Google’s Core Web Vitals Update

by Owen Yorio | May 17, 2021 | Blog, News, Performance, SEO

Google’s Core Web Vitals Update

Owen Yorio

The Cowbell Agency

This month, Google will be releasing a new update to how they rank pages in SERPs (search engine results pages). Among many other ranking factors, Core Web Vitals will now be included in determining page rank. But what are core web vitals, and how will this change how pages are ranking now? To better understand this update, we should break down what Core Web Vitals are, and the metrics on which we focus.

Core Web Vitals (as determined by Google) are three page speed metrics that can measure user experience on a given website. Those three page speed metrics are: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These three metrics can be attributed to a page’s load speed, user interactivity, and visual stability respectively. Let’s look at each one:

Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) – How long it takes to load a full viewport of a page. This should be below 2.5 seconds.

First Input Delay (FID) – How long before a user on a page can interact with elements on it. This should stay below 100 ms.

Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) – A value attributed to how much elements on a page move while others are loading. This should stay below a factor of 0.1.

What Does This All Mean?

Google has done their research, and has seen that users prefer sites that load faster and are easier to use. Pretty simple, but accommodating these changes can become laborsome. Luckily there are tools to measure these factors like LightHouse and PageSpeed Insights. There is also a new section in Google Search Console dedicated to Core Web Vitals, so site owners can hear back from Google exactly what they think needs to be improved on individual sites.

Overall this change is designed to force site owners to design with the user’s experience in mind, which is a great thing. It is not difficult to find sites that are slow, unresponsive, or just not user friendly. If you’re worried about how your page ranking will be affected with this coming update, email us, or give us a call here at the Cowbell Agency.

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Is Your Website at Risk of ADA Ligation?

by Mike McBride | Apr 15, 2021 | Blog, Business, News, Performance

Is Your Website at Risk of ADA Ligation?

Suzanne McBride

The Cowbell Agency

ADA (American Disabilities Act) was signed into law in 1990, and is America’s most important law regarding accessibility and civil rights for people with disabilities, including web accessibility.

U.S. courts apply ADA and its accessibility requirements websites. The Guidelines for web accessibility covers the 4 principles:

Perceivable (how one perceives content through sight, sound and touch
Operable (the way someone can use the site)
Understandable (how easy is it to understand)
Robust (does coding meet standards, etc)

Rise in Litigation:

Since 2017, the number of ADA title III-related lawsuits skyrocketed – with small and medium business being in the center of the storm.

Why are there so many ADA lawsuits?

There are a few reasons why ADA web accessibility has become such a hot legal topic in just the last few years, including the spread in awareness about web accessibility requirements. Experts estimate that approximately 40,000 demand letters were sent in 2018, and 2019 has peaked with over 100,000 demand letters and over 10,000 lawsuits.

Since it’s almost inevitable that the court would find in favor of the plaintiff, small business owners often feel that they have no choice but to settle out of court. The cost of defending a lawsuit would destroy even a medium-sized business, but the average settlement agreement still comes to $35,000.

Who has to comply with the ADA?

There’s a common misbelief that ADA only applies to very large corporations, but that’s a serious mistake. All types and all sizes of businesses have to comply with ADA legislation, for their customers, and for their employees if there are over 15 employees. That means that ADA affects:

Places of entertainment like theaters, movie theaters, and concert halls
Restaurants and eateries
Small and medium businesses of all types
Large enterprises
Retail stores
Local government offices, employment agencies, and labor unions

Here’s how Cowbell can help:

We can run a no cost audit of your site to see if there are any issues. If so, we can add the ADA software for a free 7 day trial period, and if you decide to stay with the plan, the cost is $490/year, plus small set up fee.

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McBride Marketing and Drumup Media Merger

by Adam Latham | Sep 30, 2020 | News

Local Marketing Agencies Combine Forces to Help Clients Stand Out from the Herd.

