Google has finally added a help document in their developer section explaining how publishers and webmasters can remove AMP content from showing up in search results. Of course, Google doesn’t want you to stop serving up AMP content but if you decide that AMP is not driving the metrics you wanted to see, you can now safely remove your AMP content by following the instructions below. Google links to the support documents for popular content management system providers including WordPress, Drupal and Squarespace. For other platforms or custom build solutions, Google has provided three methods to removing AMP content from search. From their instructions linked above: Method 1: Remove AMP from Google SearchUse this method to remove your AMP pages from Google Search without displaying
Method 2: Remove AMP from Google Search and non-Google platformsUse this method to remove your AMP page from Google Search and Google AMP Cache
Method 3: Stop serving AMP from Google Search as quickly as possible
Hat tip to @suzukik for spotting this new technical document. Do you have more questions about AMP? Whether to implement? How to implement? The pitfalls to watch our for? Join us for these sessions at our SMX conference:
The post Google has explained how you can remove your AMP content from Google search appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2w0L4WL
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PPC (pay per click) is a key component of many online marketing campaigns. And while it can drive significant revenue, it’s also one of the most expensive ongoing costs in a campaign. Therefore, it’s key that you test your ads regularly, to make sure you aren’t letting any conversions slip through the cracks. Testing and optimizing is an important part of our job as digital marketers. And I’m not just talking about perfecting your ad copy. At SMX London earlier this year, I gave a talk on how we design and implement tests at Crealytics for both Text and Shopping ads. Carrying on from that, this post will cover three methods you can use for successful testing, two types of testing to help you take performance to the next level, and five common pitfalls that testers often run into. I’ll also illustrate these points with examples from our own internal testing efforts. Deciding which method to useDesigning a good experiment is actually the most important step in getting actionable results. Which testing method you use will depend on what data you have available and what variables you are trying to test. In general, there are three basic types of testing methods:
Each of these methods comes with pluses and minuses. Drafts and experimentsDrafts and experiments are the most diverse testing tools. This two-pronged testing method lets you propose and test changes to your Search campaigns. Drafts let you create a mirror image of your campaign and then change the element(s) you want to test. This lets you play around with what settings it’s possible to change without messing up your current campaigns. Once you’ve created your draft, you can turn it into an Experiment. Experiments help you measure your results to understand the impact of your changes before you apply them to a campaign. Once you’ve completed your Draft setup, you convert it to an Experiment and choose a percentage of your traffic to run the test on, as well as a time frame. Through this method, you can test almost anything within your campaign. You can test structural elements of your campaigns like Ads, landing pages or match types. You can also test the influence of bidding variables like bid amounts, modifiers (device, schedule, geo-targeting) and strategies (eCPC, Target CPA). Finally, this method allows you to test changes within features in your campaigns, such as Ad extensions or Audience lists. Unfortunately, drafts and experiments are currently only available in Text ads. Example: A/B test landing pages with drafts and experiments for conversion rateIn this example, we want to know which of two landing pages gets the most conversions. To set it up, create a draft of your campaign, change the landing page URL and set it as an experiment. For the analysis, keep track of top line performance using the automatic scorecard displayed in the experiment campaign. In this case, our new landing page didn’t perform as well as the old one. Once the experiment has run its course, make sure to take a deep dive into the data to rule out any irregularities. Manually-scheduled A/B testsThere are still some scenarios where you can use manually-scheduled A/B tests, in which the tests are run alternately instead of simultaneously. These are especially useful in the cases where drafts and experiments won’t work because it stops your campaigns from potentially cannibalizing each other. This kind of testing works best for things like search terms where the query composition is important, i.e., match type changes and negative changes. It also allows you to test the structure, bidding and features of your Google Shopping campaigns. Recommendation: Use this scheduling to avoid cannibalization while still being independent of seasonality To use manual A/B tests, create a duplicate of your campaign, change an element and use the campaign settings to share hours justly between the two. Example: How fast do quality scores pick up after campaign transition?To set it up, duplicate the campaign and set a schedule to run it against the original campaign. For your analysis, compare traffic and Quality Score levels. In this example, we can see that Quality Scores pick up within a few days. Before/after testsBefore/after tests are a versatile type of testing often used for feed components. In this type of testing, it’s important that you have a good control group; that way you will know how much of the performance uplift is due to seasonal or budget changes and how much is due to your experiment. Before/after testing is best for things that are difficult or take a long time to change, such as product titles, images and prices. In these tests, you are measuring the relational change between your test and control