Ignite Search Weekly Wrap – 21st March 2018
100% Curated SEO/Online Marketing Goodness
Key Industry Updates:
SEO: Google search results page displays answer without any search results
Who needs the ten blue links when you have the answer? Google is hiding the organic listings from some search results, showing answers without any additional search results for some queries.
SEO: Google Search Console Alerts For Switching To Mobile-First Index
Google’s John Mueller said on stage this morning at SMX Munich that Google Search Console will send FYIs to those sites that have been moved from the desktop-first index to the mobile-first index.
SEO: Google News Initiative kicks off with Subscribe With Google, other efforts
Google’s plans to help support publishers’ subscription businesses came into clearer focus on Tuesday at an event in New York City.
The company is launching a wider framework for working with publishers, called the Google News Initiative.
SEO: Report: EU to ask Google, others to publicly reveal ranking factors
The European Commission has proposed new rules that will require search engines, commerce sites and online platforms to explain how they rank results and to reveal why companies are penalized or removed from listings or results.
SEO: Google says it removed more than 3.2 billion bad ads in 2017
The number of ads Google took down last year for advertising policy violations nearly doubled from 2016, and cryptocurrency ads will soon join the list of forbidden ad types.
SEO: Google Search Console updates visual reporting features
Google announced some updates to the new Google Search Console on Monday. Specifically, Google said it has made visual upgrades to the reports and user interface within Search Console.
In its answer to Amazon, Google’s new umbrella program will extend existing relationships with retailers and enable universal checkout across platforms and devices.
Local Search: New Google My Business dashboard for multiple listings rolling out
Google is now slowly rolling out the new Google My Business dashboard that it announced back in November 2017. More business owners are reporting that they are seeing the new Google My Business dashboard. Are you seeing it?
Local Search: Google adding business descriptions in Google My Business & local panel
Business owners will likely soon have the option to write and edit descriptions that show up in Google’s local knowledge panel.
Local Search: Google My Business updates the directions heatmap in Insights reporting
Google My Business has updated the Insights analytics tool within Google My Business to let business owners see a heatmap of locations from which searchers request directions to their businesses.
Social: Training Day: The Journey, Episode 21
The Journey, a Social Media Examiner production, is an episodic video documentary that shows you what really happens inside a growing business. Episode 21 of The Journey follows Michael Stelzner, founder of Social Media Examiner, as he continues to pursue what many will see as an impossible goal: to grow his company’s customer base by more than 62% year over year.
In this episode, Mike and his team get trained for Social Media Marketing World 2018 and prep the convention center for the thousands of attendees.
Social: Google expanding YouTube Director onsite video ad service to more than 170 cities
Originally offered in only six cities when it launched last year, YouTube’s video ad creation service will now be available to many more businesses.
Helpful Strategies, Tips & Tricks:
SEO: 4 concrete ways to use images to build links
Every picture tells a story, but a picture also may help you build links. In this article contributor Pratik Dholakiya shares four solid ways to use images to attract links.
SEO: Stop! Think twice before using nofollow on your website
Using page-level nofollow attributes? Just stop, says article contributor Patrick Stox. Instead, use nofollow on specific links if you have to use them at all.
SEO: How to Use Google Trends for Keyword Research: 7 Effective Ways
I’m sure that if you’ve ever done keyword research, you used Google Trends to check the interest in a given keyword. But many SEOs never utilize the full potential of this fantastic tool. In this post, we’ll cover a few cool ways to use Google Trends to help with your keyword research and сontent marketing strategy.
SEO: Pagination & SEO: Best Practices
Paginated archives have long been a topic of discussion in the SEO community. Over time, best practices for optimization have evolved, and we now have pretty clear definitions. This post explains what these best practices are.
SEO: User-Friendly Links Are The Future of SEO
This article will talk about why user-friendly links are the future of SEO and link building.
Paid Search: Google Ad Grants changes and your PPC strategy: Where to go from here
Is your nonprofit organization involved with the Google Ad Grants Program? Contributor Pauline Jakober shows how you can benefit from the recent ad changes with a few creative tips and workarounds.
Paid Search: Understanding campaign performance: Answers to common conversion tracking questions
In this article contributor Frederick Vallaeys suggests answering clients’ questions about AdWords quickly and authoritatively will make you shine like a PPC rockstar. In preparation to answer these questions, this article provides answers to these common conversion tracking questions.
Conversions: Words That Convert: Test, Learn, Repeat
If you had a magic lamp for your content marketing, what would you wish for? More e-book downloads? More subscribers? More customers? Whatever you wish for, chances are, it amounts to boosting the conversion rate at some stage of the marketing funnel, ultimately resulting in more profitable customer action. That’s why it’s so important to continuously test and tweak your words.
Content: Road Map to Success: Creating the Content of Your Audience’s Dreams
Ready to discover the secrets of producing well-conceived, well-written stories? Read on for a handy tutorial on the essentials, along with resources that can help take your content creation to greater levels of success.
Content: 5 Creative Ways to Find Things to Write About
Many content marketers rightfully dread the content ideation process, especially those of us who write for well-established blogs with frequent publication schedules in competitive verticals. Running out of ideas is Not An Option, so what do we do? In this article we’ll examine 5 ways to find things to write about.
Social: How to Build a Facebook Ad Funnel
Do you want more conversions from your Facebook ads? Wondering how funnels can help? To explore how you can build Facebook ad funnels that improve conversions, the Social Media Examiner interview Susan Wenograd, a Facebook ads expert who specializes in Facebook ad funnels.
Social: How to Create a Facebook Ad That Works With WhatsApp Business
Do your prospects and customers prefer WhatsApp to Messenger? Wondering how to create a Facebook ad that integrates with WhatsApp Business? In this article, you’ll discover how to set up a WhatsApp Business account and use Facebook ads to let WhatsApp users call or message your customer support team with a single click.
Read Our Blog Post on: How to Get Online Reviews and Manage Negative (or Fake!) Reviews
