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Messy SEO is a column covering the nitty-gritty, unpolished tasks involved in the auditing, planning, and optimization of websites, using MarTech’s new domain as a case study. This installment of “Messy SEO” details my process of working with our marketing, content and development teams to further clean up the search engine results pages for MarTech. In Part 4, we discussed the issues arising from Google’s title changes and the tactics taken to address them. RELATED: Non-stop updates: SEOs share the impact on their day-to-day, work-life balance and career outlook SERP title change fallout and improvementsGoogle’s SERP title changes from August did a number on our MarTech mission page, pulling in irrelevant alt text from our site header logo, making the title link read “Martech is Marketing Logo.” We tried many tactics to combat this change: resubmitting the page via Google Search Console, adding contextual internal links and updating the title tag every few days to see if anything changed. And, after months of edits and monitoring the SERPs, Google finally updated the MarTech title tag to reflect our chosen version (shown below). Our original chosen page title tag read “What is MarTech? …This is MarTech.” We believed Google’s algorithm felt this tag wasn’t clear enough for searchers, so we tweaked it a bit to better highlight the main topic of the page. In a sense, we answered the question we posed in the same tag, inviting searchers to view the page to learn more. We were thrilled to see Google update this important page’s title in the SERPs. But, after digging into the original change’s effects on MarTech search performance, we saw the true impact of Google’s SERP title alteration. After Google’s edit to our title in early November, we saw a major drop in organic clicks to the page (shown above). We compared the period when we first noticed the change to when we saw it reflect our updated title tag (all rough estimates). We found that total clicks to the page decreased by 41% and the CTR dropped from 3.1% to 1.7% when compared to the previous period (shown below). Fortunately, the search numbers appear to look much better following Google’s decision to display our new title. But with so little data to go on right now, we’ll have to wait and see what happens. Issues of site structureThe change to major page titles wasn’t the only issue we noticed affecting MarTech’s SERP display. Yet another consequence of our consolidation of Marketing Land and MarTech Today came in the form of Google’s chosen sitelinks for the MarTech domain (shown below). While our mission page is certainly important (as evidenced by our work on its title tag), each of the other displayed links plays secondary roles for the site — with those toward the bottom being even more irrelevant. It looks like Google considers these pages more important than our designated top-level topic pages, which serve as relevant silos for all our content. This shows that building your site using a horizontal structure isn’t always enough to help Google recognize your chosen hierarchy of pages. A site like MarTech contains many mixed signals from the years of publishing on Marketing Land and MarTech Today. Clearly, Google still thinks pages relating to them are important due to the signals built up over the years. Sending site structure signals to GoogleThe only way to address these old site indicators is the ensure our new signals are conveying the correct information about our site layout. Here are some of the tactics we’re using to give Google a clearer view:
Have you had continued title tag issues or site structure problems affecting the SERPs? How are you addressing them? Email me at [email protected] with the subject line “Messy SEO Part 5” to let me know. More Messy SEORead more about our new MarTech domain’s SEO case study.
