https://ift.tt/2JqeIg1
Google News Digest: Targeting TV-devices, New Ads Reports, Shopping Insights and More https://ift.tt/2qkk4Ra With the busy holiday season ahead, Google is working hard to keep up with the constantly evolving requirements of advertisers and the users of its search engine. While some of the updates included in our news digest may appear minor, most of them are quite important because of their potential impact on advertisers, webmasters, and users. Nevertheless, we have tried to zero in on every latest update you care about most. So let’s jump right in and learn about the latest news that came to us from Google in October. Also, make some space for our Marketing Scoop podcast where Purna Virji from Microsoft and Matthew Macchia, the CEO & Founder at AdFury, are getting interviewed by David Bain and Judith Lewis to go beyond the headlines to give you some actionable tips around the latest changes in paid search and answer any questions you may have in real time. Listen to our podcast on iOS and Android:GOOGLE SEARCH NEWSGoogle Search Console Alerts for Slow PagesGoogle is sending a new type of warning in the Search Console, notifying webmasters of their sites' slow performance and loading issues. The warning is based on the user measurement data from Chrome User Experience Report, as Google mentions. To fix the problem Google suggests the following three options:
A Twitter user, Oliver H.G. Mason, seems to have spotted it first. Here is an example screenshot of the new warning Oliver has posted on his Twitter page: Source: Twitter Removal of Rich Snippets for the Sites with Manual Link PenaltiesWebsites that have inorganic links don't usually get brownie points from Google for trust factors. Google has mentioned that they may issue a rich snippets manual action to remove sites’ ability to show rich results in the Google listing. However, will other types of penalties — such as link penalties — also result in the removal of rich snippets is yet to be seen. As per SEO Roundtable, "A site with inorganic links is not trusted by Google and thus may lose trust to show rich results in Google." Source: Google Link Penalty Can Remove Rich Snippets/Results Product and Services in Local Knowledge PanelIt appears that Google is testing showing a “products and services” section in the local panel result. Up until now, webmasters have had the option to fill in their products and services in Google My Businesses, but this info wasn't shown in the local panel via web search. Recently a Twitter user, Andy Simpson, spotted Google showing the new option in the local panel results as well. Here is the screenshot:
Sources: Twitter; Google Local Panel Shows Products & Services Section Expanded Search History and Its Removal in GoogleEric Miraglia, Director of Product Management at Google, announced the launch of a new feature that allows users of Google search to control their data directly within Google products, starting with Search. Previously, Google users could only review or manage their data by visiting their Google Accounts. Google has now brought these controls to its users directly within Search so that they can review or delete their Search activity without ever leaving Search, and quickly get back to find what they are searching for. In addition, Google Search users can also get quick access to the most relevant privacy controls in their Google Accounts, and learn more about how Search works with their data. Source: Making it easier to control your data, directly in Google products New Functionalities for AMP-PagesGoogle has released a new blog post describing some new changes and developments within AMP for Q4 2018. These updates include the following:
Several other new components in AMP such as <amp-pan-zoom>, <amp-date-picker>, <ampe-date-countdown>, and <amp-google-document-embed> were also briefly discussed. Furthermore, a number of new, upcoming features worth a shout can be reviewed prior to their actual launch, such as the "dock" attribute on <amp-video> to support minimizing video to the corner of the viewport, <amp-video-iframe> to support a set of features available to amp-video and other third-party video components, and input masking to help users "fill out forms more efficiently by automatically adding formatting like spaces and interstitial characters specified by developers." Source: A new, open governance model for AMP Google My Business Cards In Google Maps ResultsThibault Adda, a Twitter user and a local search specialist at Darden, has spotted a "go to Google My Business" card in Google Maps. Google appears to be testing this card to let webmasters take charge of their listings in Google My Business directly in the Google Maps. On the card, you can post updates and information about your business, respond to reviews, and add photos related to your business. Sources: Twitter; Google My Business Cards in Google Maps Results Icons in Search SnippetsGoogle has been testing favicons in the search results for quite some times now (since 2009), so to some of you they may look familiar. This time, Ric Rodriguez has screen captured the mobile search results test with favicons to the left of the display URL. Here is the image he posted on Twitter:
Source: Twitter User: Ric Rodriguez Google Search Calculator Shows Formulas For ConversionsGoogle Search calculator now includes a new string to show the formula for conversion queries. It is contained within the calculator box and appears right below the calculation output. Source: Explore product search trends with Shopping Insights Branded Search Reporting in Google My BusinessGoogle has added a new section in Google My Business Insights that now allows webmasters to filter the analytics and see what percentage of people are finding their listing in Google local and maps through branded searches. Google has named the new category as "Branded" and the description says: "Customers who find your listing searching for brand related to your business." Here is how it looks:
Sources: Improved attribution for TrueView for action ads; Launching new TV screens device category to reach YouTube users on connected TVs GOOGLE ADS NEWSNew Google Ads ReportsThe Report Editor in Google Ads is going to incorporate two new predefined reports in the form of landing pages report and expanded landing pages report. Google announced that both the reports will soon be available and users will be able to "easily manipulate and chart them in the Report Editor, as well as add them to your custom dashboards." The landing page report will contain the following additional columns (other than the ones on the final URL report): On the other hand, the expanded landing pages report will show the "URL users reach after contextual substitutions have been made and custom parameters have been added," in addition to the columns on the landing page report. Source: New predefined landing page reports TV-Devices Targeting in Google AdsGoogle has launched the TV screens device type in Google Ads and Display & Video 360. Advertisers can now tailor their campaigns for connected TVs and find more engaged and valuable audiences who use TV screens to watch YouTube videos. Google mentions that the TV screens device type joins computers, mobile phones, and tablets in Google Ads and Display & Video 360, and it allows advertisers to set a specific device bid adjustment and see reporting for ads that specifically run on TV screens to help them gauge the impact of these ads within their overall mix.
