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Chris Tolles should be freaking out right now. As CEO of news aggregation site Topix, his is one of the media companies that would seemingly be most affected by Facebook’s recent News Feed algorithm change, which is expected to throttle the traffic the social network sends to publishers’ sites. According to SimilarWeb, in December 2016, Topix received 37 percent of its US desktop visitors from Facebook. Yet Tolles isn’t too troubled. “We’ve experienced this platform holdback before with search,” said Tolles, referring to Google’s Panda update, which choked traffic to sites that published content specifically designed to rank highly in its search results. Following Google’s move, Topix switched its focus from search to social, publishing slideshows, quizzes and other articles intended to elicit high engagement. But it also adjusted its approach to harnessing platforms to attract traffic — turning to purchasing paid media. “The whole thesis was we’re going to get traffic by working with platforms in a way that they should be aligned with, which is to pay them money,” said Tolles. [Read the full article on MarTech Today.] The post Publishers turn to ads, search following Facebook’s News Feed change appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2DP9JWw SEOs have found success in following best practices, especially advice that Google itself has spoken on during Webmaster hours, at conferences, or in blog posts. But the history of the industry has revolved around constantly trying new things to see what works and what doesn’t. Many of these strategies end up becoming a no-go for SEO, but some operate in more of a grey area until Google search engines decide they properly following guidelines. Below are some of the current strategies in SEO that will not get you penalized but could be against Google’s policies as time progresses. While they aren’t frowned upon by the industry as a whole now, it’s important to take these strategies with a grain of salt and make sure you aren’t reliant on nefarious tactics to get more visibility in search results. On-siteThese tactics are on your website, which means you have more control over how they are used and with what frequency. Similar Product PagesFor e-commerce or service-based companies, they may find it useful to have separate pages of products based on certain attributes, such as color or size. For instance, on Amazon, you can change product color, model, and size directly from one product page: When you click on the different models, the URL of the product page doesn’t change. However, when product pages are separated based on color, size, or other metrics, it creates a more specific page for the user and as of now, isn’t currently explicitly frowned upon by Google. Separating product pages may be a good strategy for your website if the specifications are extremely important to your customers and it makes their searches easier. Internal LinkingIf you’re looking to get more visibility to your internal content pages, consider linking to related pages more regularly. As of now, internal linking three to five times with exact match anchor text isn’t a definite no-no. This type of linking can actually be useful to your users, as long as you are linking pages that make sense to one another. For instance, if you had a horoscope website, it would make sense to link to the next horoscope at the end of each page, or to link to other informational pages on that specific horoscope. SEO linking tactics that Google has clearly stated is against policy are massive link exchanges, buying or selling links, using automated linking programs, and other link schemes. Be sure to follow Google’s guidelines on this so your website doesn’t experience a penalty or lower visibility, once search engines catch on to what you’re doing. Off-SiteThese are SEO tactics that aren’t on your website, instead use other mediums like external websites or digital platforms like email in order to increase your search engine positioning. While Google has talked somewhat about all three of these, they haven’t specifically stated that it’s wrong to use these strategies. You must use caution and ensure that what you are doing is useful to searchers and your target audience. Guest BloggingGuest blogging has been a hot topic, with some experts proclaiming it has been overused and spoiled, and others showcasing their results. However, guest blogging in 2018 should be something completely different than what it was in 2014. When it was on the rise five years ago, it was easy to put links into your guest blog posts and have them published on other websites. Now, both publishers and search engines are cracking down on creating this type of content solely for links, which means it’s time to change your tactics. Guest blogging can still be a viable source of website traffic and leads, but all created content must be done with the goal to provide useful information that is of value. Creating content simply because you get a bio link usually means the quality isn’t there, which won’t lead to much traffic anyway. So focus on writing high quality content for any external publishers that you have a guest blogging relationship with. Use this chance to prove your thought leadership and to