So, do you have international aspirations for your business? Traditional search engine optimization strategies might not be enough. Thankfully, there is an unconventional method of reaching your global audience and propelling your global SEO aspirations and this method is using VPNs or virtual private networks.

You may have heard of VPNs as a powerful tool in Internet security but did you know you can use this tool to unlock possibilities in the realm of global SEO? Here’s what you need to know to make full use of this tool.

Understanding VPNs

A VPN creates an encrypted, secure tunnel right over the vast Internet. Data traveling through the VPN tunnel is scrambled using complex, high-end algorithms. Thus, the data becomes unreadable to anyone intercepting it. The secure tunnel also shields Internet traffic and data from prying eyes. Some of the popular VPNs digital marketers or SEO professionals use are Surfshark VPN, NordVPN, and ExpressVPN.

But how do these components of VPN help unlock global SEO opportunities? Continue reading to know that.

How VPNs Unlock Global Seo Opportunities

VPNs create a secure tunnel and mask your IP address. It also helps you connect to virtual server networks so you can change your location without physically traveling anywhere. So, here’s how this helps:

• Target international keywords

Depending on your location, the search engine results can significantly vary. VPNs allow you to virtually change your location by connecting to a server in a specific country. Thanks to this, you can research and target high-volume keywords in your target markets. Also, you can optimize your content for international audiences.

• Carry out localized competitor analysis

To achieve success in SEO, it is critical to understand your competition. Analyzing the strengths and weaknesses of your competitors will give you a clear idea of the strategies you must avoid and the ones you must capitalize on.

No matter where you are in the world, you can use a VPN to perform localized competitor analysis and get valuable insights into their keyword usage, content strategy, and overall SEO approach in specific regions.

You can use this knowledge to optimize your SEO efforts and achieve measurable results.

• Monitor local SERP rankings

Want to know the effectiveness of your global SEO efforts? You must track your website’s ranking in international SERPs. This can be done using a VPN. You can keep changing the location virtually and check your website’s ranking position from the perspective of users in different countries. With this, you will get a clear picture of your global reach.

• Access geographically restricted content

There are some countries that restrict access to specific online tools or websites. If these are valuable for your SEO strategy, you can use a VPN to bypass such restrictions.

• Augment the credibility of your website

Your international audience would prefer a website with localized content. After all, websites with a local presence appear more credible. You can use a VPN to research and study local trends and adapt your website content accordingly. This will help you build trust and enhance your international brand image.

Beyond Location Benefits: Additional Perks Of Using VPNs

Location masking is a key benefit, and this is a primary reason why SEO professionals use VPNs. However, there are other advantages of SEO offered by VPNs that must not be overlooked:

• Secure your website crawling

To index your website properly, search engine crawlers need to access the content of your website. If your site is on an unsecured connection, there’s risk of data breaches. Data breaches can disrupt the crawling process and adversely impact your SEO efforts.

Using a VPN, you can encrypt all traffic and ensure secure crawling by popular search engines.

• Augment website security

Cybersecurity threats are a constant concern for websites. VPNs help safeguard websites from malicious attacks by masking IP addresses and adding an extra layer of security. This improves SEO efforts indirectly by demonstrating to popular search engines that your site is a reliable and safe source of information.

How Do You Use VPNs For Global Seo

• Research your target markets and keywords

Before using VPNs, identify your target markets and carry out keyword research for each region. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner and explore localized versions of search engines, such as Yandex (Russia) and Baidu (China). Then, search relevant keywords with low competition and high search volume.

• Select a reliable VPN provider

Choose a VPN provider offering a global server network, a strict no-logs policy, robust security features, and consistent speed and uptime.

• Connect to a VPN server in your target market

After choosing your VPN provider and paying for the subscription plan, connect to a server located in the country you are targeting for your global SEO efforts.

• Research localized competitor strategies

Use the VPN connection to assess your competitor’s websites from the user perspective in your target market. Pay attention to their keyword usage, content strategy, backlinks, and overall website structure. You can use this insight to improve your SEO approach.

• Optimize the website content for the local audience

Optimize the website content for the local audience by using the results of your keyword research and competitor analysis. You may have to translate content into the local language and adapt cultural references.

• Track local SERP rankings

Use tools like Ahrefs and SEMrush with a VPN connection to regularly monitor your website’s ranking in the SERPs. This will help you gauge the effectiveness of your global SEO efforts and make adjustments as necessary.

The Bottom Line: Add VPN To Your Global Seo Toolkit!

