Google has announced that it has begun the process of rolling out the mobile-first index to more sites. This rollout is only for sites that “follow the best practices for mobile-first indexing,” Google said. This is the first time Google has confirmed it is moving a large number of sites to this mobile-first indexing process. Google did tell us last October that a limited number of sites had been moved over. But this Google announcement makes it sound like the process of mobile-first indexing on a larger scale has already begun. Google did say it will notify webmasters/site owners that their sites are migrated to the mobile-first indexing process via messages in the Google Search Console. Here is a screen shot of a notification: Google also said “site owners will see significantly increased crawl rate from the Smartphone Googlebot. Additionally, Google will show the mobile version of pages in Search results and Google cached pages.” What is mobile-first indexing?Google says it is about how Google crawls your site. Google will only have one index, but how Google crawls and creates the index will be based on a mobile-first experience going forward. Google wrote:
Google has a detailed developer document on mobile-first indexing. Also make sure to check out our FAQs on mobile-first indexing. The post Google begins rolling out mobile-first index to more sites appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2G8hSH5
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Following in Google’s footsteps, Bing is removing text ads from the sidebar in desktop search results. Starting today, March 26, Bing will begin to stop showing sidebar text ads in the US. Like Google, Bing has concluded that removing text ads in the sidebar leads to an overall increase in ads clicks for mainline text ads and product ads and “an immaterial impressions impact.” Bing will add text in an extra ad spot at the bottom of the search results, meaning as many as four text ads may display below the organic search results. Shopping ads will continue to show in the sidebar in some search results. The change affects Bing search results only and does not apply to its syndication partners, such as AOL and Yahoo. Many features, such as sitelink extensions, are not available for sidebar text ads. Showing ads in the mainline only means all text ads will have access to the same features, and it brings desktop in line with mobile search results. The change will begin rolling out in the US and begin testing in international markets “at a later time.” The post Bing begins removing sidebar text ads on desktop appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2pIhtR6 The post Simon Says Episode 011 – How Much Info About Your Company or Its’ Products Should You Reveal on Facebook? 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 https://ift.tt/2pHRNUd Shyness is a selfish act. Bess McCarty shows us the importance of putting your attention on the other person. Also, how to become so interested in other people that you forget about yourself. Who is Bess McCarty?Bess McCarty went from a shy kid that avoided people to becoming a leader at her network marketing company. Bess is known as the Shrink of MLM and applies her 30 years of experience as a Body-Mind Therapist to help network marketing distributors. She’s now a full time MLM coach and runs the MLM Millionaire Club, a school for Network Marketers that provides hands-on training and role playing on the 7 skills. Favorite Quote“What would you do if you knew you could not fail?” (Robert Schuller) Must Read BookGo Pro by Eric Worre Recommended Online AppRecommended Prospecting ToolProspecting Video Contact Infomlmmillionaireclub.com What 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 Click Here to Subscribe via RSS (non-iTunes feed) The post 459: How to Overcome the Fears that are Keeping You from Winning Big by Bess McCarty 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 https://ift.tt/2GuSjzm I’m a “go big or go home” kind of gal, and when it comes to content marketing today that translates to “have editorial standards or don’t publish.” If a reader, listener, or viewer begins to like you, but you fail to earn their trust, your hard work will feel like a waste. Editorial standards are The post 3 Fundamental Editorial Standards for Any Serious Publication appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/2pLf3S7 In 2014, the European Parliament held a mostly symbolic, non-binding vote to break up Google. This weekend, European Commission competition chief Margrethe Vestager told the UK’s The Telegraph that “the threat to split the internet giant up into smaller companies must be kept open.” Vestager is being transparent when she says “the threat . . . must be kept open” — for leverage. As a practical matter, it’s extremely unlikely that the European Commission could unilaterally impose that sort of antitrust “remedy” on Google, especially if it were opposed in the US. If there were broad agreement on both sides of the Atlantic and Google itself agreed to be broken up, that would be a very different story. Much more likely are additional potential fines. In June of last year, the European Commission imposed a $2.7 billion fine on Google “abuse of its market power” in vertical (shopping) search. Google has appealed the fine. Two other antitrust cases are pending against Google in Europe, related to AdWords and Android agreements. More cases could also emerge in other search verticals (e.g., maps/local). Following the European Commission’s fines, Google made changes in how it operates shopping search in Europe to comply with the Commission’s demands. However, rivals have complained that the changes “aren’t working” — meaning they’re not seeing more traffic. Vestager said in 2014 that politics needed to be kept out of the Commission’s antitrust work. However, given the current