WordPress, which continues to lead the CMS market by a wide margin, has announced its new release, WordPress 5.9. Among the enhancements announced with the new release are:
There are also some changes on the developer side. For example, theme.json now supports child themes allowing users to build themes in WordPress Admin without writing code. Why we care. If you’re a CMS user and you aren’t using WordPress in your current role, the chances are that you used it in your last role or will use it in your next. Its ubiquity makes changes relevant to almost all content creators. There’s nothing here as dramatic as the introduction of the block editor in WordPress 5.0, but there is a continuing trend of increasing the capabilities of no code users. You can read the full news release from WordPress here and learn more about Site Editor here. A version of this article appeared first on MarTech. The post WordPress 5.9 launches with full site editing appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3IDtRYK
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The biggest platforms in the digital advertising landscape — Google, Amazon, Apple and Facebook — are making huge changes to accommodate current and upcoming consumer data regulations. And while many marketers bemoan this loss of data, thinking it will make it much more difficult to manage client campaigns, Sam Tomlinson, executive VP of strategy and analytics at marketing agency Warschawski, says this data, by itself, was never as valuable as once believed. “Decision-making was never that simple, and some of the data that may have been taken away wasn’t that good,” said Tomlinson in his presentation at SMX Next. “The same thing goes for conversion tracking; we have had that for a long time and it’s been hit-or-miss.” “Just because some data has been taken away and some control levers have been taken away doesn’t mean that we’re in a world of hurt,” Tomlinson said. “It just means we have to adapt.” There are still plenty of actionable insights to be gleaned from the data that is available. Here are three ways Tomlinson says marketers can succeed with PPC despite having access to less data. Improve data measurement with marketing mix models“The world is bigger than PPC,” Tomlinson said. “For over a decade, PPC’s have been focused on conversions and using last-click attribution models. And that let us obsess about this little world that is ‘PPC’ and forget about the big world that is ‘marketing.’” Tomlinson recommends marketers grow their data pool using marketing mix models (MMMs), which are statistical analysis methods that determine the effectiveness of campaigns by measuring the impact of marketing strategies alongside sales and customer retention efforts. “Historically, they [MMMs] have been staggeringly expensive and incredibly complicated and have taken weeks, months or years to put together,” he said. “But now, we can open-source them. If you have an intern who knows Python, they could make one in a couple of days.” Marketers can gather even more customer insights by adopting automated MMMs. Tomlinson cited Facebook’s open-sourced Robyn as an example, which aims to reduce human bias in data measurement. “An automated MMM ingests data using cloud computing and cloud storage, taking what had historically been a barge of a tool and turning it into a speedboat with rocket engines on it,” said Tomlinson. “We can now experiment and calibrate our models.” Obtain more accurate client dataHaving access to less data isn’t the only issue affecting PPC campaigns today; many marketers fail to let clean, accurate client business data inform their strategies. “Most agencies or freelancers just don’t know their clients’ businesses that well,” said Tomlinson. “They don’t know how their clients make money. They don’t know the cost of revenue, their cost of capital, their target rate of return, or the time horizon for that return.” Tomlinson also noted that most agencies don’t have realistic forecasts or models for clients. Without an accurate view, marketers are “going to be lost in this dataless world.” To address this issue, he recommends marketing teams combine both client business metrics and campaign metrics into one spreadsheet, letting these sets inform each other so mistakes are avoided. As an example, Tomlinson shared an integrated data sheet (shown above) to show how this information can be cross-referenced: “I’ve combined some of those basic metrics that campaigns export with some of our clients’ business metrics. That includes their cost of goods sold, their cost of capital and their time horizons for return. And those have allowed me to calculate our net present value per click.” “This data is available to you and can be put into your platforms. We just don’t do it enough,” he added. Use lower intent goals in your campaignsDespite the digital advertising landscape becoming more and more dataless, the machines that make campaigns run continue to demand it. And while they need less data than in years past, they still require a lot to be effective. Unfortunately, the upcoming deprecation of third-party cookies and other identifiers leaves many gaps in this data, making it more difficult for marketers to procure seamless, actionable customer information. “There are more and more gaps in that data,” said Tomlinson. “Apple restricts tracking, Google deprecates cookies, Firefox deprecates cookies and other providers don’t allow data collection on third-party websites. That poses an interesting challenge because now we aren’t able to connect as many dots as we used to be.” Tomlinson says marketers should address this issue with lower intent goals, which can help them forecast consumer behavior despite lacking the insights from higher-value actions: “So, instead of conversions, we may push the goal up a little bit and go for a white paper download. Something that allows us to capture first-party data earlier in the journey and also feed that data into the machines to help us measure incrementality more accurately.” Capturing customer data earlier on in the process can set marketers up for success in the long run. This will help prevent unforeseen events from derailing campaigns — something that happens far too often when marketers focus solely on bottom-of-funnel goals. “Lower intent goals serve as