the Default Apps feature. This means you can now make WhatsApp the default Calling and Messaging app on iPhone. But does this mean you can stop using the Phone app and Messaging app altogether? Not exactly. Think of it more like a shortcut. When applicable, you can use this feature to quickly call someone using WhatsApp Audio, or open up a text conversation in WhatsApp, directly from the Phone app or anywhere you see a phone number. How to make WhatsApp the default app for calls and messagesFirst, let's talk about how to make this happen. On your iPhone running the latest iOS 18 build, go to Settings > Apps > Default Apps. Credit: Khamosh Pathak Scroll to the Messaging and Calling sections. Here, choose WhatsApp as the default. How the iPhone's default calling and messaging app features workThe default feature doesn't mean that you can simply replace the Phone app and Messages app. When you get an incoming SMS or Apple iMessage, it will still show up in the Messages app. And when you get a phone call, you'll still see it in the Phone app. Credit: Khamosh Pathak In this context, "default app" means that when you tap the Message button or the Call button for a contact in your Phone app or Contacts app, it will now open a call or message with them via WhatsApp app directly. This essentially serves as a shortcut, rather than a full replacement for the apps that come with your phone. After you change your default calling or messaging app, when you open a contact card and tap the Call button or Message button for the first time, you'll get an overflow menu where WhatsApp will be the first and default option. You can pick another option to change your default if you like. From then on, tapping the Call button will directly call the contact using WhatsApp Audio (or whatever you changed your default to), unless you change your default again in your iPhone settings. From there, you're all set... mostly. If your contact doesn't have WhatsApp, WhatsApp will simply tell that they're not on WhatsApp, at which point you'll have to manually open the Phone or Messages app to reach out instead. View the full article

As small businesses grow their size, project management becomes an increasingly important part of the process. It’s easy to deviate from a standard process when there’s only one employee, or a small handful, but trying to herd a team of dozens or hundreds is impossible without tools to guide them along the same path. Good news: While product management software may seem like the domain of enterprise organizations, small businesses stand to benefit substantially from this offering. Use cases abound, starting with setting up a small business itself. New owners can leverage the software to track and comply with legal requirements, maintain visibility into tax preparation, and monitor marketing efforts. Freelancers and independent contractors benefit from the ability to manage personal deliverables and follow up on payments while simultaneously establishing a process for new work. And, as new employees become onboarded, a centralized knowledge-sharing database points them in the right direction. Here are a few ways small businesses can level up how they implement project management solutions, including the technology that can support these efforts: Centralized Ideation Without communication, businesses simply cannot grow. It’s essential that all employees remain on the same page to reduce the chances of doubling up on work or misquoting a price to a potential customer. Still, those early days are special because your employees are unfiltered and perhaps bolder and more willing to take risks. you’ll want to keep everything for posterity. Even if a company employs only a few employees, it must establish a space, accessible to everyone, where team members can brainstorm and share ideas. A shared document works, for a time, but even better results come from a more formalized online project forum. This format helps keep ideas from becoming muddled with one another and enables commenting on each part of an idea. Using a forum also ensures employees can’t accidentally delete text that someone else had written, and an archived forum can serve as a place to peruse old ideas for the purposes of inspiring new ones. Small businesses need to also consider how knowledge is going to be shared within their organization, particularly around onboarding. As the number of employees grows, so, too, will the level of difficulty in disseminating information from the top down, facilitating communication bottlenecks. Project management software often includes the ability to create a Wiki where this essential information can live. By centralizing this information, companies can send articles to clients, as well, to help with onboarding or troubleshooting, reducing the number of resources required for customer service. The presence of a Wiki can also send a strong message to new employees that a company is listening—that everyone’s input is important and can lead to lasting change. Robust R&D Tracking In a time when much data has become democratized, a robust focus on R&D is essential for any growing business that wants to maintain a competitive edge over its competitors. However, this process can feel especially nebulous for newer businesses who don’t employ a full-time R&D department and rely on its staff to innovate when operations are slow—which they rarely are. Robust R&D begins with an accurate understanding of how a business operates. For that, project management software may help accumulate the necessary data. Employees can start utilizing timesheets to determine where they spend the majority of their time and how some of that can be cordoned off for R&D efforts or reorganized to remove road blocks. In fact, some project management software packages come equipped with AI assistants that can assist with tracking and consolidating data, easing the burden on employees. Then, once enough information has been gathered, small businesses can begin setting milestones to break down R&D activities into manageable, bite-sized chunks to be assigned to the appropriate employees. It’s important these tasks include deadlines and deliverables, as well as ensuring they fit within a larger framework of how the company is hoping to evolve. By establishing limitations and accountability, employees will feel like they’re part of the process and will feel empowered to speak up when they encounter issues. For the sake of producing a high-quality product, it’s important for small businesses to maintain a spot where employees can log these issues, saving time tracking them down when teams are ready to perform triage. Production Processes It’s understandable if small businesses accumulate numerous ideas for growth without follow-through. Time is of the essence, and putting out fires will always take precedence over operating in the theoretical. Gantt Charts, available within project management software, can help. These tools help visualize production timelines so managers can track progress and adjust schedules as new information crops up so as not to derail or delay delivery. Once these charts are in place, managers can also receive visibility into resource use to make better use of available team members. For small businesses, this piece of the puzzle is essential; every minute counts when trying to maximize employees’ time. The above processes are meaningless if no one can monitor their success, which is where analytics play a huge part. Production metrics can be fed into an analytics program and measured against past performance and previously stated goals, keeping everyone on target and allowing stakeholders to operate knowing a project’s entire context. This guides improvements and establishes a precedent for data-driven decision-making that hopefully carries on throughout a company’s lifetime. Once again, software in modern product management suites folds many of these functions into a single package, unified within a company’s existing infrastructure, to keep the train running on time. Technology Toolkit Small businesses need to realize they’re not on their own. Owners aren’t the first to launch a company, and they certainly won’t be the last. It’s important to learn from those that came before and establish a foundation for what’s to come, and technology can aid with this effort. The last year has seen an explosion in software capabilities and a general increase in affordability and access across the board. The most successful small businesses are the ones taking full advantage of what’s on offer by managing the most important project: growing their company. This article, "How Small Businesses Can Manage Projects Intelligently for Sustained Growth" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

As small businesses grow their size, project management becomes an increasingly important part of the process. It’s easy to deviate from a standard process when there’s only one employee, or a small handful, but trying to herd a team of dozens or hundreds is impossible without tools to guide them along the same path. Good news: While product management software may seem like the domain of enterprise organizations, small businesses stand to benefit substantially from this offering. Use cases abound, starting with setting up a small business itself. New owners can leverage the software to track and comply with legal requirements, maintain visibility into tax preparation, and monitor marketing efforts. Freelancers and independent contractors benefit from the ability to manage personal deliverables and follow up on payments while simultaneously establishing a process for new work. And, as new employees become onboarded, a centralized knowledge-sharing database points them in the right direction. Here are a few ways small businesses can level up how they implement project management solutions, including the technology that can support these efforts: Centralized Ideation Without communication, businesses simply cannot grow. It’s essential that all employees remain on the same page to reduce the chances of doubling up on work or misquoting a price to a potential customer. Still, those early days are special because your employees are unfiltered and perhaps bolder and more willing to take risks. you’ll want to keep everything for posterity. Even if a company employs only a few employees, it must establish a space, accessible to everyone, where team members can brainstorm and share ideas. A shared document works, for a time, but even better results come from a more formalized online project forum. This format helps keep ideas from becoming muddled with one another and enables commenting on each part of an idea. Using a forum also ensures employees can’t accidentally delete text that someone else had written, and an archived forum can serve as a place to peruse old ideas for the purposes of inspiring new ones. Small businesses need to also consider how knowledge is going to be shared within their organization, particularly around onboarding. As the number of employees grows, so, too, will the level of difficulty in disseminating information from the top down, facilitating communication bottlenecks. Project management software often includes the ability to create a Wiki where this essential information can live. By centralizing this information, companies can send articles to clients, as well, to help with onboarding or troubleshooting, reducing the number of resources required for customer service. The presence of a Wiki can also send a strong message to new employees that a company is listening—that everyone’s input is important and can lead to lasting change. Robust R&D Tracking In a time when much data has become democratized, a robust focus on R&D is essential for any growing business that wants to maintain a competitive edge over its competitors. However, this process can feel especially nebulous for newer businesses who don’t employ a full-time R&D department and rely on its staff to innovate when operations are slow—which they rarely are. Robust R&D begins with