Hey there everyone. These days seem to be passing by so quickly. This Friday kind of snuck up on us to be honest. Not that we mind it, the quicker the Fridays the better. As Halloween decoration has already started popping up in supermarkets, we’re not sure if time really is moving too fast or we are.
Google has been making some big changes to AdWords much to the displeasure or rather, fear of marketers everywhere. What is surprising however that these past few months have in fact brought updates that aren’t quite as bad as marketers tend to anticipate.
NEWS
Call Conversions in AdWords to Be Tracked
A new conversion type was launched for advertisers where they will now have the ability to track conversion calls. This refers to any phone calls made top companies after visiting a particular site. Once user clicks on an AdWords advertisement a code snippet adds a Google Forwarding number to it. If the number is then contacted by the user, it is tracked and then den delivered to advertisers. Read more at Search Engine Land.
Close Variant Keyword Matching in AdWords
Yet another new update in AdWords this week was that of close variant keyword matching. This means that apart from exact words and phrases matching to deliver company results, they will also b looking at closer variants of particular terms to deliver results. This was kept in mind considering that 7% of user queries contain a spelling or grammatical error. In addition, Google will also be accommodating abbreviations into the mix. Read more at Search Engine Watch.
Build Editing Tools
This is perhaps the best update of all this week, as some of the drudge work from creating AdWords advertisements has been removed. This new update will not only filter campaigns by location but will also update multiple campaigns in one fell swoop. Other settings such as language, dates, campaigns, and advertisement rotation can also be handled through bulk alterations. Read more at Search Engine Land.
TIPS & TRICKS
Exact and Phrase Match Keywords Gone
Now that exact words and phrases match keywords have been eliminated, what remains to be seen is how marketers are going to be affected by this move. While this was a rather prominent feature in AdWords, it was perhaps not the one marketers quite cared about. In fact, Google revealed that only 7% of users made use of exact phrase match and resulted in click throughs. Close Variant keywords which will be taking its place will in fact take into consideration factors such as singulars, plurals, acronyms, accents, abbreviations, and misspellings. Read more at Search Engine Watch.
Curating Content
When searching for content, you are constantly at risk of falling into the void never to return. The trick is to know where great content lurks when it is released into the wild. One way to do so is to use software such as Hoot Suite Syndicator. In addition, you can frequent locations where quality content is known to be shared such as Slideshare, and Buzzsumo. Another suggestion is to make sure to read the content before you are about to share it. This will make sure that it provides value. Read more at Hoot suite.
Oli Gardner Of Unbounce Shares All
User Testing just managed to get a hold of Oli Gardner and asked all the questions we were dying to know about landing pages, conversion rates, and page designs. Regarding forms he suggested that the value that the user receives at the end of filling out information should equal to the effort that needs to be put into form completion. In addition, he also suggested that the CTA should be kept below the fold according to the AIDA storytelling concept. Read the entire interview here.
The Ultimate Blogging Checklist
Whether you’re a blogging connoisseur or a newbie just starting out, you will want to generate leads from your blogging efforts. However, considering the many elements that go into a blog, chances are you’re missing out on a crucial element and don’t even know it. This is why we absolutely love the checklist by Henneke Duistermaat which delivers all crucial areas that bloggers need to keep an eye on. The checklist includes, target market research, user integration, creation of landing pages, how-to starter guides and consistent content updates. Read more at Unbounce.
Doubling Email Lists in a Single Month
The folks over at Buffer App just managed to double their subscribers in less than a month. What we love is the fact that they decided to share this exciting new secret with everyone on the internet. According to them, increasing the number of subscribers is directly proportional to the ease of registration the easier it is to sign up the more people will register onto the mailing list. In addition they also increased the number of sources on which users could sign up along with an increase in CTAs. Read the entire article at Buffer Blog
Picking Contest Winners on Facebook
As facebook makes it easier to create promotions on the social media site in its newly updated terms and conditions, page owners can now freely run promotions and contests on their pages. The method of selecting a winner from the crowds however hasn’t yet been standardized. While winners can be picked at random, the recurrent nature of entries on facebook doesn’t really make it a viable option. one way of selecting winner is to create categories and choose a inner from individuals who liked a certain page post, one from those that commented, one that did both and ultimately the comment that received the most likes. The Good Luck Fairy Solution is a site which allows you to sift through all of these within one second simply by pasting the URL into it. Read more at Social Fresh.
Coming Up With a Unique New Content Idea
On the internet, it may seem that everything under the sun has already been talked about and finding new content now rite about is simply impossible. Ann Smarty however doesn’t quite agree. She suggests that sometimes putting a new spin on an old subject might just be the refreshing take everyone was waiting for. For those with writers block or creative barriers, it is advisable to search for help and even make use of some idea generators. If you’re a writer, then you will already have unfinished content lying around everywhere that you abandoned for the next idea that came along or when you just couldn’t think of anything further to write. Revisit them and complete the ideas. Read more at Internet Marketing Ninjas.
Using LinkedIn Publishing
LinkedIn first introduced the influencer program 2 years ago and invited business owners and professionals to share the vast knowledge they had gained over the years. The LinkedIn publishing platform since then has morphed into a powerful tool for content creation and promotion that is incredibly simple to use. All you have to do is simply click on the ‘Share an Update’ button and start writing. This great tool can be used for thought leadership and collect blogs. Another way to use it would be to crate blog posts for LinkedIn from scratch. Read more at Hoot Suite.
Businesses under $5000
If you’ve been looking for ways to become your own boss but just can’t quite put a finger in what to do, then this list by Cheryl Kimball will be a Godsend. For those of us who have limited investments yet want to start working on our own, some of these ideas are a simple stroke of genius. The suggestions include bicycle repair, boat cleaning, computer repair, event management, home inspector, interior decorator and many more. Read more of the list at Entrepreneur.
Webmaster Tools become much more interesting
When it comes to link removal, what webmasters can do is ask the party in question to stop linking or simply disavow them. What most people don’t realize however is that the Google Webmaster Tool has many more tricks up its sleeve than people realize. The misconception that it can only be used as a final check over missed elements was debunked by Robert Fisher who found that the WMT could be sued to catch sites that were blocking tools. Read more at Moz.
GUIDES & PRESENTATIONS
The Principles of Site Design
Google Developers just unveiled an encyclopedia of site design principles which is a must read for those involved in the industry. The extensive study was based on research which examined how users were integrating with mobile sites of varying styles. Responsiveness of course came out on top and it was found that users don’t quite like the pinch to zoom function. In addition, all CTA must be kept short and centered and the return button should always be at hand. Read more at Google Developers.
The Best Social Media SlideShare of 2014
SlideShare is an amazing resource of information. Add to that an amazing community which contributes meaningful data and SlideShare is the got-to location for researchers. With the good whoever comes the bad. Sifting through multitudes of slides until you find the right one whoever can become quite a challenge. When it comes to social media SlideShare has amazing presentations for users to peruse through some of them include, “the best times to update on social media”, “6 Questions that Drive Social media Strategy” and “The Art of the Perfect Post”. Read more at Buffer Social.
The Facebook Retail Advertising Guide
As facebook continues its efforts towards becoming a marketplace for its users, we see constant updates and changes that bring it closer step by step. One such step is the retail guide for marketers which will help them understand users better. Some statistics included in the guide stated that facebook users checked the social media site on average about 14 times a day. 45% of individuals that were reached through ads were done through facebook. The guide also revealed that facebook delivered 8 times the return on ad spend. View the guide on Inside Facebook.
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