Social Media Marketing

Publishers no longer providing backlinks and traffic

Article Written by :  Internet Marketing Showtime

There was a time when guest posting was a great way to get backlinks to your site. Some changes by Google made that less productive. However, if the
site was big enough, there was still enough benefit to go through the hard work and toil to write amazing content for another site. Sadly, it appears that the larger publishers have begun taking steps to limit that exposure, most likely to hoard PageRank.

The first tactic that publishers use is to add the nofollow tag to articles by guest authors. This denies a backlink to the author and preserves any inbound link authority for the publishing site. Fortunately, if the page generates enough traffic, there is still a link back to the author’s site.

The second and slightly more extreme tactic is to noindex the guest post. This means that only visitors to the site will find the article, as it will not appear in search engine results. This method was adopted by the Huffington Post recently.

The third method in use is the complete removal of any attribution on the page to the author. Instead, the author gets a profile page on the site which contains a link back to his page. The only thing a visitor would see is a byline that indicates who wrote the article which links to the profile.

It looks like these changes accomplish only one thing, which is to limit link authority and traffic to the publisher’s site.

Social Media Marketing

How to get the most out of Google’s new Sitelinks

AdWords ads are changing all the time. There have been a few changes in the last few months alone. The latest change is to Sitelinks and callouts. Sitelinks have become a swipeable carousel, while callouts and structured snippets now appear in the same area of the ad as the description text. The only exception to the change are the ads above the search results.

What does this mean for the advertiser? In theory, the change should result in more clicks on the Sitelinks and possibly more conversions. When the visitor swipes through the carousel of Sitelinks, you know that the intention is correct.

Segment your reports by Click Type to see how many of your clicks are coming through Sitelinks. Some publishers see increases of 15%, although that could be the extreme end of the spectrum.

Since clicks to Sitelinks are more qualified, make use of that traffic by sending the traffic to the right landing page. Also, optimize that landing page for the Sitelink. You can sue campaign drafts and experiments to find the right page and then use Google Optimize to refine the selection.

The Sitelink that a visitor sees is a chosen dynamically based on the context of the search. Ensure that you have at least eight to 10 Sitelinks per campaign to take full advantage of the changes. As always A/B test the messaging so you have ten quality Sitelinks.

Almost everyone sees the new changes as a positive step by Google to increase the consistency of how the ads look and increase conversions. Take this to heart and make the most of the new Sitelinks.

Social Media Marketing

Google removes View Image from image search

Search for an image on Google Images and you will see one big change: There is no “View Image” button under any image you select. Also, you will no longer have an option to do a reverse image search. The change went somewhat under the radar, with a tweet from Google:

“Today we’re launching some changes on Google Images to help connect users and useful websites. This will include removing the View Image button. The Visit button remains, so users can see images in the context of the webpages they’re on.

The Search by Image button is also being removed. Reverse image search *still works* through the way most people use it, from the search bar of Google Images.”

One of the biggest concerns for websites, publishers, and image sellers with Google Images was the ability for people to steal images easily. With reverse image search, you could upload an image and find a higher quality version.

Google entered a multi-year deal with Getty Images recently which ended the European Antitrust complaint. The agreement with Getty Images is “a multi-year global licensing partnership, enabling Google to use Getty Images’ content within its various products and services.” As part of that deal, Google will be using Getty images across many of its “products and services.”

It is likely that this is one of the remedies that Google proposed as part of the agreement. It is still possible to use Image search to find and use copyrighted images, but the change makes it much harder for the average user.

Social Media Marketing

Test ranking potential with an AMP test

Google makes it very clear that AMP does not help to rank in any way. However, a lot of technology that Google encourages does end up as a ranking signal. Eventually, even in the near-future, AMP could become a ranking factor. Even now, AMP pages will load a lot faster on mobiles, and with page speed becoming a ranking factor for the mobile-first index, you will might see an improvement immediately. The best way is to conduct a test with a few of your pages. Here is a simple process to follow:

Select

The most important step is to select the right pages. Avoid organic pages that have seasonal variance. Also, avoid any period where there is a transition from one to another. You want a page that has consistent traffic from organic search throughout the test period.