Mike McBride and Adam Latham announce the merger of McBride Marketing Group and Drumup Media Group. The two marketing agencies have combined to create Cowbell Agency, a full service, digitally integrated marketing agency offering services that are transparent to clients and disciplined in strategic marketing cogency.

This is the latest evolutionary jump for McBride Marketing Group, an established and highly recognized fixture in the local and regional advertising arena having launched in 2001 as U.S.Ad & Marketing before merging with Space Coast Marketing to become McBride Woodbridge Marketing in 2005 and subsequently McBride Marketing Group in 2010.

“We took the opportunity during the pandemic to refocus the strategic direction of our agency to add scale and depth in our digital and search engine marketing services,” says Mike McBride, Partner and Chief Marketing Officer of Cowbell Agency LLC. “As destiny would have it, another local agency with amazing capabilities and experience in both local and global SEO was exploring expansion options for their integrated marketing approach.”

“Be seen. Be heard. Be more” is the tagline for Cowbell Agency while the new name itself has created curiosity in the community.

“Sure, there’s a bit of pop culture in the name but we see it as more of an analogous spin on clients making some noise and being heard,” says Adam Latham, Partner and Chief Creative Officer of Cowbell Agency LLC. “We also want to be clear that we are easy and even fun for clients to work with while making digital marketing easier for them to understand and use.”

DrumUp Media Group was launched in 2016 by Adam Latham as a digital agency to leverage his many years of executing the marketing for global technology innovator, Intersil Corporation. His 12-year experience with the Silicon Valley-based electronics company was instrumental in his development of top performing global SEO and SEM strategies that are now in Cowbell’s digital arsenal.

McBride Marketing Group, a full-service marketing agency headquartered in the Eau Gallie Arts District on Florida’s Space Coast, has been long recognized for professional leadership having earned more than 150 awards by the American Advertising Federation, Florida Public Relations Association and the Governor’s Tourism Flagler Awards since 2001.

Both Cowbell Agency principals had large-market agency experience before moving to Brevard. McBride worked with Fortune 500 clients like Coca-Cola, Kellogg’s and BASF in Atlanta and Latham worked in Nashville with clients including Alcoa and Cracker Barrel. Like Latham, McBride also boasts client-side experience for his tenure as Vice President of Marketing for a global home fashion/textile conglomerate headquartered in Manhattan.

“Clients recognize our unique perspective of having worked on both sides of marketing,” reflects McBride. “And as entrepreneurs, we also share their same concerns about running a business and ROI on all expenditures including marketing.”

“ROI is one of the biggest reasons we became a Google Partner Agency and have been building our digital marketing services over the past 15 years,” adds Suzanne McBride, Partner and Chief Operating Officer at Cowbell Agency. “As a CPA, I can appreciate how online targeting, media outreach and tracking allow clients to monitor the numbers and gauge response 24/7.”

Details about the new agency and its services including brand and web development, SMM, SEM, SEO, traditional broadcast and print media, PR and video production can be found on cowbellagency.com. Digital marketing options are also listed on the attached document.

“Exciting to hear about the next chapter in the agency’s growth to become Cowbell Agency,” says Amelia Woodbridge, former partner in McBride Woodbridge Marketing. “Mike is a well-versed marketer who has given companies large and small successful marketing programs for almost 30 years. This longevity reveals his dedication to his craft and showcases the trust companies put in his counsel.”

“I am sure Cowbell Agency will be a success, too!” added Woodbridge.

About The Cowbell Agency

Cowbell Agency LLC is a full service, digitally integrated marketing agency serving clients with local, national and global marketing. A merger of McBride Marketing Group and Drumup Media Group, the Cowbell Agency team understands that successful modern marketing is about ensuring all aspects of a client’s brand and message are integrated and working to improve your bottom line. The object isn’t to increase web traffic or get more likes, the end goal is to engage with a client’s customers in a meaningful way… to translate leads into sales. Cowbell Agency is located at 668 Law Street, Melbourne, FL 32935. Contact information: +1.321.259.1795 or [email protected].