Source: Google My Business Insights Shows Branded Searches Now Attribution Improvements for TrueView for Action Ads in Google AdsGoogle announced some changes in the default attribution window for TrueView for action ads. The default attribution window for TrueView for action ads, which was previously set to 30 seconds with a 30-day conversion window, has now been adjusted to 10 seconds with a 3-day default conversion window. Google believes that this will help advertisers more accurately assess the impact of their video ads, provide faster ramp-up times for target CPA campaigns, and ensure more current reporting (thanks to reduced conversion lag). Advertisers can start taking advantage of these improvements and, as such, no action will be required from their end. Source: Google My Business Insights adds branded search reporting New Functionalities for Message ExtensionsKishore Kanakamedala, Director of Product Management, rolled out a blog post, describing how the latest Google Ads innovations are helping advertisers drive better results. These innovations unveiled at SMX East are based around helping marketers work smarter and exceed their omnichannel goals. As per Kishore, Google, in the coming weeks, is rolling out two improvements to click-to-message ads in the form of "email forwarding" that sends text messages to user's email and "automatic reply" that sends a preset reply back to customers as soon as customers message you. Google is also going to expand its message reporting to include message conversion. This will help advertisers to measure the success of their click-to-message ads even better.
Besides these improvements, Google is bringing store visits insights to data-driven attribution and Smart Bidding (which use machine learning) to help advertisers improve their campaign performance. Advertisers will now be able to understand, for example, which "keywords, ads, ad groups, and campaigns” have the greatest effect on their business goals and use the information to drive more conversions. Source: Drive better results: An insider's look at the latest Google Ads innovations GOOGLE TOOLS NEWSAccount Migration in Google My Business GuideGoogle has rolled out a guideline page in its Google My Business Help section to explain how locations from a personal account can be migrated to an organization account. Individuals owning locations in a personal account can now migrate those locations to an organization account and manage them as part of their organization. There are two ways to do this (as Google explains). One, you can go to the "Overview" tab of your organization account and start an assisted bulk transfer request. Two, you can self-migrate from your personal account to your organization account. The self-migration approach can be used to migrate a single location or multiple locations that you own in your personal account. A location, once migrated, can be removed from the associated personal account. Note that in order to add your personal account to an organization, you will need to remove or transfer all locations that you directly own in your personal account. Source: Migrate a location from a personal account to an organization account Shopping Insights UpdateAs of October 16th, Google has a new (free) version of its Shopping Insights tool available to help marketers uncover competitive information such as brands and products which are popular in search, trending up and down, and variations by regions in the U.S. Google's Shopping Insights Project Lead states, "this new version includes data for more than 55,000 products and 45,000 brands — significantly increasing coverage over the previous version — as well as nearly 5,000 categories. Users of the new tool can also subscribe to personalized reports and create up to 10 weekly, as well as monthly, email reports for the products and categories they want to follow. Right now, the tool is available on desktop and mobile in the U.S. only. We are not quite sure if and when the search engine would make it broadly available for users outside the United States.
