Your B2B audience is full of avid TV watchers. In the days of linear television, it was nearly impossible (and very expensive) to target them accurately, which meant the TV screen was virtually off-limits for B2B marketers. Now, Connected TV has entered the scene, with digital roots and third-party data providers that allow for precision targeting of B2B audiences. You can now reach them whether they’re unwinding after work with reality television or streaming their favorite films on the weekend. Learn more by attending “Putting in the Work: Understanding B2B Audiences on Connected TV,” presented by MNTN. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. The post Webinar: Your winning CTV advertising strategy in 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/gy5cmN1
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LinkedIn just announced three new features for brands to promote products, monitor trends, and do more with newsletters. Let’s jump in. Generate more newsletter subscribers. With LinkedIn Newsletters, you can publish recurring Articles and build a subscriber community via a one-time notification to your Page followers and ongoing notifications to your Newsletter subscribers. If a member searches for your profile they should be able to easily find and subscribe to your newsletter. LinkedIn also suggests incorporating SEO best practices by optimizing your article titles, descriptions, and tags. LinkedIn will also automatically send your new followers a notification to subscribe. Product pages. Your products can now be discovered via an in-platform search on LinkedIn. Buyers can search by product, company, or category to discover what they’re looking for. You can also use product highlights to showcase specific product content on your Page and point interested members to key details and conversations. You can also re-share content from your product community to your Page and add posts to your product highlights. Competitor analytics dashboard. There is a new upgrade to the LinkedIn Pages Competitor Analytics dashboard that is now available on desktop and mobile, which can help you understand what competitors are doing and set your brand apart. You can now:
Why we care. B2B brands and advertisers managing pages on LinkedIn should test and use these new tools to make the most out of their profiles. Since many brands may be rethinking their social strategies, companies should optimize the platform’s new features to gain first-party data with newsletter signups, as well as new ecommerce options and competitor metrics. The post LinkedIn just released 3 new features for pages appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/EUPFOoS Google has filed a lawsuit against a company that allegedly was charging business owners money for free Google Business Profiles, selling fake reviews and promising first-page rankings. Why we care. If anyone claims they are calling on behalf of Google and demands that you pay money for a free service, just don’t. Protect yourself. Do your research. Never pay such demands. It’s a scam. G Verifier promised first-page rankings on Google. G Verifier (which Google’s suit alleges was run by Kaushal Patel of Ohio) threatened business owners that if they failed to pay (typically $99), their Business listings would be deactivated or marked as “permanently closed” and their positive reviews would be hidden – resulting in lost visibility and revenue. Also according to the filing,
Google said “hundreds and hundreds” of Business Profile users contacted Google to report the scam since December 2021. G Verifier also sold fake reviews. Google’s lawsuit noted that in G Verifier’s FAQ section, one question was: “Why should I buy Google reviews from you?” Also, G Verifier discussed its usage of Virtual Private Networks to get “reviews from the country or place of your choice.” The website also allowed for the purchase of negative reviews, which could be used to harm competitors. What Google says. In its blog post announcing the lawsuit, Google said:
This is not the first company to impersonate Google, nor will it be the last. So always beware of anybody who claims they are from Google demanding any money for first-page rankings or for 100% free services. The post Google files lawsuit against company falsely promising Page 1 rankings appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/OjR4Qme Cyber Monday in the US this year brought in over an 8% increase in sales since FY21. Globally, sales hit $46.2 billion, a 2.4% increase YoY. Black Friday also saw an increase this year of about 12%. This brings total sales for the weekend to around $68 billion. The figures are not adjusted for inflation, which plays a big part in the cost of goods also increasing. Record numbers for Shopify. Shopify reported that 52 million consumers globally spent $7.5 billion on Shopify merchants, a 19 percent increase over last year. “Consumers voted with their wallets over Black Friday and Cyber Monday by shopping with independent businesses,” said Shopify President Harley Finkelstein. “The future of commerce is on any surface, whether that’s shopping online or in store.” Toys topped the most popular items shopped. The most popular toys shopped this year were:
Highest spending items. The average selling price during cyber week increased about 3%. Not surprisingly, the total amounts spent on the most popular items this year also increased, some as much as nearly 700%!