get more brand awareness for your company. Online PRJust like guest blogging, online public relations for your website shouldn’t be done for SEO or links, but rather to increase brand awareness and to get the word out about your company. Of course, public relations is its own sector entirely, with strategies about cross-promotion, press releases, journalist outreach, and more. But as long as your company is actually doing something newsworthy (don’t create press releases just because you can), getting links from your PR efforts can be a great benefit. Online PR isn’t regarded as a “no-no” from Google, but stick to the safe side and make sure you are generating buzz around products or news that actually can capture audience interest, instead of attempting to invent innovation where there hasn’t been anything. Influencer OutreachWhile the FTC does have guidelines in place for proper disclosure for bloggers and online influencers when they work with brands (which everyone should absolutely follow), Google hasn’t currently placed many guidelines or restrictions on working with influencers. These types of campaigns run the gamut, from a long-term partnership that includes several blog posts and social media posts, to a single review post and giveaway. How you work with influencers usually depends on company goals and budget, but they can be a great gateway to a larger portion of your target audience that you are trying to reach. Because influencers usually have a higher trust value than ads or other types of push marketing, you may end up getting more qualified leads, often in less time. In order to run a “clean” influencer outreach campaign, make sure everything is transparent with your relationship in any published content and make sure all content follows Google’s published guidelines. This includes no hidden links or text, low quality pages that don’t have unique content, or automatically generated content that wasn’t written manually.
SEO and digital marketing is an ever-evolving field, and in order to be successful, consider trying new things to reach your target audience. Stay vigilant of any new guidelines by Google and other search engines and strive to not rely on any one tactic for your SEO results. Just because something works now, doesn’t mean it will forever, so stick to the basics that work and spend a little time trying out new things. The post What is Off-White SEO? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2rMO8Zf If you log into the new Google Search console and click on any of your verified profiles at the top right, you may see a new button in the interface named “coming soon.” That button takes you to this help document that first describes why some of the reports in the old Search Console are not yet available in the new Search Console, which rolled out to users last week. It then asks you to vote on which reports you are missing that you really want Google to migrate over to the new version. Here is a screen shot of the “coming soon” option in the new beta Search Console menu: Google writes on this page: If you don’t see your favorite old Search Console report in the new Search Console, it’s probably because one of two reasons:
It then asks you which “report do you most need from old Search Console?” Google gives you these options: Structured Data, Rich Cards, Data Highlighter, HTML Improvements, Accelerated Mobile Pages report, Links to Your Site, Internal Links, Manual Actions, International Targeting, Mobile Usability, Blocked Resources, Remove URLs, Crawl Stats report, Fetch as Google, Robots.txt Tester, URL Parameters and Security Issues. The post Tell Google which report you are really missing in new Google Search Console appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2DMAwTu
But what if some of the traffic (or even a lot of it) isn’t attributed correctly, and you aren’t getting credit for it? It’s a mystery, Watson!Unfortunately, Google My Business (GMB) clicks have an attribution problem. We’ve seen cases where hundreds or even thousands of monthly GMB clicks are incorrectly attributed as “direct” in Google Analytics. Whenever someone clicks on your Google My Business link from a mobile device, it is likely the click will show as direct instead of organic. With mobile search continuing to grow, this is a problem that will not go away. You don’t have to put on your detective hat and try to dig up proof you are getting more organic traffic than Google Analytics is showing; you just need to tweak your website link. Adding an Urchin Tracking Module (UTM) to force the source to show as “organic” lets you take the credit for all the hard work you’re doing. You can attach a UTM code to a custom URL and track promoted content; the results will show in Google Analytics and report where searchers came from. Simply add:
