IGNITE SEARCH WEEKLY WRAP –
24TH FEBRUARY 2021
100% CURATED SEO/ONLINE MARKETING GOODNESS:
HELPFUL STRATEGIES, TIPS & TRICKS:
In this guide, we‘ll provide you with a list of paid and free local business listing directories. We‘ll also discuss the importance of accurate local listings and how Semrush can help.
SEO: Core Web Vitals Not Really Your Problem?
Google is burdening the USERS of software like WordPress and not the developers to fix it for Core Web Vitals. Is that fair?
SEO: How To Do a Competitive Analysis with Semrush (Including Template)
In this guide, we‘re going to break down how to do a competitive analysis with Semrush. We added a competitive analysis template to help you do your own, too!
SEO: 7 Reasons More Website Traffic May Not Be Better For Business
Driving traffic to a site is a fundamental SEO goal, but getting more website traffic may not always be good for the business. Here are some reasons why.
SEO: 18 More SEO Issues That Cause Search Rankings & Traffic to Drop
There are many reasons a site’s search rankings and traffic may drop, from technical on-site issues to off-site SEO. Use this checklist for diagnosis.
SEO: Top four contact page mistakes that cost you conversions
Your website’s contact page is possibly one of the most viewed pages and an integral part of conversions. Tips to navigate contact page mistakes.
SEO: Four common SEO problems with Shopify and how to fix them
Chief Executive of Go Up Ltd, Edward Coram-James shares his advice on overcoming the most commonly cited SEO problems on Shopify.
SEO: A marketer’s guide to Core Web Vitals and page experience
BrightEdge’s Jim Yu gives his CEO perspective on Google’s focus on the user experience and the importance of preparing for Core Web Vitals and the Page Experience Update.
SEO: Google Tag Manager: A GA4 Beginner’s Guide
GTM allows site owners to collect data without needing to rely on a developer for major code or wait for the next app release. Here’s how to use GA4.
SEO: Google Search Console Screenshot Hack
Here is a little trick or hack to get Google Search Console to show you a screenshot of the middle or portion of your page.
SEO: Turning reviews into opportunities for reputation and SEO impact
Consumers are most likely to search for a local business on Google or Yelp and pick a winner based on the reviews and ratings they see online.
Paid: See How Losing Broad Match Modified Will Impact Your Google Ads
How will the retirement of Broad Match Modified keywords affect your Google Ads performance? A former Googler shares his script for measuring the impact.
Paid: Gmail Ads Are Going Away: Everything You Need to Know
As of July 1, 2021, advertisers will not be able to create or edit Gmail campaigns. This post covers the key features that are going away as well as how you can adapt by using Discovery ads.
Content: 6 Email Newsletter Ideas for More Opens, Clicks, and Shares
Turn email newsletter subscribers into people who open, read, and share with these smart ideas from the best newsletters in the businesses
Content: How to Create High-Converting Content
Here are five ways to create engaging content to boost conversions.
Social: 10 Ways Ads End Up in Facebook Jail & How to Avoid It
Want to stay in Facebook’s good graces and keep your ad campaigns on track? Here are 10 things to work through before launching your next campaign.
Social: Instagram Highlights Covers: How to Get More Clicks for Your Stories Highlights
In this article, you’ll discover how to get more people to click on your Instagram highlights.
Social: Increasing Facebook Organic Reach: A Marketer’s Guide
Facebook organic reach isn’t dead. Learn how to harness organic reach the right way in your next Facebook marketing campaign.
Social: Instagram Reels Strategy: What Marketers Need to Know
In this article, you’ll discover a strategy to promote your products and services using Instagram Reels.
Social: How to Reduce Wasteful Facebook Ad Spending
In this article, you’ll learn how to identify ads you should stop spending money on.
Local: Presenting: The Essential Local SEO Strategy Guide
Moz is proud to present you with this free local search guide, jam-packed with actionable local search marketing strategies for your agency or local business.
Local: 7 Local Marketing Measurement Best Practices for Times of Crisis
Local search changes significantly in times of crisis. Learn best practices to measure the success of local marketing during unpredictable events.
Local: Local Business SEO Tips and Tactics
Every small-to-medium-sized business has one goal with local business SEO: to get more leads. This guide will walk through the important tips about Google Map Pack and local organic search results.
KEY INDUSTRY UPDATES:
SEO: WordPress 5.6.2 Update is Largely Successful
WordPress 5.6.2 update safely rolls out with a fix for a bug introduced by the previous update. Publishers are encouraged to update.
