IGNITE SEARCH WEEKLY WRAP –
3RD MARCH 2021
100% CURATED SEO/ONLINE MARKETING GOODNESS:
HELPFUL STRATEGIES, TIPS & TRICKS:
Read this in-depth guide and learn a step-by-step process for creating a comprehensive technical SEO audits for your clients.
SEO: Why Guest Blogging Is the Worst Link Building Strategy
Guest blogging has been used for ages to build links. But truth be told, it’s the worst link-building strategy you could come up with.
SEO: How to Diagnose Page Ranking Declines: Ask An SEO
Even the most experienced SEO professionals can struggle to diagnose declines in a website’s rank and traffic. Here are a few factors to check out.
SEO: The Potential Impact of Gen Z on SEO
Gen Z (or Zoomers, if you prefer) already makes up the largest generational cohort of America’s population. How do they interact with search, and what does that mean for the future of SEO?
SEO: How To Perform a Technical SEO Audit in 15 Steps
Technical issues can really hinder a website. In this guide, we‘ll go over how to do a technical SEO audit and give you tips on how Semrush Site Audit can help.
SEO: What Are Rich Snippets (How Do You Get Them)?
Rich snippets are the extra information that can appear on a search listing below the meta title or description, such as reviews or recipes. Learn what rich snippets are and how to get them.
SEO: Organic Keywords: SEO for Beginners
Organic keywords can help drive more traffic to your website for free. This guide explains how to find effective search terms.
SEO: Shopify SEO – How to Optimize Your Shopify Site for Google
Your Shopify SEO strategy can have a big impact on your ecommerce sales. Learn the best strategies to influence your search ranking from SEO insiders.
SEO: 3 SEO Lessons From The New York Times & CNN on How to Rank #1
Top news sites keep their content front and center with optimisation strategies. Learn some of the best SEO practices and how to implement them.
SEO: Core Web Vitals Challenge: WordPress vs Everyone
Real-world data is used to select which CMS is the Core Web Vitals Champion. WordPress versus Joomla, Drupal, Squarespace and Wix
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SEO: The Panda anniversary and what we desperately must remember about search
Celebrating 10 years of Google’s web quality algorithm Panda and its legacy which still casts a shadow over an SEO industry begging for change.
SEO: 4 Ways Call Tracking Is Changing (And Why This Is a Good Thing)
Call tracking is no longer just an attribution tool. CallRail explains why its evolution is crucial for optimising your marketing mix.
Paid: 8 Must-Know Microsoft Ads Tips to Get More Clicks and Conversions
Looking to get more clicks and conversions on your Microsoft ads? From pre-qualifying your prospects to price extensions, this post covers 8 Microsoft ads optimisations to help you ensure you get the most of your budget.
Paid: How To Use Facebook Messenger Ads To Grow Your Network
In this article, we’ll go through several ways to grow your network using Facebook Messenger Ads.
Paid: 4 Best YouTube Retargeting Strategies that Work in 2021
In this article, you’ll learn 4 effective retargeting strategies for you YouTube.
Paid: How to best utilize the networks within Google AdWords
Google is rolling out new features, so it is important to understand the basics about account set up when targeting your audience in Google AdWords.
Paid: Three critical PPC trends to watch for in 2021
In 2021, advertisers and marketers will witness a new set of PPC trends that will generate more leads and conversions. Here are 3 of them to incorporate.
Paid: Facebook, Microsoft & Google Ads Compared
How do sentiment, landing page quality, and increasing ad spend impact PPC performance? Cambridge University compares Facebook, Microsoft & Google Ads.
Content: Write Like You Talk: 12 Tips for Conversational Content
Conversational writing is the antidote to monotone content. That said, let’s talk
Content: Unlock actionable tactics to craft compelling content
Join us online at SMX Create, April 13, to learn how amazing content can drive awareness, traffic, conversions, and sales.
Content: How to Build a Vibrant Online Community [Examples]
Smart brands work hard to create online communities. The pandemic just made them more important
Content: 3 Top Skills SEO Content Writers Need to Succeed
It takes more than just great writing chops to create search-optimised content. Here are the top SEO content writing skills it takes to succeed.
Social: LinkedIn Messages: What Marketers Need to Know
In this article, you’ll discover how to use LinkedIn Messages to deliver text, video, and voice messaging to individuals or groups on LinkedIn, and how to manage your LinkedIn Messages inbox.
Social: How to Create a DIY Studio to Improve Your Brand Photography
Taking beautiful photos of your products doesn’t require a camera or expensive studio. Learn how to set up a studio and take product shots with your phone.