an accurate understanding of how a business operates. For that, project management software may help accumulate the necessary data. Employees can start utilizing timesheets to determine where they spend the majority of their time and how some of that can be cordoned off for R&D efforts or reorganized to remove road blocks. In fact, some project management software packages come equipped with AI assistants that can assist with tracking and consolidating data, easing the burden on employees. Then, once enough information has been gathered, small businesses can begin setting milestones to break down R&D activities into manageable, bite-sized chunks to be assigned to the appropriate employees. It’s important these tasks include deadlines and deliverables, as well as ensuring they fit within a larger framework of how the company is hoping to evolve. By establishing limitations and accountability, employees will feel like they’re part of the process and will feel empowered to speak up when they encounter issues. For the sake of producing a high-quality product, it’s important for small businesses to maintain a spot where employees can log these issues, saving time tracking them down when teams are ready to perform triage. Production Processes It’s understandable if small businesses accumulate numerous ideas for growth without follow-through. Time is of the essence, and putting out fires will always take precedence over operating in the theoretical. Gantt Charts, available within project management software, can help. These tools help visualize production timelines so managers can track progress and adjust schedules as new information crops up so as not to derail or delay delivery. Once these charts are in place, managers can also receive visibility into resource use to make better use of available team members. For small businesses, this piece of the puzzle is essential; every minute counts when trying to maximize employees’ time. The above processes are meaningless if no one can monitor their success, which is where analytics play a huge part. Production metrics can be fed into an analytics program and measured against past performance and previously stated goals, keeping everyone on target and allowing stakeholders to operate knowing a project’s entire context. This guides improvements and establishes a precedent for data-driven decision-making that hopefully carries on throughout a company’s lifetime. Once again, software in modern product management suites folds many of these functions into a single package, unified within a company’s existing infrastructure, to keep the train running on time. Technology Toolkit Small businesses need to realize they’re not on their own. Owners aren’t the first to launch a company, and they certainly won’t be the last. It’s important to learn from those that came before and establish a foundation for what’s to come, and technology can aid with this effort. The last year has seen an explosion in software capabilities and a general increase in affordability and access across the board. The most successful small businesses are the ones taking full advantage of what’s on offer by managing the most important project: growing their company. This article, "How Small Businesses Can Manage Projects Intelligently for Sustained Growth" was first published on Small Business Trends View the full article

Join us on April 9, 2025 and learn from the experts how to enhance your SEO strategy with proven Digital PR techniques. The post Win Higher-Quality Links: The PR Approach To SEO Success [Webinar] appeared first on Search Engine Journal. View the full article

As much as I love hostels, there is something nice about the luxuriousness of a hotel: the clean room, comfy bed, desk, iron, strong shower, and bottled soap for the taking (errr…I mean borrowing). They are a quiet, relaxing respite from the world. But luxury comes at a price. Hotels aren’t cheap and I hate spending money on a room I am only going to be in for a few hours. Often, even at my age, I would much rather stay in a hostel (private room though!), which costs less, has more social interaction, and doesn’t make you feel as removed from the destination you’re staying at. I always feel hotels are isolating, like a concrete bubble keeping you out of the place you’re visiting. That said, the older I get, the more I use hotel points, and the more I travel for work, the more I find myself staying in hotels, especially if it’s a short trip. I’ve spent years looking at websites trying to find the best ways to get the best rates on hotel rooms because the budget traveler in me hates spending a lot of money. Post-COVID, hotel prices have increased a lot and it seems there are fewer and fewer bargains these days. But there are a lot of ways to actually get a good deal and stack deals on deals to lower the cost of your room. Let me show you how. Want to travel the world for free? Download my free guide to points and miles and learn how to master the one thing all travel experts do to save money and get free flights and accommodation! Enter your info below to get the guide sent to you right away: Get the free guide How to Book Cheap Hotels Here is how to find the cheapest hotel in one simple step: First, go to Google and type in where you want to go. For example, “New York City hotels.” That’s it. Google will pull results from all the major booking websites and tell you what site is the cheapest. You just go there and book your hotel. That’s why it’s the best booking site because, rather than searching every website individually, you can just go to Google, find which website has the cheapest rate, and book there. It saves a lot of time! Here’s a step-by-step guide: Click on the “View hotels” button at the bottom of the first result section to go to Google’s hotel searching hub. Next, put in your dates and filters to narrow your search until you find a hotel you like in your price range. You’ll be able to sort by lowest price and look at the map to book by location. You can even see typical pricing trends for your dates by clicking on “what you’ll pay.” Click on the “view prices” button for a hotel and you’ll be presented with all your booking options. Find the lowest price and head to that website. Just keep in mind that the top results are usually ads, so scroll down to make sure you aren’t missing out on any deals. Once you’ve found the lowest price, book at that website! But, before you actually book the room, there are a couple of other tips you need to know about to ensure you get the best price possible: 1. Contact the hotel directly Find the hotel, call them up, and ask them to match the offer (they usually will since it saves them on commission). If they are a big global brand, the big benefit to direct bookings is that you only earn loyalty points and status when you book direct, so if you love earning points and miles, don’t book their rooms elsewhere! 2. Use points The best way to save money on a hotel room is to not have to pay for it. Collect hotel points through branded credit cards or transferring them from a Chase, Capital One, etc., and book a free room. I save thousands upon thousands of dollars a year doing this. Here are my favorite hotel cards to get you started. 3. Use discount rates like AAA or AARP If you are part of the AARP or AAA you can get special rates that are cheaper. Fun fact: Anyone can join the AARP. I’m a member. They have amazing travel benefits (including deals on hotels and British Airways flights). It’s well worth the membership. 4. Use Mr.Rebates or Rakuten If the lowest rate is through a major booking site like Booking.com, Expedia, or Hotels.com, go through Mr. Rebates or Rakuten. By using their links, you’ll get 1–10% back. It’s a little extra savings that can add up over time. I never do any online shopping without going to these sites (they have deals for everything). 5. Book a mystery deal Both Priceline and Hotwire offer cheaper rates on hotel bookings where you don’t get the full reservation details up front. On Hotwire’s Hot Rates and Priceline’s Express Deals, you’ll see the general neighborhood as well as star rating of the property and amenities offered, just not the exact hotel itself. With Priceline’s Pricebreakers deals, you’ll be guaranteed one of three hotels that they group together (you just won’t know which one until you book). You can save 30–60% off with these deals if you can tolerate a bit of the unknown! 6. Sign up for Booking.com’s loyalty program Booking.com offers members 10–20% off bookings. They definitely helped a lot. Before you sign up for their loyalty programs before you book with them! 7. Get discounted gift cards You can book major hotel chains with hotel gift cards. Check out a website like Giftcardgranny.com for discounted gift cards and use it to book your hotel. (Gift card purchases also count toward point earnings and status.) 8. Buy someone else’s reservation with Roomer Often people can’t go on a trip and can’t cancel the reservation, so rather than lose the money, hotels put these rooms on Roomer, where they sell it at a discount to earn some money back. I’ve never used this website, but I’ve heard good things about it. *** Hotel pricing is a lot more set than airline pricing and tends to fluctuate less. I wouldn’t spend hours searching hotel websites or days tracking prices like people do with airline prices. I’d spend, at the most, 30 minutes on booking a hotel. Just follow the steps above to get a cheap hotel by using my favorite (and what have been shown to be the best) hotel booking websites listed here so you get a good deal and enjoy your trip quicker. And if you find yourself staying in a lot of hotels, it might be worth looking into getting a hotel credit card so that you can start earning points towards free stays (free is always better than cheap)! Stop paying full price for travel! Download my free guide to points and miles and learn how to use points and miles for free travel! It's how all the pros travel so much! In this guide, I'll show you: How to Pick a Credit Card How to Earn Up to 10x Miles on Your Spending How to Redeem Your Points And a Ton of Other Money Saving Tips! Get the guide Book Your Trip: Logistical Tips and Tricks Book Your Flight Find a cheap flight by using Skyscanner. It’s my favorite search engine because it searches websites and airlines around the globe so you always know no stone is being left unturned. Book Your Accommodation You can book your hostel with Hostelworld. If you want to stay somewhere other than a hostel, use Booking.com as it consistently returns the cheapest rates for guesthouses and hotels. Don’t Forget Travel Insurance Travel insurance will protect you against illness, injury, theft, and cancellations. It’s comprehensive protection in case anything goes wrong. I never go on a trip without it as I’ve had to use it many times in the past. My favorite companies that offer the best service and value are: SafetyWing (best for budget travelers) World Nomads (best for mid-range travelers) InsureMyTrip (for those 70 and over) Medjet (for additional evacuation coverage) Want to Travel for Free? Travel credit cards allow you to earn points that can be redeemed for free flights and accommodation — all without any extra spending. Check out my guide to picking the right card and my current favorites to get started and see the latest best deals. Need a Rental Car? Discover Cars is a budget-friendly international car rental website. No matter where you’re headed, they’ll be able to find the best — and cheapest — rental for your trip! Need Help Finding Activities for Your Trip? Get Your Guide is a huge online marketplace where you can find cool walking tours, fun excursions, skip-the-line tickets, private guides, and more. Ready to Book Your Trip? Check out my resource page for the best companies to use when you travel. I list all the ones I use when I travel. They are the best in class and you can’t go wrong using them on your trip. The post How to Find Cheap Hotels (And Which Sites to Use!) appeared first on Nomadic Matt's Travel Site. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. What exactly makes a movie a “classic” varies wildly and with the viewer, as does the appropriate timescale. For some, a movie from a decade ago might be eligible (I call these movie fans “children”). For others, you have to go back much further. Today, I’m going to do the latter, taking a look at some of the great (or, at least, greatly entertaining) movies that were released no later than the tail end of the 1970s. (Even if I find it personally distressing to label movies younger than I am “classics.”) Quibbling over semantics aside, these offerings prove how deeply rewarding it is to dig through the back catalog of motion picture history now and again. In the Heat of the Night (1967) Virgil Tibbs’ (Sidney Poitier) entry into Sparta, Mississippi, at the outset of this steamy, socially conscious cop thriller unfolds like a scene from a horror movie, making clear the peril of a Black man in a southern town after dark. That’s of course before the sheriff realizes that Mr. Tibbs is the only one who can solve a murder. Though its politics are dated, this Norman Jewison-directed Oscar winner remains a landmark film of the Civil Rights movement. You can stream In the Heat of the Night on Pluto TV and MGM+ or rent it from Prime Video. In the Heat of the Night (1967) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Rocky (1976) The long-running franchise has had its ups (the Creed films) and downs (that robot butler in Rocky IV), but the original remains one of the ultimate sports movies, with a ton of heart buoyed by characters who feel like real people. (It beat out Network and Taxi Driver for Best Picture and it’s hard to be mad about it.) You can stream Rocky on Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. Rocky (1976) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video All About Eve (1950) I’m not sure that Hollywood ever turned out a sharper, funnier script than this one. If Bette Davis had only done All About Eve, she’d still be a legend. Is it one of the best black-and-white movies ever made? Yes. You can rent All About Eve from Prime Video. All About Eve (1950) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Sounder (1972) Cicely Tyson and Paul Winfield are phenomenal in this drama about a family of deep South, Depression-era sharecroppers struggling to survive and to stay together. You can stream Sounder on Pluto TV, Prime Video, and Peacock. Sounder (1972) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Casablanca (1940) Everybody’s favorite golden-age Hollywood movie came by its reputation fairly: Bogart and Bergman have tremendous chemistry, and the film blends the doomed romance vibes with real suspense and a sense of humor that keeps the wartime atmosphere from getting too heavy. You can stream Casablanca on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Casablanca (1940) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Jeanne Dielman, 32 Quai des Commerce (1975) Recently named the best movie ever made in a stupidly controversial Sight & Sound critics’ poll, Chantal Ackerman’s three-hours-plus epic shows us three days in the life of a Brussels single mother. It’s gripping and tragic in its depiction of day-to-day drudgery, even as part-time sex worker Jeanne’s tricks turn out to be the least interesting parts of her day. You can stream Jeanne Dielman on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Jeanne Dielman, 32 Quai des Commerce (1975) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Black Girl (1966) The movie that brought international attention to sub-Saharan African cinema. Black Girl stars Mbissine Thérèse Diop as Diouana, who is isolated and treated as less than human by her French employers as she reflects on her earlier life in Senegal. You can stream Black Girl on Max, The Criterion Channel, and Prime Video. Black Girl (1966) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Metropolis (1927) Fritz Lang’s story of a future city starkly divided between the haves and the have-nots remains visually stunning, and its themes are no less relevant now than they were nearly a century ago. You can stream Metropolis on The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Pluto TV, and Kino or rent it from Prime Video. Metropolis (1927) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Only Angels Have Wings (1939) Snappy dialogue, interesting, believable characters, and women who are at least as cool and interesting as the men: This Howard Hawks’ romantic adventure is mostly about pilots just hanging out in a South American town, with every takeoff and landing a potential tragedy. You can rent Only Angels Have Wings from Prime Video. Only Angels Have Wings (1939) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The French Connection (1971) Maybe not Gene Hackman's best movie, but it's the one that made him a star, and it's not hard to see why. It's a tense, uncompromising crime drama about a troubled, borderline-dirty cop that nonetheless boasts thrilling action and one of the best car chases in movie history. You can stream The French Connection on Prime Video. The French Connection (1971) Learn More Learn More Some Like It Hot (1959) Two musicians get in drag in order to escape from mobsters in this classic Billy Wilder vehicle for Marilyn Monroe, at the peak of her powers here. Nobody’s perfect, but this movie is close. You can stream Some Like It Hot on The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and MGM+ or rent it from Prime Video. Some Like It Hot (1959) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) A deliberately paced mind-bender, Stanley Kubrick and company take us from the origins of violence to a hypnotically engaging and highly detailed mid-century modern future where we come face to face with our own evolution. You can stream 2001 on Max or rent it from Prime Video. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) A very satisfying and thoroughly unpretentious crime thriller in which four men hijack a New York City subway train, demanding money in exchange for a release of their hostages and the car itself. The high tension and NYC setting are highlights, as is the cast: Walter Matthau as the lead police lieutenant is believably human while adding a touch of humor. Héctor Elizondo, Martin Balsam, Robert Shaw, Jerry Stiller, and Doris Roberts also put in solid performances. You can stream The Taking of Pelham One Two Three on MGM+ and Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three (1974) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Last Picture Show (1971) Another flashback to a bygone era, this one set in a dying small town in Texas. One of the best movies of the 1970s, Peter Bogdanovich’s breakout is mercifully free of the rosy glow that the high-school films of the ‘70s leaned into. You can stream The Last Picture Show on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. The Last Picture Show (1971) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Singin’ in the Rain (1952) A cinematic slice of pure joy, with a number of truly great musical numbers punctuated by some genuinely hilarious performances. For my money, the best musical of the era (and far weirder than you’re probably imagining). You can stream Singin' in the Rain on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Singin’ in the Rain (1952) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) A soaring, candy-colored musical about young lovers (Catherine Deneuve and Nino Castelnuovo) separated by circumstance in the titular city. Pretty much every word is sung. In French. Watch it anyway! You can stream The Umbrellas of Cherbourg on Max, The Criterion Channel, and Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. The Umbrellas of Cherbourg (1964) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Stormy Weather (1943) There's not a ton of plot here, with the film serving instead as a showcase for the talents of some of the biggest Black talent in Hollywood of the era. And that's plenty. Starring Bill Robinson, better known as Mr. Bojangles, the movie is presented as a retrospective of his life, with Lena Horne offering up an indelible, thrilling performance of the title song. Cab Calloway and Fats Waller also appear and perform, as does Casablanca's Paul Dooley. You can rent Stormy Weather from Prime Video. Stormy Weather (1943) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Stagecoach (1939)Travelers on the titular stagecoach find their lives threatened by both vengeful criminals and Apache warriors while traveling from Tonto, Arizona Territory, to Lordsburg, New Mexico. In many ways the prototypical Western, the movie's well-drawn characters and unconventional sympathies (the sex worker here is the hero; the straight-laced banker is no good) make it a much-copied, but never replicated, genre standout. You can stream Stagecoach on Prime Video, Max, The Criterion Channel, and Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. Stagecoach (1939) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Sleeping Beauty (1959) A bomb upon its initial release, time has been very, very kind to this story of the somnolent princess and her wicked adversary, Maleficent. Its art style, inspired by Medieval tapestry work, is among Disney's most beautiful, bar none. You can stream Sleeping Beauty on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video. Sleeping Beauty (1959) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ The Lady Vanishes (1938) A (relatively) early triumph for Hitchcock, the director assembles a memorable cast on a train from which sweet, kindly Miss Froy (Dame May Whitty) has, well, vanished. Only Iris Henderson (Margaret Lockwood) seems to remember that Miss Froy even got on the train, leading to a brisk, clever, often quite funny, mystery. You can stream The Lady Vanishes on Max, The Criterion Channel, and Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. The Lady Vanishes (1938) Learn More Learn More The Muppet Movie (1979) Kermit and company set out on a road trip in this essential Muppets origin story (sort of, approximately) that kicks off with a heartwarming rendition of "Rainbow Connection" and then leads us on a journey across America to fame and fortune in Hollywood—not without some obstacles along the way. The songs are wildly memorable, and Jim Henson's trademark blend of heart and silliness (with an oddly believable tone) is well in place. The Muppets have never been (quite) done better. You can stream The Muppet Movie on Disney+ or rent it from Prime Video. The Muppet Movie (1979) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ Night Nurse (1931) A pre-code classic, Night Nurse stars the great Barbara Stanwyck as sexy trainee nurse Lora Hart, who uncovers a plot to kill some kids in order to get control of a trust fund. For all that drama, the movie is brisk and fun, and it's immensely satisfying to watch Lora come out swinging when her patients are in danger. You can stream Night Nurse on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Night Nurse (1931) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max 8½ (1963) If not Federico Fellini's finest, it's right up there. The very meta story involves a writer/director (played by Marcello Mastroianni) struggling with writer's block while trying to get his science fiction movie off the ground. Wildly visually inventive, it's a fabulous film about the art of moviemaking. You can stream 8 1/2 on Max, the Criterion Channel, and Kanopy, or rent it from Prime Video. 