Ascedia Hot Takes: January 2023

Welcome to Ascedia Hot Takes. Think of this as the ChatGPT of newsletters there for you with all the good stuff to make your life better.

Here’s what we’re covering:

• ADA Compliance — yeah it’s a thing🤔
• How we increased leads by 182% 🤯🤯🤯
• Cool articles we found online 😎

Ya, ready? Let’s go!

ADA Compliance: Not Just For Buildings

When you say ADA Compliance, you may think of physical spaces, wheelchair-accessible buildings… that sort of thing. Oh no my friend, it’s much more than that.

ADA extends to websites. And online…ADA Compliance is a big deal. Issues such as poor color contrast and lack of subtitles for videos can prevent people with disabilities from engaging with your site and all your great content.

How big is this group? Big!

According to the CDC approximately 1 in 4 adults suffer from some type of disability.

That’s a big group. And with the population getting older. Well, that number is going to grow. So, if people with some form of disability can’t fully engage with your site. That means less traffic and fewer sales. Not good…

The Google Factor

Compliance issues are becoming so big…that now Google is also getting into the game. In fact, one of the hottest trends in Search Engine Optimization (SEO) right now is being ADA-compliant. And it’s easy to understand why.

Making your website ADA-compliant includes using proper headings and descriptive HTML tags among other things. In other words, all things consistent with SEO best practices. And the things the Google cares about.

So by becoming ADA compliant, you make your website easier for search engines to crawl and boost your SEO.

Our very own Mark Roller, partner at Ascedia, says it best, “think of Google as one of the main consumers of ADA content.” Even if you don’t think having an ADA-compliant site is relevant to your customers, (we’re looking at you B2B businesses) following ADA guidelines is a good way to create a search engine-friendly website.

The Legal Issue

If better SEO isn’t a convincing argument for being ADA-compliant, consider this.

The number of lawsuits against businesses with non-ADA-compliant sites has exploded.

In 2016 there were approximately 262 cases filed against websites that were not compliant. Fast forward to 2020 and that number hit 3,500! And it’s going to continue to go up.

Here’s the bottom line — having an ADA-compliant site will drive more traffic and keep you from dealing with expensive litigation. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

Humble Brag: Big Wins With Our Digital Marketing

Case Study Background:

Carolina Academic Press (CAP) Law Online provides partnering law schools with online program management, curriculum design, and enrollment marketing.

They found themselves working on lead generation campaigns for six schools: Cleveland Marshall, Golden Gate University, Lewis and Clark, McGeorge, Seattle University, and Tulane.

Here’s the kicker, each school needed campaigns that were tailored to their needs.

Faced with the overwhelming work of six personalized lead generation campaigns, CAP turned to the experts at Ascedia for digital marketing help.

Our Work

We created a personalized campaign for six law schools. This included:

✅ A thorough competitive analysis, keyword, and audience research

✅ Persona and journey map creation

✅ Strategic recommendations based on our research

✅ Development of advertising required for the campaign

✅ Deployment of each campaign, optimization, and ongoing maintenance

The Results

Cleveland Marshall

✅ Sessions: +99.79%

✅ Users: +145.68%

✅ Total request for information (RFI) leads: +181.25%

Golden Gate

✅ Sessions: +21.31%

✅ Users: +26.10%

✅ Apply now through Law School Admission Council (LSAC) clicks: +28.57%

McGeorge

✅ Sessions: +255.94%

✅ Users: +101.83%

✅ Impressions: 292.63%

If you’re looking at getting more from your digital marketing efforts, let’s talk.

Interesting Stuff We’ve Seen Online

The start of the new year is always loaded with great articles. Here are a few of our favs.

• Boom 🤯 Holiday sales increased 7.6% despite inflation — PBS
• Ruh Roh: ✈️ How Southwest can recover from their 2022 holiday disaster — Fox Business
• Magic 8-Ball tell me 🧟‍♂️ Here are seven predictions for travel in 2023 — Booking.com
• Go read this: ☄️ Sharpen your sales skills: How you can sell effectively in ’23 — LinkedIn
• Heads up: 🤔 Social media marketing trends in 2023 — Social Media Examiner
• MUST READ: 🤯 🤯🤯 How Barnes & Noble made a comeback. This story is 🍌🍌🍌

That’s A Wrap

Whoa! That was a blast. Thanks for reading and you can expect a fresh newsletter from us each month.

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