How to Beat Google Bedlam Update

Google Bedlam Recovery Plan:

We’ve been receiving a lot of questions lately about the latest Google algorithm update known as “Bedlam.” The Bedlam update (also called “Possum 2.0”) rolled out in early November 2019 – which has now been completed globally. According to Google Search Liaison, this update involved prioritizing neural matching in an attempt to provide local searchers with more relevant results.

So this update has Google trying to do a better job of figuring out what a business is all about. That’s why I think GMB posts are such a good way to help (hint hint…)

Google Confirms Bedlam Update Based on Neural Matching

On Monday, December 2, Google confirmed it had rolled out an update based on neural matching – an AI method used to better connect words with concepts. Before this, the smart money was betting on relevancy, not proximity ( so add another reason why we’re supporting bedlam over “Possum 2.0 )

Some have asked if we had an update to Google Search last week. We did, actually several updates, just as we have several updates in any given week on a regular basis. In this thread, a reminder of when and why we give specific guidance about particular updates….

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) November 12, 2019

Word of the day: “neural matching” #localseo pic.twitter.com/xEAIG9PNjJ

— Andy Simpson (@ndyjsimpson) December 3, 2019

Ok But Can Someone Please Explain WTF is Neural Matching

In early November, we began making use of neural matching as part of the process of generating local search results. Neural matching allows us to better understand how words are related to concepts, as explained more here: https://t.co/ShQm7g9CvN

— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) December 2, 2019

Yes, though it helps with understanding both queries and content

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) December 2, 2019

Some key factors to know based on more of Danny Sullivan’s tweets:

• Neural matching is separate from BERT.
• Neural matching will help the understanding of both queries and content.
• It applies to all the ways Google gathers info about a business.

(thanks SEMRush )

Actionable Insights

I kept seeing the same advice given over and over about not changing anything and just waiting this out, but given the amount of traffic I personally lost from this update I went to work testing solutions based on things I was seeing that showed a positive impact on local rankings :

• keywords in GMB names
  Still seeing a lot of this in several SERPS and if you can match your sitename/brand to the GMB this may work for you – many might frown upon it but it’s still recognized as a ranking influencer
•  Optimizing GMB Description
  Ensure the GMB description is keyword optimized using search terms and phrases prospective customers would use when looking for a particular product or service
• GMB posts containing relevant keywords
  I believe this one is super important. I’ve definitely increased my Google My Business postings and focused on posting and (and reposting!) content on my site that’s directly relevant to the categories I lost rankings for in November.

I do not think this is related to citations because I spent almost zero time on getting new citations (I was already way ahead of my competitors when it came to that) I also checked with friends who tested “map embeds” and they didn’t see a positive impact from that either so i think that it’s a waste of time & money. I have, however, seen some good improvements on sites that we stacked authority from other Google properties, but my tests didn’t directly coincide with the stuff that happened in November so it would be hard to say for sure this helped with that, but I don’t think it hurts

How Bad Were Things When Bedlam Hit

If you didn’t get a chance to read my first post about Google Bedlam last month, you might be surprised to learn it got a little worse.

by the end of November the traffic from my GMB listing had pretty much completely dried up

Within the last few weeks, I’ve had traffic spike back up to pre-Bedlam numbers. I think there’s definitely a snowball effect with GMB posting, and it takes time to build momentum and views going when you start up posting.

Final Thoughts on Optimizing for Google Bedlam

Algorithm updates can be nerve-racking if they hit your Google My Business listing. Keep in mind that you should never make rash changes to your digital marketing strategy because of an update. Diversification is Key! You must diversify both your SEO and online marketing tactics. You wouldn’t invest all your money in one stock would you? Then don’t put all your online marketing eggs in one basket either. Be engaged in a social media platform, maintaining a PPC campaign, participating in forums for your industry, broadening your influence and reach by writing some kick-ass guest blogs, etc. Your diversification possibilities are far and wide.

If you’re reading this you were hit by Bedlam and still haven’t figured it out, reach out to me and I’ll audit your site and give you a list of customized improvements. If you’re familiar with this update and disagree with what I’ve said here – I’d actually love to hear conflicting opinions more than hollow agreements – that helps us all learn more so leave a comment below with your thoughts!

The post How to Beat Google Bedlam Update appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/how-to-beat-google-bedlam-update/

Building Backlinks to New Sites: The Essential Guide

So your new website needs backlinks. If you’ve ever worked on SEO for a new site, you’ve run into the challenge of trying to outrank websites with more authority than your site. More than likely these sites have more backlinks than you do – which is a huge contributing factor when we talk about “site authority”.

So this post is about a really simple strategy to get new backlinks – and when done successfully, it’s really convenient.

But I’ve got to warn you – this isn’t a perfect strategy.

A lot of these requests get lost in the noise. Understandable, considering people get on average around 88 emails a day.

Sometimes, these requests for backlinks get ignored since it isn’t a high priority.

Also, these requests for backlinks get denied entirely. They’ll respond, but it won’t be the kind of answer you’re looking for.

So what is the answer?

You need to craft a request for backlinks that is really hard to turn down or ignore.

That sounds like a tall order, however once you know what website owners want, it becomes much easier.

And if you’re interested in earning high-authority links, you’ll definitely need the knowledge of how to write a pitch for a backlink request.

Know what site owners want

There is a truth about getting links – and it’s not fair.

Sometimes bad websites get the best backlinks since they know how to pitch it.

What I mean is there are lots of websites that are deserving of backlinks because they have great content. But not all those websites craft a great pitch, so they don’t get linked to.

It sucks, it is unfair, but that’s the way it is.

The main takeaway is that websites don’t give backlinks to anyone with a domain.

Here’s an example of the type of garbage pitches that get sent out all the time:

(I just saw Tim share this on https://www.facebook.com/groups/ahrefsinsider/ which is a great FB group about Ahrefs, which you might need if you’re looking for good link targets )

What’s the benefit for the site?

The reason why any website accepts backlinks ultimately is to help themselves out.

Getting backlinks right is crucial for a great link building strategy, so almost every site wants to have the best links.