8½ (1963) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Godzilla (1954) There's plenty of city-stomping action in this, the original kaiju film, but also a poignance and deep resonance for Japan, a country then only just coming to grips with both nuclear horror and its own actions during World War II. As 2023's Godzilla Minus One reminded us, the monster was born out of real trauma. You can stream Godzilla on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Godzilla (1954) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) A noir essential with a classic setup (a disgraced cop enlists a couple of old associates to rob a bank) complicated by the skin color of the film's lead Johnny Ingram, played by Harry Belafonte. Noir characters are pretty much always doomed, but here it's not just that their plan is shoddy—it's that confidently racist Earl Slater (a believably seething Robert Ryan) is never going to be able to make it work. It all builds to an appropriately apocalyptic climax. You can stream Odds Against Tomorrow on Prime Video and The Roku Channel. Odds Against Tomorrow (1959) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Sunset Boulevard (1950) Gloria Swanson was just 50 when she was cast as the horrifyingly outdated silent-film star at the center of this very dark comedy/film noir. Doesn’t matter; she kills it. You can stream Sunset Boulevard on Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. Sunset Boulevard (1950) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Sunrise (1927) With some of the most brilliant cinematography and camerawork of the silent era, F. W. Murnau tells a story of romance (and attempted murder) that feels epic, even with stakes that, ultimately, aren’t any bigger than the marriage between the film’s troubled couple. You can stream Sunrise on The Roku Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Sunrise (1927) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) Just an old-fashioned love story about the romance between a young engaged couple, a genderfluid scientist, and a jacked lab experiment. A cult classic now too famous to qualify as a cult classic, and for good reason. You can rent The Rocky Horror Picture Show from Prime Video. The Rocky Horror Picture Show (1975) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Wizard of Oz (1939) A sweet-seeming Kansas girl heads off to the magical Land of Oz, announcing her arrival by murdering a lady and stealing her shoes. Only one thing to do at that point, really: take out her sister, as well. You can stream The Wizard of Oz on Max or rent it from Prime Video. The Wizard of Oz (1939) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Psycho (1960) Near the tail-end of his career, Alfred Hitchcock reinvented American horror cinema and introduced the definitive screen slasher: Norman Bates’ mother and best friend, Norma. You can rent Psycho from Prime Video. Psycho (1960) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video It Happened One Night (1934) Frank Capra’s risqué romantic comedy swept the Academy Awards in its year, with leads Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert making for a brilliant pairing in the movie that defined the rom-com, and remains among the best of the form. You can stream It Happened One Night on The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. It Happened One Night (1934) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Cooley High (1974) Cochise (Lawrence-Hilton Jacobs), a basketball star, and Preach (Glynn Turman), an aspiring playwright, plot to play hooky during their final weeks of senior year. Their plan leads to a series of adventures and misadventures that look very much like the stuff of a more typical teen comedy, before the comedy slowly gives way to more serious introspection. This movie had a profound influence on filmmakers from John Singleton to Spike Lee. You can stream Cooley High on The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Prime Video. Cooley High (1974) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) A postwar drama made right in the thick of things, exploring the high cost of World War II on returning soldiers. Sharp, well-observed performances from veterans like Myrna Loy and and Fredric March, as well as from newcomer Harold Russell, a then-recent veteran who won one of the film's many Oscars for his performance. A smart and impressively honest movie that must have taken a lot of courage to make. You can stream The Best Years of Our Lives on Prime Video, Kanopy, Pluto TV, and Peacock. The Best Years of Our Lives (1946) at Peacock Learn More Learn More at Peacock Kwaidan (1964) This Japanese anthology of horror-tinged stories isn't necessarily terrifying, but it is one of the most stunningly beautiful, and sumptuously designed films that you're likely to find this side of Japanese folklore. A highly influential film, it kicks off with the story of a horribly wronged woman and her very long, very black hair. You can stream Kwaidan on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Kwaidan (1964) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) This historical drama brings Medieval Europe to stunning life with its depiction of Arthur, King of the Britons (Graham Chapman), scouring the English countryside in search of men brave enough to join his Knights of the Round Table, desperate to figure out if swallows can, indeed, carry coconuts. It’s all deeply serious. (Cough cough.) You can stream Monty Python and the Holy Grail on Prime Video, The Roku Channel, Pluto TV, and Britbox. Monty Python and the Holy Grail (1975) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video The Godfather (1972) It’s said by many that the second film is better—and they’re not wrong, though the first is a similarly brilliant piece of filmmaking, and absolutely the place to start when watching or rewatching Francis Ford Coppola’s saga. You can stream The Godfather on Paramount+ or rent it from Prime Video. The Godfather (1972) at Paramount+ Learn More Learn More at Paramount+ M (1931) Peter Lorre is chilling as a murderer of children in Fritz Lang’s thriller. Aside from being a masterful film in its own right, M influenced every crime drama, serial killer film, and police procedural that’s come along since. You can stream M on Max, Kanopy, and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. M (1931) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Gilda (1946) One of the greatest and most entertaining noir films of its era also foregrounds one of the hottest bisexual love triangles you’re likely to find in film. You can rent Gilda from Prime Video. Gilda (1946) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Mildred Pierce (1945) Joan Crawford is at her very dramatic best in this story of a mother dealing with a hyper-entitled snotbag of a daughter. Joan and director Michael Curtiz take all of the great noir trappings of the era (including murder) and put a single mother at the center of them. Now central in her filmography, this was a comeback for Joan at the time, and proved that she could still pack cinemas as a middle-aged woman. You can stream Mildred Pierce on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Mildred Pierce (1945) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Superman (1978) In our highly dystopian present, every third movie is a superhero punch-'em-up. But not so in 1978, when Richard Donner directed the original (more or less) and best (more or less). Christopher Reeve remains a steadfast combination of believable sincerity and dorky charm, generating real chemistry with Margot Kidder's Lois Lane. You can stream Superman on Max or rent it from Prime Video. Superman (1978) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Seventh Seal (1957) Max von Sydow stars as a medieval knight in Ingmar Bergman's dark fantasy about finding human connection in the absence of faith. The film tells its story using some of the most indelible imagery in the history of cinema—anyone for a game of chess? With death? You can stream The Seventh Seal on Max, The Criterion Channel, and Kanopy. The Seventh Seal (1957) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Citizen Kane (1941) The pretentious film student's answer to the question: "What's the greatest film of all time?" is, as it happens, a genuinely great film. It's an appropriately dark and wildly innovative commentary on the corrupting powers of money and American-style capitalism. In those regards, it hasn't aged a day. You can rent Citizen Kane from Prime Video. Citizen Kane (1941) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Battleship Potemkin (1925) So rousing is Sergei Eisenstein's film, set during the early Russian Revolution of 1905, that you'll be cheering on the rebellion that lead to the birth of the Soviet Union (where this film was no less controversial than elsewhere). Among the movie's many brilliantly directed moments is the iconic Odessa Steps sequence, which has been referenced by everyone from Laurel and Hardy to Denis Villeneuve. You can stream Battleship Potemkin on Max, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Kino, and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Battleship Potemkin (1925) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) This all-star road race film is goofy, sure, but it's also got a mean streak a mile wide—and I absolutely mean that as a compliment. The cast all compete to make it across the state of California to collect a chunk of money that they've learned is buried in a state park. It's cute watching Milton Berle, Ethel Merman, Mickey Rooney, Jonathan Winters, Eddie Anderson, Sid Caesar and others team up to get the money—but it's even better when they fall out and start fighting tooth and nail, all alongside crooked cop Spencer Tracy. You can stream It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World on Prime Video, Kanopy, and Pluto TV. It's a Mad Mad Mad Mad World (1963) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) The all-star cast can be a little distracting, but Stanley Kramer’s courtroom drama remains powerful and depressingly relevant in its depiction of normal, everyday people driven to commit atrocities with only minimal encouragement. You can stream Judgment at Nuremberg on MGM+ and Pluto TV or rent it from Apple TV. Judgment at Nuremberg (1961) at Apple TV Learn More Learn More at Apple TV Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953) The first in a series of charming, and increasingly inventive comedies from the great director (and star) Jacques Tati. M. Hulot feels like a silent film character in a world of sound, and, indeed, the focus here is less on dialogue than in the inadvertent ways in which our hero brings absolute chaos wherever he goes. There's a method to the comedy, as well, Tati finding satisfaction in seeing the thin veneers of the comfortable, snobby, rich vacationers worn away. You can stream M. Hulot's Holiday on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Monsieur Hulot's Holiday (1953) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Carnival of Souls (1962) This deeply haunting, low-budget independent beat George Romero's Night of the Living Dead to the punch by around five years, following a young woman (Candace Hilligoss) through a dark night of her own. Thoroughly eerie, it's a movie that stays with you, like it or not. You can stream Carnival of Souls on Max, The Roku Channel, AMC+, MGM+, The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, Shudder, and Pluto TV or rent it from Prime Video. Carnival of Souls (1962) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Sound of Music (1965) The hills are alive, etc., as a charmingly goofy nun-in-training gets a job at the home of an Austrian aristocrat. What starts out as a very hummable sing-a-long takes a dark turn as the shadow of Nazi Germany comes to loom. That genuine threat elevates Julie Andrews' breakout into something as meaningful as it is fun. You can stream The Sound of Music on Disney+ and Hulu or rent it from Prime Video. The Sound of Music (1965) at Disney+ Learn More Learn More at Disney+ Pather Panchali (1955) India’s answer to the French New Wave, Satyajit Ray’s gorgeous but down-to-earth drama finds universal truths in the fraught relationships between desperately poor Apu, his sister Durga, and their mother, Sarbajaya. (The subsequent two films in what would eventually become known as the Apu Trilogy are just as great.) You can stream Pather Panchali on Max, The Criterion