SEO: Google Talks About Its Serving Index & Index Shards
In the latest episode of the Search Off The Record podcast with Googlers John Mueller, Gary Illyes, Martin Splitt and this week’s special guest Mariya Moeva – they spoke about Google’s SiteKit and then also about the serving index. Gary gave a summary of how Google’s serving index works.
SEO: Google: Total Number Of Links Is Completely Irrelevant For SEO
John Mueller said that the number of links is “completely irrelevant” and that Google weighs different links differently. He said one link can be way more valuable than thousands of links because Google can ignore links.
SEO: Google: No Search Penalty For Too Many Redirects
Google’s John Mueller confirmed that Google Search does not have a penalty for having too many redirects.
SEO: Google Search Console adds ‘associations’ so you can link with other Google accounts
Google announced a new feature in Search Console named “associations.” Associations lets you connect your Search Console account with other Google accounts, such as YouTube, Google Analytics, Android apps and much more.
Related Articles:
- Google Search Console Updated With New Associations Page
- New Association functionality added to Search Console
- Google Search Console Association Controls Updated
SEO: Google: Focus Less On Individual Pages & More On Category Pages
Google told one site owner, this is specific advice to one specific site owner and not meant to be a generalisation for all sites, that he should not focus on his individual pages but focus more on the category level pages.
SEO: Google Testing Keyword Tags Or Labels In Snippets Again
Google Search snippet test where Google is showing keywords labels or tags above the description and below the title and URL.
SEO: Possible Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool Bug With HTTP/2?
Google may have a bug with the URL inspection tool in Google Search Console specific to websites on HTTP/2. The tool shows a malformed response when it is run on the HTTP/2 server.
SEO: Google Search Console Changes To Web Story Performance Report
Google has made a change to its performance report around reporting on your Web Stories. This change may lead to seeing more impressions and clicks from Google Discover to your web stories.
SEO: WordPress: Bugs Detected in Ninja Forms Plugin, 1M Sites Affected
Four major bugs in the Ninja Forms plugin for WordPress have been detected. Immediate update is recommended.
SEO: Google on SEO Best Practices for News Sites & Short Articles
Google’s John Mueller offers advice for news sites that publish short articles.
SEO: Google’s John Mueller: Total Number of Backlinks Doesn’t Matter
The total number of links pointing to a website is irrelevant to Google, says Search Advocate John Mueller.
SEO: Google Discover Does Not Display All Web Stories
Google Discover has a dedicated web stories carousel, but Search Advocate John Mueller says not all web stories get shown.
SEO: Google May Treat Press Releases Different From Other Content
Google’s John Mueller says press releases may be treated different from other types of content in search results.
SEO: Google Discusses Natural Backlinks
Google’s John Mueller discusses the mindset for achieving natural backlinks
SEO: Google May Provide Method To Block Content From Google Discover
Danny Sullivan from Google said Google is “looking at” providing a mechanism to block pages or subsections of your site from being displayed in Google Discover.
SEO: Google May Discover URLs In Form Action Attributes & Text Files
Google’s John Mueller said Google may discover and index URLs it finds in form action attributes, just like it does when it finds URLs in simple text files. Again, these are not normal HTML hyperlinks but URLs listed in files.
SEO: Google’s Mueller on Migrating to a Previously Parked Domain
Google’s John Mueller offered feedback on an indexing issue specific to changing to a domain that was previously parked.
SEO: Google Hosts Search Central Live, A Free Event on February 24
Google Hosts Search Central Live, A Free Event on February 24
SEO: Google Search Console Changes Core Web Vitals Reporting
Google is making a slight change to how Core Web Vitals are measured and reported on in Search Console.
SEO: Google Passage Based Ranking Causing Minimal Impact So Far
Google’s Danny Sullivan posted on Twitter after I published this story “It finished rolling out on this past Monday, Feb. 15. It is fully rolled out now.
SEO: Google Can Process JavaScript Redirects But Be Concerned About Other Search Engines
Google’s Gary Illyes said that Google Search can process JavaScript redirects but Google still does not recommend using JavaScript redirects because other search engines might not pick up on it.
SEO: Google Search Console Core Web Vitals Boundaries Changed On February 17th
Google made a small change to how it plots the core web vitals data in Google Search Console. The change goes into effect on February 17, 2021 and using less than as a boundary, Google is using less than or equal to.
