Do You Have the Love Gene?

Sometimes it feels like the stars have to align for a relationship to work. Is humor the secret to a successful marriage? Your mom’s dating habitsDate nights out in the city? While all these topics have been covered and have unveiled the nuances of love, there’s one thing these studies didn’t look at: your genes.

Joan Monin, from Yale University, found that the genetic makeup of each partner may contribute to why and how a marriage lasts.

Joan and her team took surveys from 178 married couples ranging in ages 37 to 90 years old. Each couple was asked about their married life and provided a saliva sample in order to find the link between genes and love.

Love is in your genes

According to Michael Greenwood from Yale News, “When at least one person within the couple had a genetic variation, called the GG genotype in their oxytocin gene receptor, the couple reported greater marital satisfaction and feelings of security within their marriage.”  

Remember what we know about oxytocin? It’s a neurotransmitter that helps us form attachments and bond with others. It even helps us give birth and bond with our children.

This genetic variation has been previously linked to feelings of empathy and emotional stability but this is the first study to show its impact on  marriage.

Not only is this genetic mutation associated with emotional stability, but Monin and her team found that individuals with this GG genotype displayed less anxious attachment styles in the relationship, which in this study, resulted in a happier long term marriage.

There are four different attachment styles that we develop in our infancy. The attachment style we form with our caregiver is basically how we form attachments with everyone, even as adults. These attachment styles are basically how we feel and act in relationships. Here’s what the four attachment styles look like.

  • Secure attachment

    • Feels secure being alone and with someone

    • Emotionally intelligent

    • Capable of learning from mistakes and moving on

    • Can send and receive healthy expressions of intimacy.

  • Anxious- Preoccupied attachment

    • Feels more insecure and nervous about relationships in general

    • Thinks negatively of others’ actions and intentions, even when nothing negative is present

    • Struggles to be alone

  • Dismissive Avoidant Attachment

    • Very independent

    • Work, social life, traveling or passion projects may take priority over relationship

    • May prefer to be single than to be tied down

  • Fearful Avoidant Attachment

    • Simultaneously desire and resist intimacy

    • Suspicious of others’ words, intentions, actions

    • Fear of abandonment

While these are some examples of behaviors of each attachment style, most people have varying degrees of these styles, which may change over time. For example, one person could have a combination of varying degrees of dismissive avoidant and anxious- preoccupied attachment styles, meaning they are very adventurous and independent but may also feel nervous about relationships in general.

What does this mean for love?

Overall, this research isn’t definitive and doesn’t mean that genes are the key indicator of a happy marriage. The interesting part is that it does imply that oxytocin may influence our attachment styles at a young age which can then influence how we view and feel about marriage or even relationships in general.

Everyone is worthy of a happy and healthy love life, regardless of X-Men level, genetic-love mutations. Don’t let your genes keep you from thinking you’re marriage material!

Women Bounce Back Faster Than Men After A Breakup–– Because, Yes, We Are Tough And Can Do It All

Our grief may be deeper, but we’re not dwelling on it.

Movies, books, TV shows––you name it, they all dominantly portray women as highly emotional creatures who are consumed by male relationships. We want them, we need them and we are shattered if the relationship ends. Well, science says part of that is true, but women are actually way more stable and able to bounce back more quickly after a breakup than men because women are tough and get sh*t done.

We experience more pain, but there’s a silver lining

According to researchers, women’s behavior post-breakup is actually less destructive than men’s. After a breakup, women feel more angry, anxious and deeper pain, but we also recover more fully. We tend to turn to friends and family for support which helps women cope and move on faster.

According to research, on the other hand, men often avoid introspection and self-examination, so outwardly they just “move on” while inwardly they can experience months and years of resentment and depression. In the study conducted by Craig Morris, men actually reported feeling more lost and depressed after their split, while women felt more anger and anxiety post-breakup.

The numbers behind our breakup behavior

All of this new info on the emotional badassery of women comes from a study from Binghamton University and The University College of London. Researchers surveyed 5,705 participants spanning 96 countries and asked them to rate their breakup pain on a physical and emotional scale from 0 (no pain) to 10 (unbearable). The study found that women averaged a level of 6.84 in terms of their emotional anguish compared to men’s 6.58. Women also felt more physical pain post-breakup than men, weighing in at a 4.21 average versus men’s 3.75.

While the numbers state women experience more pain during a breakup, they are able to come out the other side emotionally stronger. According to Morris, men tend to look for a quick solution to heartbreak, often in another relationship. By never confronting actual feelings they can cause self-destructive behavior down the line.

So, ladies, the science says, “Good for you!”  Even though we may feel gutted from our breakup by golly, we will come out the other side a strong soldier, just like Xena Warrior Princess.