Honorable mentions. Other products topping the list of popularity were:
Other factors weighing in. Aside from inflation and higher-priced items, this year we also saw an increase in trends surrounding discounts and chatbots.
Dig deeper. You can read the full articles from MediaPost here and here. Why we care. Sales aren’t over yet. If you’re an ecommerce brand or advertiser, you may want to keep your ad campaigns or discounts running until after the holidays to capitalize on the upward trends. The post Cyber Monday broke records this year, with almost $12 billion in US sales appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/7rF6Bz4 There is a lot of fervor in the SEO industry for Python right now. It is a comparably easier programming language to learn and has become accessible to the SEO community through guides and blogs. But if you want to learn a new language for analyzing and visualizing your search data, consider looking into R. This article covers the basics of how you can produce time series forecasts in RStudio from your Google Search Console click data. But first, what is R?R is “a language and environment for statistical computing and graphics,” according to The R Project for Statistical Computing. R isn’t new and has been around since 1993. Still, learning some of the basics of R – including how to interact with Google’s various APIs – can be advantageous for SEOs. If you want to pick up R as a new language, good courses to learn from are:
But if you grasp the basics and want to learn data visualization fundamentals in R, I recommend Coursera’s guided project, Application of Data Analysis in Business with R Programming. And then you also need to install:
What follows are the steps for creating traffic forecasting models in RStudio using click data. Step 1: Prepare the dataThe first step is to export your Google Search Console data. You can either do this through the user interface and exporting data as a CSV: Or, if you want to pull your data via RStudio directly from the Google Search Console API, I recommend you follow this guide from JC Chouinard. If you do this via the interface, you’ll download a zip file with various CSVs, from which you want the workbook named “Dates”: Your date range can be from a quarter, six months, or 12 months – all that matters is that you have the values in chronological order, which this export easily produces. (You just need to sort Column A, so the oldest values are at the top.) Step 2: Plot the time series data in RStudioNow we need to import and plot our data. To do this, we must first install four packages and then load them. The first command to run is:
Followed by:
You then want to import your data. The only change you need to make to the below command is the file type name (maintaining the CSV extension) in red:
Then the last two commands in plotting your data are to make the time series the object, then to plot the graph itself:
Followed by:
And in your RStudio interface, you will have a time series plot appear: Step 3: Model and forecast your data in RStudioAt this stage, it’s important to acknowledge that forecasting is not an exact science and relies on several truths and assumptions. These being:
With this out of the way, we can begin to model and forecast our traffic data. For this article, I will visualize our data as a Bayesian Structural Time Series (BSTS) forecast, one of the packages we installed earlier. This graph is used by most forecasting methods. Most marketers will have seen or at least be familiar with the model as it is commonly used across many industries for forecasting purposes. The first command we need to run is to make our data fit the BSTS model:
And then plot the model components:
And now we can visualize one- and two-year forecasts. Going back to the previously mentioned general forecasting rules, the further into the future you forecast, the less accurate it becomes. Thus, I stick to two years when doing this. And as BSTS considers an upper and lower bound, it also becomes pretty pointless past a certain point. The below command will produce a one-year future BSTS forecast for your data:
And you’ll return a graph like this: To produce a two-year forecasting graph from your data, you want to run the below command:
And this will produce a graph like this: As you can see, the upper and lower bounds in the one-year forecast had a range of -50 to +150, whereas the 2-year forecast has -200 to +600. The further into the future you forecast, the greater this range becomes and, in my opinion, the less useful the forecast becomes. The post How to use RStudio to create traffic forecasting models appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/Lny1mND In a recent survey led by Yelp and conducted by Material, 2,000 Americans were asked to reveal what they consider to be trustworthy reviews. The respondents said they read, on average, five reviews about a business to inform their spending decisions, and 77% say they’re reading more online reviews now than they ever have before. Key findings. In their survey, Yelp found the following:
Combating fake reviews. The survey also revealed that or respondents who think they’ve spotted a fake review, 49% will read other reviews to gather additional opinions about the business. 34% ignore the potentially fake review, 27% find another business, and 24% report the review to its respective platform. 85% of those surveyed trust reviews with written text over only a star rating. Extortion controversy. In the blog article, yelp goes on to mention a Google Reviews extortion scheme that affected numerous restaurants in major cities. These restaurants experienced an influx of one-star Google reviews without any review text, as scammers tried to extort the restaurants for $75 Google Play gift cards to remove their fake reviews. This did not occur on Yelp because of our mandatory review text policies. But similarly, Yelp also dealt with an extortion controversy of its own several years ago, as well as inconsistencies with its review solicitation rules. Dig deeper. You can read the full Yelp study on their blog. Why we care. Local businesses on Yelp should use ethical and legal tactics when asking for reviews. Alternatively, businesses can use paid ads to show higher in the search results, respond to any negative reviews, and keep their pages updated to optimize their business listings. The post 85% of Yelp survey respondents say they trust written reviews over stars only appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/48f6Goy Digital content creation and management seem to be more complex than ever. Workflows now need to accommodate remote workers and resources, worldwide offices, and security and privacy concerns, not to mention the growing pressure on content and creative teams to produce more content in less time and with fewer resources. So how are the most successful teams currently executing production and managing their workflows? To answer this question and find out the best practices for improving efficiency, Canto surveyed nearly 650 professionals in the United States and the United Kingdom involved in the production, management and/or strategy for content and creative assets at their organization. Tune into this webinar to learn the results of the survey and take an in-depth look at the content strategies, workflows and technologies that have made these organizations successful. You’ll take away valuable tips on how you can revamp your own content programs in 2023 and dive deep into the five areas to improve content workflow and strategy, including:
Planning and creating content is much harder than it used to be, with disconnected teams and a broken digital content supply chain. Watch this webinar so you can plan, create, manage and deliver your best content program in 2023. The post 5 ways to improve your content workflow and strategy in 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/ZNobz0R There are many questions about content length in SEO and what ranks the best. While Google says there’s no specific word count they recommend, some studies have shown that long-form content tends to rank higher than short-form. If you’re interested in writing long-form content, you probably want to make sure it’s going to rank, get read, and convert so you create an ROI for your effort. What is long-form content?Most consider long-form content to be over 1,000 words. It’s a content piece that goes in-depth, offers extra value for the reader and includes more research, insights, and information than a quick read. Long-form content should leave the reader feeling comfortable with the subject and as if their questions have been answered and they know what to do with the information or how it applies to them. What should you include in long-form content?You want to create content that helps your reader. Think about them and what they need or want to learn from this piece. What questions do they have? It’s your responsibility to anticipate their questions and answer them in your work. If you’re unsure what questions they have, then think about what you want to ensure they know. Use the following guide questions to identify which information is most important to help them get to the next stage:
Don’t write a bunch of unnecessary fluff to try to hit some word count. You must ensure you’re providing value and helping your ideal customer so they want to consume more of your content. If you get them to the site but find nothing of value, they’ll be less likely to stay or return another time. Write to tell a story and provide value rather than writing to an arbitrary word count. Your content will be better in the long run. Where do you start when creating long-form content to rank, get read and convert?To start, make sure there’s a conversion path for your reader. Your content pieces need to tie to your products or services to drive revenue and conversions. If you’re answering questions for your potential customer and providing helpful information, they’re more likely to convert if you offer a solution to their issues. Be helpful, and link to additional information that might help them move to the next step. If you have an opt-in that ties to this content piece and is the next step for them, offer it in your work. You’re helping them and building your email list at the same time. If you want your content to convert, you need to make sure there’s a conversion path. Everything you write needs to somehow tie to your core products and services. I teach my students to choose content pillars that link to their products and services and write about topics related to those subjects. Creating a long-form content piece and ranking at the top of Google is great, but if it drives irrelevant traffic, it won’t convert, and that’s a waste of your efforts. How do you make sure your long-form content ranks?We all know we have no control over the Google ranking algorithm, but we also know how it works and what’s most important from an optimization standpoint. First, verify there’s search demand for your topic idea, choose a keyword (or keywords) you can rank for, write for your audience, and finally, optimize your content piece. Make sure there’s interest in your topicStart by making sure there’s an audience for your content piece. It may seem like a great idea to you. However, if no one is searching for information on the subject, it’s unlikely that you’ll get much traffic due to low demand. That said, search volume is not the most critical factor in choosing a keyword, and we’ll talk more about that. Brainstorm the topics you think you want to cover, and then go to Google and see what’s there today.