When VPNs are used strategically, they can be a powerful and effective tool in unlocking exciting global SEO opportunities. It can mask your location to help you stealthily study local trends of various countries and analyze competitors. Also, you can access geographically restricted SEO tools and website content to use it to your advantage. So, add it to your SEO toolkit and see the difference.

The post How To Use VPNs To Unlock Global Seo Opportunities appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

The L.A. Times is out with a new report highlighting what Federal investigators have uncovered. All signs point to the program having launched without adequate planning or resources. There was no real understanding, the research shows, with regard to how the devices would really be put to good use for students in the classroom. The program almost seemed to prioritize getting the iPads to students rather than fashioning a plan to make the devices integral to their education.

Per the findings of the U.S. Education Department, the L.A. Times explains that the iPad distribution program at 47 schools in 2013 was plagued out of the gates. “Teachers were ill-trained, schools had spotty Internet connections and students quickly bypassed security filters,” today’s report notes.

Perhaps even more embarrassing is that there was never any framework in place to subsequently evaluate how iPads were aiding in the learning experience, which would have made it virtually impossible to tell if there were any real benefits to the program, and if so, what those benefits specifically were.

To read the full L.A. Times coverage of the utterly-disheartening new federal report, click here.

The post Why Did the iPad Program Fail Students in Los Angeles? appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Internet advertising is the fastest-growing medium and is poised to expand by 17.1% this year.

New technology is improving internet advertising formats and making internet display more interactive and attention-grabbing, with consumers more likely to view, remember and interact with the ads directed their way.

Additionally, programmatic buying is evolving to allow sophisticated and efficient targeting of display audiences and delivers premium, brand-building experiences.

ZenithOptimedia forecasts that between 2013-2016 traditional display advertising will grow at an average of 15.8% a year, up from 12.3%. Social media display is growing at an average of 29.9% a year and online video advertising is now surging by 24.2% annually.

“Internet advertising is expanding rapidly as new technology makes it easier for advertisers to reach the right people at the right time with the right message, at an efficient price,” says Steve King, ZenithOptimedia’s CEO. “The spread of ever more sophisticated mobile devices will help this expansion continue, sustaining steady growth in global adspend for the next few years.”

All told, internet advertising is projected to command 23.6% of global advertising budgets this year, exceeding the combined share of newspapers and magazines (22.7%). By 2016 it’s expected that the internet will account for 28.3% of global ad spend.

The post Digital Ad Tech Driving Annual Ad Spend appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

In fact, at least 5 percent of the 5 billion people without Internet just can’t afford them.

In an attempt to tackle that issue in Zambia, Facebook’s accessibility initiative Internet.org has launched an Android and web app for the developing world with free data access to a limited set of services including Facebook, Messenger, Wikipedia, and Google Search.

Reportedly, the service also offers local health, employment, weather, and women’s rights resources news.

The story was recently covered at Tech Crunch.

Zambia may be the first stop on the Internet.org world tour, but the organization has packed a big suitcase. It plans to do the same in other developing countries.

The group has a partnership with local carrier Airtel, which is providing the free access to those limited sites in hopes that Zambians “see the web’s value and buy pre-paid data through the app to explore the rest of the Internet.”

While the Facebook Zero initiative has been giving the developing world access to a stripped down version of Facebook since 2010, this new Internet.org app — available as a compact, standalone Android app — will correlate well with the feature phones carried by the majority of Zambians.

While some have criticized Facebook’s efforts as self-serving attempts to increase its own market dominance, Internet.org product manager Guy Rosen defends the project’s benevolent side.

“We’re here to build a program that covers more than Facebook so we can accelerate the pace at which people are connecting to the Internet which is 9 percent a year” says Rosen. “We really want to make that happen faster.”

There’s more to the story — go here to read it.

The post Onward to Zambia! Internet.Org App Offers Free Access to Facebook, Google, Wikipedia, Local Info appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

“Making your way in the world today takes everything you’ve got” is more than just a lyric from the iconic sitcom’s theme song. It’s an unwavering truth when comes to achieving marketing success.

Although the challenges associated with effective marketing are vast, there is a relatively straightforward path to success. You just have to know what you’re looking for along the journey.

A new infographic shared by North American Bancard, a merchant services leader in the U.S., highlights the path in question and points small businesses in the direction of digital marketing success. Check out the visual below.

The post Infographic: The Small Business Path to Digital Marketing Success appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

But according to the latest industry data, aging Americans are quickly becoming the most overlooked group of consumers.

And that’s a monumental marketing mistake. Baby boomers, as it turns out, are not only among the biggest spenders in the country today, they are also connected to the Internet in record numbers.

