Color wields enormous sway over our attitudes and emotions. When our eyes take in color, they communicate with a region of the brain known as the hypothalamus, which sends a cascade of signals to the pituitary gland, on to the endocrine system, and then to the thyroid glands. The thyroid glands signal the release of hormones, which cause fluctuation in mood, emotion, and resulting behavior. What is even more interesting is that a case study showed that adjusting color, among other elements, can increase conversion by as much as 24%. The study of all this is called color psychology, and the bottom line is: use the right colors, and you win. What is Color Psychology? Color psychology is the science of how color affects human behavior. Color psychology actually is a branch of the broader field of behavioral psychology. Suffice it to say that it’s a pretty complicated field. Some …

Posted by NicoleDeLeon People around the world are having important discussions about systemic racism, overt and covert bias, and how we can all do better. Understanding the problem is the first step. To get a sense of conditions within the SEO community, we asked people to take our Diversity and Inclusion in SEO survey as part of our ongoing project to study the state of SEO . Due to the subject matter and the way we reached out, our respondents were not a snapshot of the industry as a whole. We were very pleased to have 326 SEOs complete the survey, including a significant number of female, BIPOC, and LGBTQ+ participants. These are important voices that need to be heard, but as we analyzed the data, we were careful not to generalize the industry as a whole without accounting for potential sampling bias. We addressed this by looking at groups …

It’s vital to design products that work for everyone—and for ensuring businesses’ survival. Demonstrations around the country have drawn attention recently to the need for more women and people of color in the professional world. Everyone from Apple to the NFL has pledged to diversify their hiring practices. Last month, Adidas announced that 30% of new U.S. positions would be filled by those from the Black or Latinx communities. Read Full Story

Women and people of color have the ideas. They just need opportunity, capital and support to reach the next level.

Posted by NicoleDeLeon To anyone working in SEO, it’s fairly evident that this is a male-dominated industry. Although there are powerful women SEOs in the field (like Moz CEO Sarah Bird, for example), if you glance at a conference speaker lineup or peruse the bylines on search-related blogs, you’ll see that those who identify as female are few and far between. A recent list of the 140 most influential SEOs featured 104 men and just 36 women. So how big is the gender gap? And how does it translate to tangible things like pay and job titles? To find out, we mined the data from our State of SEO 2020 survey , which featured 652 SEOs in 51 countries. Here are some of the things we learned. But first, a mea culpa. If SEOs who identify as women have an uphill climb in this industry, there’s no doubt that female-identifying …

The CEO of All Raise says venture investors mustn’t fall back on old habits that historically have excluded women and people of color. As CEO of All Raise, a two-year-old nonprofit formed to accelerate the success of female founders and funders, I have spent a lot of time over the last few days speaking with female founders in the network. My advice to them has been blunt: If you can, pause your fundraising efforts unless you are getting a fair deal. You have one shot of getting on the right footing with an investor. This is sound advice, but it still pains me to give it. Because I know the odds are already stacked against female founders when it comes to fundraising. Read Full Story

Albrey Brown, head of diversity, equity, and inclusion at Airtable, wanted a fresh perspective in his DEI efforts in 2021, so he talked to experts across industries to find out what they’re thinking. I’ve worked in DE&I for nearly a decade, but I know I still have a lot to learn. So to prepare for 2021 I wanted to hear directly from my colleagues on the ground. I wanted to know what their pain points were and how they were innovating anyway. Read Full Story

“I have a responsibility as a leader to do my due diligence when an ‘ally’ offers support,” says the cofounder and CEO of Future For Us. As such, she explains how to vet allyship support to determine if it’s predatory, performative, or authentic. White feminism as we know it is burning up in flames. The #BlackLivesMatter movement is calling for accountability on leaders across government sectors, large corporations, and local communities that have been benefiting and profiting off of the Black community for centuries. Shamefully, white female-led companies are some of the biggest offenders of marginalization. Read Full Story

The founder of IFundWomen of Color lays out the hard-won lessons that helped her get investments and cofounder-level equity. Growing up with an entrepreneur mom meant my weekends looked different. We’d drive from event to event, in churches, convention centers, and community centers, where I would help set up her table with the most recent book she’d written and watch her speak to Black women about building wealth by investing your money to achieve financial freedom. Read Full Story

A diversity and inclusion consultant offers some tips to help white leaders manage Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) in light of current events. You may have noticed your employees of color, especially your Black employees, have been a bit different this week. In addition to being the racial group most impacted by COVID-19 in the U.S., Black people are feeling the emotional toll of the police killing of George Floyd, an unarmed Black man, on May 25. This latest in a growing number of Black men and women injured or killed by law enforcement officers brought race relations in this country front and center as protesters fill the streets to express their frustrations with racial injustice and police brutality. Read Full Story