Source: Explore product search trends with Shopping Insights Top Contributor Programme RebrandingGoogle announced the renaming/rebranding of its Top Contributor program as “Google's Product Experts” program. As a result, over the next few days, Google will be updating their badges for different levels of product experts and contributors. More specifically, these badges will have the following labels:
SEO via SEMrush https://ift.tt/1K8Zzbp October 31, 2018 at 02:14AM
0 Comments
https://ift.tt/2SvSFZz
Google Celebrates Halloween With First-Ever Multiplayer Google Doodle by @MattGSouthern https://ift.tt/2PuHIbT Google is getting in the Halloween spirit with a first-of-its-kind Google Doodle that’s both interactive and competitive. The Great Ghoul DuelUp to eight people can compete in a multiplayer, interactive Google Doodle. Users can either host a game and invite people they know, or get matched up in a game with randomized players around the world. The goal of “The Great Ghoul Duel” is for teams to collect as many spirt flames as possible within two minutes. Opposing teams can steal each other’s flames with a swipe, and use power-ups that get stronger as more flames are collected. Considering it’s Google’s first-ever multiplayer Doodle it’s rather ambitious. There are even several different maps to compete on, and it all runs on Google Cloud. Other Halloween-Related Search FeaturesGoogle also highlighted some other Halloween-related search features on its blog today, such as a list of commands that Google Assistant can respond to. They include:
Last week Google also acknowledged several spooky Google Maps images that have been circulating the web and debunked the theories surrounding them. Google is never one to pass up the opportunity to celebrate a holiday and it went all out for Halloween this year. Subscribe to SEJGet our weekly newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh October 30, 2018 at 08:21PM
https://ift.tt/2PuBjxn
Google AdSense Policy Change: All New Sites Need to be Verified by @MattGSouthern https://ift.tt/2PzZ2ME Google is making a change to its AdSense policies that will require every new site to go through a verification process in order to display ads. AdSense publishers who intend to place ads on more than one site will now have to add each individual site to their account. Then each site will have to go through a two-part verification process. New 2-Step Verification ProcessIn the first part of the verification process, AdSense publishers will have to prove that they either own the domain they wish to place ads on or have the ability to modify its content. The second part of the process involves Google reviewing the site for compliance with its AdSense Program policies. Once Google has reviewed a site and approved it for publishing AdSense ads it will be marked as “Ready.” What Happens if You’re Not ApprovedIf Google reviewed a site and did not approve it, then it will be marked as “Needs attention.” This will give site owners an opportunity to correct the issues that prevented their site from being approved during the first review. What This Means for MarketersAs part of this change, the “My Sites” tab will be renamed to “Sites” and moved toward the top of the menu so it’s easier to find. According to Google, other than the “My Sites” tab being renamed, the majority of AdSense users will not be affected at all. Those who end up being affected will most likely be asked to help Google find the correct ad code when they add a new site. Google says it’s making this change because improving the quality of its AdSense program makes it more attractive to advertisers. In turn, this should also end up benefitting those who publish AdSense ads. Subscribe to SEJGet our weekly newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh October 30, 2018 at 06:27PM
https://ift.tt/2oe898b
Now you can segment Google Ads store visits by ‘new vs. returning’ visitors https://ift.tt/2Pt8Bx0
Why you should careAdvertisers who are measuring store visits from people who have engaged with their Google ads, will be able to analyze how many of those visitors are new or repeat customers. That segmentation can help advertisers better understand how campaigns are driving incremental store visits or loyalty from past customers. With that information, advertisers can focus budget and bids on the areas that are most important to them. Store visits reports can be segmented based on the time period you’ve selected for the “customer lapse window.” More details
About The AuthorGinny Marvin is Third Door Media's Editor-in-Chief, managing day-to-day editorial operations across all of our publications. Ginny writes about paid online marketing topics including paid search, paid social, display and retargeting for Search Engine Land, Marketing Land and MarTech Today. With more than 15 years of marketing experience, she has held both in-house and agency management positions. She can be found on Twitter as @ginnymarvin. SEO via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc October 30, 2018 at 03:42PM
https://ift.tt/2kAEqFY
SearchCap: Bing features, Amazon sponsored ads and link building https://ift.tt/2SuZdYe SEO via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc October 30, 2018 at 03:01PM Daily Search Forum Recap: October 30, 2018 https://ift.tt/2ql3gd4 Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web. Search Engine Roundtable Stories:
Other Great Search Forum Threads:Search Engine Land Stories:Other Great Search Stories:Analytics Industry & Business Links & Promotion Building Local & Maps Mobile & Voice SEO PPC Search Features SEO via Search Engine Roundtable https://ift.tt/1sYxUD0 October 30, 2018 at 03:00PM Bing adds election information redesigns image search provides NFL answers and word of the day10/30/2018
https://ift.tt/2SuEYKe