Collection, and Kanopy or rent it from Prime Video. Pather Panchali (1955) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Sherlock Jr. (1924) The General is often seen as Buster Keaton’s masterpiece, but I prefer Sherlock Jr., in which a normal schlub finds himself, literally, drawn into the movies. It’s an acrobatic and often hilarious journey into film history. You can stream Sherlock Jr. on The Criterion Channel, Kanopy, and Kino or rent it from Prime Video. Sherlock Jr. (1924) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Funny Girl (1968) Barbra Streisand broke through in a big way in this funny (naturally), moving, and ultimately epic story about the rise of real-life comedian Fanny Brice and her troubled romance with Nicky Arnstein (Omar Sharif). It’s like buttah. You can stream Funny Girl on Prime Video. Funny Girl (1968) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video His Girl Friday (1940) One of the films that defined the sharp, fast-talking screwball comedy genre, with Rosalind Russell and Cary Grant as an ex-married newshound couple trying to uncover the truth behind the story of a convicted murderer. You can stream His Girl Friday on Prime Video, MGM+, The Roku Channel, Kanopy, Pluto TV, and Shout Factory TV. His Girl Friday (1940) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Bride of Frankenstein (1935) On the eve of his wedding, Dr. Frankenstein finds himself drawn into temptation when his old mentor shows up in town. The two run off together with every intention of giving birth to new life. You can rent Bride of Frankenstein from Prime Video. Bride of Frankenstein (1935) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Modern Times (1936) Ever feel like you’re just a cog in the capitalist machinery of life? Charlie Chaplin’s masterpiece is the perfect movie for anyone who’s ever been stuck in a rut at work. You can stream Modern Times on Prime Video, Max, The Criterion Channel, and Kanopy. Modern Times (1936) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Rashomon (1950) Akira Kurosawa’s samurai tale is not only wildly influential, it’s also film’s definitive statement on the unreliability of memory and the ease with which we spin stories for our own benefit. A warrior’s murder is recounted by a series of characters, each with a similar tale, but with details that vary in crucial ways. You can stream Rashomon on Max and The Criterion Channel or rent it from Prime Video. Rashomon (1950) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max Jaws (1975) Steven Spielberg created the thrilling, harrowing summer blockbuster to beat them all way back in 1975, shaping the cinematic landscape we’re still living in, for better or worse. You can rent Jaws from Prime Video. Jaws (1975) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video High Noon (1952) It’s hard to believe, all these decades later, that this simple story of a sheriff abandoned by a terrified town was one of the most controversial films of its era. There’s a lot going on here just under the surface, including a strong defiance of the Red Scare and its accompanying Hollywood blacklist. You can rent High Noon from Prime Video. High Noon (1952) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video Carrie (1976) One of Stephen King’s earliest works translates into this memorably bloody coming-of-age story about a shy young woman (Sissy Spacek) with growing telekenetic powers, caught between her controlling mother at home and her cruel classmates at school. You can stream Carrie on MGM+ and Max or rent it from Prime Video. Carrie (1976) at Max Learn More Learn More at Max The Night of the Hunter (1955) Actor Charles Laughton's sole directorial effort is a wildly impressive one, with serial-killing preacher Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) charming and then terrorizing a rural West Virginia family during the Great Depression. Audiences at the time found it impossibly weird and arty, and often weren't thrilled with Laughton's take on religious hypocrisy. Time has revealed it as a taut, idiosyncratic masterpiece. You can stream Night of the Hunter on Pluto TV and Prime Video. The Night of the Hunter (1955) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video A Raisin in the Sun (1961) Sidney Poitier, Ruby Dee, Claudia McNeil, Diana Sands, Roy Glenn, and Louis Gossett Jr. star in this family drama about a Black family about to come into a small windfall, and the intergenerational conflict and trauma that impacts the ways in which family members want to spend it, and even their their definitions of a better life. You can rent A Raisin in the Sun from Prime Video. A Raisin in the Sun (1961) at Prime Video Learn More Learn More at Prime Video View the full article

Ever wondered why some of your ecommerce products or blog posts never appear on Google? The way your site handles pagination could be the reason. This article explores the complexities of pagination – what it is, whether your site needs it for SEO, and how it affects search in 2025. What is pagination? Examples of pagination in action. Why is pagination important for SEO? Google’s deprecation of rel=prev/next. Why pagination is still important in 2025: The infinite scroll debate. How JavaScript can interfere with pagination. How to handle indexing and canonical tags for paginated URLs. What is pagination? Pagination is the coding and technical framework on webpages that allows content to be divided across multiple pages while remaining thematically connected to the original parent page. When a single page contains too much content to load efficiently, pagination helps by breaking it into smaller sections. This improves user experience and unburdens the client (i.e., web browser) from loading too much information – much of which may not even be reviewed by the user. Examples of pagination in action Product listings One common example of pagination is navigating multiple pages of product results within a single product feed or category. Let’s look at Virgin Experience Days, a site that sells gifted experiences similar to Red Letter Days. Take their Mother’s Day experiences page: https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/mothers-day-gifts Scroll down to the “All Mother’s Day Experiences & Gift Ideas Experiences” section, and you’ll see a staggering 1,635 experiences to choose from. That’s a lot. Clearly, listing all of them on a single page wouldn’t be practical. It would result in excessive vertical scrolling and could slow down page loading times. Further down the page, you’ll find pagination links: Clicking a pagination link moves users to separate product listing pages, such as page 2: https://www.virginexperiencedays.co.uk/mothers-day-gifts?page=2 In the URL, ?page=2 appears as a parameter extension, a common pagination syntax. Variations include ?p=2 or /page/2/, but the purpose remains the same – allowing users to browse additional pages of listings. Even major retailers like Amazon use similar pagination structures. Pagination also helps search engines discover deeply nested products. If a site is so large that all its products can’t be listed in a single XML sitemap, pagination links provide an additional way for crawlers to access them. Even when XML sitemaps are in place, internal linking remains important for SEO. While pagination links aren’t the strongest ranking signal, they serve a foundational role in ensuring content is discoverable. Dig deeper: Internal linking for ecommerce: The ultimate guide Blog and news feeds Pagination isn’t limited to product listings, it’s also widely used in blog and news feeds. Take Search Engine Land’s SEO article archive: https://searchengineland.com/library/seo In this page, you can access a feed of all SEO-related posts on Search Engine Land. Scrolling down, you’ll find pagination links. Clicking “2” takes you to the next set of SEO articles: https://searchengineland.com/library/seo/page/2 Pagination inside content Pagination can also exist within individual pieces of content rather than at a feed level. For example, some news websites paginate comment sections when a single article receives thousands of comments. Similarly, forum threads with extensive discussions often use pagination to break up replies across multiple pages. Consider this post from WPBeginner: https://www.wpbeginner.com/beginners-guide/how-to-choose-the-best-blogging-platform/ Scroll to the bottom, and you’ll see that even the comment section uses pagination to organize user responses. Why is pagination important for SEO? Pagination plays a crucial role in SEO for several reasons: Indexing Without pagination, search crawlers may struggle to find deeply nested content such as blog posts, news articles, products, and comments. Crawl efficiency Pagination increases the number of URLs on a site, which might seem counterproductive to efficient crawling. However, most search engines recognize common pagination structures – even without rich markup. This understanding allows them to prioritize crawling more valuable content while ignoring less important paginated pages. Internal linking Pagination also contributes to internal linking. While pagination links don’t carry significant link authority, they provide structure. Google tends to pay less attention to orphaned pages – those without inbound links – so pagination can help ensure content remains connected. Managing content duplication If URLs aren’t structured properly, search engines may mistakenly identify them as duplicate content. Pagination isn’t as strong a signal for content consolidation as redirects or canonical tags. Still, when implemented correctly, it helps search engines differentiate between paginated pages and true duplicates. Google’s deprecation of rel=prev/next Google previously supported rel=prev/next for declaring paginated content. However, in March 2019, it was revealed that Google had not used this markup for some time. As a result, these tags are no longer necessary in a website’s code. Google likely used rel=prev/next to study common pagination structures. Over time, those insights were integrated into its core algorithms, making the markup redundant. Some SEOs believe these tags may still help with crawling, but there is little evidence to support this. If your site doesn’t use this markup, there’s no need to worry. Google can still recognize paginated URLs. If your site uses it, there’s also no urgent need to remove it, as it won’t negatively impact your SEO. Get the newsletter search marketers rely on. Business email address Sign me up! Processing... See terms. Why pagination is still important in 2025: The infinite scroll debate Alternate methods for browsing large amounts of content have emerged over the past couple of decades. “View more” or “Load more” buttons often appear under comment streams, while infinite scroll or lazy-loaded feeds are common for posts and products. Some argue these features are more user-friendly. Originally pioneered by social networks such as Twitter (now X), this form of navigation helped boost social interactions. Some websites have adopted it, but why isn’t it more widespread? From an SEO perspective, the issue is that search engine crawlers interact with webpages in a limited way. While headless browsers may sometimes execute JavaScript-based content during a page load, search crawlers typically don’t “scroll down” to trigger new content. A search engine bot certainly won’t scroll indefinitely to load everything. As a result, websites relying solely on infinite scroll or lazy loading risk orphaning articles, products, and comments over time. For major news brands with strong SEO authority and extensive XML sitemaps, this may not be a concern. The trade-off between SEO and user experience may be acceptable. But for most websites, implementing these technologies is likely a bad idea. Search crawlers may not spend time scrolling through content feeds, but they will click hyperlinks – including pagination links. How JavaScript can interfere with pagination Even if your site doesn’t