groups. This is often the only way to test variables in Google Shopping. Example: Does Google reward cheaper product prices with more impressions?Here we want to know if Google is more likely to show lower-priced products in Google Shopping. To set it up, choose a product and increase its price from lowest to highest among competitors. To analyze the results, compare traffic before and after the change, using your control group as a baseline. In this case, a small 5 percent increase in price, had a huge negative effect on the number of clicks. You can read more about our theory on Google’s low-price bias here. Google Merchant Center experimentsRight now, before/after tests are the only way for you to test how product information (title, image, description) affects Google Shopping performance. However, Google is beginning to test allowing for feed optimizations directly in the Merchant Center interface. These tests include Phase 1 and Phase 2 in comparison to the baseline. However, the idea is still in beta, and there isn’t much evidence around whether or not it works. The biggest issue we’ve noticed with this method is that Google randomizes the products that can be included in both the test and the control group, meaning the suggestions aren’t based on the true uplift potential of the account. For more on how we’ve tested Feed Titles in the past, check out this Search Engine Land post. A/B testing toolsCalculating whether or not the results of your test were statistically significant can be tricky. Luckily, there are plenty of online A/B tools that can help. You upload your data and then run statistics tests on your success metrics, which can include clicks, conversions or impressions. Optimizing current accounts and performanceThere are two reasons you might conduct a test within your PPC campaign. The first is to optimize the parameters within the Google sandbox to get better Google KPIs. In this case, you are testing your ads to optimize performance directly. This is a necessary step to make sure your account is performing at optimum level. The second is to help you understand what the black box does. In this case, you are testing your understanding of how Google works. Knowing how Google does what it does (or even exactly what it is doing) can help you inform and improve your strategy and may allow you to gain an early advantage over your competition. Optimization example: Shopping campaign segmentationA few years ago, we theorized that splitting Shopping queries into generic and designer campaigns would save advertising costs while maintaining revenue. Using campaign priorities and negatives, we designed an AdWords structure that would force Google to split traffic into a generic or designer campaign based on the shopper’s query, for which we could then set different bids. We wanted to test whether this campaign structure would be more effective than the regular AdWords structure. To test our new campaign structure, we used a rotating A/B test. We duplicated the products into a test campaign, applied the new structure and gave the designer campaign a higher bid. Then we rotated by scheduling. Turns out we were right. Queries with higher conversion probability get more exposure, overcompensating for the higher CPC. What we learned
Black box example: Bidding on products is like ‘Broad Match’Another big question we had when we started using Google Shopping was about how Google’s bidding algorithm worked. Google was pretty tight-lipped when it came to what was going on behind the scenes, but from our cursory observations, it seemed as though higher bids led to a larger share of lower-converting traffic. To test our hypothesis, we increased bids on brand campaigns by 200 percent. As we expected, our impressions skyrocketed, while our conversions remained stable. Our results indicated that after a certain amount, your traffic quality gets weaker as you increase your bid — just like in broads. Essentially, you’re just paying more for the same traffic, which makes overbidding in Shopping a real problem. What we learned
For more on how we drew conclusions on Google’s bidding algorithm and how to structure your campaigns, read this article. Common pitfallsThere are lots of things that can bias the results of your tests, making them unusable. Here are five pitfalls we’ve encountered and how to overcome them. 1. Statistical significanceYou should only end a test when you have enough information for it to be statistically significant. If you only run a test for two weeks, you might think something has no effect, when really it just takes a while for the effect to kick in. This is especially true when working with Google. Their algorithm needs time to learn and adjust to the changes you’ve made. Use the tools we talked about earlier to help you evaluate if your data has relevance. 2. Don’t aggregateDon’t just analyze the totals of any one metric. Instead, you want to measure changes on the actual changed elements. In this example, if you look at the total aggregated data, it looks as though changing the title actually hurt impressions. However, when we look at all the data individually, we can see that in every case except one, impressions increased by an average of 116 percent. In this case, one very large outlier completely skewed our aggregated data. 3. Think outside the boxRegardless of what you ran your test to look for, you don’t have to limit your observations to the original changed variable. There are plenty more insights to be gained from other changes in your campaigns. For example, when we tested Enhanced CPC (eCPC), we noticed that it increased conversions by 5 percent. Then, upon further analysis, we noticed that eCPC helped lower the CPO of ads on tablet. 4. Know your surroundingsWith any experiment, it’s important to think about what other factors may have influenced your results. The data alone doesn’t always tell the whole story. For example, when we first looked at testing images, sometimes the change produced better results and sometimes it didn’t. Based solely on this data, we would have had to rule our results inconclusive. But, just to be extra sure, we took a closer look at the testing environment. What we found was that in cases where changing the image made it stand out from all the other images, we saw uplift. However, if there was already a variety of image types on the page, changing the product image had no effect. 