Bing adds election information, redesigns image search, provides NFL answers, and word of the day https://ift.tt/2P0lu2e Bing announced some new features and spotlighted existing features on the search engine on Tuesday. Specifically, Bing demonstrated some of its election related search results, a new refreshed design for image search, expanded NFL answers and a cute “word of the day” feature. Bing election information. Bing referenced its multi-perspective answers and how it can be useful in understanding different views on different ballot initiatives that matter to you. So if you search for a specific initiative in Bing, Bing might show you two different perspectives on it. Here is what it looks like: Bing also gives you a break down on the US Senate and House races, gubernatorial contests, as well as state House and Senate races in every state. You get profiles of US Senate candidates and their positions on various key issues. Bing also said that on On November 6th, it will feature live results from the Associated Press to keep you up to date with all of the latest election developments. Bing’s updated image search interface. Bing said the redesign makes it easier to “highlight new and relevant information about images you click on.” Images of food, Bing will automatically find recipes associated with that image whereas if you search for outfits or costumes Bing will show you related product pages where you can purchase the item you are looking for. Bing also reminds us its object detection features can help you more easily zoom in on particular parts of the image which you might want to search. Bing NFL results show stats, schedules, viewing information, injury reports, news, and even predictions like they have for some time now. Word of the day is a new fun feature that gives you a new word to learn for the day. The word of the day feature shows you meaning, pronunciation, and see the word in context and you can view old words of the day as well. About The AuthorBarry Schwartz is Search Engine Land's News Editor and owns RustyBrick, a NY based web consulting firm. He also runs Search Engine Roundtable, a popular search blog on SEM topics. SEO via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1BDlNnc October 30, 2018 at 12:40PM
https://ift.tt/2rQAhgx
Should You Disavow a Link That Sends Lots of Traffic? by @jennyhalasz https://ift.tt/2OgDz6X Editor’s note: “Ask an SEO” is a weekly column by technical SEO expert Jenny Halasz. Come up with your hardest SEO question and fill out our form. You might see your answer in the next #AskanSEO post! Welcome to another edition of Ask an SEO! Today’s question comes from João B. in Portugal. He asks:
I want to congratulate you; I’m pretty sure this is the only question we’ve ever gotten that doesn’t have an “it depends” answer. The answer is absolutely not. Don’t disavow a link unless it is spam. Remember, any link value from a third-party tool (DA is Domain Authority and is specific to the Moz link tool), is an estimate of the link’s relative value. In most cases, this is determined by the links into a site. Just because a site doesn’t have a good link rating doesn’t mean it’s a bad site. If the site is relevant to your business and sends quality traffic, it’s a good site. SEO people worry so much about search guidelines sometimes that they forget to use common sense. You’re not alone in this at all. But there are other things besides search traffic. And there are lots of reasons to make decisions other than SEO. Think about it this way: If you had a guy who came into your store every day wearing something embarrassing – maybe clown shoes – but every time he came in, he bought 10x what the average person does, would you ask him not to come in anymore? Of course, you wouldn’t. Similarly, you shouldn’t turn down a free source of good traffic. Just because they have no links now doesn’t mean they always won’t. If anything, it’s great to have a solid source of traffic outside of Google. Google may send 80 percent or more of your traffic, but that may not always be the case. Anyone who is significantly reliant on Google traffic should try to diversify. Rather than think about whether you should disavow traffic from a source like that, you should be thinking about how you can increase traffic from that source or convert that traffic better. Have a question about SEO for Jenny? Fill out this form or use #AskAnSEO on social media. More Resources: Image Credits Featured Image: Image by Paulo Bobita Subscribe to SEJGet our weekly newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh October 30, 2018 at 09:17AM
https://ift.tt/2AB7XFA
The 34 Marketing Principles I Live By https://ift.tt/2Jsof68 Can you guess how long I’ve been a marketer? 7 years? Maybe 10? Guess again. I’ve been a marketer for 18 years now. That’s a long time… And funny enough, I’ve also been an entrepreneur for the same amount of time as I’ve never really held a “corporate” job. Many of you think I am smart, and I am great at marketing. But let me burst your bubble… I am NOT smart, and I am NOT a great marketer. Instead, I’ve just been doing everything long enough where I’ve learned what not to do. See, the first 4 or so years of my marketing career went really slow and didn’t go the way I wanted. This was mainly because I kept making mistakes. And even worse, I kept repeating the same mistakes over and over again. So, when I was around 20 years old, I created a list of marketing principles to never break because I wanted to ensure that I didn’t repeat the same mistakes over and over again. Over time I kept adding to the list, and it has helped me succeed not only as a marketer but also as an entrepreneur. Hopefully, the list principles below helps you get to where you want in life. I know it’s helped me tremendously. Here goes: Principle #1: Don’t be the firstSo many new marketing channels pop up, don’t be in a rush to try them all. Especially when these channels are new and unproven. You’re more likely to waste time than find wins. At the same time, you don’t want to be the last either. The key is to be an early adopter. Once a channel is picking up steam, that’s when you want to jump on board and see if you can leverage it for your business. Principle #2: Ride it while it lastsEvery channel that works eventually gets saturated. Some fade away, but most stick around, and some just don’t work as well. For example, Facebook grew through sending out invitation emails to everyone in your email address book. That just doesn’t work anymore. Digg used to be an amazing site that drove 100,000 visitors to a site in less than 24 hours. It doesn’t anymore. Google AdWords used to be a cheap way to drive sales. It still works, but it is expensive. When you find a channel that is working amazingly well, push hard and milk it for as long as it lasts. As time goes on, you’ll want to keep leveraging it, but you’ll naturally have to scale back as more competitors jump due to price increases. Principle #3: Sales and marketing should be owned, one personTo truly grow, you need to understand the whole picture. From how someone comes to your site, to what they are looking for, to how to sell, upsell, and retain a customer. You need to think about the whole cycle a customer goes through. For that reason, a company eventually needs a Chief Revenue Officer (especially in the B2B world). A CRO is someone in charge of both sales and marketing. The departments can run separately, but they need one boss. When both departments