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Articles by David Rosam
How to implement semantic markup using Google Tag Manager
Structured data is, at this point, a core SEO tactic. Not only does it remove a layer of ambiguity for search engines (they don’t have to infer what a piece of data is; you’re telling them outright), it’s also the engine that drives rich results, which are taking up an increasing amount of real estate in the SERPs. The advent of voice-enabled search is making structured data an even more important part of the search marketer’s toolset.
Five most interesting search marketing news stories of the week
Welcome to our weekly round-up of all the latest news and research from the world of search marketing and beyond. This week, we follow up on the launch of Google’s new ad label to ask how it will impact marketers, and look at attempts by Google’s tech incubator Jigsaw to clean up language on the internet. Plus, a new study has revealed that 63% of top-ranking websites use keywords in their URL, and Bing has a new function that allows you to filter restaurants by Pokéstop.
Test-driving Pinterest Lens: How does Pinterest’s new visual search tool stack up?
Pinterest has released its visual discovery tool, Lens, to all Android and iPhone users in the US. As part of Pinterest’s strategy to capture some of the lucrative search market by mastering visual search, this is a significant move and is one that will undoubtedly extend beyond the US soon. Within the last year, Pinterest has launched a range of new search and e-commerce products, including their paid search partnership with Kenshoo, Shop the Look, and Instant Ideas.
How to master copywriting for SEO
In 2018, you need to understand copywriting and SEO – and a whole lot more – to write content that will rank well and return a great ROI. If you have a head for marketing, UX and research, too, you’ll be in a commanding position. As our discipline evolves in response to a changing search engine landscape, demarcation lines become blurred, and it’s been difficult not to venture into featured snippets, schema and other on-page aspects of SEO.
Google’s updated SERP snippet length: What should be your SEO strategy now?
On December 1st, 2017, Barry Schwartz reported on Search Engine Land that Google had officially confirmed a change to how it displays text snippets in Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs). Barry wrote, “A Google spokesperson told us: ‘We recently made a change to provide more descriptive and useful snippets, to help people better understand how pages are relevant to their searches.
CES 2018: Google ramps up Assistant with smart displays, native podcasts, recipes and news
Amazon Echo and its voice assistant, Alexa, might be the current market leaders in voice-activated smart technology, but recent announcements from the 2018 Consumer Electronics Show have shown that Google fully intends to challenge Amazon for that crown. The past few days have seen some big developments – and a couple of even bigger teasers – for the future of Google’s smart assistant, the imaginatively-named Assistant.
How to get mobile SEO for voice search right
Voice search and mobile usage are both on the rise and look set to shape the SEO industry for some time to come. Nonetheless, 62% of marketers have no specific plans for voice search in 2018. How can marketers take action today to tap into two of the most important trends in the industry? As mobile usage continues to grow, more and more users are comfortable with speaking to their devices rather than typing their queries.
Best of 2017: Our top 5 articles in SEO
As we come to the end of 2017, we’ve decided to take a look back at some of our most-read articles throughout the year. For the rest of this week, we’ll be highlighting the top five most popular articles in various categories across the site. First up is, of course, the bread and butter of Search Engine Watch: SEO.
How to highlight search opportunity and create a keyword difficulty metric
One key element of a search strategy we often see fail is prioritization. Whether working client-side or for an agency, being able to prioritize a link-building campaign, a content refresh or a technical fix on a site is essential to ensure you are making the most use of the limited resources you are given.
How to hire the right SEO agency
Organic search accounts for 51% of the traffic brands receive on average, and investment in SEO services is projected to rise to $79 billion annually by 2020. To capitalize on so much opportunity, brands often partner with an SEO agency to add firepower to their existing marketing efforts. However, with so many agencies all promising so much, how can brands ensure they select the right SEO company?
Black Friday SEO: Last-minute tips for the holiday season
Black Friday kicks off a shopping season that lasts through Christmas each year, with online retailers vying for the profitable attention of consumers. With spending expected to rise by 47% this year, competition will be fierce. SEO can make a significant ecommerce contribution; some final tweaks can make the difference between rising to the top of results and languishing at the bottom of page one.
What is HTTP/2 and how does it benefit SEO?
The HTTP/2 protocol was published in 2015 with the aim of creating a faster, more secure Internet. Adoption has been gradual and is ongoing, but there are clear benefits for marketers who make the upgrade. So what exactly is HTTP/2 and how does it affect SEO? The variety and quantities of information transferred on the Internet have changed dramatically in the past decade.
Amazon SEO: A guide to improving your rankings on Amazon
Did you know that 55% of online shoppers turn to Amazon to begin product searches? “Amazon has become the reference point for shoppers,” Jason Seeba, head of marketing for BloomReach told Bloomberg Tech. “Shoppers will go to Amazon first to find a product and check prices.” If you are looking for a launching pad for your products that your target audience likes and finds useful, Amazon is it.
How does Bing’s voice search compare to Google’s?
Google remains the dominant player in search marketing, but the industry is changing very rapidly and the old certainties may erode. Does voice search provide a platform for Microsoft to compete? A study earlier this year revealed that Microsoft’s speech recognition technology demonstrated only a 5.1 percent word error rate in Switchboard, a conversational speech recognition task.