to the end of your website link in your Google My Business dashboard, and you’re good to go! Now, every click on your GMB link will show as an organic click in Google Analytics. The mystery does not stop thereGoogle recently rolled out Google Posts, and the click attribution problem has spread there as well. If you are using or testing Google Posts, keep an eye on the click data since, from my experience, it doesn’t seem to match up. Again, the suspicion is that organic clicks are being attributed as direct traffic. It works exactly the same way as the website link in Google My Business: You have to add UTM tracking if you want to be sure the traffic is correctly attributed as organic. The best practice here would be to use the “utm_campaign” variable to give each Google Post a unique link, with the source set to “GooglePost” and the medium still set to “organic.” The new Google Search Console provides more insightEveryone has access to the new version of Google Search Console. It allows you to filter clicks and show only clicks to pages using UTM variables. Click to Search Traffic > Search Analytics, then click the radio button next to “Pages” and enter “UTM” into the field. Your click graph will recalibrate and show all the clicks for anything including UTM links. Now you know you’re getting the credit for all of your organic visits, and both Google Analytics and Search Console share that data. You’ll look great to your clients (or your boss), and it’s much easier to prove the value of your efforts. The post Are you getting credit for all of your organic visits from GMB? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2nmEFlX It happened again. You were out to dinner with your Writer Friend, and the waiter came over to see if you needed anything. This led to a short, friendly conversation with him, and as he walked away your meal companion apologized for reaching into her purse to get her phone. She opened her Notes application The post Why Your Friend with a Creative Job Isn’t the Village Idiot appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger http://ift.tt/2DKJWyW Get out of your mindset and make a decision. Vicki Pollack shows us that the only way to fail is to quit. Also, going through challenging moments will make you feel like a failure, however you have to overcome it and understand that you are simply going through a learning process. Who is Vicki Pollack?Vicki Pollack graduated from Syracuse University with a degree in communications and thought she was doing awesome in her career at Enterprise Rent a Car. She attributes a lot of her communication skills and work ethic to that first job. Vicki found network marketing 3 ½ years ago and discovered a huge passion even though she was new. She’s currently a leader and a 6 figure income earner. Vicki lives in Long Island, New York and has been married to her husband Keith for 6 years and they have a 3 year old son. Favorite Quote“You can make money and you can make excuses, but you can’t make both” Must Read BookYou Are a Badass by Jen Sincero Recommended Online AppRecommended Prospecting ToolContact InfoWhat Did You Learn?Thanks for joining me on the show. So what did you learn? If you enjoyed this episode please share it on social media and send it to someone that needs extra motivation in their MLM business. Do you have any thoughts or comments? Please take 60 seconds to leave an HONEST review for the MLM Nation Podcast on iTunes. Ratings and reviews are extremely important for me to make this show better. Finally, don’t forget to subscribe to the show on iTunes so that you get updates and new episodes downloaded to your phone automatically. Click Here to Subscribe via iTunes Click here to Subscribe via Stitcher The post 445: The Power of Patience and Persistent Follow Up by Vicki Pollack appeared first on MLM Nation: Network Marketing Training | Prospecting | Lead Generation | Leadership | Duplication | Motivation. via MLM Nation: Network Marketing Training | Prospecting | Lead Generation | Leadership | Duplication | Motivation http://ift.tt/2DJCDHH This week brings a warm hello and a fond goodbye within the Search Engine Land team, along with another channel to stay up to date on Google search info, the Search Engine Land Awards, and more honors for the search marketing community. Search Engine Land Staff ChangesGood night, and good luck, JessJessica Thompson has been with Search Engine Land for the past 5 years, as our Features Editor. She has been an incredibly valuable team member, working with our contributors and helping to shape the voice of our featured content. We will miss her dearly as she embarks on her next career move, which will be building a digital marketing agency – Prewett McCarthy Marketing. We look forward to watching her continue to grow and are thrilled she remains a colleague in our industry. I asked Jessica to share her parting thoughts with the community:
Welcome Debra MastalerDebra Mastaler joins our editorial team as Features Editor, and we couldn’t be more excited to have her! Many in the industry will already be familiar with this veteran search marketer (and link building expert). Debra has been a de facto team member, as much of the community has, through her contributions to Search Engine Land, as well as through her top notch Link Building Bootcamp sessions at our Search Marketing Expo (SMX) events every year. Join us in welcoming her officially to the Third Door Media team! Debra seconded the emotion:
A new way to follow Google announcementsGoogle’s Public Liaison for Search, Danny Sullivan, has a new Twitter account where he’ll be posting updates and announcements — @searchliaison. He announced this … on Twitter … and recommends the community follow for updates and announcements from the search team.