The post Messy SEO: Fixing site structure while a Google title change sinks clickthroughs appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3JfirvE After more than a decade leading Microsoft Advertising, Rik van der Kooi, the platform’s corporate vice president, announced his departure on Wednesday. Rob Wilk, vice president at Microsoft Advertising, will step up to lead the platform. Why we carevan der Kooi’s departure signals the end of an era of leadership at Microsoft Advertising and the start of a new one. “[van der Kooi’s] leadership has been instrumental in Microsoft Advertising’s growth over the last 10+ years,” John Lee, head of evangelism at Microsoft Advertising, told Search Engine Land. “The decision to promote Rob Wilk into the leadership role is significant for continuity and the ongoing success of the Microsoft Advertising business [and] platform,” Lee said, adding, “In short, Microsoft Advertising is in a very good place with growth and momentum for the future.” Additionally, new leadership often brings change, which may affect many (if not all) advertisers on Microsoft’s platform. It’s not clear what changes Wilk will make, but it’s something marketers should expect in 2022. More on the news
The post Microsoft Advertising CVP Rik van der Kooi announces departure appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3FlgE5R The post 20211222 SEL Brief appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3edhPbo The Microsoft Bing and Shopify integration that was previously announced in October is now live in the Bing Shopping and Bing Search results, the company announced. Microsoft said “we’re excited to share that the experiences are live,” where you can more deeply integrate your Shopify site so Bing has showcase more “diverse products, great prices, and improved discovery of deals.” “With the integration of Shopify, you will now have access to millions of merchants to select from,” Microsoft said. You can click the “Buy Now” link directly in the Bing search results and be taken directly to the shopping cart page on that Shopify website. Here is a screenshot of this: Benefits to advertisers. Along with an easy way to show up in Bing Product Ads, Product listings on the shopping tab, and Product Listings on the Microsoft Start Shopping tab, Shopify users will soon be able to take advantage of the integration’s new quick checkout option: a “Buy Now” button on products ads and listings. “With the ‘Buy now’ offering, shoppers can easily purchase the products they are interested in by being sent directly to the shopping cart page,” according to the announcement. How to set it up. Website owners and advertisers can easily set up the integration in Shopify. “Merchants can quickly connect through the Microsoft Channel using their Microsoft Advertising account or sign-up for a new one in few simple steps.” Under Sales Channels, click Microsoft, and sign in. Why we care. This integration and updates to the Microsoft Channel app are just another way to help small businesses, retail, and e-commerce find visibility online. As many businesses were thrown into online stores over the past two years. Shopify was a go-to platform for many new and first-time e-commerce sellers. It is just days before Christmas, so probably any last minute holiday shopping is a tad too late to arrive before the holiday but maybe you want to buy some new years gifts? The post Microsoft Bing’s Shopify integration now live with buy now appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3EiFMZz Google has confirmed an issue with Google Ads that is “affecting a significant subset of users,” the company posted on the Google Ads status dashboard. Google updated the dashboard to say the issue is now resolved. The notice. Google posted at 3:22pm ET “we’re aware of a problem with Google Ads affecting a significant subset of users. We will provide an update by Dec 22, 2021, 1:00 AM UTC detailing when we expect to resolve the problem. Please note that this resolution time is an estimate and may change. The affected users are able to access Google Ads, but may not have access to the most recent data.” What is the issue. Google wrote that the Google Ads conversions that use non-First/Last Click attribution models, such as Data Driven Attribution, may be delayed up to 24 hours. Simon Poulton complained about this on Twitter saying “seems like there might be some conversion pipeline latency / undercounting going on with Google Ads today.” It seems like this is just a reporting issue and hopefully Google will be able to restore that data. Fixed. Shortly after posting this story, Google updated the status to report the issue is resolved. Google wrote “the problem with Google Ads has been resolved. We apologize for the inconvenience and thank you for your patience and continued support. The affected users are able to access Google Ads, but may not have access to the most recent data.” “Conversions delayed by this incident, those making use of non-First/Last Click attribution models, are now present in Google Ads,” Google added. Why we care. If you are noticing lagging reports, specifically around conversion data that use non-first and lack click attribution models, do not worry, this is a confirmed Google bug. Google is working on resolving the issue and hopefully Google will be able to back fill the data. The post Google Ads issue affected a significant subset of users, now resolved appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3yOr8rH It’s a new year, and it’s time to up your SEO game if you want to improve your rankings or keep your position at the top of Google results. With the end of third-party data and all of Google’s core updates to keep up with, there is a lot at stake for search marketers striving to grow their businesses online. Join Wayne Cichanski, VP, search and site experience, iQuanti, and learn how you can make 2022 the year you get the most out of your SEO strategy. Register today for “Build a High-Impact SEO Strategy,” presented by iQuanti. The post Build a high-impact SEO strategy in 2022 appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3J8MlBo Google has confirmed that the December 2021 product reviews update is now finished rolling out. This update has officially completed rolling out a few days before Christmas. The announcement. “The Google product review update is fully rolled out. Thank you!” Google’s Alan Kent wrote on Twitter. December 2021 product reviews update. As a reminder, the December 2021 product reviews update started to roll out at about 12:30pm ET on December 1, 2021. This update took 20 days to roll out after it was announced. So this update started on December 1, 2021 and lasted through