Related Articles:
SEO: Google: WhoisGuard Does Not Impact SEO & Rankings
Google’s John Mueller said on Reddit “no” WhoisGuard, the NameCheap domain privacy setting, does not impact your SEO or rankings on Google. Google does not care if you use domain privacy settings or not when you register your domain name.
SEO: Google Image Search Tests Explore More Compass Icon
Google Image Search seems to be testing a compass icon in the image search results that trigger a search refinement feature. When you click on it, it takes you to a section to “explore more” images by showing you related searches.
SEO: Wix vs WordPress? Mueller Says Solve Content Issues
Google’s John Mueller suggested content issues are important for small businesses to solve in a discussion of Wix versus WordPress for local SEO
SEO: Google: No SEO Benefit to Audio Versions of Text Posts
Providing an audio recording of a text-based web page does not improve SEO, says Google’s John Mueller.
SEO: Google Search Tests Bubble Header Links Sticking To Top
Looks like Google is testing having those sub-navigation links in search, in the bubble format, stick to the top of the search results as you scroll down. We kind of saw this without the bubble header format in December but here it is with the bubbles.
SEO: WordPress Boots Pirated Themes and Plugins
WordPress issued a statement that pirated themes and plugins are prohibited from being distributed from the official repositories
Paid: Google brings Display ads to attribution reports as an open beta
Google has added Display ads to its Google Ads attribution reporting as an open beta, the company announced Thursday.
Paid: Responsive search ads now the default in Google Ads
Google announced that RSAs will officially become the default ad type for Search campaigns in Google Ads, though expanded text ads can still be created.
Related Articles:
- Responsive Search Ads Are Now Default Type for Google Ads
- Google Ads Responsive Search Ads The New Default Ad Type
Paid: Google to transition to parallel tracking for Video ads by April 30
Google announced that the deadline to adopt parallel tracking for Video ad campaigns is April 30.
Social: LinkedIn Pages Updated With New Features
LinkedIn is launching new features for Pages to help businesses generate more leads and keep employees engaged.
Social: Twitter’s Top 6 Trends to Help Brands Stay Ahead
Twitter lists the top 6 trends brands need to be familiar to stay ahead of what’s happening on the platform.
Social: LinkedIn is Reportedly Creating a Service For Hiring Freelancers
LinkedIn is said to be working on a new service where users can search for and hire freelancers.
Social: YouTube Rolls Out New Video Comparison Tools for Creators
YouTube is adding new tools that will allow creators to compare the performance of their videos over time.
Social: YouTube is Adding New Ways For Creators to Make Money
YouTube announces plans to introduce new monetisation opportunities for creators in the near future.
Social: Facebook Blocks Australian News
Australian news organisations had their posts removed from Facebook in a retaliatory action that also affected unintended pages.
Related Articles:
- Google To Facebook: Australian Publishers Choose To Appear In Google Search
- Facebook unfriends Australia and Maryland passes ad tax; Monday’s daily brief
- Facebook Wins Standoff With Australian Government
- Facebook Wins Standoff With Australian Government
Social: YouTube Shorts Launching in USA in March
YouTube confirms its short-form video format, Shorts, is launching in USA in March 2021.
Social: YouTube Update: See Other Channels Your Audience Watches
An update to YouTube Analytics allows creators to see what other channels their audience watches.
Local: Yelp’s Waitlist, analytics and POS updates aim to address shifting consumer preferences
Yelp has expanded its Waitlist feature to support takeout diners, the company announced Tuesday. The announcement also includes enhanced analytics for multi-location restaurants, and a new Point of Sales (POS) integration and guest profiles that support “personalised and targeted marketing opportunities.”
Local: Google Battles Fraudsters and Vandals as Maps Reaches 970 Million Submissions
Google specifies how they combat content fraud and vandalism, while celebrating the 20 million genuine submissions made every day.
Related Articles:
Local: Google Local Browse Restaurants By Filters
Google is is showing a browse by filter that lets you filter down your restaurant selections by type.
Mobile: Google Mobile-First Indexing Deadline Is Around March 2021
Google’s revised mobile-first indexing deadline is coming up in the next several weeks. Google said it is going 100% into mobile-first indexing. Google moved the deadline from September 2020 to March 2021.
Mobile: Google Tests Displaying Auto Suggestions On Scroll Up
Google is testing displaying and popping up the auto-suggestions auto complete search terms in the search bar when you scroll back up towards the top of the search results.