5. Look out for cannibalizationThis is another form of understanding your surroundings when running a test. Sometimes a product’s increased performance means that it is diverting traffic away from some of your other products. For example, when we increased the bids on one of our customer’s products, we saw a significant increase in impressions. However, it turned out when we looked at the total account performance, the product with the increased bid was cannibalizing other products by taking away the impressions they usually saw. Based on that information, we were able to conclude that the actual incremental improvement was much lower than initially observed. TakeawaysTesting is an essential part of any good PPC strategy because it allows you to gain a significant advantage and can lead you to some major campaign improvements. However, you can’t just wade in and start changing things willy-nilly. Accurate testing requires a detail-oriented approach and a lot of planning. Here are the four things you should have before attempting any significant tests:
This article was adapted from a keynote talk I gave at SMX London. You can see the slides from that presentation here. The post How to test (and perfect) nearly everything in PPC appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2v7ZCHM Google is adding a bid adjustment in AdWords specifically for calls. The bid adjustment for calls informs how often call information appears in mobile search ads. From the announcement:
The bid adjustment range is -90 percent to +900 percent. Note, that this option is only available in campaigns created in the new AdWords interface, according to the help page, but that doesn’t appear to be the case. We’ve asked Google for clarification and will update here when we hear back. This is also listed as an “interaction” bid adjustment, so it looks like we will see more of these in the future, such as an interaction bid adjustment for location information. Bid adjustments for calls is just the latest feature to roll out exclusively in the new AdWords experience. The post Google intros new call bid adjustments in AdWords appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2eO2J0N Too many marketers still bring SEO in at the end of a content marketing project. They finish a blog post or finalize a new marketing campaign, and at the end of the line, SEO comes in to find related keywords and plug them into content. Unfortunately, this approach is outdated and completely ineffective. Robust, modern SEO research can decipher who your real audience is online, where visitors are in the buyer’s journey, what information they’re looking for, and what content format they prefer. These insights lead to more effective content strategies. But if SEO is only given a voice at the end of the line, it’s too late to utilize the insights it provides. To fully enjoy the benefits — and optimize every piece of content — SEO must be a foundational part of every project from the beginning. 1. Keywords should help determine content, not decorate itMost online experiences start with keywords — so marketers should, too. There are a lot of ways to source ideas and inspiration for a content calendar, but questions that come in to customer service and comments overheard in the office aren’t necessarily what digital users are looking for. Content with SEO value needs to be inspired by the questions and needs that are being asked online. And the best source for that information is Google. Effective content strategies start with keyword research, because modern keyword research provides significant insight into what audiences want and need. The process enables marketers to identify user needs, brainstorm content ideas that satisfy those needs, and create the right content the first time. It also helps generate ample content ideas for filling editorial calendars. 2. Keyword research should define contentWhen expanded to discover user intent, keyword research tells marketers how to create content: what type of information is needed, who needs the information, and where searchers are in the buying journey. Marketers can conduct searches for keywords and use search results to gather important content insights:
This type of keyword research enables the ideas captured in editorial calendars to be expanded with incredible detail. When content is written, it will include the right information, be addressed to the right audience and cater to the appropriate journey position, eradicating the waste caused by discovering these details after content is completed. 3. SERP analysis reveals Google’s ranking prioritiesSERP analysis helps marketers decipher Google’s algorithmic preferences. In order to earn high rankings, marketers have to know which factors are priorities for their industry, content, niche, etc. Otherwise, they may waste time and effort pursuing things — such as certain keywords — that might not be important to their business. Marketers can analyze page-one search results to develop a personalized list of ranking factors for their niche or industry. By comparing consistencies in top results — such as publication date, page load speeds, use of visual media, and related topics covered — the most pertinent ranking factors can be identified and addressed:
Identifying your top ranking factors allows marketers to anticipate user preferences and create the right content, in the right format, the first time. Using SEO research to improve existing contentDon’t worry if your content has already been developed and published — it’s never too late to get started. Auditing existing content using SEO research insights is an extremely effective way to boost engagement and rankings without starting from scratch. Identify underperforming content, extract targeted keywords, and conduct user intent research.