use infinite scroll plugins, JavaScript can still interfere with pagination. Since July 2024, Google has at least attempted to render JavaScript for all visited pages. However, details on this remain vague. Does Google render all pages, including JavaScript, at the time of the crawl? Or is execution deferred to a separate processing queue? How does this affect Google’s ranking algorithms? Does Google make initial determinations before executing JavaScript weeks later? There are no definitive answers to these questions. What we do know is that “dynamic rendering is on the decline,” according to the 2024 Web Almanac SEO Chapter. If Google’s effort to execute JavaScript for all crawled pages is progressing well – which seems unlikely given the potential efficiency drawbacks – why are so many sites reverting to a non-dynamic state? This doesn’t mean JavaScript use is disappearing. Instead, more sites may be shifting to server-side or edge-side rendering. If your site uses traditional pagination but JavaScript interferes with pagination links, it can still lead to crawling issues. For example, your site might use traditional pagination links, but the main content of your page is lazy-loaded. In turn, the pagination links only appear when a user (or bot) scrolls the page. Dig deeper: A guide to diagnosing common JavaScript SEO issues How to handle indexing and canonical tags for paginated URLs SEO professionals often recommend using canonical tags to point paginated URLs to their parent pages, marking them as non-canonical. This practice was especially common before Google introduced rel=prev/next. Since Google deprecated rel=prev/next, many SEOs remain uncertain about the best way to handle pagination URLs. Avoid blocking paginated content via robots.txt or with canonical tags. Doing so prevents Google from crawling or indexing those pages. In the case of news posts, certain comment exchanges might be considered valuable by Google, potentially connecting a paginated version of an article with keywords that wouldn’t otherwise be associated with it. This can generate free traffic – something worth keeping in 2025. Similarly, restricting the crawling and indexing of paginated product feeds could leave some products effectively soft-orphaned. In SEO, there’s a tendency to chase perfection and aim for complete crawl control. But being overly aggressive here can do more harm than good, so tread carefully. There are cases where it makes sense to de-canonicalize or limit the crawling of paginated URLs. Before taking that step, make sure you have data showing that crawl-efficiency issues outweigh the potential free traffic gains. If you don’t have that data, don’t block the URLs. Simple! View the full article

Now that the Google March 2025 core update is done, I wanted to share some polls I spotted on this update, including some I posted myself. The theme is, most said their rankings stayed the same, while many saw declines and improvements with the update. Which tells us, this was a normal core update.View the full article

Struggling to allocate your resources to project work and adjust when things inevitably change? Using a resource allocation model helps you use your project resources more effectively and stay agile to meet changing demands. The post What Is A Resource Allocation Model? Benefits & Types appeared first on The Digital Project Manager. View the full article

This guide will show you how to use ChatGPT the right way. Brand new to using it? I’ll help you skip the rookie mistakes that leave most beginners frustrated. Tried it before and had an average experience? No problem. You’ll learn how to refine your approach to get useful, high-quality responses (finally). Because here’s the thing: ChatGPT IS a powerful tool. But only if you know how to use it effectively. Let’s make that happen. What is ChatGPT (And What Can It Do)? ChatGPT is an AI assistant that answers your questions like a human would. It can also generate ideas and assist with writing, problem-solving, and research tasks. How does it do this? It analyzes lots of books, web pages, and conversations — this is its training data. Then, it predicts the most relevant response. Think of it as a brilliant researcher who’s read millions of books and the entire internet. It can recall any facts and instantly connect ideas to generate the most relevant answer. (We talk more about how generative AI works in this article.) So, what can ChatGPT do? A surprising number of things. It can help you: Brainstorm blog post topics Plan your content strategy Debug code snippets Translate marketing copy into multiple languages Explain blood test results in simple terms Plus, depending on the model you’re using (more on that below), it can also: Generate images using DALL·E: And handle voice interactions. ChatGPT Models OpenAI (the company behind ChatGPT) regularly updates ChatGPT with new training data. That’s why there are different ChatGPT models. Each one is optimized for different tasks. Model Best For GPT-4.5 Advanced model for reasoning and creativity. Better pattern recognition. GPT-4o General and professional use. Also good for coding & deep analysis. Multimodal. GPT-4o mini Everyday tasks. Gives responses faster but lacks advanced tools. o3-mini Coding and advanced reasoning, great for problem-solving & logic tasks o1 & o1-mini Complex problem-solving but lacks memory and search GPT-4o with Scheduled Tasks (BETA) AI automation ChatGPT Limitations It’s no secret. ChatGPT makes things up sometimes (aka a “hallucination). It’s not really thinking for itself. Instead, it predicts words based on patterns in its training data. And sometimes, those predictions are completely wrong. For example, Łukasz Białozor, an AI consultant, asked: “Who was the sole survivor of the Titanic?” Instead of correcting the prompt, ChatGPT named one person—even though 706 people survived. Bias is another issue. AI models like ChatGPT reflect societal biases that exist in their training data. Here’s a simple way to see this in action: Ask it to draw a nurse. You’ll likely get a woman. Now, ask it to draw a CEO. You’ll probably see a man. Here’s what I got: This gender bias isn’t just limited to images. ChatGPT can perpetuate stereotypes and biases around: Gender roles and professions Cultural perspectives Socioeconomic assumptions Historical narratives Geographic representation For example, when asked about “traditional family values” or “successful business practices,” ChatGPT might default to Western, male-dominated perspectives without acknowledging other viewpoints. What does this mean for you? Always cross-reference important facts from multiple sources Be aware that ChatGPT’s responses may reflect societal biases Ask follow-up questions to get different perspectives Use ChatGPT as a starting point, not the final authority Consider whose viewpoints might be missing from its responses Remember: ChatGPT is an incredibly powerful tool, but it’s trained on human-created data—which means it inherits human biases. So, use it wisely by staying critical and conscious of these limitations. How to Use ChatGPT: Step-by-Step Beginners Guide If you’re new to ChatGPT, getting started is easy. You’ll be using it like a pro in just a few steps. Step 1: Choose the Right ChatGPT Account Type There are three ways to access ChatGPT, depending on what you need. Guest Access You can try ChatGPT right away with “Guest Access.” No need to sign up. Just go to chatgpt.com, and start chatting. It lets you ask questions and even search the web. But your conversations won’t be saved. Once you close the page, everything disappears. If you’re testing it out, “Guest Access” is fine. But if you want ChatGPT to act like a real assistant, you’ll need an account. Free Account A free account gives you more features and better answers. For example, the “Reason” feature helps it think before answering, so you get sharper, more accurate responses. You can also upload files like PDFs and spreadsheets, making it easy to work with large documents. Another benefit? Your chat history saves. You can return to past conversations and pick up where you left off. Another big benefit is that you can customize ChatGPT responses. (More on that below.) So, every time it responds to your questions, it answers in a way that matches your style. How to Sign Up for Free Go to chatgpt.com. Click “Sign up.” Enter a valid email address or sign in using Google, Microsoft, or Apple. Create a password. Then, add your name and birthday (both are required). And finally, choose if you want ChatGPT to remember your conversations (you can change this later). That’s it. You’re set. Paid Subscription If you use ChatGPT a lot, consider upgrading to ChatGPT Plus for $20/month. This gives you access to all ChatGPT models, including the latest and most advanced versions. You even get 10 “Deep Research” searches per month. This allows ChatGPT to search multiple web sources in one query. You give it one prompt, and it’ll independently search websites, read research papers, compare products, and more. It’s great when you need to research and visit many websites, such as when you’re comparing products before you buy. Or when you need to go through scientific journals for research. Oh, and another benefit? Faster responses, even during peak hours (7 AM to 5 PM ET). While free users wait, you keep chatting without interruptions. Step 2: Tweak the Default Settings ChatGPT works great out of the box, but a few tweaks can make it even better. ChatGPT Memory: On or Off? When you first sign up, you’ll be asked if you want to turn memory on. But you’re not locked into that choice. You can change this anytime at: “Profile” (top right) > “Settings” > “Personalization.” Turn memory on, and ChatGPT will learn from your past conversations. You won’t have to repeat yourself every time you start a new chat. Over time, it’ll remember details and give you more relevant responses. Turn memory off and every session starts fresh. This is great if you prefer more privacy. Or don’t want past conversations influencing future replies. You can also erase stored memories. Click “Manage memories” in the “Personalization” window. And you’ll see a new window where you can erase all memories or delete specific ones. Personalizing ChatGPT: Make It Work Your Way ChatGPT doesn’t have to sound the same for everyone. You can easily customize it. Just go to “Profile” (at the top right) > “Customize ChatGPT.” Then, enter basic details like your name and profession. Next, customize ChatGPT’s personality. You can specify: Tone: Friendly, casual, professional? Response length: Brief and direct or in-depth? Persona: Strategist, a teacher, or something else? For example, if you want it to write in Backlinko style, you could type: “Write in the Backlinko writing style. Be direct and cut the fluff. Every sentence should be actionable. Do not use long complicated words when a simpler, shorter word exists.” If you’re not sure what to write, you can ask ChatGPT. Here’s one way you can do that using your brand’s messaging document. Upload the brand guide to ChatGPT and write: “Attached is [YOUR BRAND’S] content guideline. In under 1,500 characters, summarize [YOUR BRAND’S] voice, tone, and personality.” Advanced tip: I’ve noticed that ChatGPT doesn’t always stick to the personality I want. If you see that, too, do this: First, give it this instruction. “You have different personas. When I write [keyword], use that persona.” Then, define the persona: For example, for Backlinko, I write: “[backlinko]: Be direct. Write clearly. Use short, punchy sentences with a confident tone. Make it easy to skim and focus on real, tested advice. Skip the jargon and write using the active voice. Keep the language simple (6th-grade level).” Now, whenever I want ChatGPT to respond in Backlinko’s style, I start the chat with [backlinko]. The great thing about this? You can add multiple personas for different tasks. And then you just add [keyword] to call that persona into the chat. Some of my favorites include: [80/20]: Focus only