highly charged climate, that seems all but impossible. The post Europeans again raise the specter of breaking up Google appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2Gaw1iK While deregulation has been a stateside trend over the past decade, the 28 members of the European Union are gearing up for a massive increase in regulations around data privacy in the form of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) — and this regulation will make a splash across the pond as well. Briefly, virtually all personal information will be considered private and protected under these new rules, serving up a much more comprehensive approach than the US’s piecemeal protections of medical and financial data. But what do these new rules mean — if anything — for US businesses? The short answer: Plenty. Maybe. It depends. The long answer requires some context and is worth taking the time to understand. And most providers are already making big strides to be ready for launch in May. Internet privacy: The early yearsThe GDPR, set to go into effect on May 25, 2018, is the product of four years of debate and preparation — but its roots trace back more than two decades to the infancy of the internet, when the EU first began protecting data. The GDPR will replace a 1995 regulation that was put into place when Netscape ruled the web, well before data giants like Google and Amazon began to flex their marketing muscles. Since then, the digital landscape has changed — and so has the way businesses utilize data. The EU is hoping to keep up with those data giants and those changes, ensuring its citizens can be confident in their privacy and security. Like its predecessor, the GDPR is built on the premise that private information actually is, or should be, private and that individuals have rights surrounding this data. In fact, among the first words of the regulation are “data protection as a fundamental right.” As to what comprises personal data, the GDPR is very specific: “‘personal data’ means any information relating to an identified or identifiable natural person (‘data subject’); an identifiable natural person is one who can be identified, directly or indirectly, in particular by reference to an identifier such as a name, an identification number, location data, an online identifier or to one or more factors specific to the physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity of that natural person…” How is the GDPR different from before?As for the big differences between previous EU privacy standards and the GDPR, there are three primary areas of expansion:
How does the GDPR differ from US privacy regulations?The GDPR stands apart from the American approach to information privacy in its comprehensive nature. Its policies are sweeping, whereas the US has taken an ad hoc or sectoral approach. The US is given to the fairly sporadic adoption of industry-specific and (sometimes weirdly) niche regulations. For example, the Video Privacy Protection Act specifically forbade the release of lists of customers’ video rentals from Blockbuster and so forth. Sounds outdated, but the VPPA has actually evolved to impact the way Netflix and Facebook handle information around video content. But even though it’s come a long way from its analog origins, one can argue that it is hardly a comprehensive way to manage data privacy. We also have the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), the Payment Card Information Data Security Standards (PCI DSS), and countless other piecemeal bits of privacy. It’s complicated. The EU’s new standard, however, isn’t complicated, at least not within the EU. It doesn’t matter if the data is regarding your healthcare, your credit card, your video rentals, your DNA, your dating profile or anything else. If it’s your personal data, it’s protected under the new regulation. And the businesses that require personal data to do business with you must take the proper steps to acquire it, store it, process it and secure it. End of story. How will this affect my US business?Marketing in the digital age is all about data, so yes, the GDPR will complicate the job of marketers and can potentially jeopardize your business if you’re not careful. For example, if your social marketing channel happens to drift overseas and get “liked” by a Slovenian user, you won’t have to cough up €20 million. But if you create a website ending in .si to actively engage with that Slovenian market—or .uk or .es or any other EU nation suffix — or if you start accepting euros or pounds sterling or Danish Krones, the GDPR will likely apply to the data involved in those sites and transactions. Companies that handle massive amounts of data, like Facebook, Netflix and Amazon, will have an obvious heavy lift to ensure they’re taking proper measures with individuals in the EU. But for everyone else, adopting the GDPR as best practices is a smart way to stay protected at home or abroad. The good news is that many data-focused platforms are already providing compliance-focused features, many of which will overlap with the GDPR’s requirements. Marketing, email and data-tracking providers like Google, HubSpot and CallTrackingMetrics, for example, already have built-in functionality that allows users to maintain compliance with regulations like HIPAA and PCI. These tools, along with countless others, will also provide the coverage you need to meet GDPR compliance, as long as you are also fulfilling your commitments to the overall philosophy of the regulation through initiatives like DPAs and policy revisions. Serving up trust and customer experienceIn most cases, the tools already exist or will exist to keep you compliant, but it’s up to you to follow best practices. Marketers need to be aware that the data they collect must have been acquired with consent, and it must be relevant to a specific purpose. If you’re holding a sweepstakes, for