If not, this might not be the best topic. Search the topic and see what shows up in Google Suggested Search. Is there something closely related to your topic that Google suggests, or are there questions related to it in the People Also Ask section? If you see your topic idea in either of those places, that’s good because it means there’s interest in your potential topic. Research keywordsOnce you know your topic is viable, use your favorite keyword research tool to identify the keyword or keywords you want to target for this new long-form content piece. Long-form pieces can rank for multiple keywords a bit easier than short-form pieces just due to the length of the content piece. Choose your keywords wisely. Look for a primary keyword with good search volume and the ability for your website to rank on Page 1. Choose your keywordsGo to Google and see who’s currently ranking on Page 1 for the keyword you’re considering using as your primary one.
If you see other websites similar to yours and content pieces that you feel aren’t as in-depth or are missing information on the topic you want to write about, then you’re probably making a good choice in your keyword selection. Choose the keyword with the highest search volume that your website has the best chance of ranking for and is the word your Ideal Customer uses when searching for information on this subject. How to make sure your content gets readNow it’s time to write. Go back to your brainstorming notes. What information do you need to include to answer your readers' questions? Be sure you have that information. Sort it in a way that it’s easy to follow and understand so your reader wants to continue. A long-form content piece is a time commitment for someone to read. Thus, you must provide value, insights, statistics, and things that are unique from something else they might have read on the subject before – or they won’t continue reading. Format your piece in a reader-friendly way. This is especially important with longer pieces. Consider:
It’s better to have many small paragraphs broken up with bullets and numbers than big blocks of text. People will shy away from reading a piece if the content isn’t formatted in a reader-friendly way. Your final step is to optimize your content pieceUse your keyword in all of your SEO elements. Make sure it’s in the first paragraph of the copy, which it should be since your keyword is closely tied to your content topic. In most instances, your keyword will be in the title of your piece. Add your keyword to your URL, image file name, and header tags, and use it throughout your copy. Focus on providing value, being helpful, and offering information your ideal customer needs rather than how often you use your keyword. You’ll use it naturally by concentrating on your reader. Done right, long-form content is worth the investmentLong-form content can be a significant time investment. It takes longer to write in-depth pieces than quick bites or short-form. However, the payoffs can be great. Long-form pieces often rank higher in the search results than short pieces. And if you’re creating content with an audience, you can rank for and tie to your business, bring relevant traffic to your website, and hopefully, get the conversion. It’s worth testing long-form content if you haven’t done it yet. Not every piece you write has to be long, but those most important to your business should be longer and more in-depth. The post How to create long-form content that ranks, gets read and converts appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/FDK4WnE As 2022 winds down, marketers are being asked to focus on efficiency and “do more with less.” The most successful have leveraged tools such as calculated metrics, artificial intelligence and real-time insights. In this webinar, learn how a financial institution with over 21 million active customers connects its customer data, segments audiences faster and delivers personalized experiences in real time. Join Salesforce in this free webinar and learn real use cases on finding success and business results by sending fewer communications that are more relevant and targeted. Register today for “Do More with Less: Connect Customer Data to Drive Marketing Efficiency,” presented by Salesforce. Click here to view more Search Engine Land webinars. The post Webinar: Do more with less to get ahead in 2023 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/1CnHe0Z Traditionally, when I teach content proofreading tips, I treat them as separate tasks from content editing. And they are indeed... The post 10 Content Proofreading Tips to Catch More Avoidable Goofs appeared first on Copyblogger. via Copyblogger https://ift.tt/nDFiRbV |
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