This exercise allows marketers to derive more value from existing content, as well as expand the editorial calendar even further by identifying content gaps that need to be filled. Modern SEO keyword research creates effective content strategiesConducting keyword research at the end of a project, or after content is written, is little more than a shot in the dark for effective SEO. It’s user intent research that forms the groundwork for increased engagement and rankings by illuminating detailed information about who’s searching for specific keywords, what information they’re looking for, and what type of content they prefer. Google — the master of connecting keywords to user goals — has all of the information needed to create effective content strategies, if we’re willing to read between the lines. It’s never too late to change your approach to SEO. If your SEO efforts aren’t “working,” and your content isn’t increasing conversions, it’s time to shift. If you’re not convinced, or need to start slowly, begin with under-performing content. Look at search results for target keywords and see what insights you’ve missed. The post 3 reasons SEO belongs at the beginning of a project, not the end appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2tCUiI4 After launching Google Instant — Google’s method of showing search results as you type them — several years ago, Google has removed the feature from search effective today. Google Instant launched in 2010 under the leadership of Marissa Mayer. Mayer called this change a “fundamental shift in search” and the news was covered across all major media when it launched. Now with the changes in how searchers use mobile — and over 50% of all Google searches being on mobile — Google decided to do away with this feature. A Google spokesperson told Search Engine Land:
Now as you type, you will only see search suggestions and then be able to click on those suggestions to see the results. The search results will not load any result pages without clicking on a search suggestion or clicking enter. Again, this change is to make search “more fluid on all devices” Google says. Hat tip to @dan_shure for pinging us on this change. The post Google has dropped Google Instant Search appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2tJUg5e Content marketing is a long game. In one way, that’s excellent — because all of your lazy or undisciplined competitors are going to drop out. In another way, it sucks, because we all have days when we’re lazy and undisciplined. In the early days, we can get by on adrenaline and enthusiasm. But as the months pass, we need some strategies to stay in love with that blog, video channel, or podcast. Here are 10 strategies I’ve found helpful when you don’t want to quit, but you need to get a little bit of the magic back. 1. Read outside your topicWhen you’re mastering a new subject, it’s only natural to immerse yourself in it. You’ll read, watch, and listen to content obsessively while you pick up nuances and new ideas. It’s a bit of a honeymoon with your topic … you can’t keep your hands off of it. But honeymoons don’t last forever, and an obsessive focus on only your topic will quickly become boring for you … and for your audience. Recognize when it’s time to turn your attention outside your topic. In the past year, I got a bit obsessed with urban sketching — and that sparked hundreds of insights about creativity and the artist’s mindset. We recently decided to add a puppy to our household, and my obsessive immersion in research on puppy training is already giving me ideas about persuasion and shaping audience behavior.
It will also keep you interested and engaged. 2. Incorporate a new mediumReading outside your primary topic will give you all kinds of new ideas to create content around. But you can also create content in a new medium or format. If you’re a terrific writer, have you ever thought about launching a podcast or video channel? Shaping your ideas to a new format will make you look at your topic with fresh eyes — and that keeps things more interesting for everyone. 3. Keep a “sketchbook”Remember my urban sketching obsession? Lots of visual artists keep sketchbooks handy all the time. They can capture a compelling face or gesture, an entrancing cityscape, or just an interesting collection of shapes and lines in a group of coffee pots. I’d advise any content marketer to keep a journal for capturing ideas on the fly, scraps of dialogue, names or URLs of content you want to check out, and even the occasional doodle.
It’s a lot easier to do that when you make a consistent habit of capturing those observations. 4. Get a new outfitFor most of us, our site design should be clean and classic … but that doesn’t mean (at all) that it needs to be boring. Sometimes, sprucing up your site with a new design can make you see it with completely fresh eyes. If your site design is looking a little tired, or you just want to spice things up, a new premium WordPress theme can give you the fun of a makeover, without draining your bank account or taking up every minute of your free time to make the switch. 5. Let go of the tedious stuffSometimes it’s not your topic you’re tired of … it’s all of the boring work that goes into keeping your site running.
Once you’ve been spoiled by the ease of a solution like StudioPress Sites to handle that stuff for you, you won’t want to go back. Fortunately, StudioPress Sites includes a lot of functional power for a super reasonable price, so you won’t have to. 6. Hold a Q&A sessionOne of my favorite content energizers is a simple Q&A session. An audience Q&A can make all the difference if you’re:
Holding them is easy. Make a broadcast to every channel you can reach — your Twitter following, your email list, your Facebook page, all of them. Let your people know that you’re going to be answering their questions about your topic. Collect the questions in advance. That gives you time to research the ones you’re not 100 percent sure about and weed out any that just aren’t relevant to most of your audience. Deliver the answers during a webinar, or a conference call, or a series of podcast episodes, or a series of blog posts, or a video series … you get the idea. Collecting questions and answering them is an efficient way to get a lot smarter about your topic. It also lets you know exactly what your audience is having problems with. And it’s a fabulous confidence booster to realize that you actually can help people who are struggling with your subject. 7. ConnectSo much creative work is about putting your head down and getting it done. Doing the writing, the scripting, the recording. Focus is a beautiful thing. But you need to interleave your focused time with a wider view.