Benchmark

Set the benchmarks with at least two months worth of pre-test data. We need a good period of comparison when we finish the test.

AMP

Build and set up your AMP pages and ensure none of them have errors. Google Webmaster Console will have all the data you need. Once you fix any errors, you can start the test.

Post-test

Once you run the test for at least 90 days, pull the data from search console and then compare with the pre-test period. The data from the pre-test period should not include any AMP pages and the post-test period should only have AMP pages.

 

Social Media Marketing

Google: 20 percent of mobile queries are voice searches

In his Google I/O 2016 keynote, Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that 20 percent of the queries to the search app and android devices are voice search. This is impressive although lower than what former CEO Eric Schmidt said in September 2010: he said “25 percent of Android searches in the US are voice searches.” The discrepancy could be due to Schmidt referring to only Android, whilst Pichai talks about Android and the Google search app.Regardless, it looks as if voice searches are growing, and not only for Google:

Search Engine Land reported a larger increase:

“In December, we reported on survey data from MindMeld that found that there has been a significant increase in voice assistant and voice search usage, with 60 percent of survey respondents saying that they had started using virtual assistants and voice search in the past 12 months. The range of virtual assistants, such as Siri, Cortana, Google Voice Search/Now, Viv, Amazon Alexa, and now, Google Home, are collectively training people to search using their voices and to become more “conversational” with search and mobile devices.”

Search is clearly migrating to mobile and voice faster than ever and it appears that Google Home is its long term bet in the market. Google also announced that it has already integrated a range of third-party transactional services into Google Home, including Uber, Pandora, OpenTable, Spotify, WhatsApp and Ticketmaster.

Social Media Marketing

Microsoft blocks Google Chrome & other browsers from Cortana

It looks like any browser that competes with Microsoft’s new Edge browser will no longer within the Cortana digital assistant. So the next time you use cortana, any weblink will open in Edge directly, regardless of your default browser choice.

Here is the Microsoft explanation:

“Unfortunately, as Windows 10 has grown in adoption and usage, we have seen some software programs circumvent the design of Windows 10 and redirect you to search providers that were not designed to work with Cortana. The result is a compromised experience that is less reliable and predictable.

The continuity of these types of task completion scenarios is disrupted if Cortana can’t depend on Bing as the search provider and Microsoft Edge as the browser. The only way we can confidently deliver this personalized, end-to-end search experience is through the integration of Cortana, Microsoft Edge and Bing — all designed to do more for you.”

This implies that rival browsers are changing the defaults automatically, which is not true. Most users of Chrome, Firefox etc do so by choice. Before this update, we could set the search provider but apparently this was not meant to be final.

“We have seen some programs circumvent the intended design of Windows 10 and redirect in ways that were never intended. Cortana was built and designed to use Bing and this was not designed to be something that could be swapped in or out. With this change, we are taking appropriate steps to protect the predictably and reliability of the Windows 10 and Cortana experience for our customers.”

Microsoft is right however that other digital assistants like Google Now, Siri etc do not give you an option to use different search engine providers. It looks like the battle of the digital assistants is about to heat up.

Social Media Marketing

Periscope on Twitter for iOS

Facebook has been promoting its live video offering lately. Even going to the extent of prioritizing Live video streams in the news feed. This is clearly aimed at attractive streamers from Periscope. In response, Twitter will now show periscope streams from users you follow directly in stream.

In a post on its Medium page: “Whenever a broadcast is shared on Twitter, you tap the link to open the Periscope app. Today, we’re replacing those links with the broadcast itself, autoplaying right within the Tweet. And when you tap the video, it goes full-screen and shows Periscope comments and hearts from other viewers. You don’t need the Periscope app or even a Periscope account.”

This should increase engagement and viewership considerably. It also means that you no longer need the Periscope app to watch live streams from those in your twitter feed. These will also appear in search results:

“For broadcasters, this means you can reach the massive Twitter audience. And for everyone on Twitter, there’s now a richer experience in your home timeline, search results, and on anyone’s profile who’s shared a Periscope.”