 

If you actually want a backlink, you need to explain to the site owners which benefit they will recieve.

This is massive.

You can’t afford ignoring this if you’re seriously trying to get lots of high-authority backlinks to your website.

Here’s what most webmasters look for in a link:

• The content is relevant to their site
• The content is detailed and deep
• The content is well written/produced
• The site is legitimate

Explain these in a short email. If you follow the steps I’ve shared with you, I guarantee you that you’ll get responses (and, yes, backlinks).

The post Building Backlinks to New Sites: The Essential Guide appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/building-backlinks-to-new-sites-the-essential-guide/

What Are Backlinks

What are backlinks?

Backlinks, also called “inbound links” or “incoming links,” are created when one website links to another. The link to an external website is called a backlink. I’m sharing a lot of this information from Moz’s learning center – thats where I got started learning SEO and if you want to learn more you should check them out

 

Why backlinks are important?

Backlinks are really crucial for SEO because they represent a “vote of confidence” from one site to another.

In essence, backlinks to your website are a signal to search engines that others vouch for your content. If many sites link to the same webpage or website, search engines can infer that content is worth linking to, and therefore also worth surfacing on a SERP. So, earning these backlinks can have a positive effect on a site’s ranking position or search visibility.

Giving & Earning Backlinks

Earning backlinks is an essential component of off-site SEO. The process of obtaining these links is known as link earning or link building.

Some backlinks are inherently more valuable than others. Followed backlinks from trustworthy, popular, high-authority sites are considered the most desirable backlinks to earn, while backlinks from low-authority, potentially spammy sites are typically at the other end of the spectrum. Whether or not a link is followed (i.e. whether a site owner specifically instructs search engines to pass, or not pass, link equity) is certainly relevant, but don’t entirely discount the value of nofollow links. Even just being mentioned on high-quality websites can give your brand a boost.

The video below details a little bit about how Google looks at the quality of a backlink:

Just as some backlinks you earn are more valuable than others, links you create to other sites also differ in value. When linking out to an external site, the choices you make regarding the page from which you link (its page authority, content, search engine accessibility, and so on) the anchor text you use, whether you choose to follow or nofollow the link, and any other meta tags associated with the linking page can have a heavy impact on the value you confer.

Competitive backlink research

Backlinks can be time-consuming to earn. New sites or those expanding their keyword footprint may find it difficult to know where to start when it comes to link building. That’s where competitive backlink research comes in: By examining the backlink profile (the collection of pages and domains linking to a website) to a competitor that’s already ranking well for your target keywords, you can gain insight about the link building that may have helped them. A tool like Ahrefs can help uncover these links so you can and target those domains in your own link building campaigns.

The post What Are Backlinks appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/what-are-backlinks/

How to Sell Your Boss on SEO

Having done SEO for several years, I run into people all the time who aren’t always thinking about 404s, redirects, backlinks, spiders, canonicals, and indexing like we do. Talking about this stuff in public will get a confused looking person with their eyes glazing over.

That’s typical, but when you get the same blank stare from the decision-maker at your company,  this could be a bigger issue.

SEO is a crucial part of any company’s success. Lots of CEOs and small business owners are really under-educated and nervous about SEO. They know they need it, but they don’t understand how SEO works or get the time commitment it takes or the value it brings.

Whether you work for an agency or an in-house marketing team, trying to convince executives to bolster their SEO budget can be a good challenge. There are some simple tricks, though, that can help you communicate the importance of SEO and the reasoning behind your tactics and choices.

1.  Help Them Learn SEO Terminology

Many fields have their own industry jargons,  SEO too, no exceptions. The same way you start nodding off when accountants get excited about massive spreadsheets, somebody from another department will lose you when you start talking in industry buzzwords.

Don’t be like these guys! “NO BRANDCUFFS!”

Starting a conversation with this in mind is a great way to start.

Take time to teach and educate your audience about the basics of SEO and clearly define any and all jargon terms. Clarifying, defining and discussing relevant metrics can also be handy in helping your audience get a better grasp of what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

2.  Describe Exactly Why You’re Taking a Certain Plan of Action

SEO involves lots of hard work that happens behind the scenes and often, it doesn’t bring overnight results.

Lots of people in the business world have trouble trusting SEO since the results don’t seem to come in their desired timeframe. It can be challenging convincing your bosses to take your recommendations without a set timeframe or concrete benchmarks.

As you explain why you chose to do something or why you made a certain decision, try to keep the overall big picture or goal in mind and to explain both what you’re doing and why you’re doing it.

For example, if you discovered an epidemic of duplicate content on the site, you might immediately set about rewriting the content or redirecting unneeded pages the ones you want to focus on. Your boss may then question you about that. After all, why not leave those pages alone because the more content – even duplicate content – is just more exposure, right?

And because you’re knowledgeable on SEO – you know about how duplicate content doesn’t help your site. And when they discuss it with you, you could say ” well Google doesn’t like it.” but you need to explain more to get your boss the right information.

Instead, explain a little more about how Google works, how the same content would literally compete with itself on the search engines, and all the other reasons beyond “Google doesn’t like it.” They’ll have fewer questions when you pre-load them with the right answers.

3.  Craft the Right Message for the Right Audience

Depending on how large your organization is, maybe you have regular meetings with lots of different departments. Employees from marketing and the IT department, all the way up to the c-suite are going to have questions about what’s happening and why SEO is important.

Someone from IT would like to know the technical issues as well as any bugs or fixes that need working out. The marketing department would be more interested in how SEO is attracting the right people to your site, and the CEO will likely care less about what your SEO plan is, as long as it boosts the company’s bottom line.

If you want higher buy-in and support for your SEO plan, you need to relate to your audience. Then you can craft your presentation in a way that “speaks their language.”

For example, a meeting with IT department may detail which technical implementation is necessary for making the website more mobile-friendly. A similar meeting with leadership may involve discussions about the time and resources that your SEO plan will need, the opportunities that it will open up, and the potential ROI that can result should the plan be successful.

4.  Collect Data

When you speak to people who aren’t educated about SEO, you might get a weird stare or sarcasm. They may think you could be making stuff up to take advantage of their ignorance.