If face-to-face is impossible, try to put together a small group that gets together over Skype, Google Hangouts, or a group call. Humans need other humans. Look for ways to connect more meaningfully with folks who do what you do. 8. Highlight your communityAlong with making time to connect regularly with your fellow humans, it’s also energizing to make time to celebrate them. Are there folks in your audience doing amazing things? Write about them! Give them a platform to share their successes. Who are the key players you admire in your topic? Highlight their work, link to their content, invite them on your podcast. Telling your community’s stories is a time-honored way to remember why you loved your topic in the first place. 9. Play to your strengthsMaybe you’re gifted with words, but your design sense leaves a lot to be desired. Or the other way around — your design skills are great, but the word-put-togethering isn’t so hot. We’re all good at some things and lousy at others. Getting good isn’t usually a matter of innate talent — it’s a question of putting the time in to go far beyond the ordinary.
When you can, try to focus your site around your strengths. If writing is your strong suit, you might leave video content for later. If you have a great speaking voice, or you can draw well, or you’re fantastic at creating systems, leverage those skills on your site. Figure out where your strengths are, and then figure out how you can use them to craft your competitive advantage. 10. Out yourselfBeen trying to play it safe? Maybe you’ve been hiding something that matters deeply to you, because you’re afraid of chasing your audience away. That’s not how this works. I’m not a fan of sites where every single post is a rant — but those sites have lots of fans. If that’s who you truly are … rant on. And even if you aren’t, letting the world know where you stand, talking about some of your most deeply-held values, will bring incredible energy to your work. Exposing the real stuff is scary. But so is obscurity. Hiding behind a mask of blandness won’t protect you; it will just become your prison. Bonus: PlayAnd here’s the one that will make all of the others work better:
If life’s not a game, you’re doing it wrong. Have fun with your writing. Challenge yourself with your content. Experiment and noodle. Play around, goof around, try things. Don’t take yourself too seriously. This isn’t a call to be trivial … far from it. Play can be deep, too. But we’re intelligent critters, and intelligent critters play. It’s how we get smarter, it’s how we connect to one another, and it’s how we create lives of meaning. How about you?Got a favorite way to jump-start your enthusiasm? Let us know about it in the comments! The post Bored with Your Blog? These 10 Tips Will Make You Fall in Love Again appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger http://ift.tt/2uAULfc Marin Software interviewed 500 digital marketing managers from leading agencies and brands around the world to discover the trends, opportunities, and challenges they face in 2017. In this report, they discuss a number of insights, including:
Learn more. Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download “The State of Digital Advertising 2017.” The post Read “The State of Digital Advertising 2017” to learn the current state of the industry appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2uWYxBT 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:Industry
Local & Maps
Link Building
Searching
SEO
SEM / Paid Search
Search Marketing
The post SearchCap: Google autoplay videos, SOS alerts, Sitelinks update & GOOG earnings appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2tHDKm4 Google has confirmed with Search Engine Land that they are now rolling out a new design for Sitelinks. Sitelinks are additional links within the snippets of the search results where searchers can quickly jump to important and relevant pages on that site, as opposed to the main listing in the search result snippet. Google has been testing a carousel format for these Sitelinks for over a year and today has confirmed they are now rolling out the new carousel-based design for mobile search results. Here is a screen shot of the new format: You can easily swipe left-to-right and back again across these sitelinks to reveal more important and relevant links from the site on the topic you searched. The old design showed plain text links below listings. The post Google officially changes Sitelinks design to carousel format appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2vYepRU
The SOS Alerts will appear at the top of search results related to an incident or searches for the location where the crisis has happened. According to Google, alerts will include maps, top stories about the crisis, and local information from authorities when available. Google says users geographically close to the crisis may get mobile notifications pointing to information around the incident. “If you’re outside of the affected area, you may still want information about the crisis,” writes Google’s VP of engineering, Yossi Matias on the Google Search blog post covering the announcement, “Searches for relevant terms (like the name of the event or the location) will also show an SOS Alert that provides a timely overview of the situation, in addition to features such as donation opportunities.” The SOS Alerts will also show up on Google Maps on mobile devices via a specific icon along with a tappable card that will include more crisis-related information and real-time traffic and transit updates. According to Google, the SOS Alerts (and other crisis response features) were designed with help from relief organizations and government agencies, including the Red Cross, FEMA, the Philippine Atmospheric and Astronomical Services Administration. The post Google adds new SOS Alerts to search and Maps as part of its crisis response features appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land http://ift.tt/2tGKEZ5 |
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