The first explainer from the new account:
The Search Engine Land Awards are open for submissions!Reminder: The 2018 Search Engine Land Awards are currently accepting entries (early entries close March 31, final deadline is April 13, 2018). This years’ theme is “Celebrating the Power of Search” – so flex your muscles and submit your SEO and SEM campaigns for the chance to showcase your superpowers to our industry colleagues! Get to know your search colleaguesBarry Schwartz continues his “Honor an SEO/SEM” series at his blog, and this (and last) week’s honored nominees included: Larry Markovitz, Annie Cushing, Pierre Far, Dawn Anderson, Danny Goodwin, Bruce Clay, Akvile DeFazio, Mike Blumenthal, Susan Hallam and David Harry. Learn why these fine folks have been nominated by by the community and keep up with the ongoing series here. Have some industry or community news you want to share? Drop us a note at [email protected]! The post Search Engine Land’s Community Corner: Staff changes at SEL, a new Google Twitter account to follow, and an awards reminder appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2Gkil5c By most accounts, the holiday shopping season was an e-commerce success, with final tallies beating analyst estimates. Earlier this month, we asked e-commerce teams about their holiday marketing strategies — planning, budgeting and expectations — and what they did differently this year from last year. Nearly 100 respondents shared their feedback. The majority (57 percent) of respondents worked in-house, while 43 percent were at agencies. The client/company size represented skewed to the smaller end, with 60 percent of respondents working with companies with annual revenues below $25 million. Nearly 13 percent represented companies with annual revenues over $500 million. There were several interesting findings from the survey. Here are some of the highlights from the final results. Holiday budgets rose across most platformsOverall, search and social budgets increased this holiday season over the previous year, with 70 percent of respondents saying they increased budgets on both channels. Display retargeting budgets for more than half of respondents (56 percent) also increased year over year. Sixty-five percent used dynamic retargeting ads this holiday season. More than three-quarters of respondents said Google budgets rose year over year, with 25 percent saying Google budgets rose by more than 50 percent. Nearly 40 percent increased Bing budgets this holiday season, and 66 percent boosted Facebook ad budgets year over year. Pinterest advertising remains hard to scale, and that’s reflected here. Just 8 percent of respondents increased their Pinterest ad budgets over last year’s this season, and half aren’t using the platform at all. Amazon has been rapidly increasing its ad offerings for sellers on the platform. Among respondents, 36.5 percent are selling on Amazon, and of those, 34 percent increased their ad budgets this holiday season. Holiday planning is primarily a fall sport, but many plan year-roundWhen it comes to planning holiday marketing strategies, September was the most popular month to get cracking, with nearly 18 percent of respondents starting then. Just over 12 percent of respondents said they plan year-round. Just as many said they don’t have time to plan (this gives me anxiety) as those who said they start planning in August. For 56 percent of respondents, planning started at the same time it did the year before, while 20 percent started planning earlier. These and many more findings from the survey — challenges, tactical changes and consumer behavior changes, to name a few — were the basis of a lively discussion packed with jewels of insights for retailers in a webinar with Brad Geddes of Adalysis, Elizabeth Marsten of CommerceHub and Aaron Levy of Elite SEM. You can find the webinar, Holiday Retail Search Strategies 2017: What worked, what didn’t, on demand (registration required). The post Insights from our 2017 holiday retail survey appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2Fn4cTz
Is a new technology revolution coming our way? According to the world's most famous tech insiders, yes! Here are the most exciting trends to watch.
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