That’s why data and documentation to back up your  SEO strategies, your SEO wins, and your reports. Again, you should always be remembering to focus on the kind of metrics that would be most beneficial and interesting to the audience. Keep your explanation simple and limit SEO jargon.

5.  Increase Your SEO & Personal Credibility

It can be hard, proving the power of SEO to a CEO. It can also be just as difficult for them to take you seriously.

How do you improve your own credibility so your leadership listens to you?

It begins with leading your department. Answer questions customers may have in the company’s website content, write articles on behalf of your company, and become a valuable industry resource by providing educational content like a how-to guide.

Like I said above, you’ll need to be documenting all of these things to show how your SEO effort helps by contributing to an increase in the company’s bottom line. To accomplish this, you may try things like:

Record conversion data from organic search traffic and tie that number to company earnings. Setup Google Webmaster Search Console & Google Analytics, for monitoring revenue from contact forms and e-commerce, which will speak to leadership and the marketing department.

Report on how you are doing compared to competitors. Create a list of 3-10 competitors who are currently beating your company for your most important keywords and show them the average monthly search volume of those keywords or terms are. Showing these lost opportunities can be enough to spur any executive to bolster and support your SEO efforts.

5.  How Your SEO Sees SEO

Several company executives realize that SEO is a critical part of their company’s success. However, they may not know or care to know how SEO works.

That’s why they want someone to do it for them.

However, you can geek out on them all day long about how this or that is doing great and blowing the competition out of the water, and they just won’t seem to get on board with your enthusiasm.

Again, all they care about is company revenue.

Sometimes CEO’s know about SEO and get the basics on how it works. You should still refrain from getting overzealous and spare them the numbers and statistics. You can communicate via SEO topics they know about, but fight the urge to go really deep. Maybe they’re interested, however, they’re super busy and their primary concern is whether their investment in SEO is worth it.

The best way to do this is agreeing on some indicators of success and performance ahead of time before the campaign gets started. Because SEO takes time,  bi-monthly reporting meetings are great for keeping leaders in the know, reassuring them that you’re moving towards those goals.

It can be challenging getting buy-in for SEO initiatives. It can also be frustrating trying to communicate with people who don’t know the nature and challenges of working on getting sites to rank. Know your audience, prove the value of SEO, and always using data to back-up the successes of your strategy are some ways these difficult and frustrating conversations can become more successful.

The post How to Sell Your Boss on SEO appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/how-to-sell-your-boss-on-seo/

Google to offer checking accounts in partnership with banks starting next year

Google is the latest big tech company to make a move into banking and personal financial services: The company is gearing up to offer checking accounts to consumers, as first reported by The Wall Street Journal, starting as early as next year. Google is calling the project “Cache,” and it’ll partner with banks and credit unions to offer the checking accounts, with the banks handling all financial and compliance activities related to the accounts.

Google’s Caesar Sengupta spoke to the WSJ about the new initiative, and Sengupta made clear that Google will be seeking to put its financial institution partners much more front-and-center for its customers than other tech companies have perhaps done with their financial products. Apple works with Goldman Sachs on its Apple Card credit product, for instance, but the credit card is definitely presented primarily as an Apple product.

So why even bother getting into this game if it’s leaving a lot of the actual banking to traditional financial institutions? Well, Google obviously stands to gain a lot of valuable information and insight on customer behavior with access to their checking account, which for many is a good picture of overall day-to-day financial life. Google says it’s also intending to offer product advantages for both consumers and banks, including things like loyalty programs, on top of the basic financial services. It’s also still considering whether or not it’ll charge service fees, per Sengupta — not doing so would definitely be an advantage over most existing checking accounts available.

Google already offers Google Pay, and its Google Wallet product has hosted some features beyond simple payments tracking, including the ability to send money between individuals. Meanwhile, rivals, including Apple, have also introduced payment products, and Apple of course recently expanded into the credit market with Apple Card. Facebook also introduced its own digital payment product earlier this week, and earlier this year announced its intent to build its own digital currency called “Libra” along with partners.

The initial financial partners that Google is working with include Citigroup and Stanford Federal Credit Union, and their motivation per the WSJ piece appears to be seeking out and attracting younger and more digital-savvy customers who are increasingly looking to handle more of their lives through online tools. Per Sengupta’s comments, they’ll also benefit from Google’s ability to work with large sets of data and turn those into value-add products, but the Google exec also said the tech company doesn’t use Google Pay data for advertising, nor does it share that data with advertisers. Still, convincing people to give Google access to this potentially sensitive area of their lives might be an uphill battle, especially given the current political and social climate around big tech.

The post Google to offer checking accounts in partnership with banks starting next year appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-to-offer-checking-accounts-in-partnership-with-banks-starting-next-year/

Google Chrome to identify and label slow websites

Is it the web page that’s slow or is it your network connection? In the future, Google’s Chrome web browser may have an answer for you. Google announced today a plan to identify and label websites that typically load slowly by way of clear badging. The company says it may later choose to identify sites that are likely to be slow based on the user’s device and current network conditions, as well.

Google hasn’t yet determined how exactly the slow websites will be labeled but says it may experiment with different options to see which makes the most sense.

For example, a slow-loading website may show a “Loading…” page that includes a warning, like a caution icon and text that reads “usually loads slow.” Meanwhile, a fast website may display a green progress indicator bar at the top of the page instead of a blue one.

And for links, Chrome may use the context menu to help users know if the site will be slow so you can decide whether or not you want to click.

In the long-term, Chrome’s goal will be to identify and badge websites offering “high-quality” experiences, which may include other factors beyond just the website’s speed. The company didn’t yet detail what those other factors may be but says the identification process will include more stringent criteria that are rolled out gradually over time. However, the goal will be to make these “good user experiences” something any web developer can achieve.

 

With the recent addition of Pagespeed Insights to Search Console and even posts from Google that speed is now a ranking factor, if your site is slow now is the time to fix it.