don’t roll up into one boss, there is typically is a disconnect. This will cause the conversion rates to be lower. Principle #4: Go all in during recessionary periodsThe market moves in cycles. When things go down people pull back on marketing. Don’t optimize for short turn gains, optimize for the long run. Marketing tends to be more cost-effective during recessionary periods. This is when you should be spending more, doubling down, so that way you can beat your competition once the recession is over. Principle #5: If you aren’t thinking long term, you won’t beat your competitionMost publicly traded companies optimize for a return within the first 12 months. Most venture-funded companies have a 1 to 3-year outlook. If you want to beat these companies, you need to have a 3-plus year outlook. This will open up more marketing channels that your competition can’t look at due to investors and outside pressure. With your marketing, it doesn’t mean you have to lose money for 3 or more years to beat your competition. It means you just have to get creative. For example, I know marketing costs are rising each year, so I’ve invested in software to generate visitors at a much lower cost than CPC advertising. Doing these sorts of things requires patience as it can take years for creative ideas to come to fruition. Principle #6: Never rely on one channelGood channels eventually become saturated and it’s too risky if your marketing is solely based on one channel. If it goes away or stops working for your business, it will crumble you. You can’t control algorithms, and you can’t always predict costs. Focus on an omnichannel approach. In other words, you can’t just do SEO or social media marketing. You need to eventually try and leverage all of the major marketing channels. Principle #7: Marketing tends to get more expensive over timeIt’s rare for marketing to get cheaper. You can’t control this. As much as you focus on marketing, you have to focus on conversion optimization. It’s the only way to keep you in the game as costs increase. Try to run at least one A/B test each month. And don’t run tests based on your gut. Use both quantitative and qualitative data to make decisions. Principle #8: Don’t take your messaging for grantedNo matter how effective your traffic generation skills are, you won’t win if people don’t understand why they should buy from you over the competition. A great example of this is Airbnb. They beat Home Away and are worth roughly ten times more. They both have a similar product and they both executed well. Airbnb came out much later, but they nailed their messaging. Spend time crafting and creating amazing messaging. Typically, amazing messaging requires story-telling and understanding your customers. You may have to survey your customers or talk to them over the phone, but eventually, you can come up with the right messaging using qualitative data. And once you’ve figured out the right messaging, retest each year as market conditions can change, which will affect your messaging. Principle #9: The numbers never lieOpinions don’t matter! Marketing should always be a data-driven approach. Follow the numbers and keep auditing them as things will change over time. What works now may not in the future due to external factors that you can’t control such as privacy and security concerns. For example, if you users claim to hate exit popups, but the data shows an exit popup increases your monthly revenue by 10%, then continually use the exit popup. People within the organization will complain and argue with you, but as long as you aren’t doing anything unethical, follow the data. Principle #10: The best thing you can do is build a brandWhether it is a corporate or personal one, people connect with brands. From Tony Robbins to Nike, people prefer brands. By building a brand, you are building longevity with your marketing. Don’t ever take it for granted and start building it from day one. No matter how small or big your company is, you should continually work on improving your brand. From the story behind why it exists to showcasing it wherever you can, push hard on branding. In the short run, it will not produce a positive ROI, and it is hard to track the value of a growing brand, but it works. When people want to buy sports shoes, they don’t always perform Google searches. Instead, they just think “Nike.” When people want a credit card, they think Visa, Mastercard, Discover, or American Express. Brands are powerful and create longevity. Principle #11: Always protect your brandYou’ll have opportunities to generate quick sales or traffic at the sacrifice of your brand image. Never do it. It’s better to have less traffic and sales in the short run than it is to tarnish your brand in the long run. If you tarnish your brand, you’ll find that it will be hard to recover and cost more money. Principle #12: Don’t take shortcutsEvery time someone presents a social media or SEO shortcut, avoid it. Typically, they won’t last long, and they could set you back through a penalization. It’s better to be safe and think long term. It will be tempting but say no. Principle #13: Don’t market crapBuilding a crappy product, service, or site just won’t cut it. With the web being competitive and it being easier to start a site online, you need to make sure you have something incredible. It’s 10 times easier to market something people love than it is to market something people don’t care about. No matter how good of a marketer you are, it’s not easy to market something people don’t want. So first focus on creating something amazing. Principle #14: Hire a full-time affiliate manager from day 1There are always people within your space who aren’t competitors and have an established user base. Have a dedicated resource continually reaching out and partnering with these sites and companies. It’s a good long-term way to grow without having to invest a lot of capital. Even if your product or service isn’t ready, hire this person from day one as it takes 6 months to fully build up a good base of partnerships and affiliates. Principle #15: Go against conventual marketing wisdomDoing what everyone else is doing won’t work for the long haul. Doing the opposite usually works much better. It may sound risky to go against the grain, but it is one of the best ways to grow when you are in a saturated market. A simple example of this is how Gmail grew when they first came out. Space was crowded and even though their tool was great, so was a lot of the competitors. Gmail grew by creating the illusion of exclusivity. People had to be invited by other members to get a @gmail.com email address. Principle #16: If you aren’t