Novelty Biases: Why “Shiny and New” Wins out over “Tested and True”
Have you ever wondered why people are perpetually drawn to the latest and greatest products? Whether it’s the latest model of a hot car, a recently updated iPhone, or even a new pair of shoes, it seems that “shiny and new” always wins out over “tested and true”. According to research out of Belgium, our... Read More
Alyce KominetskyWhy 22% of Edmonton’s Population Simply Ignore Traditional Advertising
If you’re in marketing (or HR for that matter) you’ve likely been served a multitude of articles inviting you to learn more about the so-called “millennial mindset”. And while the “millennial” concept is a loose one at best (replace the word “millennial” with “young person” and you’ll notice that a lot of the same psychographic characteristics still... Read More
Diana Gaviria3 Common Misconceptions About Content
It’s no secret that good content boosts Google rankings, drives website traffic, and of course, makes users very happy. However, damaging misconceptions are holding some organizations back when it comes to creating great content. Aside from addressing what it really takes to create awesome content, today’s post contains a content lesson our team learned the... Read More
Diana GaviriaXML Sitemaps vs. HTML Sitemaps: What’s the Difference?
Every website has two types of users: The humans: and the machines: Web crawlers (also known as spiders, bots or automatic indexers) use XML Sitemaps to create search engine indexes. Human users use HTML Sitemaps to navigate websites. Does your website need both types of Sitemaps? Let’s find out! What is an XML Sitemap? When... Read More
Glenn WalkerA Beefy Issue: What Alberta Marketers Can Learn From #BoycottEarls
After an intense week of social media onslaught, Earls has reversed its decision to source only Certified Humane® meat and cut out Alberta beef in the process. Instead, the company will be working closely with Canadian ranchers and certifiers to supply its kitchens with meat that is humane and local. A real win-win for both... Read More
Diana GaviriaSee What Happened When Google Sent Our Team a Paint Nite Kit [Time-Lapse Video]
First off, thank you, Google, for sending us this wonderful paint nite kit! Our team thoroughly enjoyed it during last month’s team social and were extremely proud of the “art” we managed to create. Some highlights of the afternoon included: seeing Bryan in a smock, watching Glenn paint an interesting picture then proceed to... Read More
Jodie Worobec3 Ways You Can Market Your Charity Online for Free!
If you work for a nonprofit organization you are probably already very good at producing amazing work with minimal resources and no budget. We at Bluetrain salute you, and we want to help. Since 2004, the number of individuals giving to charity has increased by 100% in Alberta. To take advantage of this promising trend,... Read More
Diana GaviriaI, RankBrain: How Artificial Intelligence is Improving Google Search
Google recently declared RankBrain the 3rd most important ranking signal contributing to search. Since we know there are over 200 signals, this got a lot of people’s attention. But what exactly is RankBrain and how does it affect search results? We’ve learned a lot since RankBrain was first announced in October 2015, and I hope... Read More
Glenn Walker7 Steps to Creating Content that Converts
7 Steps to Creating Content that Converts from bluetraininc The following is a transcript of the session that Diana Gaviria and Shannon Young delivered at iMEDIA Social Media Conference 2016. Today we want to talk about something we feel very strongly has the power to educate, engage and accomplish some of our most important goals.... Read More
Shannon YoungThe Top Questions People Had about The Bachelor 2016 According to Google
If you’re not familiar with us personally, you may not be aware that the Bluetrain team is actually composed of mostly ladies (9 to be exact!) who, despite being highly educated, well read individuals, do enjoy watching a little (trashy?) reality TV every now and then. We’re also fans of the office fantasy pool, in... Read More
Shannon Young