The post Google Chrome to identify and label slow websites appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-chrome-to-identify-and-label-slow-websites/

Google Bedlam Update or Possum 2.0 Hasn’t Exactly Been Good News

I’ve been working a lot of overtime so far in November, with Black Friday coming in a few weeks and new clients and oh yes the sky is falling again in the local Local Search world. Some people are calling it Possum 2.0 – and others are calling it Bedlam.

 

Yeah – sounds about right. Threads on Bright Local, Google WHC, Search Engine Land, and numerous facebook groups are all echoing people’s reports of massive changes in the map pack starting at the beginning of this month around November 5.

What Does Google Bedlam Look Like in the Wild

I have to admit, I’m kind of annoyed at that heading, it would’ve been so much easier to make a possum joke. Anyways – here’s a visualization from Local Viking, a tool I use primarily for checking out where a GMB (Google My Business page) ranks in different areas of a city. It also lets you schedule GMB posts too.

Here’s one of my own local listings rankings in the Sacramento area on October 31, 2019. These rankings have been very stable for about 5 years now.

Once the Bedlam update hit on November 5th, 2019, we saw this listing was nowhere to be found in the map packs, even though we still rank well organically for the keyword search.

We didn’t panic too much because the next day on November 6th, 2019 it seemed like we bounced back into the fray… and traffic to the site wasn’t visibly down much at all.

As of today, November 12, 2019 – it doesn’t feel like the dust has quite settled yet – day by day the listings are still jumping around all over the place.

Google Bedlam’s Actual Impact on Traffic

We talk about rankings a lot and that’s these tools do their best to measure visibility on the SERPS, but here’s the weird thing. In spite of the “visibility” issues and “lost rankings” I’m still seeing more traffic to this GMB page than I have seen all quarter. Feels like the listing is being shown more than the tool is reporting. When I check my hand I see the listing pop up about 15-20% of the time. I’ve been checking it pretty frequently on multiple devices at home, at my office, and while I drive around to meetings in the greater Sacramento area. Sometimes I see it and do a little dance, sometimes I don’t see it and I find myself cursing Google, lol.

 

 

So although the rankings and visualizations look bad, the actual impact is pretty low, at least for me. Posts are seeing record numbers of views and my maps traffic is up 800% vs last month.

Spam Listings Winning Right Now

What I am noticing is a lot more spammy listings keyword-stuffed entries with no reviews, “low quality” GMBs that don’t have a lot of citations and have really poor rating averages, and an increase in fake address GMB’s showing up. Proximity to city center appears to have a bigger impact than before – then again, the listing I’m showing is pretty central to downtown Sacramento so I’m still out on how that factors in exactly.

The general consensus in the SEO community seems to people going into a holding pattern –  they don’t want to overreact and see how this shakes out. I’m running some more tests this week to test some theories, so I’ll update this post soon to reflect what I learn.

The post Google Bedlam Update or Possum 2.0 Hasn’t Exactly Been Good News appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-bedlam-update-or-possum-2-0-hasnt-exactly-been-good-news/

Google Launches Page Speed Report in Search Console

Google is now rolling out the highly anticipated page speed report in Search Console that was shown off earlier this year.

Google officially previewed the new page speed report this past May, but it was first uncovered back in February. That marks roughly 9 months of waiting for this report to launch.

Google Search Console Page Speed Report

Google’s new page speed report pulls data from the Chrome User Experience Report and automatically groups URLs into the categories of “Fast,” Moderate,” and “Slow.” It looks just like other Search Console reports that group URLs together based on how well they meet certain criteria (such as having valid structured data markup).

The report also identifies the issues causing slowdowns and further categorizes pages by grouping URLs with similar issues together.

Clicking on one of the identified issues to learn more information will bring users to Google’s Page Speed Insights tool. From there, site owners can learn more about how to optimize their pages to solve the specific issue.

In addition to checking on the slow and moderate pages, you can drill deeper into the fast pages to learn more about their performance:

 

Google recommends using this report both for monitoring performance over time and for tracking website fixes. When an issue is fixed, site owners can return to the report to track whether users actually experienced a performance improvements.

Google says this report, is currently “experimental” in the sense that it will be revised and improved upon over time. However, unlike typical Google experiments, this report will be rolling out to everyone.

The post Google Launches Page Speed Report in Search Console appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-launches-page-speed-report-in-search-console/

A Case Study in Buying Shitty Links

You know what they say, keep your friends close and your enemies closer. So I’m always watching to see what strategies other people are trying against me. Sometimes you see something useful. This isn’t one of those times.

"The Gang Tries #BlackhatSEO "

This is what happens when you get overzealous & buy garbage links to your site trying to rank higher.

From top 3 to 100+

We call it getting "REKT"

Imagine what happens to your revenue when you drop off the front page for your keywords. pic.twitter.com/XLxXEFbpXh

— AdInfusion (@AdInfusion) November 5, 2019

Feels bad man. #notworthit

The post A Case Study in Buying Shitty Links appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/a-case-study-in-buying-shitty-links/

Google to stop indexing Flash content

Google announced it will stop indexing and ranking Flash content in its search engine. This means Google will no longer process content within Flash SWF files, either on websites designed fully in Flash or web pages that have portions of the page in Flash.

What is Flash. Flash was introduced in 1996 by Adobe as a way of producing richer content on the web and on computers. It was a very popular web publishing platform in the late 90s but as time went on, fewer and fewer browsers continued to support Flash.

What is changing. Back in 2008 Google first began crawling Flash files and a year later, Google got more sophisticated in how it indexed those SWF files. But it never really ranked content within Flash files all that well.

Google’s announcement. Google said, “Google Search will stop supporting Flash later this year.” Specifically, Google said “in Web pages that contain Flash content, Google Search will ignore the Flash content.” “Google Search will stop indexing standalone SWF files,” also Google added. That means Google won’t be indexing or ranking content within Flash web sites or Flash elements on a web page.

The impact. Google said, “most users and websites won’t see any impact from this change.” Apple stopped supporting Flash when it introduced the iPhone on those devices and the company may have been credited as killing Flash. As we said above, fewer and fewer browsers have supported Flash. Google said “Flash is disabled by default in Chrome (starting in version 76), Microsoft Edge, and FireFox 69.”