Google Search Console: What the latest updates mean for marketers
Update: The new version of Google Search Console has launched! Click through to read our analysis of the new features. Google Search Console has long been a go-to platform for SEOs on a daily basis. It provides invaluable insight into how people are finding our websites, but also allows us to monitor and resolve any issues Google is having in accessing our content. Originally known as Google Webmaster Tools, Search Console has benefited from some significant upgrades over the past decade.
The 15 best Google Chrome extensions for SEO
Google Chrome has taken a dominant position as the world’s favorite desktop browser, with almost 60% market share and rising. Its central role among Google’s vast suite of digital software and hardware has driven this growth, but users also love how customizable the browser is. It can be dauntingly customizable, in fact. With tens of thousands of extensions available, finding the few that will aid you on a daily basis is an all-consuming endeavor.
Mobile SEO: The 3 areas that really matter for SEO performance
With the upcoming launch of Google’s mobile-first index, digital marketers are preparing for a proliferation of “micro-moments”. There has been a lot of noise around this seemingly seismic shift, but this trend was set in motion years ago and we have plenty of data to hand on what makes or breaks a mobile SEO campaign. Undoubtedly, mobile SEO is distinct from its desktop counterpart in significant – sometimes very subtle – ways.
Should Google be more transparent with its updates?
It might seem hard to recall now, but there was a time when Google would regularly announce updates to its ranking algorithms, confirming what they were and how they would affect websites. During these halcyon days, information about Google ranking updates was generally delivered via Google engineer and head of Google’s Webspam Team Matt Cutts, who was to many marketers the public face of Google.
The State of Schema.org: What are the biggest challenges surrounding Schema markup?
Using Schema.org markup, a form of structured data which helps search engines to interpret your webpages, is widely agreed to be beneficial from an SEO standpoint. While it may not correlate directly to an increase in ranking, using Schema.org markup allows search engines to pull through rich snippets and rich data like images, reviews and opening hours, making your site appear more attractive on the SERP and thereby increasing click-through.
Google adds rich results for podcasts to SERPs
On its Developers blog, Google stealthily launched some new guidelines for structured data to bring rich results for podcasts to search results. To date, this is only available via Google Home or the Google Search app v6.5 or higher on Android devices, but support for Chrome on Android is coming soon.
A visual history of Google SERPs: 1996 to 2017
Over the past 20 years, Google has revolutionized how we source information, how we buy products, and how advertisers sell those products to us. And yet, one fact remains stubbornly true: the shop-front for brands on Google is still the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). The original lists of static results, comprised of what we nostalgically term ‘10 blue links’, have evolved into multi-media, cross-device, highly-personalized interfaces that can even adapt as we speak to them.
Can Google get users on board with “shortcuts in search”?
Google announced yesterday the launch of “shortcuts in search”, which will allow Android users (only in the US, for now) to access quick answers on a range of topics with the touch of a button. Fittingly, Google has termed these “tappable shortcuts” and they will lead searchers to instantaneous information on dozens of topics, including sports, restaurants, local amenities, and entertainment.
How will Google’s new ‘Ad’ label impact marketers?
Google started testing a new ‘Ad’ label in January this year, and late last week it was confirmed that this will now be rolled out globally. This white label with green text and a green outline will replace the green label that was launched in June 2016. The instant reaction to this is that the new labels fit in quite seamlessly with the rest of the paid placement, perhaps creating less of a contrast between them and their organic counterparts.
How do the recent updates to Google Data Studio benefit marketers?
In a slew of recent posts on their Analytics blog, Google has announced the removal of the 5 report limit in Data Studio in the US, integration with Search Console, and most recently, enhanced support for AdWords MCC accounts. So what is Data Studio, why has Google focused so much attention on improving it, and what benefits does it provide for marketers? Data Studio: A brief recap Data Studio was launched in beta as part of Google’s Analytics 360 suite in May 2016.
Nine mobile trends to help you stand out in 2017 and beyond
The way we ask for information is changing. The way we optimise must change too. Mobile use overtook desktop use in 2010. Mobile search on Google overtook desktop search only 18 months ago, in May 2015. How can we keep up with this fast paced device to stay ahead of the game tomorrow?
Three reasons you might not need Google AMP after all
Mobile devices currently account for more than half of all internet use on a global level, and yet, many websites are still not mobile-friendly. Even those that are designed to look good on smaller screens still run the risk of loading slowly as a result of poor image optimization or heavy reliance on JavaScript and other large files.
Publishers are struggling with AMP page monetization
Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative has gained significant traction in the past 12 months, and high-profile publishers such as The New York Times, Wall Street Journal and Hearst are among the many companies that have adopted AMP.
12 Trends Search Marketers Can’t Ignore in Content Marketing
These days having an online presence is a necessity for businesses. Ninety-three percent 93% of online research begins with search engines, and 68 percent of potential customers research businesses using social media before making a purchasing decision. Content marketing is a critical part of this online presence, as 93 percent of B2B companies use it to build their brand and create demand. In fact, B2B companies that blog regularly generate 67 percent more leads.
4 Amazing Things You Simply Must Know About Sensational Headlines
An often overlooked but critical part of content marketing is the headline. The best content with a boring headline that does a poor job of giving the reader a reason to click has failed. Studies have shown that up to 80 percent of readers never make it past the headline, making it at least as important as the content itself.
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