scared, you’re not pushing the limitsIf you’re cheering about everything you are doing when it comes to marketing, something is wrong. You need to scared and be going through a mix of emotions every time you launch a new marketing campaign. If you aren’t then you’re not pushing the limits. Testing campaigns that your competition won’t ever dare to try, and, of course, be ethical when doing this. Don’t burn your brand. The bigger the risk, the bigger the reward. Those who push the limits, tend to have a greater reward. Principle #17: Don’t be unethicalYou are going to have opportunities to gain quick wins at the cost of your customers. Always put others first. It’s the only way to survive in the long haul. In general, if you are going to have trouble sleeping at night, you shouldn’t be doing it. A good example of this in marketing is how affiliates use forced continuity. This is when they sell physical products for free as long as their customers pay for shipping. What these customers don’t realize is that they are going to receive the same product every month and they will get a bill every month as well. Don’t be unethical. Principle #18: Get the right influencers onboard earlyPeople tend to have a deeper connection with individuals over corporate brands. Get influencers on board early, as it will help you attract customers faster. Make sure your influencers are related to your business or else it won’t work and will just be a waste of money. For example, if you are selling a B2B software you don’t want half naked Instagram influencers promoting your product. It won’t work. But if you are selling fashion products, having influencers on Instagram who have popular fashion channels will help drive sales. Principle #19: Video is the futurePeople want to connect with you and your company. If you aren’t integrating video within your marketing, you are making a big mistake. Whether you like being on camera or not, video should be in your strategy from day 1. When you create videos, don’t just put it on your site. Put the same videos everywhere… from social networks to asking other websites to embed your videos on their site. You should even test running video ads as they tend to be more effective than text-based ads. They are more expensive to run, but the conversion rate is typically higher. Principle #20: You don’t know everythingMarketing is always changing. No matter how good you get at one tactic, never stop learning. Having the attitude that you are great will only hurt you. Have an open mind and be willing to learn from anyone, especially newcomers with little to no experience as they bring fresh insights. Principle #21: Don’t hire arrogant marketersIf you have arrogant marketers on your team, consider replacing them with people who are open to learning (assuming you aren’t breaking any HR laws). Arrogant marketers are typically stuck in their ways and they aren’t open to change. Just because someone doesn’t know as much, doesn’t mean they can’t learn. Arrogant marketers tend not to experiment, and they prefer sticking with what they know. Principle #22: Little is the new bigSocial media has empowered everyone. Don’t take people for granted, even if they don’t have money. By helping everyone, it will cause your brand to grow in the long run. Don’t worry about a direct ROI when helping others, it will cause word of mouth marketing. Because of social media, everyone can impact your brand in a good or bad way. So make sure it’s in a good way by helping everyone out (as much as it is feasibly possible). Principle #23: Continually test what’s workingBecause of external factors that you can’t control, things change over time. For example, 3rd party authentications used to boost conversion rates, but now people are concerned with using them because of privacy concerns. Always retest what has worked in the past every 6 months to ensure it is still helping you. When you don’t retest, you’ll find that your conversion rates will drop over time and you won’t know the cause of it. Principle #24: The majority of people don’t readIf you write a masterpiece, expect the majority of the people to not read it. Make your content and marketing landing pages easy to skim. Without this, you’ll lose out on a large portion of sales. Things like design, spacing, colors, and typography all affect readability and how easy it is to skim. Yes, messaging is important, but if no one reads it then you won’t generate sales. Principle #25: Headlines are more important than content8 out of 10 people will read your headline, but only 2 will click through and read your content. Spend as much time coming up with a headline as you do writing content. If you have an amazing masterpiece and a terrible headline, it won’t get read. You shouldn’t stop with one headline either. Consider A/B testing a handful of headlines, as this will help you come up with a winning version. Principle #26: Expand internationally once you’ve figured out your main marketThe English language is always competitive. But markets like Asia and Latin America don’t have as much competition and people within these regions are willing to spend money. Translate your website, content, product, and service as quickly as possible (while maintaining quality, of course!). It will open up more marketing opportunities and revenue streams. When picking new markets, don’t just look at GDP look at the population as well. If one region has a slightly lower GDP but a higher population, consider going after the one with a larger population first. Principle #27: Be willing to start over every yearIf you are expecting to grow by just doubling down on what worked in the past, your growth will slow down. By having the mentality that you need to start over and redo all of your marketing initiatives each year, you’ll grow faster as you will be receptive to change. This doesn’t mean you should ignore what worked for you in the last 12 months, it means that you need to keep doing that as well as well as go back to the drawing board to try new tactics. Principle #28: Ideas are a dime a dozen, but good team members aren’tYou’ll have dozens of ideas that you’ll want to test, but if you don’t have people to take charge of them they won’t go anywhere. Don’t bite off more than your team can handle. If you want to grow faster, you need people to take charge and lead each of your marketing initiatives. This will also allow you to fine tune each channel and squeeze the most out of it. And if you have dozens of ideas, don’t just hire any marketer. If you don’t hire the right person, with experience, you’ll find that marketing channel isn’t working out too well for you. So take your time. Principle #29: Don’t hire people you need to train if you want to grow fastThere is nothing wrong with hiring people who need training, but it will cause your growth to slow down. If you want more traffic and sales ASAP, you can’t hire people that need hand holding or training. Hire marketers with industry experience that know how to get off and running from day 1. Ideally, you should even consider hiring marketers who have worked for your competition and have done well for them. Principle #30: It takes 3 months for a marketer to get ramped upNo matter how skilled of a marketer you hire, even if they come from your competition, it typically takes 3 months for them to find their groove. So, when you hire them as a full-time employee or a contractor, be patient and be willing to give it at least 3 months before you decide what you want to do. Of course, you should see results within the first 3 months (even if they are small) but you still need to be patient. Principle #31: People love stories and always willStorytelling goes back centuries. They were effective back then and they still are today (and they will be tomorrow as well). Integrate stories within your copy. It will help you craft a better bond with your audience. With a better bond comes higher conversion rates. Principle #32: Don’t take trends for grantedIf you see the market moving in a direction, even if you don’t think it will last forever, consider riding the wave. Even if you don’t like the trend, you’ll find that it typically makes customer acquisition easier and more affordable. Use tools like Google Trends to help you determine which trends are popular and to see how the market is moving. A great example of this is MixPanel copied the KISSmetrics product, but they grew faster as they rode the mobile analytics trend, while KISSmetrics did not. Principle #33: Optimize for revenue, not top of funnel metricsIn marketing, looking at numbers like monthly visitors is great, but it isn’t the most important metric. Optimizing for leads isn’t enough either. Your tracking needs to encompass the whole funnel. By optimizing for revenue you’ll be able to make better decisions and see faster growth. When looking at your funnel, keep in mind that it shouldn’t stop with a purchase. There are upsells, repeat purchases, cross-sells, and even churn to consider. Principle #34: Follow the rule of 7People need to hear about your brand or see your brand 7 times before they’ll convert into a customer. In other words, you need to be everywhere if you want to win market share. With every company having similar products and services, people have a hard time deciding who to buy from. If your brand is more prevalent, people are more likely to choose you. Make sure you are leveraging as many proven marketing channels as possible. ConclusionSome of the principles above may seem obvious to you while others may not. But you’ll find that both you and your team will make many of the mistakes no matter how obvious they seem. Whether it is the principles above or your own, consider creating a list of your own for your team to follow. And it shouldn’t just be for marketing. I have lots of principles… especially in regards to entrepreneurship. So what other principles should marketers follow? Just leave a comment below with some of the principles you follow. The post The 34 Marketing Principles I Live By appeared first on Neil Patel. SEO via Neil Patel https://neilpatel.com October 30, 2018 at 08:18AM
https://ift.tt/2Q6vy6b
Link Building for Small Businesses: 7 Tactics That Really Work by @amelioratethis https://ift.tt/2zfTWv7 I’m going to start this off like every other article you may have read on link building. Link building is hard. This statement is true for every company. That’s why every article on link building mentions it. But when you’re a small business, it’s even harder. You probably don’t have a dedicated SEO in-house. You also don’t have the same internal resources to create the “10X content” every other article on link building says you need in order to get links. And because you’re small, it’s simply not as easy for you to attract links as a big, well-known brand. However, link building is not impossible. Like everything else that’s hard, it just takes time and effort. When you’re a small business with limited time and resources, you need to make sure that any time you devote to link building is spent on tactics that will actually work. Good news: all of the below link building ideas really work. I’ve personally tried all of them with my own clients, many of whom are small businesses. Let’s dig in. 1. Support Your Local CommunityCharitable organizations and nonprofits are always looking for sponsors. At least one sponsorship tier will include backlinks to a sponsor’s site. Think about what organizations you can sponsor in your town. Do they host fundraising events? Don’t limit yourself to traditional charities. Consider schools and for-profit events as well. Anyone in need of a sponsor is a potential backlink candidate. Ideally, the sponsorship should make sense for your brand — by either aligning with your physical location or your industry. To uplevel this tactic, sponsor something that your target customers actually care about, instead of sponsoring anyone who will give you a link. The goal with link building should never focus solely on links; you want those links to translate to traffic, too. This tactic does require a monetary investment, but it can take less upfront effort than other link building ideas. Typically, you don’t have to build a strong relationship with event sponsors, or convince them of why you’re worthy of a link. Send them the money for your sponsorship tier, and you’ll get everything that’s included. 2. Connect with Local & Niche BloggersWho are the popular bloggers who cover your city or industry? These content creators are expected to drive constant content for their readers. Like any content manager, they run out of ideas from time to time. Be the hero that gives them an idea. Follow these folks on social media and subscribe to their blog. Comment or reshare their pieces when you find them interesting. Build a genuine relationship. Over time, this can translate to natural mentions. In the meantime, pay attention to what they write about, and review where it might make sense for them to include you. If you’re a florist, you might ask to be included in their roundup blog of local gift ideas. If you sell accounting software, you might ask a personal finance blogger if they want your CEO’s top tips for getting a tax refund. The key here is to share something of real value for their readers. These bloggers are influential because their content helps their audience. Help them do that, and they’ll want to help you. As a small business, you’ll have better luck going after smaller bloggers. These so-called micro-influencers may not have the domain authority of a celebrity blogger, but their niche focus makes their backlinks highly relevant for your website. 