Alternatives. Google said you should look towards HTML5 and other newer forms of JavaScript. But Flash is something Google will stop working with for indexing.

Why we care. If you have a website fully designed in Flash or parts of your website’s content in Flash, and you depend on Google search traffic, you should really consider updating your website and stop using Flash going forward.

The post Google to stop indexing Flash content appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-to-stop-indexing-flash-content/

Google Releases its Site Kit WordPress Plugin Out of Beta

Google announced Thursday that Site Kit is available globally for WordPress users.

What is Site Kit. Site Kit is a WordPress plugin that allows users to set up and configure Google services to get insights in their WordPress dashboards.

Users can see stats from Google Search Console, Google Analytics, PageSpeed Insights, AdSense all in one place.

Because it’s a plugin, it doesn’t require source code editing. Site owners can also assign roles and grant individual permissions

The company released Site Kit in developer preview earlier this year and says thousands of developers have installed it.

What does the dashboard offer? There is a main dashboard, shown above that provides a high-level view of significant changes and how users are finding your site.

Individual page reports show how specific content is performing.

You can also do things like enable PageSpeed Insights and Analytics in order to “see whether page load time affects bounce rate.”

Why we should care. The ability to see all of the metrics about your site’s SEO that are captured across these various Google products in one with Site Kit will give WordPress users an out-of-the-box dashboard experience without the headache of pulling data from these disparate sources.

The post Google Releases its Site Kit WordPress Plugin Out of Beta appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-releases-its-site-kit-wordpress-plugin-out-of-beta/

Google buys Fitbit for $2.1 billion

Google has just announced that it’s buying wearable company Fitbit for $2.1 billion. In a blog post announcing the news, Google SVP of devices and services Rick Osterloh said that the Fitbit purchase is “an opportunity to invest even more in Wear OS as well as introduce Made by Google wearable devices into the market.”

The news comes just days after a report from Reuters, which claimed that Google was in talks to buy the popular fitness tracker company.

“FITBIT HEALTH AND WELLNESS DATA WILL NOT BE USED FOR GOOGLE ADS.“

Under the deal, Fitbit will be joining Google itself. (It’s similar to the current situation with Nest, which is wholly under Google now, compared to when Alphabet had originally acquired the smart home company but left it as a separate division under the corporate structure.)

According to a separate press release issued by Fitbit, the company will still take privacy for health and fitness data seriously, noting that “Fitbit health and wellness data will not be used for Google ads.”

The acquisition makes a lot of sense: Google has spent years trying (and largely failing) to break into the wearables market with its Wear OS platform, but it’s struggled to make a real impact.

The post Google buys Fitbit for $2.1 billion appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-buys-fitbit-for-2-1-billion/

Rudy Giuliani’s Crime Buddy Apparently Named His Company ‘Fraud Guarantee’ to Trick Google Search Results

Have you heard the news about Donald Trump, Rudy Giuliani, and the company Fraud Guarantee? It’s even dumber than you can imagine.

Rudy Giuliani, personal attorney to President Trump, is in hot water after his associates were arrested for alleged illegal campaign finance hijinks. The two men at the center of the scheme, Lev Parnas and Igor Fruman, became the butt of a thousand jokes on late night TV when it was revealed that Parnas had a real company called Fraud Guarantee. But there may have been a reason for the absurd name, according to a new report. Parnas was trying to make sure that anyone who Google searched his name with the word “fraud” got only positive results.

The bizarre revelation comes from a new article in the Wall Street Journal about Parnas’s shady business practices. Parnas allegedly ran a penny-stock scam called Edgetech International that distributed a gadget called Edge, billed as the “Fastest Hand-held Internet Access Device,” in a press release from 2008. Parnas was also sued in federal court in 2011, according to the Wall Street Journal, over a loan he received that was supposed to finance a movie. The movie, it seems, never got made.

Enter Parnas and his company, Fraud Guarantee. Google results for the words “fraud” and “Parnas” likely brought back some pretty shady stuff before he started the company. But with his new company, a search like that would presumably show his strange new business on the first page of results.

From the Wall Street Journal:

Messrs. Parnas and Correia set up Fraud Guarantee in a Boca Raton office park. Mr. Parnas picked the name in part to clean up his Google search results, ensuring that the word “fraud” and his own name would be paired in a positive light, said people familiar with the matter.

Some associates questioned the name, but it worked: Negative search results about the bridge loan and Edgetech soon dropped in Google’s rankings, one of the people said.

So there you have it. Comedians have been making fun of Fraud Guarantee nonstop, but there was actually a reason for the name.

Obviously Parnas wasn’t the first genius to figure out that you can juice Google results, but this may have been the dumbest one we’ve ever heard. That is until Peter Thiel starts a company called Young Blood Import-Export.

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source https://www.adinfusion.com/rudy-giulianis-crime-buddy-apparently-named-his-company-fraud-guarantee-to-trick-google-search-results/

AdInfusion Customer Reviews That Were Filtered on Yelp

So when we first started we knew it was important to collect customer reviews. What we didn’t realize was how risky it was to build on a platform we had no control over – one that will turn around and filter your reviews if you don’t pay them for advertising What’s frustrating is how long it takes and how much hard work it takes to get to the point where one of our clients is comfortable enough to leave a review – sometimes it’s 6 months, sometimes not for a year. So even though yelp doesn’t think you should see these, we do! We’re very proud of our work and so are all the people behind the companies we worked for that left these reviews:

 

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source https://www.adinfusion.com/adinfusion-customer-reviews-that-were-filtered-on-yelp/

Attitude Inspires AdInfusion Customers to Pay It Forward

“SEO isn’t just a service, it’s our passion.” Our slogan might sound like a cliche to some, but here at AdInfusion, we know we’re a little nerdy, and we own it. 

Whether we’re doing keyword research like a boss, or expanding our clients’ link-building efforts, we hope our customers can tell how passionate we are about helping them be the best business they can be.