Source: https://jacksonupperco.com/2013/09/26/the-...

THE FUTURE OF VOICE SEARCH, SEO AND PPC: HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW

This article was originally featured on AdHawk on June 26, 2017. AdHawk is a digital advertising platform that analyzes and optimizes all of your online campaigns in a single app.

SOCIETY CLAIMS “WE AREN’T TALKING ANYMORE.”

While that might be true from a social psychology perspective, that’s definitely not true when it comes to voice search. In fact, we are talking to our devices all the time.

“Siri, how much does a hippo weigh?”
“Okay, Google. What is the temperature outside?”
“Alexa. What movies are playing at the theater tonight?”

Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft are all investing heavily into voice search and virtual assistants. Is voice search changing the way we look up information in general? Let’s explore how SEO and PPC play into the way we’re searching for knowledge through voice.

JUST HOW POPULAR IS VOICE SEARCH?

When I talk about voice search I mean talking to your device, whether it’s a desktop, tablet or mobile phone in order to search something or achieve something.

When we think of voice talk, we primarily think about talking to Siri through our iPhone. In 2015, more searches were done on phones and tablets than on a desktop, so being mobile-friendly and adjusting your keywords are an absolute necessity. Google itself has started primarily indexing for mobile ranking opposed to desktop ranking.

What does this mean for voice search? According to Google, roughly 20 percent of all mobile queries use voice search. In fact, a recent study says that over half of teens and 41 percent of adults use voice search on a daily basis. And this means a lot of potential changes for SEO and ad buys.

WHY ARE PEOPLE USING VOICE SEARCH?

This probably won’t take anyone by surprise, but most people use voice search for directions. Google also found that teens and adults are using voice search for text messages, calling contacts and businesses, checking the time and playing music. As a company who may want to strategize for the future of voice, it’s important to realize how these virtual assistants are being used and just how frequently.

Image: Google

HOW DO VOICE SEARCH AND TEXT SEARCH DIFFER?

There are a few obvious differences between how we verbally ask a question versus how we type a question out. The main difference is that we use longer phrases to ask a question.

We aren’t going to say “Siri, weather, Paris.” We’re going to say “Siri, what is the weather like in Paris today?” Knowing these main differences can impact your SEO strategy as voice search gets more popular. If you look at your insights, you’ll find the following are the key indicators of voice search queries.

Length: Voice search queries are typically longer than typed search queries. More specifically, voice search queries are 4.2 words longer than the average text query.

Question phrases: Voice searches use more question words and phrases. For example, a study from Microsoft’s Cortana found that people type “Microsoft CEO” and people voice search “Who is Microsoft’s CEO?”

Question words can tell marketers a user’s intent: Voice search has the power to let marketers know the intent behind a question. The image below shows exactly how certain question words can tell a marketer the intent and context behind a question.

Image: Moz

Voice search has high local value: People typically use voice search to find businesses near them they want to visit. According to Google, “near me” searches doubled in 2015 alone. These voice search users might ask something like, “Where’s the best coffee in NYC?” In these extremely common cases, you’ll definitely want to optimize your site to include things like, “best coffee” and maybe even include landmarks you’re near.

Also, add a conversational tone to your website and answer questions as if you’re being asked face-to-face. A great way to tie in a conversational tone and question phrases is to have a Q&A page. You want those bots to be able to easily crawl your site and rank you higher.

HOW TO OPTIMIZE YOUR CONTENT FOR VOICE SEARCH

Virtual assistants, voice search, and AI technology are all evolving. The goal is to make this technology so intuitive and advanced that it knows the intention of the user’s question opposed to providing just a straight answer.

What does this mean for keywords and SEO? This means long-tail keywords and questions will become more valuable than just targeting short keywords. A writer, marketer, and SEO strategist will need to tailor content to answer an audience’s question as opposed to writing content to rank for a few specific keywords.

Here are some basic voice search SEO practices.

Be direct with your content: A user should never have to hunt to understand your business’s mission, location, hours of operation and contact information. These should all be readily available so crawlers can rank your site higher and Siri can answer a user’s question right away.

Utilize structured content: Once again, incorporate conversational content into your website. We discussed that a Q&A page is great for this already, but also update and optimize your Google My Business. Submit your sitemap to Google and Bing, and start incorporating schema, and microdata to give the search engines more information on your business.

HOW TO USE VOICE SEARCH AND PPC

One of the best strategies for optimizing for voice search is to target long-tail keywords. You’ll have a much better chance of matching queries if you target phrases that are conversational and mimic the way we speak in daily life. Long-tail keywords are usually cheaper to buy anyway and have a higher click-through rate compared to shorter queries. So, if you use this strategy, you could be getting ahead of your competitors.

