Last Week of Digital Marketing News for 2020
(3:48) Request Indexing Tool is Now Back in Google Search Console
Google’s Request Indexing Tool was first disabled on October 14, it’s finally back, albeit 69 days later and well past the holiday shopping season when people needed it. Better late than never?
(6:33) After a Google Algorithm Update, Why do Some Portions of a Site Fluctuate?
According to Google’s John Mueller, the algorithms don’t just look at the big picture of a site, but also look at smaller parts of websites.
(12:18) Google’s SERPs Have an Impact on Consumer Perceptions of Brands
For example, in the PAA (people also ask) section of results, what’s presented there can have a major influence on the initial impression a consumer gets of a brand, and it’s not always good.
We’re joined on the EDGE by Shay Rowbottom, social media influencer on LinkedIn for a second segment of our interview. We talked about the need for authentic content and the concepts of social media narcissism. There’s a perpetuation of false selves in social media and we need to develop the ability to source personal validation away from social media. The super-spreading of social hate is at an all-time high and it is difficult to challenge the tide. Shay shares her positive thoughts on how we can stop the social shame and live life in a positive place given the toxic social media environment we see now.
This week's News Roundup:
Another Google Search Console Feature Disabled: Issue Validation
If you use Issue Validation to tell Google you’ve fixed an issue so they can verify it, the Coverage report is a no-go. New validation requests will not happen until the update is complete.
Schema.org Will Now House the Google Structured Data Testing Tool
When Google said they would ditch their Structured Data Testing Tool in favor of their newer Rich Results Test Tool, the backlash was so strong they had figure out a different approach.
Is Google a Monopoly? Ten State Attorneys General Seem to Think So
Besides claiming Google has forced competitors out of the market, the suit also claims they made some kind of sketchy deal with Facebook to help maintain their dominance.
We’re joined again on the EDGE by Shay Rowbottom, social media influencer on LinkedIn. Shay shares with the EDGE listeners key thoughts about the strength of the LinkedIn audience, why there are so different from every other type of social media audience and how to connect with authenticity. We cover a wide range of techniques of engagement but focus singularly on a very important goal in LinkedIn communication: establishing trust. You can’t fake it and you shouldn’t try to. Give a listen to the first of our two part interview with Shay, Queen of Content Marketing.
Mordy Oberstein joins the rag-tag band of EDGE of the Web in our new weekly digital marketing news delivery!
Today’s Headlines:
(06:53) Biggest Google Core Update of 2020
(15:36) Should Misinformation on Websites Be Penalized by Google?
(26:26) This year has seen a doubling of “available near me” compared to last year
In the second part of our interview with Dixon Jones, we discuss the unique attributes of the InLinks software and how it supports semantic SEO. Dixon discusses the operation of the software for your website in order to associate target topics and provide increased contextual knowledge to search engines.
Dixon Jones rattles off some core concepts of semantic search and what it means to today’s SEO professional. Learn about the history of semantic search, Google’s patent development toward understanding things, not strings. Join us in the first of 2 parts, talking to a leader in the SEO field for over 20 years.
Kristina Azarenko provides us with an insight into the new SEO professional mindset. Specifically, we discuss why it’s important to participate in the SEO community, sharing information and how we have changed our engagement during COVID. How valuable is it to speak with your SEO colleagues? Is there a fear of reprisal if you share insight or observation on social media when you are an SEO professional? Kristina shares some of her journey through her career, and the feedback and challenges she has experienced in SEO.
What are some of the tactics that an SEO should have? Listen to the list of core skills that an SEO should bank on!
Kristina Azarenko joins the EDGE to discuss old SEO techniques and tactics that don’t hold water any more. Some techniques covered: PR bombing, DMOZ, link directories and much more. This is an important show to listen to if you are hiring SEO talent. Listen to the list and make sure they aren’t doing ANY of these bad SEO tactics, on the EDGE.
High levels of Engagement on LinkedIn: 722 Million Members LinkedIn continues to grow by leaps and bounds, as seen in a recent quarterly report from Microsoft, which purchased LinkedIn back in 2016. Many users are looking for work.
The Biggest Loser in the 2020 Election? Social Media There are those who will say social media did too much censoring of Trump’s posts while others will say the platforms don’t do enough to control misinformation. Social media loses either way.
Google Wants to Help Convert Static Website Content into Videos Businesses will be able to easily convert static website content in video assets if Google gets its new URL2Video process right. And everyone knows video content is gets higher engagement.
Got Clarity? Free Website Analytics from Microsoft
Microsoft is calling its new free web analytics tool Clarity, and it’s meant to reveal what users are doing while visiting your site while also respecting their privacy by being GDPR compliant.
Will Apple Leverage Google’s Antitrust Troubles to Launch a Search Engine?
There have been perennial rumors about Apple developing its own search engine. With Google under the antitrust microscope, now might be the time for Apple to make its move.
How Natural Language and Passage Indexing will Impact SEO
Taken together, these recent developments at Google indicate a pretty major evolution in search and what content gets surfaced. Time to retool how you do SEO...again.
Can Site Sections Affect Overall Site Ranking? Google Speaks
Google’s John Mueller noted it depends on the data Google has and can get for the website. Good site architecture that clearly distinguishes sections from one another will help.
Google to Restrict Post-Election Political Ads About Results
Given the huge number absentee and mail-in voting expected in the 2020 election, results won’t be known for days, so Google will not allow for false claims about unsettled election results.
Google Analytics 4 Offers Several New Features
The newest version of Google Analytics features AI-powered predictive insights, can track users across devices, increases granularity of data controls, and deeper integration with Google Ads.
Why Podcasters Need Google Podcasts Manager
This new service from Google includes tools for more actively managing podcasts for Google Search as well as analytics on podcast listeners and new podcaster community forum.