That’s why we’re excited to announce our first review on Clutch.co, a perfect 5 out of 5 stars on an SEO development project! Though we have plenty of case studies of successful projects, Clutch acts as a company resource by independently verifying client reviews, which adds another layer of credibility for our potential customers.\

 

 

In developing our clients’ brands and online presence, our top priority is always to deliver the smartest, most analytics-based options. We are committed to presenting our research and explaining our thought process.

We know digital marketing can be complicated, but we also think that if something is really the best decision for your company, you deserve to know why. 

 

 

 

In our most recent review, our client The Problem Solvers came to us for SEO services and blog writing to help boost their results for specific target keywords.

 

We were able to increase their website’s traffic quickly and dramatically. A big part of our ability to be successful was that we were also able to gain the client’s trust from the beginning of the project by focusing on understanding their industry and goals more deeply than most other service providers are willing to. 

We established efficient workflows based on the confidence we had in each other’s ability to successfully complete project objectives. 

“Because of their skill at SEO and their ability to rapidly understand our industry… they are very easy to work with.” – Owner, The Problem Solvers

Our team of marketing experts has successfully worked with companies in almost every industry, from financial institutions to educational startups.

One of the reasons we’ve been so successful is our partnership with Clutch. Their directories help increase brand presence, encouraging you to increase your audience on their sister sites, The Manifest and Visual Objects. 

Listings on those sites, which feature how-to guides and visual portfolios, can boost your visibility among clients who might be earlier on in the search process and might not otherwise encounter your company. 

If you have a specific digital media project in mind, or just want to increase your incoming leads but aren’t sure where to start, we’re just the agency for you! Contact us today to find out how we can partner with you!

The post Attitude Inspires AdInfusion Customers to Pay It Forward appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/attitude-inspires-adinfusion-customers-to-pay-it-forward/

Google Showing Paywall Content in Featured Snippets.. But Should They?

Someone from the search marketing community tweeted his surprise that Google ranked a paywalled web page in the featured snippets.  Google’s official description of featured snippets precludes content that cannot be clicked through to be read.

But other documentation states that paywalled content is acceptable for Google Search as well as Google News. In addition to requirements for structured data that is missing, it’s unclear if this featured snippet is a mistake or if Google meant to do that.

I personally think paywalled content doesnt belong in @Google SERPs unless they’re marked, but I never realized they can even get featured snippets like this @Salem_Statesman content. pic.twitter.com/HfYu46gjO0

— Scott Hendison (@shendison) October 27, 2019

Honestly for all the work it is to get into a featured snippet, I feel like this is the best attempt to monetize it that I have personally seen

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source https://www.adinfusion.com/google-showing-paywall-content-in-featured-snippets-but-should-they/

Check Out Internet’s ‘Birth Certificate’ From 50 Years Ago Today

Fifty years ago today, on October 29, 1969, the internet was born. It was a humble beginning—a single login from a computer terminal at UCLA in Los Angeles to the Stanford Research Institute (SRI) in the Bay Area. But it was a tiny baby step that would eventually catapult the world into the information age.

Amazingly, we actually have a piece of paper that documents that important moment for the internet, first called the Arpanet because it was a project funded by ARPA. Today you probably know ARPA better by the name DARPA, the government agency that’s working on bleeding edge tech like warfighting robots and brain implants.

The computer terminal operators who were working at UCLA in 1969 kept a detailed logbook of everything that was happening as they set up their network. And in a notebook entry for “29 Oct 69″ we can see a particularly important notation at 22:30 (10:30 pm): “Talked to SRI, Host to Host.”

That sheet of paper, which currently sits at the archives of UCLA, is more or less the internet’s birth certificate—a written record of that moment when the two host computers at UCLA and SRI started communicating.

So hats off to those guys who created the internet all those years back. Without you there’d be no reason for us to be a Sacramento Marketing Agency.

The post Check Out Internet’s ‘Birth Certificate’ From 50 Years Ago Today appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/check-out-internets-birth-certificate-from-50-years-ago-today/

AdInfusion Makes Top 50 List of Best Link Building Services

So I was busy updating our address in some directories we signed up for several years back when I noticed we made the list of TOPSEOS.com’s Best Link Building Services.

They’re an independent authority on Search Vendors that evaluates and ranks the best online marketing companies .

For each category they have 5 areas of evaluation that their research team uses to benchmark and compare featured in their list.

For example for SEO companies they examine the on-page optimization strategy, their off-page optimization strategy, the level of needs analysis performed prior to developing a marketing strategy. They also evaluate the strategy and tools used during keyword analysis, and how the vendors report their progress is also evaluated. They also visit companies at their headquarters – and take into consideration review trends and feedback from customers of the companies. They even take into consideration whether the companies are growing or if they’re downsizing.

They look at thousands of online marketing companies on an annual basis… and these list represents their recommendations of the best based on their research!

Evaluation Criteria: Link Building Companies

 

Assess Existing Links
When we analyze link building companies, we ensure the companies which we recommend have a strategy for assessing the current quality and relevance of links on the client’s currently existing website. Time is also spent understanding the types of software and tools which are used to gather information about external links and internal links in order to automate the link collection process.

 

 

 

Identify Potential Links
For link building services, it is important for us to understand how a vendor identifies relevant and authoritative websites to build links upon. Each of the recommended vendors has a system in place to determine which websites maintain a presence relevant to the industry in which the client operates and which are seen as an authoritative source in both the eyes of the industry and in the eyes of major search engines.

 

 

Analyze Link Quality
An important aspect which we approach with link building companies is their ability to take into consideration the target market of the client. These companies identify the quality of both the existing link profile of the client’s website in addition to the quality of the potential links which can be built linking into key pages. It is also important for link building companies to understand how new links will affect the website’s visibility in search engines as a whole.

Acquire Incoming Links
The processes and strategies which a link building company uses to generate and build links is an in-depth aspect of the evaluation to ensure leaders within the industry retain insights on the best practices and strategies available. We also investigate how each link building prioritizes the building of links based on the importance of the link and the relative value it will bring to the client’s website in terms of search visibility and traffic generation.