December December 21, 2021.When and what was felt. Based on early data, this update was not a small update. It was bigger than the April 2021 product reviews update but also seemed to continue to remain pretty volatile throughout the whole rollout. The community chatter and tracking tools were all at pretty high levels consistently for the past few weeks. Why we care. If your website offers product review content, you will want to check your rankings to see if you were impacted. Did your Google organic traffic improve, decline or stay the same? Long term, you are going to want to ensure that going forward, that you put a lot more detail and effort into your product review content so that it is unique and stands out from the competition on the web. More on the December 2021 products reviews updateThe SEO community. The December 2021 product reviews update, like I said above, was likely felt more than the April version. I was able to cover the community reaction in one blog post on the Search Engine Roundtable. It includes some of the early chatter, ranking charts and social shares from some SEOs. In short, if your site was hit by this update, you probably felt it in a very big way. What to do if you are hit. Google has given advice on what to consider if you are negatively impacted by this product reviews update. We posted that advice in our original story over here. In addition, Google provided two new best practices around this update, one saying to provide more multimedia around your product reviews and the second is to provide links to multiple sellers, not just one. Google posted these two items:
Google product reviews update. The Google product reviews update aims to promote review content that is above and beyond much of the templated information you see on the web. Google said it will promote these types of product reviews in its search results rankings. Google is not directly punishing lower quality product reviews that have “thin content that simply summarizes a bunch of products.” However, if you provide such content and find your rankings demoted because other content is promoted above yours, it will definitely feel like a penalty. Technically, according to Google, this is not a penalty against your content, Google is just rewarding sites with more insightful review content with rankings above yours. Technically, this update should only impact product review content and not other types of content. More on Google updatesOther Google updates this year. This year we had a number of confirmed updates from Google and many that were not confirmed . In the most recent order, we had: The July 2021 core update, Google MUM rolled out in June for COVID names and was lightly expanded for some features in September (but MUM is unrelated to core updates). Then, the June 28 spam update, the June 23rd spam update, the Google page experience update, the Google predator algorithm update, the June 2021 core update, the July 2021 core update, the July link spam update, and the November spam update rounded out the confirmed updates. Previous core updates. The most recent previous core update was the November 2021 core update which rolled out hard and fast and finished on November 30, 2021. Then the July 2021 core update which was quick to roll out (kind of like this one) followed by the June 2021 core update and that update was slow to roll out but a big one. Then we had the December 2020 core update and the December update was very big, bigger than the May 2020 core update, and that update was also big and broad and took a couple of weeks to fully roll out. Before that was the January 2020 core update, we had some analysis on that update over here. The one prior to that was the September 2019 core update. That update felt weaker to many SEOs and webmasters, as many said it didn’t have as big of an impact as previous core updates. Google also released an update in November, but that one was specific to local rankings. You can read more about past Google updates over here. The post Google December 2021 product reviews update is finished rolling out appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/30MZTkM Knowing your audience and what they want has always been a cornerstone of marketing, but the standard for modern, successful campaigns has grown to include what your audience cares about as well. Customers are no longer just voting for brands or products via their purchases. Now, they’re also voting for the future they would like to see the world move towards — a future in which climate change is being addressed, centuries of socioeconomic and racial injustices are being corrected and equality and inclusivity are available to all. This means that brand values are now part of your unique selling point — and if you’re not promoting values that align with your audience, it’s likely that one of your competitors will. However, inclusive marketing isn’t just a tactic to pander to audiences. It’s here to underscore humanity and the common struggles we face while recognizing and celebrating our differences. It can also help propel your brand towards its business goals: More than two-thirds (67%) of respondents to an Edelman study said they bought from a brand for the first time because they agreed with its position on a controversial topic, while 65% said they wouldn’t buy from a brand when it remains silent on issues they care about. And, inclusive ads drove a 23-point lift in purchase intent among consumers belonging to Gen Z, whether the person experiencing the ad was represented or not, according to Microsoft, meaning that inclusive marketing can help drive your sales funnel as well. To help further your understanding and strengthen your messaging, we’ve compiled a list of resources that can serve as the foundations for your brand’s inclusive marketing efforts. Evaluate your own biasesRelying on your own judgment when auditing your implicit biases means that you’re the judge and jury, which can lead to a self-defeating exercise. Instead, try resources like Harvard’s Implicit Association Test (IAT). The IAT can help you identify your implicit biases across many categories, like gender and career, skin tone, religion, disability, sexuality, weight, age and more. Once you’ve taken the IAT, share it with your team so that everyone can keep a watchful eye over how their own biases may make their way into your marketing campaigns. Inclusive marketing resources from Search Engine LandAs the need for inclusive marketing has grown, we, the editors at Search Engine Land and the programming team behind SMX, have created a number of resources for brands to consider as they build inclusivity and diversity into their organizations and campaigns.