Podcasts Are the New Spoken-Word Channel
In the latest Spoken Word Audio Report, Edison Research documents the continued rise of podcasting as the way people are consuming spoken-word audio, and the stats are impressive!
Updated Google Quality Rater Guidelines Emphasize “Needs Met”
It’s been nearly a year since Google last updated its Quality Rater Guidelines. Changes in the newest version point to meeting user needs as a critical need for SEOs to put time into.
Significant AI Search Changes Impact Many Queries
Announcements from Google to pay attention to include BERT now being used in 100% of all English search queries, the biggest update in five years to handling misspelled words, and passage indexing.
WPBakery Vulnerability Poses Threat to 4.3 Million Sites
The popular WPBakery plugin used in more than 4.3 million WordPress websites could result malicious JavaScript being injected into posts. Update to version 6.4.1 right away!
This week's featured guest is Will Critchlow, CEO of SearchPilot, a company owned by the founders of Distilled. SearchPilot focuses on its SEO A/B testing and meta-CMS technology (previously known as Distilled ODN). We covered a number of things regarding the history of Search and also deep-dived into the development of SearchPilot. After covering the last 15 years of SEO we went into how the machine learning era is going to evolve SEO. You won't want to miss EDGE of the Web episode 371!
Key topics discussed during the show:
More AR and VR Options Coming from Facebook
When Facebook launches its AR Glasses next year, will you be lining up for a pair? There’s more happening in the VR/AR pipeline that you might have thought.
Recovering from a Google Manual Action Takes Time
Depending on what happened and why, recovering from a manual action by Google is going to take some time, and you’ve got to be realistic about what it means for rankings.
Delayed Search Console Reporting Confirmed by Google
Google is communicating with site owners that “longer than usual” delays are occurring with Search Console reporting, but it begs the question on everyone’s mind: Why?
This week's featured guest is Paul Shapiro, founder of Online Geniuses, a Slack Chat-based community for internet marketers. He is a programmer and is very fond of horror movies and board games. In fact, he also operates a board game blog. He was on our show back March 2016, when we first discussed AMP on the show. This episode we discussed all things SEO. Tune-in to learn more about SEO during the EDGE of the Web episode 370.
Key topics discussed during the show:
Online-Only Grocery Stores Experiment by Whole Foods
They call them “dark stores” because they’re not for walk-in customers. Instead, they only fulfill online orders for grocery delivery. Is this the future of supermarket retail?
New Membership Service: Walmart+
Consumer retail juggernaut Walmart’s new membership service comes with an annual or monthly membership fee, includes unlimited shipping, and offers other perks.
Could Call Analytics be Your Missing Link?
Google search ads result in more than 80 million phone calls from consumers to advertising companies. Call analytics might help companies get more from that engagement.
This week we called upon two of our friends, Kirk Williams and Sam Ruchlewicz, to join episode 369 of EDGE of the Web. Kirk is the owner of ZATO, his Paid Search PPC micro-agency of experts, and has been working in Digital Marketing since 2009. Sam is Vice President, Digital Strategist, and Data Analyst at Warschawski. Sam oversees client accounts and is responsible for both the strategic direction and execution of all integrated digital marketing and data analytics initiatives. With the news of Google ads hiding data, we called them in for an emergency episode to discuss what is going on.
Key topics discussed during the show:
Our featured guest on episode 368 of EDGE of the Web is Jeroen Corthout, CEO and co-founder of Salesflare, the intelligent CRM that startups and small businesses love to use. Salesflare’s mission is to automate everything in sales, but the irreplaceable human contact. It gathers this information from emails, email signatures, social profiles, and more. Everything automatically appears in your address book. Jeroen shares his knowledge and some insights on CRMs along with selling during COVID19. You won't want to miss this episode!
Key topics discussed during the show:
Our featured guest on EDGE of the Web episode 367 is Tim Schmoyer, CEO of Video Creators. In 2006, Tim was in graduate school and wanted to introduce his girlfriend to his family across the country, so he uploaded videos to YouTube of them hanging out together. Others started watching, which freaked him out a bit, so he started digging into YouTube to figure out how it worked. In 2011, he became the first creator to start training YouTube creators. Today his company, Video Creators, has been featured by FOX, Forbes, BBC even YouTube themselves. His team has helped their clients organically earn over 17 billion views and 70 million subscribers, but that’s only the beginning as they continue to train creators to master YouTube and change lives. Tune in today to learn how to grow a loyal audience while creating top-notch video content from an expert!
Key topics discussed during the show:
Beta Launch of “Horizon” VR Social Experience by Facebook Horizon is Facebook’s sandbox creation tool for virtual reality experiences, which it wants to broaden while also keeping it social as it enters its next phase of development.
Will Apple Launch a Search Engine to Compete with Google? The signs include Apple hiring more search engineers, making changes to its Spotlight Search mobile engine to bypass Google results, and is beefing up its webcrawling Applebot.
Microsoft and Walmart Team Up in Bid to Acquire TikTok This is a significant move showing how big a deal it is to figure out who is going to take of TikTok in the US. Walmart sees huge e-commerce potential in the acquisition.
Google Unconference: Sold Out!
After seeing its Unconference completely sold out, Google has announced it will offer a virtual Webmaster Conference later this year to keep the momentum going.
After Content is Indexed, Keywords in URLs are Less Important
Tired of twisting yourself in knots about keywords in URLs for the SEO factor? John Mueller of Google notes their impact is minimal once the content of a page has been indexed.
Enhanced News Storytelling Capabilities with Licensed Content
Google is launching a project to enhance news storytelling and pay publishers for high-quality news content. First announced in June, the project will officially launch later this year.