on the 20% of knowledge or actions that drive 80% of results. Prioritize key takeaways. [teacher]: Break concepts into step-by-step explanations with real-world examples, analogies, and case studies. The final section in customization is “What should ChatGPT know about you?” Here, you personalize ChatGPT to your life and work. What should you add? Think about how you’ll be using it, then add relevant instructions. For example, if you’re vegetarian with some dietary restrictions and you often use it for meal planning, you can write: “My family is vegetarian. One of our children has a peanut allergy, and the other doesn’t eat onions. Always make sure that the meals you create follow these restrictions.” Here’s another example if you use ChatGPT for work. Say you have an ecommerce store. You could add: “I sell handcrafted plant baskets made from sustainable materials. I have customers all over the world who are eco-conscious. I write in a warm but expert tone. I’m knowledgeable but never preachy. I have a small marketing budget. I do mostly organic content and paid ads.” Control Your Privacy By default, OpenAI may use your conversations to improve the model. If you’d rather keep chats private, you can turn this off. Go to “Profile” > “Settings” > “Data Controls” and toggle “Improve the model for everyone.” Once you do this, it won’t use your conversations for training. And that’s it. Your AI is now customized for you. Go test ChatGPT with a few questions. And see how well it adjusts based on your customizations. Still not customized the way you want it? Go back to settings and keep refining. Step 3: Learn to Write Better Prompts If you want high-quality answers from ChatGPT, you need to write better prompts. Bland or generic answers usually mean a prompting problem. Why? Because when you give ChatGPT a vague question, it has to fill in the gaps. And from what I’ve seen, it plays it safe by giving you the most generic explanations. You don’t want that. So how do you fix it? Let’s get Google to help. In its prompting guide, Google states that a good, detailed prompt includes four elements: Task: What you want ChatGPT to do (explain, analyze, compare) Context: Relevant background info (who, what, where, why) Persona: The role ChatGPT should take (expert, teacher, consultant) Format: How the response should be structured (step-by-step, bullet points, examples) Adding just task + context makes a big difference. Use all four, and you get much better answers. Let me show you the difference in answer quality between a basic and an optimized prompt. A basic prompt: “Give me unique marketing tips for a tour guide.” What do you get? A generic list that can work for any tour guide anywhere in the world: Now, add task + specific context: Since ChatGPT has specific details to work with, the answer is more relevant. We’re not done yet. How about using all four elements using this prompt? “Act as a tourism marketing expert with 20 years of experience. I’ve just started a tour company in Málaga, Spain. The competition is fierce, so I need to stand out. Your task: identify three unique viral marketing strategies. The output should be a numbered list with one real-world example for each.” That level of detail gives you a more hyper-specific answer: Step 4: Get Better Results With Frameworks Frameworks help ChatGPT focus its thinking so its response becomes clearer and more organized. So, instead of saying, “Give me an SEO strategy,” or “Give me content ideas,” specify a framework. For example, in the Málaga tour guide prompt above, try using the STP framework (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning). You might say: “Act as a tourism marketing expert with 20 years of experience. Use the STP framework (Segmentation, Targeting, Positioning) to develop a unique marketing strategy for a tour guide in Málaga, Spain. Identify a specific segment of travelers, explain the best way to target them, and position the tour guide’s services for maximum appeal.” Much. Better. Answer. But what if you don’t know any frameworks? No problem. Just ask ChatGPT. All you have to do is choose the best one. Step 5: Refine ChatGPT’s Responses with Follow-Ups ChatGPT’s first answer isn’t always the best, especially for complex topics. How do you improve it? Keep asking questions. Here’s what I mean. Imagine you’re a social media manager launching a smart water bottle that reminds users to drink. Your first prompt might be: “Give me a list of interactive social media campaign ideas. Context: We’re launching a new product: a smart water bottle that reminds users to drink. You’re a social media strategist with 10 years of experience.” ChatGPT gives you a list: It’s a good start. But it’s not enough to have a clear launch strategy. So, you dig deeper. If the reply is too generic, ask for more details. If the answer is too theoretical, ask for clear, actionable steps. Or you can focus on one thing in the list. Keep refining your questions until you have everything you need. By doing this, ChatGPT becomes more of a collaborative partner. And you get a final output that’s a blend of AI and your knowledge and topical expertise. Why not add everything in one big prompt? You could. But it’s not always the best approach. Yes, some prompts are simple enough that they don’t need iterative refining. But for complex ideas, refining step by step gives you more control over the output. Personal insight: When conversations with ChatGPT get longer, it can go into a rabbit hole and lose track of the original task. When this happens, I bring it back with a prompt like: “Go back to the original task. Do you remember it?” If the response shows that it has forgotten some details from the original prompt, remind it explicitly: “We were working on [ORIGINAL TASK]. Pick up from where we left off.” This helps bring the conversation back to the task you set out to do. Fun Ways to Use ChatGPT for Life and Work One of the most powerful things about ChatGPT? It can take on different roles. It can be your personal assistant, researcher, strategist, problem-solver, and more. ChatGPT as 24-7 Personal Assistant ChatGPT can be your assistant for work and daily life. Need help with life planning, SEO, or optimizing your habits? Done. For example, you can use it to review legal documents. Upload a PDF, like a client agreement, and ask it to explain the legal jargon. Or point out unfair clauses. It’s great for mundane tasks, too. Like cleaning up video transcripts. Paste (or upload) the transcript. And ask ChatGPT to organize it better. Saves you so much time. Personal insight: I recently used ChatGPT to help me organize my Obsidian vault (Obsidian is a personal knowledge management tool.) I wanted a clean, scalable folder structure that matched my use case. So, off to ChatGPT I went and wrote this prompt: “Create a folder structure for Obsidian that helps organize personal insights, research, and notes. The folder structure should make finding and linking notes easy while keeping things simple and scalable. Strictly limit to five main folders. Make sure it’s organized so it’s easy to expand over time. Your output should be in a clear, hierarchical bullet format.” This response gave me a solid starting point to structure my folders. It also saved me time by giving me a clear framework to customize instead of figuring it all out from scratch. ChatGPT as Your Analyst ChatGPT is also great for processing and analyzing data. A few things it can do: Clean up raw data Identify patterns Extract insights Side note: Data analysis works best with the paid plan. The free version may not always deliver the same level of detail. Here’s a great example of how you can use its data analysis capabilities for digital marketing. Let’s say you run an online store. You want to analyze your competitor’s Google Shopping Ads using the Product Listing Ads (PLAs) data you got from Semrush. Do this: Upload the data to ChatGPT and use this prompt: “Analyze this Product Listing Ad (PLA) data for BestBuy.com from Semrush. Give me the top five takeaways that will help me. Show your work.” Just like that, ChatGPT will identify patterns and trends from the Semrush data: Expert tip: Want to double-check the analysis? Add “Show your work” to your prompt. This tells ChatGPT to explain its thought process so you can verify and refine the answer. ChatGPT as a Thought Partner ChatGPT is great for learning and skill development. For example, you can use it as a conversation partner when learning a new language. You can also use ChatGPT to stress-test your thinking. It can challenge your assumptions and poke holes in your reasoning. I even use it to analyze my content outlines for writing projects. Fun fact: Being nice to ChatGPT can lead to better responses. Research shows that using polite, supportive prompts leads to better answers. Don’t Stop at ChatGPT. Build Your AI Toolkit. You’re speaking ChatGPT like a native now. You’ve gone from curious to confident. Keep using it, the better you’ll get. But here’s the thing: ChatGPT isn’t the only AI tool you should master. Other generative AI platforms excel at different tasks. Some crush internet research and exploration. And others are great for chatting with real-life characters. Check which AI tool matches your exact needs in our no-fluff guide to ChatGPT alternatives. The post How to Use ChatGPT to Get 10X Better Answers appeared first on Backlinko. View the full article

Google is reportedly going to pay $100 million to settle a 14-year-old class action case for allegedly having its Google Ads (as then known, AdWords) serve ads outside of the geographic regions the advertisers targeted.View the full article

Writing quality content should be a key aspect of every SEO strategy. But when is your content considered good or high-quality? And does quality mean the same for your users as for Google? In this article, we’ll discuss creating content and how you can make sure it hits the mark. It will require some creative writing skills. But don’t worry, you don’t have to become the next big author! By focusing on the right things, you can create high-ranking quality content that your users will happily read. What is quality content? That is the million-dollar question. Knowing how to write good content helps you get more visitors, higher conversions, and lower bounce rates. But who determines the quality of your content? The easy answer: your users. However, this also makes creating the right content more difficult. Because every user is different and has a different search intent. They have, however, one thing in common: every user knows what they want. Although your users eventually determine the quality of your content, you can take a few steps to ensure you end up with well-thought-out, readable, and attractive content. In other words, content that’s eligible to be considered high-quality by your users and search engines. Luckily, a lot of the aspects that users will appreciate about your content are the same as the aspects search engines look for in quality content. How search engines determine quality content Search engines want to present their users with the exact content they seek. Content that is helpful, reliable and people-first and aligns with their current search intent. To help you create good content, Google has an acronym that you can consult: E-E-A-T. Search engines decide on what is content quality by assessing a number of things – relevance, clarity and helpfulness, credibility and uniqueness. This all ties into the importance of E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in any strategy around brand or topical authority. Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast The acronym E-E-A-T stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness. In their ongoing search for the best content, Google has added this acronym to their search quality raters guidelines. They use this to assess and judge the quality of online content. Although it’s especially important for so-called YMYL websites (“Your Money Your Life” – sites that are related to well-being, health, finances or safety), these guidelines apply to all content out there. Why is quality content important? Quality content is the foundation of a strong brand, helping you establish authority and expertise in your industry. Well-crafted content speaks directly to the needs of your audience, providing valuable insights that position your brand as a reliable source. Whether it’s through blog posts, social media, or in-depth guides, delivering high-quality content builds long-term relationships with customers, fosters engagement, and strengthens brand credibility. Beyond its impact on branding, quality content plays a crucial role in SEO. As mentioned above, search engines prioritize helpful, well-structured, and informative content that truly benefits users. By focusing on producing valuable content that answers queries effectively, you can achieve higher rankings in the search results. This leads to increased visibility, organic traffic, and better engagement, which will help you grow your website sustainably. To scale content creation effectively, check out this guide on scaling content. Additionally, if you mainly write content for your clients’ website, make sure to check out our article on writing valuable content that your clients will love. 7 steps to start creating high-quality content To ensure the quality of your content, there are 7 steps that you can follow. Let’s go into them in more detail. 1. Write for your readers, not yourself If you have an ecommerce site, you want readers to know about the products or services you offer. If you’re a blogger, you want readers to get to know you and the topics that interest you. However, it’s also important to consider what your users want to read about. What interests do they have? What events or news do they follow that you can relate to your business? And what ‘problems’ are they trying to fix that have led them to your site? The first step in creating high-quality content is ensuring it contains the information your audience is looking for. To find out what your users are looking for, you have to conduct proper keyword research. This will help you determine what subjects to write about and what words your audience uses. Keyword research also helps your rankings, as more visitors and lower bounce rates tell Google that your page is a good result to show in their search results. 2. Think about search intent and your goal Search intent is the reason why someone conducts a specific search. It’s the term used to describe their purpose. For example, do they have a question they need answered? Or do they want to buy something online? Someone’s search intent makes a difference in how they consider the quality of your content. If it fits their need at that moment, then they will stay on your page longer. But if they need an answer to a question and the page they land on only tries to sell them products, they’ll be gone before you know it. Match goals to different search intents It’s important to consider search intent while creating content for a specific page. That’s why we advise you to match your goals to users’ different search intents. Is one of your goals to increase newsletter subscriptions? Then, you should add that subscription button to pages where users with an informational intent land. Does a visitor have a transactional intent (meaning: they want to buy something)? Make sure they land on a product or category page dedicated to the product they are looking for. Of course, experience tells us it’s not always that black and white. Still, it’s good to consider your users’ search intent. It helps you determine the focus of your content and what call-to-actions you want to add. A great way to get started is by adopting a content design mindset. This mindset helps you produce user-centered content based on real needs. Also, we recommend looking at the search results for some input to create great content. 3. Make your content readable and engaging Do you want to get your message across? And do you want people to read your entire blog post or page? Then, make your content easy to read. This means that you should: Think about the structure of your text and the words you use. Too much text without any headings or paragraphs, also known as a wall of text, tends to scare people off. Use headings and whitespace to give your readers some air while reading. Try to limit the use of difficult words and be cautious of the length of your sentences. Both can make your content harder to understand, which will slow down and frustrate your reader. Variation in your text will make it engaging. Use synonyms and alternate longer sentences with shorter ones to mix it up. Another important thing to focus on: Have fun! And be conversational in your writing. This helps you write high-quality content that is different from your competitors’ and helps users get to know you and your brand. Read more: 5 tips for writing readable blog posts » 4. Write with E-E-A-T in mind Experience, expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness can all be used to improve your content. So how can you make sure to include these in your writing? We’ll go through them one by one and give you some pointers. Share your experience Although the acronym started as E-A-T, they added another E shortly after. This newly added E stands for experience. They prefer content that showcases knowledge or skills gained through first-hand experience. This can be gained through personal involvement or observations related to the topic at hand. To give an example, someone who has worked as an optician for many years will be experienced in the topic of eyesight. Or someone who has a prescription themselves will also have experience on the topic. Keep reading: The new E in E-E-A-T, or the importance of Experience » Be the expert in your field The second E in E-E-A-T stands for expertise. Although it makes sense that this would be an important factor in determining the quality of content, it is trickier to evaluate. So what Google does is find out what it can about the author itself. What is their reputation when it comes to the topic at hand? What is their background? And what other (reliable) sources are they referring to? When it comes to this criterion, it will pay off to be clear about your expertise and where it comes from online. Read on: The E in E-A-T: What is expertise? And how to show it? » Show your authority Related to expertise, the next letter stands for authoritativeness. An authority can be defined as a person or organization having power or control in a particular area. When you’re an authority on a topic, you often have the proper knowledge on it. That’s why official websites often have a higher chance of being perceived as the authority on a topic. But also aspects like qualifications and being associated with well-known organizations count towards this. If this one is tricky for you, don’t worry. It’s just one of the aspects Google looks for when determining quality. If this one doesn’t fit your blog or business, just focus more on the other letters in the acronym. Keep on reading: The A in E-A-T: What is authoritativeness? » Be trustworthy The last one probably doesn’t come as a surprise, as this is something we all look for when browsing online. The trustworthiness of the content before you. Whether it’s for a product you want to buy or information that you’re looking for, trust plays a big role in how serious you take online content. If it doesn’t feel right, a user will hesitate in the best case and leave your website in the worst. Google’s guidelines are quite clear on how they determine the trustworthiness of a website: “An unsatisfying amount of any of the following is a reason to give a page a low-quality rating: customer service information, contact information, information about who is responsible for the website or information about who created the content.” So make sure to be clear on these and look for other opportunities to show your trustworthiness. Read more: The T in E-E-A-T: What is Trustworthiness? How can you achieve it? » 5. Keep your content up to date Another key element of writing high-quality content is ensuring it’s up-to-date and relevant. This means you have to update your content occasionally to ensure people can find the right information. But why is this so important? It shows your users that you’re on top of recent developments and can always provide them with accurate information. In other words, it builds trust and keeps your audience returning to your site. Keeping your website and blog posts updated is also important for SEO, as this shows Google that your site is ‘alive’ and relevant. So, make sure you schedule a time to update your content regularly. Keep reading: 10 tips to improve the quality of your page » 6. Invest time in site structure The five steps we’ve discussed so far will help you write content that is easy to read and user-centered. Now, we’d like to highlight an equally important step: working on your site structure. It’s important because it will help users and search engines find your content. Site structure refers to the way you organize your site’s content. When you structure your site well, search engines can index your URLs better. It helps Google determine the importance of your pages and which ones are related to each other. A good site structure allows users to find their way around your site more easily. It will help them find quality content in the search results and on your website. That’s why there’s much to gain from perfecting your site structure. 7. Use Yoast SEO to perfect your content The last tip I want to share is the content analysis in our very own Yoast SEO plugin. This feature gives you real-time feedback on your content while you’re editing your page in the backend. It monitors whether you use your chosen keyword often enough and in the right places, it looks at text length and gives you feedback on readability. For example, it tells you when you use the passive voice too much, whether you’re using enough subheadings, gives you feedback on word complexity and the use of transition words. All of this and more is available in the free version to help you improve the readability and quality of your content. The content analysis in Yoast SEO Premium goes a bit further and also does the following: Allows you to optimize your text for related keyphrases and synonyms Recognizes different forms of your keyphrase, so you can focus on writing naturally Recognizes singular and plural, and also tenses of verbs Gives access to our AI features, like Yoast AI Optimize, suggesting changes in your content Gives you access to all the Yoast SEO academy courses, including our SEO copywriting training! Buy Yoast SEO Premium now! Unlock powerful features and much more for your WordPress site with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin! Get Yoast SEO Premium »Only $99 / year (ex VAT) A quick recap on high-quality content Good, high-quality content will positively affect your SEO in the long run. So, before publishing post after post (or page after page), make sure to keep the following in mind. Make sure to write for your readers, make your content readable, match search intent with your goals, be trustworthy, keep your content up to date, and work on your site structure. The result? Good content that your readers will appreciate. This will positively affect your number of visitors, conversions and eventual revenue. If you want to learn more tips and tricks, make sure to read our guide to SEO copywriting! Read on: SEO copywriting: the ultimate guide » The post 7 tips to write good, high-quality content appeared first on Yoast. View the full article

Well, it seems to be official now. Starting April 14, 2025 Google will update its Unfair advantage policy to say it is allowed to show the same ad, from the same company, going to the same page, as long as the ad is in a different ad location. Google was just experimenting with this earlier and now it is officially going to be allowed.View the full article