useful forecasting barometers to make sure that we’re on track,” said Tomlinson. “Since our end conversions get fuzzier and that path gets muddier, we want to start tracking earlier before all the mess destroys the integrity of our data.” “The one way we do that is with lower intent goals and emphasizing our data capture earlier,” he added. Watch the full SMX Next presentation here (free registration required). The post How to win with PPC in a dataless world appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3IDiXSO Starting on January 24, 2022 and currently still ongoing, Google said there was a “logging issue” with Google “Search data for images” which may result in a drop in the number of clicks and impressions you see in your Google Search Console Performance reports for images. This is just a reporting issue and has no impact on actual rankings or Google Search traffic. The issue. Google wrote “Search data for images is affected by a logging issue that might cause you to see a drop in clicks and impressions for images on your site in the Performance report.” This issue started on Monday, January 24, 2022 and is still ongoing. Working on a fix. Google said the the search company is “working on resolving this issue.” No impact in Google Search. Google confirmed that this “issue is a logging issue only.” Google added that “it does not reflect a drop in either user behavior or search results on Google.” Why we care. If you see a drop in clicks and impressions for your image searches in the performance reports, this is a logging bug and not likely a ranking issue. Please annotate your reports and communicate these issues to your stakeholders. The post Google Search Console logging issue may cause drop in image search performance data appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3ABkV3g Google has added a new feature to its mobile search results called People search next. It appears for some “near me” searches. What is People Search Next? People search next seems to be an addition to Google’s mobile search results – not a replacement for another feature. It joins other Google search features like People also ask, People also search for, Refine this search, and Related searches. It’s unclear at this time if this is a permanent addition to Google’s mobile search results. I’ve reached out to Google for comment and will update this article if I receive any more information. Examples of People Search Next. Here’s what it looks like on a search for [dentist near me]. It also shows for [eye doctor near me]: In these examples, People search next appears just above Related searches. This seems to be a consistent pairing. If not for Google’s mobile search results being infinite scroll, the positioning of People search next seems to be what would normally be “bottom of the SERP.” So far, I’ve been unable to find People search next for any types of queries other than “near me”. And it doesn’t show on every “near me” type query. Looking for [plumber near me], [restaurants near me] or even [doctor near me] failed to trigger the feature. Why we care. It’s important to watch any changes Google makes to its search engine results pages (SERPs). Space taken up by a Google search feature, such as this one, means Google could potentially take away actual results for relevant webpages, or clicks and traffic from websites Google shows in the organic results. This seems like a feature that is designed to keep people on Google longer, going further down search rabbit holes, rather than clicking on actual search results. In short, if Google search truly is a provider of answers, is it fair to say that they are also in the business of adding the questions as well? As for how you can potentially use it? For content research. You now have yet another resource – straight from Google – to get content ideas. We were alerted about this new feature by Saad AK on Twitter. The post New Google mobile search feature: People Search Next appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3ABSOBd Google has announced that dedicated Gmail campaigns will no longer run as of June 28. The company notified affected advertisers about this change via email on January 18. You may also see the announcement within your Google Ads interface (shown below). The “Learn more” link in the screenshot above points to the “About Discovery campaigns” help page. Tip of the hat to @PPCGreg on Twitter for bringing this to our attention. Why we careGoogle broadcasted this change when it announced that standalone Gmail campaigns would become “read-only” beginning in July 2021. Since then, advertisers haven’t been able to create new or edit existing standalone Gmail ads or campaigns. Now, we have an official deprecation date. Advertisers that still rely on their standalone Gmail campaigns should find other alternatives (such as Discovery campaigns) to test out well ahead of the deadline so that they can minimize any performance impacts before June 28 comes around. The post Gmail campaigns to stop running on June 28 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3g3kgye Twitter is launching three new ad products designed to improve performance for campaigns aimed at driving site traffic, the company announced Tuesday. Site Visit Optimization is a new optimization goal for finding and serving ads to the audiences that are most likely to convert. Aggregated Measurement provides conversion metrics for audiences that have opted out of iOS tracking. And, the Events Manager is where advertisers can manage their Twitter Website Tag and associated web-based conversion events. Why we care. During testing, Site Visit Optimization outperformed existing offerings and saw an average lower cost-per-site-visit of 31%, according to Twitter-funded advertiser tests. Results can vary, so testing it out for yourself can help you determine if it’s right for your brand or clients. Aggregated Measurement may give advertisers a more detailed picture of their campaign results. With Aggregated Measurement, Twitter said it saw a 31% increase in attributable site visit conversions in Twitter Ads Manager, across advertisers. This feature may be an improvement for advertisers that have seen their attribution impacted by Apple’s App Tracking Transparency. Site Visit Optimization. Twitter is introducing Site