Want to know how to boost your Quality Score and become an AdWords ninja?
How about learning about a quick way to tweak Twitter to help feed your mailing list?
Or maybe finally knowing for sure which ranking factors Google sees as most important?
Get the straight scoop on those and more digital insider marketing stories in this issue of the Stukent News You Can Use monthly update.
Let’s get started!
1. FACEBOOK NOW A PUBLISHING PLATFORM?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Facebook Instant Articles is set to graduate beta testing and roll out to all qualified publishers this month. The new feature allows Facebook users to view articles and photos from within Facebook. That’s a big plus for user experience. It will cut page load speeds down to the bone and provide a richer viewing experience. The Facebook presentation on why instant articles is a game-changer looks pretty darned convincing. Tamar Weinberg says a new WordPress plugin will give you the ability to post directly to Facebook from your blog. Find out more on Marketing Land: Facebook Instant Articles.
[line]2. A NEW ALGORITHM FACTOR?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: Structured data markup can be powerful stuff. Implementing it sounds difficult, though, so many websites don’t bother to use “schema” at all. Google doesn’t care either way, right? Chris Bell, a champion of structured markup, says Google has hinted that the presence (or absence) of structured markup tags may soon be a factor in their algorithm. This is an article every SEO specialist needs to read. Chris spells out his argument, talks about the benefits of schema, and points you to a WordPress plugin to help get you started. Read all about it right here: Google and Structured Data.
[line]3. INSTAGRAM IS TAKING OVER YOUR TIMELINE!
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Instagram is taking a hint from Facebook and going algorithmic. That means your Instagram timeline will soon be populated, not by a chronology of the people you follow, but by what Instagram thinks is most likely to grab your interest, keep you hanging out on their platform longer, and make you want to come back more often. Instagram says the move will allow you to “See the moments you care about first.” Julia Greenberg, though, points out that plenty of folks aren’t real thrilled about the change. Get a grip on the pros and cons of the idea here: Instagram to Go Algorithmic.
[line]4. BING NEEDS YOUR FEEDBACK
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Internet Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Would it be helpful to include social media links in your search ads? Bing thinks it’s time to “build a bridge between the two.” The Bing Ads blog says beta testing is underway for social extensions in the domestic market. The new feature places social media icons below your ad copy. The theory is that this new capability will help you get more traffic to and engagement on your social platforms. What do you think? Does it sound great for big business, but not so valuable for others? Bing wants your opinion. Read more here: Bing Social Extensions.
[line]5. SEO IN 2016 – THE MISSING MANUAL
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: SEO best practices have undergone radical changes over the past several years, and the train hasn’t stopped yet. Irfan Ahmad designed an infographic that lays out a whole lot of SEO info in one convenient spot. You can find out about keyword research, on-page SEO, mobile-friendly sites, link building, content marketing, and mobile SEO with one quick click. It’s definitely worth a look. Use it to grill your peers and test their SEO savvy. Here’s that link: 2016 SEO Strategies.
[line]6. BLOW UP YOUR EMAIL LIST BY LEVERAGING TWITTER!
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Despite the advances in social media tools and features, email marketing is still the ROI champion for online marketing. Brittany Berger says you can get social media and email marketing working together by leveraging Twitter lead generation cards to get “crazy simple email opt-ins.” This is one of those things that makes a marketer want to say “Why not?” Get the full scoop (and a link to a tutorial) on Social Media Today: Email Opt-ins with Twitter.
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7. GOOGLE TO RELEASE NEW ANALYTICS PACKAGE
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Analytics[/highlight]
Key Point: Google is in the midst of launching an enterprise-level analytics suite which will allow users to “analyze data from all touchpoints in one place, for a deeper understanding of customer experience.” The new mega-tool, Analytics 360, contains six tools that perform six different, but symbiotic, marketing tasks: data management (DMP), testing and personalization, data visualization, tag management, analytics, and attribution. That combination, says Google, is going to help you and your team “reach your customer in the right moment with the right message.” Find out more on the Google blog: Analytics 360
[line]8. HOW TO TWEAK QUALITY SCORE
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”] Online Advertising [/highlight]
Key Point: Quality Score (QS) is a crucial factor for AdWords users. It affects your cost per click (CPC) and your average competitive position on the search engine results page (SERP). Your high-QS ad can get positioned more favorably on the SERP than an ad paid for by an advertiser with a lower QS – even if the other guy has to pay MORE than you for the click. Wouldn’t it be great to know exactly how your Quality Scores are determined? Brad Geddes leveraged a recent AdWords API change to analyze the weight of each factor, and he has generously provided that information for the SEO community to examine and use. It’s an article way worth the read. Getting better at pushing up the QS can save you and/or your employer a bundle of cash. Here’s that post: Reverse-engineering QS Factors.
[line]9. KEYWORD MANAGEMENT IS CRUCIAL TO PPC SUCCESS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: Get this and you’re a long way down the roads towards online advertising success. Find out how to align keywords with business goals, manage match types, find opportunities, grow your reach, and get hyper-targeted traffic. How? Check Googles guide: Keywords to the Wise. The better you are at keyword management, the better you’re going to do when you compete for the best positioning and prices for your ads.
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10.
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: It’s a question that gets debated just about every time a group of SEO geeks gets together, but the debate is officially over! Google senior quality senior strategist, Andrey Lipattsev, cleared the waters and said that of all the ranking factors that affect your SERP standing, there are three that carry the most weight: incoming links, content, and RankBrain. Here’s that article: Now We Know.
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11. REDESIGNING ADWORDS FOR MARKETING IN A MOBILE-FIRST WORLD
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]PPC[/highlight]
Key Point: Google wants to make sure that their AdWords product is just as relevant in the next 15 years, as it was during the past 15. The result is a more material design that is at the core of all of our favorite Google apps like Maps, Search, and Gmail. The goal here is to put the most relevant and important information in front of the user and allow them to do more with less time. You can read the official announcement here.
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Congratulations! You’re all caught up on your digital marketing news and updates for the month! Tweet your excitement!
Do you ever feel like you’ll never “learn it all”?
Guess what: You’re right!
What we can do, though, is keep studying and growing.
Did we miss something you think should have made the list this month? Let us know in the comments section below.
Your recommendations are always appreciated.
