Looking for a way to stand out from the crowd and get noticed by prospective employers or clients?
Here’s how: Keep working while the others are playing.
This issue of News You Can Use is packed with information you need to succeed. We don’t stop keeping up with digital marketing trends during the summer… and neither should you!
Let’s get started!
1. TWITTER DID NOT SAY THE 140-CHARACTER LIMIT IS GOING AWAY!
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Beleaguered Twitter keeps making tweaks aimed at staying relevant in the competitive world of social media tools. Recent changes include polling ability, GIF search, and Periscope tweets. Now the little blue bird says certain things like your @name and media attachments will no longer be counted in the 140-character allotment. Don’t be misled by the announcements you may already have heard: the 140-character limit will still apply, but the things that eat up that limit will be fewer. Here’s another Twitter change on the way: you’ll soon be able to retweet your own tweets. Get the full scoop on the Twitter Blog.
[line]2. THE GOOGLE SEARCH PAGE IS GROWING SIDEWAYS
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: There’s a change underway to the Google search results page that could have a major impact across the board for SEO. We’ve not seen an official announcement from Google, but it appears the width of the search engine results page (SERP) is increasing by about 100 pixels. Why should digital marketers care? The extra width will move some search results proportionately higher on the page and will increase the maximum page title length by up to 20 characters! This could be a Google test, but it sure appears to be a significant roll-out. Find out more about what we know right now by reading this article on TheSemPost website.
[line]3. THINK WITH GOOGLE: ONLINE VIDEO PROVIDES MAJOR IMPACT
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: Google says people are not only watching more online video, they’re significantly influenced by what they see. The result, says Google, is “unprecedented lifts in consideration and favorability.” In a nutshell, those who see your video are more likely to purchase your goods or services. Of those who view a branded video via mobile, 40% visit the website and 28% make a purchase. The power of video marketing is climbing steadily. Go think a bit with Google and check it out.
[line]4. THE FIGHT AGAINST BAD GUYS ONLINE: WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW & DO
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: The number of websites breached by hackers rose by 80% in 2015 and sites with “thin, low quality content” show no sign of going away. All told Google issued 4.3 million manual actions to alert webmasters to problems discovered on their properties. Those are just three of the take-aways from Google’s report on spam-fighting efforts. What can you do to stay informed? Keeping reading this newsletter and get involved via the Google webmaster help forum.
[line]5. ATTRIBUTION MODELS MOVE BEYOND LAST CLICK
Topics: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: The primary method of attributing user interaction to desired results has historically been via last click. If someone clicks a link in a blog article to visit your e-commerce site and goes on to make a purchase, then that sale is credited to the blog. That’s not just for affiliate agreements, but for analytics in general. In 2014, Google rolled out the Attribution Modeling tool in AdWords to help their clients better understand the buying process. They’re now updating that tool with an integration feature that will interact with your conversion data and bidding process. Find out more by reading the official announcement, then by taking a look at the Official Guide to Attribution Modeling in Google Search.
[line]6. EMAIL DESIGN BEST PRACTICES: ARE YOU USING THEM?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Email Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Normally, we shy away from any piece of content crowning itself “The Ultimate Guide.” This one, though, is published by Jay Baer, a guy we trust, and it provides current info on the state of email marketing. If you want to get better returns from your email efforts, it’s definitely worth the read. EmailMonks’ Kevin George covers brand optimization, layout, social media integration, and more. Want to know the optimum size for the CTA button in an email? Find out here: Email Design Best Practices.
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7. HOW MUCH INFLUENCE DOES SOCIAL MEDIA EXERT ON SEO?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight] | [highlight type=”dark”]SEO[/highlight]
Key Point: In an article that may surprise you… and is sure to generate a lively conversation when you bring it up in your next chat with your SEO peers, Wordtracker’s CEO says social signals really don’t influence search results at all! How about studies to the contrary? Correlation and causation are two different things, says Owen Powis in this Wordtracker Academy post. Sites ranking well in organic are more likely to be popular on their social channels. That’s a given. The problem is this: Facebook creates more new posts EVERY DAY than the 4.6 billion pages the search engines must already crawl on the indexable web. The logistics just don’t pan out.
[line]8. DOES LONG-FORM CONTENT GET READ ON MOBILE?
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Analytics[/highlight]
Key Point: A recent report from the Pew Research Center uncovered a surprising fact: long-form news articles on mobile draw more than twice the engagement of their short-form counterparts. And while this study was specifically aimed at news publishers, it’s easy to speculate similar results for marketing pages. Pew Research found the two forms of content received about the same amount of visitors, but the average engaged time for long-form was 123 seconds, compared to 57 seconds for short-form. While one might reason that longer articles simply require more reading time (and that’s certainly true), the exciting ramification here is that mobile readers will take the time to read long articles on the small screen. Find out more about the study here: Pew Research Content Type Study.
[line]9. THE BEST TIME TO POST ON FACEBOOK
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Social Media Marketing[/highlight]
Key Point: Is there a magic hour, a sweet spot for posting on Facebook that can help your content get more traction? This Social Media Today article says the available advice is “massively conflicted,” and that many users wrongly believe the best time to post is during high-traffic periods. Citing a BuzzSumo study, the upshot here is that your best bet is to post between 10 pm and midnight local time. Find out more in this report: The Best Times to Post on Facebook.
10. GOOGLE PERFORMANCE SUMMIT
Topic: [highlight type=”dark”]Online Advertising[/highlight]
Key Point: Touting their own progress as “AdWords re-imagined for the mobile-first world,” Google says marketers need to catch up to the mobile revolution. Points from the summit include Universal App Campaigns is now available for iOS, expanded text ads, the ability to adjust ads according to device type, local ads on Google Maps, and a focus on mobile responsiveness. This is a must-read report for anyone who works with AdWords. Check it out here: Mobile First and Google.
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Congratulations! You’re all caught up on your digital marketing news and updates for the month! Tweet your excitement!
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.
