Sorry, a couple days late this week, folks…we’ve just now recovered from the last week’s epic Google+/Facebook one-ups-man-ship binge!
PPC
- The Google+ Button is Coming to Display Ads – Google will begin adding +1 counts to display ads, as well as personal recommendations from Google+ friends & contacts.
- They will overlay the bottom of ads on initial load, before fading out until mouse-over.
- “The Google Display Network gives ads that have been recommended an extra boost by including them in the auction for any page a friend visits” (de facto retargeting)…look for more impressions and more variety of placements.
- +1s are, it appears, associated with destination URLs, so it should be possible for +1s to span multiple ads.
- The Lost Vacationer and the Cost of Poor Landing Page Strategy – Great analogy to use on anyone who doesn’t get it why landing pages are so important to paid search.
- 3 Ways PPC Can Improve Your Organic Results Through Testing – Use paid search to test title tags for clickthrough, and homepage content and CMS template designs for bounce rates and conversion performance, without experimenting on the public site. Further limit your exposure through Automated Campaign Experiments.
- 5 Simple Steps To Stop Wasting Budget With Poor Retargeting – Tip for Site Retargeting: Use the same type of segmentation from your SEM program in your site retargeting program to message strategically to those who are browsing, researching, buying or current customers.
SEO
- Google Introduces New Pagination Tags – Google has introduced two new link elements (rel=”next” and rel=”prev”) to show Google the schematic relationships of documents that span multiple pages and better identify duplicate content. Google also emphasized they want to show single-page versions in search results.
- How To Get Google’s Bulleted Snippet – Google will now display lists in search results for qualified search queries as long as the information on your site is structured properly (i.e. <ul></ul>). No need for microformats or special tags.
Analytics
- Test SERP Descriptions with Google Analytics – Good overview on ways to utilize Google Webmaster Tools and Google Analytics to test your Meta descriptions to increase your organic CTR.
Link Development
- A Guide To Long Tail Link Building – Learn the value of executing a link building strategy that specifically targets long-tail keyword to increase rankings and drive highly qualified traffic to your site.
- Hard Thoughts about SEO and Link Bait – Timing, content and the relevant audience are all key components of a link bait strategy design to increase your inbound links.
- Understanding Your Backlink Profile – What are the characteristics of a “good” backlink profile. Find out in this article that breaks down what you need to look at when diagnosing the health of your inbound links.
Social Media
- Facebook Launches Asymmetrical Subscribe Option – Users now have the options of following the updates of non-friends, radically shifting the way personal brands can gain and interact with fans.
- 5 Simple Steps for Improving Your LinkedIn Visibility – If you haven’t been on LinkedIn recently, this is the article for you. Explains how to get more people engaged and increase your visibility in search results.
- Facebook’s Latest Changes: A Hands-On Look – Facebook is making some major changes to the site, adding new features to be sure you don’t miss important posts.
- Google+ Opens Its Doors As Google Once Again Ups the Ante – Google+ is now officially open to everyone. Google+ business pages roll-outs are now underway and you can now search within + which will pull in user posts and search results.
Local Search Engine Optimization
- Google Announces Fix to Closing Report Issue – The good news is that Google will only report out a business as being closed after it has been reviewed by Google. There will no longer be the interim message of “Reported to Be Closed”.
- Is Google’s AdWords Express Right for You? – The recent changes to AdWords Express make it a much more appealing option to small, local businesses on a shoestring budget.
B2C
- Google Product Search Feed Changes In Effect This Week – If you’re running product feeds in Google, make sure you’re set up for the new changes or else your account may be suspended.
B2B
- Attention B2B Marketers – Embrace the Mobile Web – Infographic outlining the projected growth of mobile users through 2014.
- Are We Ready for What’s New in Marketing Automation? – Article outlining the current adoption trends of marketing automation software, pointing out that many marketers aren’t yet ready to fully use the new software to its fullest potential.
- The Rise of the Revenue Marketer – Great article by Marketo introducing a new role/job that should be filled in marketing departments: the Revenue Marketer. This person should be responsible for marketing driving revenue and tracking this activity through marketing automation and analytics.
- 4 Point Twitter Audit: Becoming a More Beloved B2B Brand – A good list of 4 important questions that a B2B brand needs to answer in order to have a great Twitter presence, including: what is your content schedule?
- 10 Concepts Critical for Aligning SEO to B2B Marketing Strategy – Survey of B2B marketers outlining their recommendations for aligning SEO strategy to the overall marketing strategy.
Web Design
- W3 Total Cache – A useful wordpress plugin to ensure your websites load times are optimal for a pleasant user experience.
- Google Dart – Google is developing a programming language in an effort to replace javascript.
Mobile
- Google Wallet Launches – On the heels of PayPal’s re-stated commitment to mobile payments, Google has released the first version of Google Wallet. It’s good for Google, but how will it benefit consumers is still yet to be determined.
- 73% of U.S. cell phone owners text – Even if consumers don’t have a smartphone, they are still likely texting. SMS needs to be a part of any comprehensive mobile campaign strategy.
- Mobile Beats Browsers for Ads CTRs – Ads from the same company received a higher CTR through mobile (.61%) than their desktop browser counterparts (.07%), which the study believes is due to the “new and exciting” factor and screen real estate.