3. Run a ScholarshipSponsoring local organizations are one way to give back. College or high school sponsorships are another — and there’s an excellent way to earn juicy .edu backlinks. I’ve covered this before on Search Engine Journal, so you can read my step-by-step walkthrough for this kind of link building campaign there. The idea is to create a scholarship for college or high schools students that is relevant to your small business. If you’re a realtor, ask students to write an essay response hypothesizing the future of the housing industry. Then, reach out to the financial aid offices at schools and ask them to share it with their students. You will need to set aside some budget for this, but it’s one of the most effective link building campaigns I’ve ever run, and it really helps students in need. As a small business, I recommend limiting your campaign to the local regions where you operate or focusing on schools with a major department that matches your industry. Plus, after you select a winner, you can always run a press release for additional coverage and potential backlinks. 4. Guest Post for Industry-Relevant SitesYou’ve seen this suggestion multiple times before, and that’s because it works. Guest blogging takes real effort, perhaps the most out of any tactics on this list. You have to: It’s a lot of work, but it’s commensurate with the return you get. Guest posts provide much more than a backlink. When you land a guest post on a site your target audience frequents, they can drive qualified traffic your way. Plus, having a byline on these sites helps elevate the status of your brand. Small businesses often run into roadblocks when they pitch guest posts to popular sites. Instead of going after the biggest sites you’ve ever heard of, pitch articles to sites that are smaller, but relevant, to your industry. Using our accounting software example, you might go after personal finance blogs with engaged readerships, rather than publishing behemoths like the Wall Street Journal. If your small business regularly partners with other companies from complementary verticals, consider pitching them a guest post, too. They’re already in the habit of referring customers your way, so there’s a clear fit there. How can you write a post for their site that provides value to their readers, while making it natural for them to contact you? For instance, a short-term rental management company might partner with a local maid service. The maid service could write a guest blog providing tips for cleaning your home in between Airbnb rentals. 5. Offer Case Studies or TestimonialsThis is one easy link building tactic I don’t see being used nearly as often as it should. What vendors or software products does your business use? If you’re happy with them, offer to take part in a case study or provide them with a testimonial. It’s customary practice for brands to link to the business featured in the case study or testimonial, in gratitude for their social proof. You don’t want to go into this asking for the link, and you should only do this for brands you’re sincerely satisfied with. Contact your sales rep. Let them know how much their product or service has helped you, and that you’d be willing to provide a testimonial for them. You’re going to make their day. 6. Reclaim Unlinked MentionsThis is perhaps the easiest link building tactic of all. Brands are mentioned every day online — big and small alike. Set up free Google Alerts for “[your brand name goes here]” and “[yourdomain.com]”, as well as the names of any prominent members of your leadership team. Whenever a website mentions you without including a link, reach out. This is a friendly audience who already thought you were worth mentioning to their readers. It’s only natural for them to include a link to your site, so their readers can learn more about you. Pro tip: Review every mention before you reach out. If a site mentioned your business in a negative way, do not consider that your opening to ask them for a link. Instead, consider it an opportunity to evaluate their feedback and how you may need to adapt your business, if at all. 7. Promote Your Content Far & WideYou’re already writing blogs and sharing advice on your small business website. Are you doing anything else to promote that content, besides the obligatory share on social media? Take to the internet. There are many popular online blogs that allow you to syndicate your content (like Medium, LinkedIn, and others). Simply due to their massive size, these sites are much more likely to rank for your target keywords than you are. Don’t get frustrated by that; use it to your advantage instead. Rewrite a compelling intro for your blog, or rewrite in its entirety, and post a canonical link back to your website. This tactic is known as content syndication, and fellow SEJ writer Ben Jacobson wrote a great piece on it right here. You can also share links to your content in social sharing sites and online message boards like Quora and Slideshare. Monitor the threads that are relevant to your business. Show off your business expertise and provide real value in your response – before pointing users to a piece of content on your website for additional information. Do this regularly enough, and you’ll start to build a name for yourself as an authority in the space. Users on these sites may start to follow you specifically to see your answers. That translates to traffic. Speaking of traffic, this tactic usually (but not always) results in unfollowed links. While less valuable from a link equity perspective, nofollow links can be just as valuable for driving traffic — and that’s the ultimate goal of link building, really. Links are just one way to boost your search rankings. Traffic is what you really want. Link Building for Your Small BusinessLink building can work for small business. In fact, it can work really well. You just have to be thoughtful about where you put your efforts. Spend your time on tactics that work, and you’ll start to see results. More Link Building Resources: Image Credits Featured Image: rawpixel/Unsplash.com Subscribe to SEJGet our weekly newsletter from SEJ's Founder Loren Baker about the latest news in the industry! SEO via Search Engine Journal https://ift.tt/1QNKwvh October 30, 2018 at 08:16AM |
Categories
All
Archives
November 2020
|