Three Crowns Mixtape: September 2, 2022

Johnny Sandquist

Founder & CEO, Three Crowns Copywriting & Marketing

Sep 2, 2022

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Important financial industry news + marketing insights + good music.

GET THE MIXTAPE DELIVERED TO YOUR EMAIL INBOX EVERY FRIDAY MORNING.

It’s conference season, and the gals of 3C are ready to hit the road – check out our #Inbound22 itinerary here, and come connect with us in Boston!

Here’s what we’re covering in today’s mixtape:

A massive crypto #whoops
Google’s latest updates
SEO tips
And more!

Must-Read Financial Industry & Marketing Articles

THAT’S ONE EXPENSIVE TYPO

One lucky customer found a real-life “Bank Error in Your Favor” card last year – and they’re not planning on returning it any time soon.

Matt Damon’s crypto of choice, Crypto.com, accidentally sent an Australian woman over 7 million U.S. dollars in 2021. An audit seven months after the transaction revealed that a simple human error in typing cost the company massively. The woman was only supposed to receive a $68 refund.

Like most of us, the customer did the most sensible, logical thing that one does when they wake up with an extra $7 million in their bank account – she spent it.

Now the Australian courts are trying to sort out this mess and return already-spent funds back to Crypto.com, but it’s looking like it will be a lengthy process.

The lesson? Always double-check your accounts – an extra zero in or out of your account can make a huge difference.

Do Not Pass Go. Do Not Collect $7 Million.

GOOGLE’S LATEST UPDATE FOCUSES ON “PEOPLE-FIRST” CONTENT

Google drops thousands and thousands of updates to their algorithm every year (seriously, it’s like 12 times a day), and the vast majority of updates pass unnoticed.

But every now and then, an update comes along that refuses to “just fit in” and it rocks your SEO Specialist’s world. Or maybe it doesn’t. Hopefully your SEO game is focused on long-term wins and building real, usable content. Google will always love that kind of stuff.

That being said, Google unveiled an update last week that they claim prioritizes “people-first” content that may have had an impact on some of your more, como se dice, “bot-friendly” content. If you’re guilty of keyword-stuffing or publishing on topics outside your area of expertise to capitalize on web traffic, you may want to check on how your content is performing.

The goal of this update, according to Google, is to promote “helpful content” more than “non-helpful content.” Sounds like a good idea, I guess. Here are a few of the questions they shared to help you evaluate the content on your site for this update:

Do you have an existing or intended audience for your business or site that would find the content useful if they came directly to you?
Does your content clearly demonstrate first-hand expertise and a depth of knowledge (for example, expertise that comes from having actually used a product or service, or visiting a place)?
Does your site have a primary purpose or focus?
After reading your content, will someone leave feeling they’ve learned enough about a topic to help achieve their goal?
Does your content promise to answer a question that actually has no answer, such as suggesting there’s a release date for a product, movie, or TV show when one isn’t confirmed?

I, for one, am glad they’re addressing that last one. I’m tired of getting fooled by “Spider-man on Nintendo Switch” videos. It’s just not true, Zach. Stop searching for it.

Power to the People

CAPTAIN OBVIOUS: SEO IS MARKETING

This might seem like a bit of a “duh” article, but it makes a great point. SEO is often viewed as something separate from marketing, and it’s just not.

If you’re thinking, “I want SEO,” that’s great! But it’s not something that exists on its own. As the article says, SEO has long been considered an island all its own, but it’s just not.

We’ve had advisors come to us and basically say, “I want SEO.” Then when we start talking about content calendars and ads and social, they seem confused.

SEO is not just a list of technical things you should do. Sure, submitting your sitemap to Google goes a long way. Yes, strategic use of keywords is important. But so is how you talk about your business and where you promote it.

As our own Justine Young pointed out in her recent series on SEO for advisors, SEO is so much more than nerds being nerds.

Give me an “S”! Give me an “E”! Give me an “O”!

IF YOU’VE GOTTA DO SOCIAL MEDIA, THIS CHECKLIST IS PRETTY GOOD

Social media shmocial shmedia, that’s what I say (which could explain why I’m known as the “cranky old man” around here).

But if you’re gonna social your media, be sure to save this checklist from Social Media Today that walks through how to make sure you’re doing it right. For all the smack I talk about “likes” and “follows,” there is a good way to do it and a bad way to do it. This infographic will help you do it the good way.

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