Friday Catch-up aims at providing all important information in the field of online marketing and SEO. Every week, we bring highlights of all significant happenings to you guys and also share some useful information and advice. So here is a brief recap of the fourth week of February.
News and Events
Twitter Opens Doors to API
Advertising and promotion just became easier through Twitter. Previously, marketers had been using the website and its services to promote businesses through Promoted Tweets and Promoted Accounts. Now, the company has announced the launch of a special API designed for advertisers. Marketers can use the tools available through the interface to use Twitter in a more comprehensive way.
Not only will they be able to buy ads on Twitter but also create budgets and schedules for posting ads and banners on the website. The API has been tested by several companies and has found to be delivering the results expected. In fact, Adobe reported that it had been able to reduce the cost per follow using the API. Read more at Marketing Land.
Tracking History on Google Analytics Just Became Easier
Gone are the days when you manually had to keep track of the changes you made to your account settings on Google Analytics. A Change History feature has been introduced which enables you to check the history of the changes to your account made in the past 180 days. Needless to say, this was a much-needed option and the news of its launch has been greeted with much enthusiasm with marketers who manage multiple accounts on Google Analytics. Read more at Marketing Land.
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Facebook Employees Get Hacked
Some Facebook employees had their laptops hacked when they visited a website which was infected. The website was for a mobile developer and it had already been compromised. As a result, the employees got hacked. Fortunately, the breach was spotted quickly and no major damage occurred. However, this is another example of the vulnerability of Java security, as some Twitter accounts have also been hacked recently. Read more at Search Engine Journal.
New Bidding Tools Launched on AdWords
Google AdWords has made the bidding process more comprehensive with the introduction of some new tools. The new interface for bidding highlights the adjustments which are made to the bids after they are made based on various factors. To use the bidding features, you need to change your AdWords campaign to ‘enhanced’. Read more at Search Engine Land.
Google Goes AWOL on Penguin Updates
Google seems to have forgotten all about Penguin. It is understandable that the company has too much on its plate, what with the mobile devices, being the number-one search engine and lawsuits. However, it is surprising that it has been over five months since an update for Penguin was released. Moreover, there has been no refresh to Penguin during that time either. There were some reports that Google was going to make some unannounced updates to Penguin but that turned out to be false. Read more at Search Engine Roundtable.
Useful Posts worth Reading and Bookmarking
Learn How to Use Search Queries to Your Advantage
There is a Search Queries feature in the Google Webmaster Tools you can see. However, most users don’t know how to make the best use of Search Queries and hence struggle to become successful webmasters. Well, that can change if you learn more about how Search Queries work and how they can be used to your advantage. Read more at Google Webmaster Central.
Find Professional Translation Services for YouTube Video Captions
YouTube has a global audience and you can target most of them by having the captions of your videos translated into different languages. A new feature added to YouTube enables you to find a professional translator for translating the captions of your videos. All you need to do is pay the translator and you can select any of the 36 languages available. Now whenever you prompt a caption translation, a list of vendors would be displayed on the screen from which you can select one. Read more at YouTube Creator.
Who Won Between Digg and Reddit
Where Digg failed, Reddit succeeded. Both websites had unique ideas and tremendous 
potential for growth, but both fell to the harmful elements online. However, Digg was never able to recover from the setback and Reddit managed to do that. Reddit listened to its users and learned from the mistakes it made and also the ones made by Digg to recover. It is clear that Reddit has won this battle. Read more at Internet Marketing Ninjas.
Some Great Tips for Long-Form Copywriting
Long-form copywriting suffers from an unjustified taboo. Some websites need to have their copy written in long-form but most writers shudder at the very thought of it. Instead, they opt for short-form copywriting which destroys the purpose entirely. This problem can be taken care of by learning a couple of great tips and tricks for long-form copywriting which will make your job much easier than it is now. Read more at Unbounce.