All told, there’s a perfect storm brewing for digital marketing success with what some have labeled “silver surfers,” the grey-haired consumers that may very well be more receptive to your digital marketing efforts than you ever believed possible.

Just how big of a role do these “silver surfers” play in eCommerce? Check out the infographic shared below to learn more.

Source: Accredited-Online-College.org

The post Why Your Digital Marketing Shouldn't Ignore 'Silver Surfers' appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

While Norway leads the way with 86 percent of people accessing the internet in a Western European region where they have the highest average of Internet access in the world at about 69 percent, Eastern and Central Europe are expected to see on average about 54 percent Internet access (which amounts to nearly 234 million people).

Italy and Spain are reported to have the lowest average internet rate due to citizens living outside of major coverage areas and older folks who generally don’t expect to access the internet at all.

To review the full report from eMarketer, click here.

The post Average Internet Access Rates Slowly Rise in Europe appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

Put differently, the non-traditional IT market is set for rapid expansion in the coming years.

Consider this: In 2009, there were 2.5 billion connected devices; most of these were mobile phones, PCs and tablets. In 2020, there will be over 30 billion devices connected, of far greater variety.

Based on Gartner’s estimates, IT spending in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) will show an average annual growth rate of 2.2 percent through 2017,but the Internet of Things (things, people, places and systems) will create new markets and a new economy.

“The traditional IT market is not going to grow at a faster rate any time soon, if ever. Increased growth will come from the non-traditional IT market,” projects Peter Sondergaard, senior vice president at Gartner and global head of Research.

“While in 2015 the combined IT and telecom market will hit nearly $4 trillion, the incremental revenue generated by the Internet of Things’ suppliers is estimated to reach $309 billion per year by 2020,” Sondergaard adds. “Half of this activity will be new start-ups and 80 percent will be in services rather than in products. The Internet of Things is a strategically important market. It will accelerate fast and will drive both revenue and cost efficiencies.”

The post Gartner Says Big Growth Coming to Non-Traditional IT Market appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

While the Internet search giant won’t confirm plans, we’re told that “Android TV” is definitely happening.

“For Google TV, this is more than just a name change,” says  Janko Roettgers of Gigaom. “The TV platform was launched three years ago based on Honeycomb, the Android version that also powered Google’s first steps into the tablet world. Google’s latest tablets now run Android 4.3, but Google TV is still stuck on Android version 3.2, which makes it much harder for developers to bring their apps to the TV screen.”

Google announced earlier this year that it would update Google TV to the latest version of Android, which would allow developers to use the same APIs available on mobile devices. The upgrade to Android 4.2 was officially announced for Q3, but word is that LG will now update their Google TV devices later this month, with other manufacturers following in the coming months.

It is unlikely, however, that the refresh will take place before the end of this year.

The post Google TV Getting an Android Makeover appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.

AT&T’s expansion of faster U-verse Internet speeds is part of AT&T’s Project Velocity IP (VIP), a three-year investment plan announced last fall to expand and enhance its IP broadband networks.

U-verse High Speed Internet is now available to eligible AT&T U-verse residential and small business customers in the following markets:

1. Birmingham, AL
2. Huntsville-Decatur-Florence, AL
3. Mobile, AL
4. Hartford, CT
5. New Haven, CT
6. Jacksonville, FL
7. Miami-Ft. Lauderdale, FL
8. Orlando, FL
9. West Palm Beach-Ft. Pierce, FL
10. Atlanta, GA
11. Champaign, IL
12. Chicago, IL
13. Indianapolis, IN
14. South Bend-Elkhart, IN
15. Louisville, KY
16. Baton Rouge, LA
17. New Orleans Metro, LA
18. Detroit, MI
19. Flint-Saginaw, MI
20. Grand Rapids, MI
21. Lansing, MI
22. Biloxi-Gulfport, MS
23. Jackson, MS
24. Charlotte, NC
25. Greensboro-High Point-Winston Salem, NC
26. Raleigh, NC
27. Cleveland, OH
28. Columbus, OH
29. Dayton, OH
30. Toledo, OH
31. Charleston, SC
32. Columbia, SC
33. Greenville, SC
34. Chattanooga, TN
35. Knoxville, TN
36. Memphis, TN
37. Nashville, TN
38. Green Bay-Appleton, WI
39. Madison, WI
40. Milwaukee, WI

The post AT&T: 45 Mbps U-verse Internet Service Hits 40 New Markets appeared first on Mobile Marketing Watch.