Search Engine Land also presents an annual award for Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Search Marketing to recognize the individuals and organizations that are driving positive change in the search community. The 2021 winners are Rejoice Ojaiku, for her work in founding B-Digital, “a digital marketing platform aimed at showcasing and inspiring Black talent,” and hasOptimization, a New Hampshire-based agency whose marketing efforts are complemented by their work for both inclusion and diversity across many areas of focus. We’ll place a link here when we begin taking nominations for the next Advancing Diversity and Inclusion in Search Marketing award — it is free to nominate both individuals and organizations. Inclusive marketing guidesGoogle and Bing, the search platforms that are at the center of many of our campaigns, have recognized the value and need for inclusive marketing by publishing their own resources on the subject.
Inclusive language guidesCreating a welcoming environment for diverse audiences starts with the language in our messaging. Below is a list of language guides from various organizations that can help you ensure inclusivity in your creative assets and content.
AccessibilityAccessibility for differently-abled individuals or those that rely on assistive technologies is often considered by marketers to be “someone else’s job,” but inclusive organizations recognize that the responsibility is shared by all. Here are some resources that can help you evaluate and improve your site’s accessibility, while potentially opening up new audiences for your brand and protecting you from ADA-related lawsuits.
Inclusive marketing for your campaignsNumerous platforms have added ways for businesses to showcase their diversity. Below are some articles covering features that you can use to immediately add an element of inclusivity to your advertising or online presence.
This resource will be updated on an ongoing basis. If you have feedback, suggestions or resources to submit, please send an email to [email protected]. The post Inclusive marketing resources to strengthen your brand’s messaging appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3Fj2jGN Last Thursday, many SEOs noticed that Google Search Console was inaccessible. Google confirmed the issue saying “We’re aware of an issue with Search Console that prevents some users from using the service. We’re working on fixing it and we’ll post an update when the issue is resolved.” The issue was not impacting all users, but it did impact many users. The issue is now officially resolved, five days after it was first confirmed. Google posted in an update “The issue is now resolved. Thanks for the patience.” The notices. Here are the two posts on Twitter from Google on this issue: Resolved earlier. I believe this was mostly resolved earlier, like within 48-hours of the issue, but Google probably fully restored access five-days later. It is not clear what the issue was exactly but it seemed to me it was around server capacity and resources for the Search Console tools. Again, that is not confirmed but the errors displayed conveyed a 429 Apache error which means “Too Many Requests response status code indicates the user has sent too many requests in a given amount of time (“rate limiting”).” Why we care. If you were having issues with accessing Google Search Console, those issues should now be fully resolved. Some of you may already be off on your holiday break, so I guess any reporting you need to run can wait until you return. The post Google Search Console accessibility issues fully resolved five days later appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Search Engine Land https://ift.tt/3qjI9Go |
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