Creating Content for eCommerce Sites
Most eCommerce websites suffer from the problem of having too many products to offer. As a result, providing quality content for each of them becomes a headache. Fortunately, there are some great tips you can follow to reduce the hassle of creating content for an eCommerce website. In fact, there are no less than five different ways you can do so. Read more at eConsultancy.
How to Use Vine for Marketing
Vine is a new feature introduced by Twitter which enables users to post short videos. Though it attracted controversy when launched, there is no doubting the potential Vine holds for marketing. The key is to using it in the best way possible to increase the sales and conversions. For this, you need to know the dos and don’ts of using Vine for marketing purposes. Read more at Hubspot.
Get More Than One First Page Rank for Your Website
There was a time when the Google search results page was a picture of organization. Only ten results were shown and the number of ads was kept to a minimum. Over time, the results page has become cluttered. While this may make the site less user-friendly, it is possible for a website to have multiple first page ranks. For this, you need to learn the best strategies to employ. Read more at Search Engine Journal.
SEO for Baidu
The billion-strong population of China offers a wide consumer market for businesses to 
target. However, it is impossible to penetrate it online without using the leading search engine in the land, Baidu. Baidu is different than Google so the tactics and techniques you use for optimizing your website on Baidu would be different as well. Therefore, you need to learn the ways in which you can do SEO on Baidu to get your website to the top in China. Read more at Search Engine Journal.
Google Offers Tips for Business Changing Locations on Maps
There have been several issues that have come to the fore when it comes to businesses on Google Maps that change their location. Google had already responded to the queries but now they have offered some advice for the businesses. Following the tips provided by Google, businesses can change locations without facing any trouble on Google Maps. Previously, Google Maps showed the old location of the business as active even though the business was no longer there. Read more at Search Engine Roundtable.
What a #1 Ranking on Google Holds
There is so much value attached to having a #1 ranking on Google. This was true in the days when the user only saw 10 results when doing a search on Google. Those days are far gone and you have to keep up with the times. In this day and age, the relevance of a #1 ranking on Google has changed. The key is to find out the value that the ranking holds at present. The big question is how low can be a #1 ranked website on Google. Read more at SEOmoz.
Videos and Infographics of the Week
All about Twitter Mobile Usage
The use of social media websites for mobile marketing is nothing new. The scope of the medium gives birth to the assumption that Twitter would be the best choice for this purpose, considering the fact that you cannot write more than 140 characters at a time. There is no doubt that the website is great for mobile marketing and if used properly, could boost the sales of a business considerably.
But it is the specific figures and statistics marketers want to learn how effective using Twitter will prove to be for their campaign. In this time when options are various, choosing a social network is a major decision to make. This is why you should learn the basic factors about Twitter mobile usage to decide its potential for promotion and marketing. Check the infographic at eConsultancy.
The Harlem Shake
In this day and age, an internet meme can easily go viral. One of the most popular memes going around the web these days is the Harlem Shake. It has caught on to a wide audience, with people across the globe seeing and sharing it. Predictably, several businesses have tried to capitalize on the hype and growing popularity of the Harlem Shake by using it to promote their products.
And it is not just obscure internet businesses which have come to the fore. Global brands like Red Bull and Pepsi were among the first ones to do so and they have been followed by various others. View more than 20 such examples on eConsultancy.
Businesses Adapt to Mobile Marketing
No one had thought that mobile marketing would catch on in such a big way. The prevalence of handheld devices for internet usage has convinced marketers that using the medium for marketing is a must. Any business that misses out on mobile marketing can lose a significant number of customers. Almost every business is using the method for promotion.
The impact has been so great that businesses are actually adapting themselves to use mobile marketing. You can see a number of ways in which mobile marketing has changed the way businesses are run and marketed. The impact is expected to grow in the future rather than fade into the background. View a detailed infographic to learn how businesses adapt to mobile marketing at Kissmetrics.
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