The feature is not live at this point. It is rolling out for iOS users first: “We’re rolling out this feature on Twitter for iOS over the next few days. To everyone using Twitter for Android or on web: we haven’t forgotten about you! We plan to roll these features out on all platforms as soon as they’re ready.”

It appears that both Facebook and Twitter see a big future for Live video. Expect to see a lot more features for both soon.

Social Media Marketing

Get Traffic from Pinterest

For any business website or blog, Pinterest can be an extremely good source of traffic. How good a source of traffic will depend on the niche of the website. Pinterest users tend to skew heavily towards women. To that end, anything of interest to women should be successful on Pinterest. Home, Garden, Recipes, Cooking, DIY, Decor, Design are just a few of the subjects that dominate Pinterest user feeds.

Pin Regularly

For your pins to get any traction you will need as many followers as possible. Getting followers involves pinning content that other users will find interesting. Your followers will come from people whose content you have pinned or from users searching the site. Once you get a follower, your pins will appear on their feeds. The more you pin the higher the likelihood of getting more followers. Once you have followers, you can start mixing in your own content with your regular pins. All you need is the right user to repin and you can get thousands of visitors.

Group Boards

The next step is to get on as many group boards as possible. Group boards are standard boards with multiple contributors. Getting into group boards can be hard but find as many as you can. Read the rules and then ask to be made a contributor. The admin will consider your request. Once you become a contributor to a group board, continue the practice of pinning other people’s content while mixing in your own. A ratio 3 other pins for every pin of yours is a good rule of thumb to follow.

Follow these two tips and you could generate thousands of extra visitors each month.

Social Media Marketing

3 Ways to Promote Your Event on Social Media

Promoting an upcoming event with social media makes a lot of sense. This is for the simple reason that it creates awareness, visibility and community.

Here are three ways by which you can promote your event on social media:

1: Create Community on LinkedIn

It’s a good idea to use LinkedIn to build a industry-specific community. While this will provide valuable insights, it will also serve as a value-added resource for your event’s attendees. Without a doubt, this social media platform is excellent for creating networking groups as most people already use the site itself for business connections and work opportunities. LinkedIn groups can also help you sell tickets.

2: Use Double-Side Referral Programs to Offer Discounts

A number of companies such as Airbnb, Dropbox and Uber tend to use double-side referral programs that connect to social media and turn customers into promoters too. In order for this to work, you have to provide ticket buyers with a trackable link so that they can share it with their email contacts and social media followers. Now if anyone from their list of contacts buy ticket, then both of them get a discount. It is probably one of the best way to incentivize the sale of tickets while getting more attendees organically.

3: Run an Industry-Specific Blog

Good content has a way of keeping past attendees interested in your event. Also, new attendees can also be found via social media channels and search engines too. So think about creating an event blog that contains tips and tricks about your industry. As a result of putting out valuable content, you should be able to attract new visitors to the event website while increasing your social media reach.

Social Media Marketing

4 Reasons Why You Should Use Google My Business

It was a couple of months ago that Google Places changed its name to Google My Business. But instead of being a rebranding exercise, they’ve actually switched their focus to catering to small business by offering all of their services.

Speaking of which, here are a number of things that you can benefit from when using Google My Business:

#1: Update business information

You can update your business information for Search, Google+ and Maps all in one place. Whether it is business descriptions, operating hours or even website information, businessmen can do all this and more. With this information falling in the Google Knowledge Graph, this will make searches for your business more focused and relevant.

#2: Connect with customers directly

Using Google+, you can now connect directly with customers while sharing updates, customers and news. You can also respond to Google reviews posted by customers too.

#3: Add photos to your business

Compared to the old Google Places, there’s a lot more room on Google My Business than ever. You can put up shots of happy customers, store locations, employees, products and facilities and so on and so forth.

#4: Understand how people find businesses

One of the ways by which you can increase your profitability is by understanding how people find businesses. This can be done by looking at custom Insights and AdWords Express.

#5: Manage Information using Apps

There are two apps that can be used to manage information: the Google My Business Android app and the recently released iOS app too.