In-Depth Reports & Metrics
We understand that buyers of link building services require reports of the activities provided and ensure that the companies we recommend offer their clients an inside look into the efforts and the results achieved during their link building campaigns. Often times the vendors also provide their clients with a future look at other activities which may be of benefit to them from a linking perspective either internally or externally.

So when I started AdInfusion at a computer in my living room, I wasn’t even sure if I was going to even be able to get on the front page for my website’s primary keyword. I didn’t really know where it would take me! After several years of hard work its great seeing us rise the ranks and getting some national attention Looking forward to climbing the list!

The post AdInfusion Makes Top 50 List of Best Link Building Services appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/adinfusion-makes-top-50-list-of-best-link-building-services/

SEO or PPC? When to Buy Traffic and When to Optimize

Let’s say your local business isn’t as popular as you used to be. There’s way more competition and old school tactics you used to rely on just aren’t working well anymore.

Many small businesses are faced with a similar problem of getting found by the right audience — it doesn’t matter how great your product or services are if potential customers can’t find you.

There are two popular search strategies by which organizations solve this problem — Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC). But which method is right for you and your business? Is it better to pursue an organic-first approach and find consumers through search engine rankings, or is it better to invest in an advertisement at the top of a keyword results page?

Here, we explore what each of these two traffic strategies do and shared some descriptive statistics to help you decide whether your business is best suited for PPC or SEO — or both!

SEO VS PPC

SEO — or Search Engine Optimization — can help your content rank higher and longer. Organic content found via search engines is more likely to be clicked on and trusted by audiences, more effective for local searches, and can grow your online presence for longer. PPC — or Pay-Per-Click — on the other hand, requires you to spend ad money to get your content in front of an audience.

What is SEO?

Just as you may go to your favorite search engine to look up a new Sacramento marketing agency or where to get good pizza, so do your customers. By investing in SEO, or search engine optimization, you’re increasing the likelihood of your target audience finding you when they search for things related to your product or service.

It’s important to build a Google presence if you want your organization to succeed, and by increasing your rank among search results you’re improving your online visibility and domain authority. In other words, by building up the content on your site, optimizing for keywords on which to rank, publishing your NAP (name, address, and phone number), and more, Google is more likely to think your site is relevant and push your link higher up on a keyword’s search results page.

 

What is PPC?

PPC, or pay-per-click, is a form of search engine marketing (SEM) where an advertiser pays a publisher (such as Google or Facebook) every time the ad is clicked. This model allows advertisers to only pay when consumers interact with their listing — meaning you attract people who are interested in your offer.

This method is mostly associated with search engines as advertisers bid on search keywords relevant to their target markets. You may have noticed that the top search results are tagged with an “Ad” marker. The higher the keyword search volume, the more advertisers need to pay.

If an organization does not have the domain authority to get their website ranking on search engines organically, PPC can help businesses stay competitive in a crowded market and quickly get in front of their target consumers.

S.E.O. vs. P.P.C. Statistics

SEO

1. Nearly 80% of users ignore paid ads in search results. People tend to prefer organic links more than paid ones, and of the links search users click, about 70% are organic.

2. Search is the #1 driver of traffic to content sites, beating social media by more than 300%. Organic search is one of the most effective marketing channels, often being a consumer’s first point of contact with an organization.

3. SEO drives 30% of traffic, and 20% of revenue. SEO ROI accumulates over time as content creators establish authority and visibility. Prospects often visit a website more than once before filling out a form or making a purchase, so ranking higher for more keywords increases the likelihood of conversions over time.

4. 36.2% of consumers recognize links that are paid advertisements, but don’t click on them. Many search users aren’t able to differentiate between paid ads and organic links — in fact, only half of searchers correctly identify ads. In spite of this, consumers are still preferring the organic links over the PPC ones.

5. 88% of searches for local businesses on a mobile device either call or visit the business within 24 hours. Local SEO has excellent ROI — the number of local searches have increased by 900% in two years, and by optimizing content and web pages for nearby audiences, organizations can see remarkable growth.

6. One in ten blog posts are compounding. This means that organic search increases their traffic over time, and as the number of visitors aggregates, so does the number of conversions. Historical content is a critical part of both SEO and customer acquisition strategy.

7. Organic SEO is about 5.66 times better than paid search ads. HubSpot’s co-founder, Brian Halligan, ardently believes in an organic-first strategy for its longevity and strong conversion performance. According to HubSpot’s inbound marketing philosophy, paid outbound marketing interrupts audiences with outreach they don’t want, whereas organic optimization draws in consumers with content they love.

Ultimately, whichever strategy you choose will depend on your business’s needs, budget, and mission. Oftentimes, organizations will invest in both to see which strategy will help them grow better.

PPC

1. The top 3 paid advertising spots get 46% of the clicks on the page. According to Power Traffick, the top three links on a search engine results page (SERP) capture almost half of all traffic for that keyword. This data supports the PPC method as it involves buying ad space at the top of the SERP.

2. Businesses make, on average, $3 in revenue for every $1.60 they spend on AdWords. PPC is a relatively inexpensive way to experiment, and there is a solid average ROI for investing in paid search ads.

3. More than 615 million devices use Adblock. As a consumer, Adblock is amazing: it stops all those eerily targeted ads from popping up on your Facebook feed. However, as a marketer, it can be frustrating to invest in PPC if huge numbers of your target consumers will never see your ad. Additionally, this number is growing quickly: ad blocking has grown 15-30% in the last four years.

4. PPC Ads can boost awareness by 80%. In spite of ad blockers, PPC is still effective in increasing your brand’s reach and awareness.

5. Google’s algorithm updates don’t affect PPC. While not a stat per se, a big benefit of PPC is that it’s immune to Google’s changing SERP ranking algorithm. In 2018, Google reported that they had updated their algorithm 3,234 times! If you’re using the SEO method, you have to adjust your content optimization to rank better according to the updated algorithm requirements.

6. 63% of people reported that they would click on a Google ad. A high CTR is the goal driving both PPC and SEO, and if the majority of surveyed consumers report that they would click into a paid search ad, it is a compelling statistic for investing in PPC.