instance, the data you collect must be used for that purpose and that purpose alone. To maintain GDPR compliance, marketing databases will need constant scrubbing and/or additional consent — a wakeup call for marketers who have been building large, all-encompassing lists based on any and all contact data. Regardless of a little extra work, the raison d’être of the GDPR remains solid: A thriving economy in this new digital, data-driven world requires participants who are confident of their privacy — who feel their personal data belongs to them and trust the businesses they interact with. While this might feel like a major undertaking for individual US marketers, it’s positive news for the industry as a whole. The GDPR is pushing us away from list-buying and other spammy practices and toward a better customer experience — which should be the ultimate goal of every marketer. The post All About the GDPR appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2GrUH9G Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land:
Recent Headlines From Marketing Land, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Internet Marketing:
Search News From Around The Web:<
The post SearchCap: Google GDPR notification, AdWords ad version history & podcasting SEO appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2IPkibg If you’re in the digital marketing industry, you know podcasts are HOT. Whether you’ve started your own or are a regular podcast listener, podcasting is a medium all digital marketers should pay attention to. According to Edison Research, 58 percent of listeners spend one to five hours each week listening to podcasts. Surprised at the high number? You shouldn’t be. We live in a very busy and hectic world. People are using every minute they can to multitask and learn so they stay competitive. Listening to podcasts allows people to learn and catch up on things they’re interested in while sitting on the couch, working out, driving or on the go. Here are some other podcast statistics from Edison Research that deserve your attention. • An estimated 42 million Americans listen to podcasts weekly. • The average person listens to five podcasts a week: • 85 percent of listeners listen to all (or most of) a podcast: • Both men and women are listening to podcasts, and the numbers are increasing for both. This means that no matter what your interest, you can find an audience that is excited and willing to listen. If you are a digital marketer with skills and experience that are of interest to others, rather than just listening to podcasts, you should become a guest on podcasts! There are many search engine optimization (SEO) and reputation management benefits to guesting on podcasts. Here are some tips on how you can get an SEO and reputation boost by guesting on podcasts. Boost SEO and your brandBeing a guest on a podcast is literally one of the most powerful SEO tactics you can use to boost your SEO rankings and build your reputation and brand. If done strategically, it can be one of the best SEO and content marketing strategies you can use to help your rankings and attract new customers. So, don’t just give an interview on a podcast without using that interview as an SEO and brand-building strategy. Here’s how. 1. Be interview-worthy. Build yourself and your brand. To become a guest on a podcast, you first need to build yourself and your brand as an authority in your industry or topic specialty area. If you work for a leading company in the industry you’re interested in, you’re already ahead of the game. If you’re trying to build your personal business brand, you should start getting your name out there by:
You can also help bolster your authority by making sure your website is worth visiting. Most podcasters will tell people to visit your website for more information and will even link to your website in the show notes, so make sure your website shines. If you haven’t updated your website in two years or it looks like your 15-year-old nephew built it, fix it. Anything you can do to show off your professional credentials on your website will help increase your likelihood of getting booked. Do you have a Master’s degree in Internet Marketing? Do you belong to an industry association? Are you certified in a particular area? Now is not the time to be meek and mild. Show off all the amazing things you’ve done so you position yourself as an expert in your field. Bottom line: If you want to position yourself as a worthy podcast guest, you must be a worthy podcast guest. 2. Optimize your bio After you’ve done some credibility building, it’s time to show off your expertise by creating a one-sheet bio (one-sheeter) that lists all your accomplishes and credentials. This is an important document. You will make this one-sheeter available as a page on your website, and you will also send it as a portable document format (PDF) to potential podcasts you’d like to be a guest on. Show off all your professional accomplishments. Because your one-sheet bio will be on your website, it may provide talking points on the podcast. I’ve found much of that information will be automatically transferred to the podcast’s show notes page, so it’s important for you to identify keywords related to your area of expertise and the topics you are an authority on and put them on the one-sheeter. These keywords should be strategically placed on your bio just as carefully as you would for any SEO work you do. Additionally, start thinking ahead about how you can use these keyword phrases throughout your interview. Your one-sheet bio should be professionally designed (if possible). Include your professional head shot and show why you’re a trusted person in the industry. It should highlight the blogs you write for, speaking engagements, TV shows and webinars you’ve been on and more. Whenever possible, ask for permission to show a company’s logos on your one-sheeter. The logos alone will jump off the page, grab attention and can help reinforce your credibility in just a glance. Here is a great example of a well-done one-sheet bio: Often, what you have on your one-sheeter is what the podcast host will read when she introduces you before the interview, so make every word count. You can also suggest interview topics on your one-sheeter by providing a list of questions the host can use as a jumping-off point for your guest interview. This gives the host topic ideas on what they can interview you about and helps plant the seeds for keywords that are relevant to your area of expertise. The sample one-sheeter from Phil Singleton (above) is a good example of this. You’ll see pre-prepared questions ideas like:
Your one-sheeter is a great place to show off a book you’ve written, any certifications you’ve received, associations you belong to or any other show-off-worthy information. When a host tells their audience what an expert you are, it makes an impact on the success of your podcast interview. So make sure your one-sheeter has all the information your host needs to understand why you should be interviewed and why the audience wants to hear from you. A last but very important tip about using one-sheeters: Be sure to include information you want the host to include in the podcast show notes, such as ways to contact you by phone or email, your company’s website address, social media channel links and links to a special offer you’re giving to their audience. Many podcast hosts will put links on the show notes page so listeners can reach out to you. This is one of the best ways to get backlinks, traffic and social mentions. The backlinks and traffic you receive can be an SEO benefit of being a podcast guest, especially if you are a featured guest on a popular, well-ranked podcast. Pitch to strong podcasts for maximum SEO benefitWhen you are deciding which podcast to be a guest on, look for podcasts with a lot of subscribers and hosts who do a good job promoting their show. Drop the word “podcast” plus your keywords to see if the podcast ranks well for those terms. Podcasts that are popular with the public and the search engines are your goal. Make a list of topic areas you can cover during your interviews. Make the list broad enough so you can talk about topics that will reach and resonate with a broad targeted audience. Make sure you guest on podcasts where your target audience listens and wants to hear the information you have to share. Open your mind a little. Not every show you get interviewed on has to be directly related to your niche. As an example, if you’re an SEO, don’t discount a podcast that’s for restaurant owners. You could talk about how restaurants can optimize their Google My Business (GMB) listing by adding menus to their GMB listing. Visit iTunes and Stitcher and search for podcasts you are interested in being a guest on, and start reaching out to the podcast owners. Share your one-sheet bio and get yourself booked! This ends Part 1 of our three-part series, The Power of Podcasting: How to Boost Your Reputation and Search Engine Rankings. In Part 2, we’ll cover how to optimize an interview, read a case study and talk to an audience without selling, as well as how to use influencers to promote your podcast. Stay tuned. The post The power of podcasting: How to boost your reputation and search engine rankings appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2DN0otH Any internet company or platform that collects user data will reportedly come under the jurisdiction of new European Commission consumer protection rules. This is part of a forthcoming “major overhaul of EU consumer rules.” One aim of the revision is to create more transparency for consumers around free internet services, which is parallel to what’s required under the new General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The new consumer rules will also require “online marketplaces to inform consumers about how they rank different search results” — in other words, why results are presented in a specific order. Here, “marketplace” would include Amazon, eBay and others that sell a range of products they don’t manufacture themselves. Marketplaces will also need to inform consumers whether the product being purchased is coming from the marketplace provider itself or a third-party seller on the platform — answering the question: What is the product’s source? There’s an analogous effort in Europe to get search engines and big platforms to reveal their ranking factors to companies, so the latter can better compete in search (with in-house Google offerings). The European Commission won’t force search engines and others to reveal their specific algorithms, however, just the variables or signals. This is something Google has already done to varying degrees with local and mobile. Penalties for violations of these consumer rules are also going to get more severe. Penalties for GDPR infringements are 4 percent of company revenues or 20 million euros, whichever is larger. There’s a similar formula here: 4 percent of revenues or a fixed lump sum that can be determined by individual European countries. But it’s clear the price to be paid must be the larger of the two. The effort is to create a meaningful deterrent for companies with billions in annual revenues. There will also be remedies available to individual consumers. Some of the new rules may be burdensome. However, they all appear to carry a similar intent: to create greater transparency and restrain the big internet companies (usually American) from exploiting their market position to its fullest commercial extent. The post Proposed EU consumer rules to force ‘marketplaces’ to reveal ‘default ranking criteria’ appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/2ufP6hV |
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