Visits Optimization, a new goal under the Website Traffic objective (formerly the Website Clicks & Conversions objective). This goal is designed to find and serve your ads to the audiences that are most likely to visit your site. This goal uses Twitter’s Website Tag, which (when enabled) tracks actions that users take on an advertiser’s site so that they can be attributed to their Twitter campaign. Aggregated Measurement. This feature is meant to provide conversion metrics (by counting events in aggregate) for audiences that have opted out of iOS tracking. Advertisers will be able to see an aggregated view of site metrics and conversion events within their Twitter Ads Manager Reporting. Events Manager. The Events Manager is Twitter’s hub for managing Website Tags and their associated web-based conversion events. The platform plans to integrate App-based events into Events Manager at some point this year. The post Twitter launches Site Visit Optimization goal and Aggregated Measurement for campaigns aimed at driving site traffic appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3AETbuU If you’re reading this, you’ve probably already been brainstorming online business ideas — and for good reason. We’re living in... The post 7 Online Business Ideas for Practical Content Entrepreneurs appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/3KZmDAu Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to be transitioned to Performance Max by end of Sept. 20221/27/2022 Google Ads will automatically transition existing Smart Shopping campaigns into Performance Max campaigns between July and September 2022, the company announced Thursday. Local campaigns will automatically be transitioned between August and September 2022. The company will also launch a “one-click” self-service tool in Google Ads for advertisers that would like to transition specific Smart Shopping or Local campaigns ahead of the dates mentioned above. Why we care. “Based on early testing, advertisers who upgrade Smart Shopping campaigns to Performance Max see an average increase of 12% in conversion value at the same or better return on ad spend (ROAS),” according to Google. However, results can vary, so it may be worthwhile to test out your transitioned campaigns with the self-service tool once it’s available, ahead of the forced transition deadline. This is a significant change to how Smart Shopping and Local campaigns work. Advertisers that don’t want to transition those campaigns over to Performance Max should begin exploring other options, as these campaign types (as we know them) will disappear by the end of September. Farewell, standalone Smart Shopping and Local campaigns. Once existing Smart Shopping and Local campaigns are transitioned to Performance Max, advertisers will no longer be able to create new ones. This automatic process is scheduled to conclude by the end of September 2022. How to transition your Smart Shopping and Local campaigns. Google Ads will be offering a tool for those that wish to transition their campaigns to Performance Max ahead of the automatic transition window. The tool will be available for Smart Shopping campaigns starting in April, with support for Local campaigns starting in June. Advertisers can use the tool to transition specific campaigns, or all of them at once. Learnings from existing campaigns will be used in the new Performance Max campaign. Additionally, all advertisers will be able to transition their campaigns via the Google Ads API later this year. Smart Shopping and shared budgets. In December 2021, Google announced that, beginning on February 15, 2022, all existing and future Smart Shopping campaigns will use a shared budget type. The change won’t have any impact on performance and the campaigns will continue to behave like a standard, non-shared campaign budget. It was odd for Google to make such a change, but now we know why: the platform is updating its systems to prepare for the Smart Shopping to Performance Max transition. “We need to make this change in order to prepare for the upgrade, and are doing so without changing the existing product behavior of Smart Shopping Campaigns (which don’t have support for shared budgets),” Google told Search Engine Land. There will be messaging in the user interface explaining this change and marketers don’t have to take any action. The post Smart Shopping and Local campaigns to be transitioned to Performance Max by end of Sept. 2022 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3KOraWf Is optimizing for featured snippets near the top of your SEO to-do list? If so, you may want to re-consider how big of a priority it is for you. That’s because the number of featured snippets shown in Google SERPs continues to decrease, according to data published by Kevin Indig, Shopify’s director of SEO. The data was provided to Indig by SEO software provider Rank Ranger. As search is a zero sum game, what’s going up while featured snippets decline? That would be People Also Asked (PAA) boxes. What the data reveals. Indig analyzed three years of data (June 2018 to June 2021), looking at a sample of more than 100,000 keywords, and the percentage of SERP features displayed for those keywords, on both desktop and mobile search. Two interesting findings:
You can read Kevin’s full analysis here. Why we care. Because shifts like this has implications for your day-to-day SEO work and perhaps even result in some unexplained traffic changes. Many tools allow you to track how many featured snippets you’ve won or lost – and earning a featured snippet can mean greater visibility in the SERPs. With fewer featured snippets, though, this could potentially impact the amount of traffic you get, as well as your organic click-through rates. Does it mean you can safely ignore featured snippets entirely? No. It just means: be aware of how much time you’re investing into optimizing your content specifically to win featured snippets. As with everything, your answer will vary based on your market and the search terms you’re competing for. The post Google SERP analysis: PAA appears 10x more than featured snippets appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3KRGh1k The post 20220127 SEL Brief appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3u0I3XT |
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