7. 75% say it’s easier to find what they’re looking for from paid ads. The reason the first page of search results — especially the few few hits — get the vast majority of clicks is due to the combination of ease of use and finding what the searcher is looking for. Bidding on target keywords through PPC accomplishes both of these needs: the paid ads are easy to find at the top of the SERP and they answer the question of the searcher.

The post SEO or PPC? When to Buy Traffic and When to Optimize appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/seo-or-ppc-when-to-buy-traffic-and-when-to-optimize/

How Keyword Research Makes Your Real Estate Agency’s Website Better

One of the most important factors in a successful digital marketing strategy for a real estate agency is relevant, high-quality content that addresses the questions and concerns of your ideal client.

But how do you determine what questions your potential clients are asking search engines?

You might be surprised to learn that the questions potential clients are asking online are probably the very same ones they are asking of your staff in the office.  However, conducting thorough keyword research can help you in answering even more of the questions your prospective clients are asking–and highly detailed questions at that.

Keyword research can help you build the type of website that compels web visitors to engage digitally with your agency, and provides instant authority and credibility to your realtors.

Here are four ways that keyword research improves your real estate agency’s digital marketing efforts.

1. Keyword Research Can Help You Optimize Your Content For Search Engines

In the early days of SEO, keyword density was the main tool in use to get your website ranking with search engines, but today that method is no longer effective. What this means for you is that you do not have to cram every single variation of your real estate keywords list into the content on your website.

In fact today, if you’re still trying to stuff as many keywords as possible into your website, it could actually be damaging your websites’s rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs).

No one outside of Google’s developers know the details of their complicated search ranking algorithms. But, everyone knows (because Google repeatedly reminds us) that the quality of your content is a very important ranking factor.

If you create top-quality content by addressing searchers concerns, it is highly likely that keywords will occur in natural ways as you write. Writing this way affords your website a much better chance of ranking well in search results when compared to websites that just repeat the same keywords or phrases over and over.

Another added benefit of keyword research is that it challenges you to start thinking about keywords in a different way for your real estate agency.

When you start understanding the value of high-quality content in Google search rankings, along with understanding how people actually conduct searches for information online – your focus will naturally shift from the wrong ways of thinking about keywords (“Which keywords is Google looking for? or How many times do I need to repeat certain keywords?”) to a much better way of thinking about keywords (How do my clients talk about their case or problems?” What information is a potential client looking for?”).

2. Keyword Research Can Help You Determine Engaging Topics For Your Real Estate Agency’s Website and Blog

Comprehensive keyword research will help you determine which topics your potential clients are interested in learning about. This information can help you develop and execute a content strategy that is focused on developing relevant, high-quality content that answers potential clients’ questions.

When you’re analyzing keywords and topics, it’s helpful to know how people actually search for answers online.

People generally utilize a search engine to find answers to complex and specific questions.

For example, a potential client’s search queries about buying a new home might include phrases like:

“how much is my home worth”
“How long does it take to buy a new house”

Your prospective clients might not know they require a real estate agent yet, and they may not know what services one offers. So, don’t limit your analysis to basic keywords like “Sacramento real estate agents.” It is also worth noting that a majority of your potential clients will not be searching in real estate jargon, but in layman’s terms, so aiming your content that direction will attract even more potential clients to your real estate agency’s website.

Thinking about how your potential clients ask questions online can help you produce the kind of engaging, relevant content that is more likely to be a result for their search engine queries. Content that addresses these types of concerns can also catch prospective clients’ attention in search engine results and make them more likely to click through to your real estate agency’s website.

Additionally, by focusing on the needs of your potential clients, the keywords will flow out organically as you are writing.

To learn more about how to figure out the types of questions your prospective clients are asking, see our blog post, “How to Write Content for Your Real Estate Agency’s Website Potential Clients Will Actually Read

3. Keyword research can help you write Client-focused content

Keyword research will also enable you use client-friendly words and phrasing in your content.

Your prospective clients most likely don’t have a real estate background, and they probably wont be searching in realty jargon online.

To continue with the new-home, a potential client may not use the words “real estate” or “property values” in their search engine queries. They may not know what those terms are, or they may use non-realty terms to describe their meaning.

During your keyword research, ask yourself: “Would I use this term if I wasn’t a realtor?” If the answer is no, consider the underlying issue or problem that a prospective client might be trying to solve and the kind of language they might use to describe that problem.

Conducting a few Google searches of your own might prove helpful as well. Search for related terms to your practice area(s). See what Google automatically suggests as potential search terms while you are typing your query. Look at what appears in the “People Also Ask” and “Searches Related To…” sections of Google’s search results. These are helpful gauge of the search terms that clients are actually using to ask questions similar to your practice area(s).

As a result, this can help you build informative content that provides real answers to their questions, using vocabulary they can understand, and are already using to initiate their searches.

Our blog article, “5 Things To Ask Yourself When You Write A Blog Post For Your Real Estate Agency?”offers more tips about writing useful client-centric content.

4. Keyword research can help you focus on what works

Writing client-friendly, high-quality content for your real estate website is the single most effective way to increase the visibility of your website in search engine results (SERPs).

Learning the basics of real estate SEO and how to properly utilize keywords can also help you avoid ineffective and potentially harmful tactics like keyword stuffing that can be detrimental to your website’s rankings.

Let AdInfusion write the content for your Real Estate Agency’s website

AdInfusion makes it simple to write and publish content for your real estate agency’s website.

We understand that some realtors are too busy to write their own content, or they just plain don’t want to, which is why AdInfusion offers content marketing solutions for real estate agencies of any size. Our content experts are well versed in how to use content to drive new clients to your practice, and we have contributed to some of the most successful real estate agents in the state.

AdInfusion writes unique and highly effective content for realtor websites and blogs that considers how your clients search and think. The result is superb content that not only educates potential clients, but compels them to take action.

Contact us today to learn how quality content can boost your real estate agnecies website’s traffic and conversion rates!

The post How Keyword Research Makes Your Real Estate Agency’s Website Better appeared first on AdInfusion.

source https://www.adinfusion.com/keyword-research-makes-real-estate-agencys-website-better/