Gather insights from existing search term data.
Dive into your search terms report and scan through the long-tail queries triggering your ads. In order to assess how your ads are performing for voice search, you’ll want to consider the user’s intent behind the various searches. Are they looking to learn or looking to buy? You should bid up on keywords generating conversions and bid down or exclude keywords generating a lot of clicks or impressions but no conversions.

Tailor your ad and landing page copy specifically to long-tail question/intent phrases.
Before you tailor your content, bid on specific AdWords and effectively use voice search queries to your advantage, you’ll need to know a few things; like how exactly your audience is using voice search to interact/find you. Moz calls these “assumed voice queries.”

Search engines don’t currently provide separate reports on voice search queries. The subtle difference between typed search and voice search is whom people think they are interacting with.

When people type into a search box, they know they’re typing into a machine. They aren’t using filler words or conversational questions. They are very logical and short. When people are using voice search to find answers, it’s like they are talking to a person. They’re conversational. When diving into your insights and keywords, know that “assumed voice queries” are longer and mirror natural language.

Moz recommends bidding on filler words so your ads will show up more for voice search results.

Image: Moz

VOICE SEARCH WRAP UP:

We’ve covered a lot of ground in an emerging field that SEOs, content strategists, and SEMs need to have on their radar. Here are the main points to take away about the future of voice search.

  • Voice search is on the rise. Roughly 20 percent of all searches are done through voice search or using a “virtual assistant.”

  • People use voice search primarily for getting directions, dictating text messages, calling businesses, checking the time and playing music.

  • Voice search queries are roughly 4.2 words longer than the average search and use more conversational language.

  • When optimizing content for voice search, use more conversational language and gather insights to see which words have the highest value and bid on those.

  • Experiment with a PPC by purchasing long-tail keywords and “filler” words.

Voice search is coming folks. We’re not quite like the movie, Her, but we’re growing, changing and evolving. Get ready for marketing efforts to do the same.

** To answer your questions above

  • A male hippo weighs between 3,300-4,000 lbs

  • A female hippo weighs between 2,900-3,300 lbs

  • This is obviously a location-based question, but it’s 78 degrees in NYC right now.

  • This question is also location based but everyone should probably see Beauty and the Beast… it was really good.

  • The weather in Paris is partly cloudy and 50 degrees.

  • Satya Nadella has been Microsoft’s CEO since 2014.




B2B CONTENT

 


I Lived Like the Cat Hanging out by My dumpster for a Week and Here's What Happened

photo cred: Workaholics

The one-week celebrity experiments are taking the world by storm. Kylie Jenner's beauty routine and Kim Kardashian’s diet are the rage in journalism, so I wanted to hop on the band wagon and try a similar approach but with the skinny feline outside my dumpster. She's frisky, dirty and has that ‘90s grunge look I’ve never been able to pull off. I lived like her for one week and here's how it changed my life.

Diet:

I really stopped eating any food that wasn’t in a garbage can, left on the street, or in a restaurant dumpster. This made my choices for nutrition and overall taste extremely limited. It also opened my eyes to the world we live in and how much food we don’t need! Culture has ruined our tastebuds. We don’t need fancy cheese and aged wine. Did you know apple cores, stale crackers and peanut shells are all we really need to survive? I didn’t either, but my waistline thanked me. I finally lost that freshman 15 from six year ago. My complexion and overall irritability was at an all time low but it really helped me get into the headspace of my feline dumpster diver.

Hygiene:


I also stopped partaking in the human rituals of basic hygiene. No more time wasted on brushing my hair, bathing, oral hygiene or washing my face. It’s crazy how much time we really waste on society’s demands for looking so fresh and so clean, clean. I rejected all of society’s demands on women and instead ate out of the dumpster and got that Kate-Moss-dating-Johnny-Depp-circa-1994 look I was really going for.

Emotional Stability:

I became totally anxious and a huge bitch for the week. The anxious part is nothing new, but I really exuded the nervousness and twitchy body language of my feline muse. She was skittish and ran away at human interaction, I did the same thing. This caused a rift in my relationship and a potential job loss, but I’m a method writer and lived the life of my subject for a week. For great art you have to make great sacrifices.

 

Overall Satisfaction:

How would I rate my experience? Totally worth it!! I lost a ton of weight and despite getting scabies and scurvy, I really found my ‘90s grunge signature look. Sure, I lost my job and my boyfriend, but I did gain dark circles under my eyes, hollowed-out cheekbones and the trendy anxiety symptoms every 20 something has these days. I avoid human interaction completely now, but at least now I can rebrand myself and my Instagram presence.

I want to thank my mangy dumpster cat for changing my life and my look. I also want to thank the UPS delivery guy for my new home.