Social: The 2021 YouTube Updates You Need to Know About
Learn more about the latest YouTube updates in 2021. Find out more information about new YouTube features and gain influence on this social network.
Social: Content Marketing With Instagram: How to Build Demand
In this article, you’ll discover how to use Instagram content to generate greater interest in your product or services.
Social: 12 of the Best Tools to Monitor Your Online Reputation
Keeping track of what people say about your brand online is beneficial. Read about 12 tools that can help you monitor your online reputation.
Local: How to Delete or Merge Duplicate Google My Business Listings
Google My Business is critical for local search visibility. Read on to learn how to delete or merge duplicate GMB listings.
Local: 8 New & Updated Google My Business Features for Local SEO
Make sure you’re taking advantage of these recently released Google My Business features and attributes to improve your local search presence.
KEY INDUSTRY UPDATES:
SEO: Google Sites Stopped Generating XML Sitemap Files
Google Sites over a decade, almost 15 years, has automatically generated XML sitemap files to be used for Google Search Console. Well, that is no longer the case. Google has removed the Google Sites sitemaps details from the documentation. If you’ve used Google Sites to create and verify a site, Google Sites will automatically generate a sitemap for you. You cannot modify the sitemap, but you can submit it to Google if you want to read the sitemap report data. Note that your sitemap might not be displayed properly if you have more than 1,000 pages in a single sub-directory.
SEO: Google Tests Bell Icon To Follow Updates On Medical Knowledge Panels
Google is testing showing a bell icon and testing this on medical knowledge panels.
SEO: Google Chrome To Support Scroll To Text Links With Images & Videos
Google’s Chrome Developers announced the team that brought you text fragments links is working on extending the format to images.
SEO: Google See Results That Mention Filter On Left Side Panel
Google testing a search refinement feature named “see results that mention” on the right side bar. But now, Google is testing it on the left side.
SEO: Google: Internal Linking Gives Google A Sense Of Page Level Importance
John Mueller said that Google doesn’t really look at the XML sitemap priority field. So instead, you really need to communicate which pages are more important to you through your internal linking. The more you link from your more important pages to other pages, the more Google will understand that the pages you are linking to on your website are important.
SEO: Google’s John Mueller on Troubleshooting Rich Results
Figure out why structured data is not generating rich results with these troubleshooting tips from Google.
SEO: Google: Fine if 30-40% of URLs in Search Console Are 404s
404 errors are a normal part of web crawling, Google says, and may even amount to 40% of a site’s URLs in Search Console.
SEO: Google On Expected Impact of Core Web Vitals Update
Google explains what to expect when Core Web Vitals become a ranking signal
SEO: Mueller Discusses Site Traffic and Core Web Vitals
Core Web Vitals scores are calculated from actual traffic. Google answers if site traffic influences the scoring
SEO: Google Says Word Count Not a Quality Factor
John Mueller affirmed that the number of words in an article is not a quality factor that Google considers.
SEO: Google: URL Structure Matters For International Sites & Adult Content
Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter that the place where your URL structure matters most is likely with international websites and sites that have sections of adult oriented content. It will help Google figure out the site better and know how to segment or filter elements if you have the proper URL structure.
SEO: Pass Google PageRank To Mailto Or Telephone Links – Nah
John Muller said that Google only follows links between canonical URLs and in mailto and tel links, there is no real canonical set.
SEO: Google Tests Playing Videos As Overlays In Search
Google Search for many queries and search result pages shows a video box that takes searchers to videos mostly on YouTube but other platforms as well. Now, Google is testing playing those videos directly in the search results page and not taking you to YouTube.com or the site the video is hosted on.
SEO: Google Audio Search – Will it Ever Be Possible?
Google offers details on early tests being done to potentially make audio search possible in the future.
SEO: Google: The Page Experience Update Won’t Be A Massive Change To Start
Google’s Danny Sullivan said to start, when the Page Experience Update rolls out, it won’t be a massive change. It might grow in terms of importance over the years. But to start, Danny said “it shouldn’t be the case that overnight, we flip some type of switch and there’s a massive change.”
SEO: Google Adjusted Its Search Algorithm Due To SEO Gaming Four Or Five Times In 10 Years
Gary Illyess answered how many times Google changed its search algorithm due to SEOs gaming the system. Gary said in the past ten years, he thinks it was about four or five times, that he can remember.
SEO: Google Search may be showing featured snippets less often
Starting around February 18, 2021, Google seems to be showing fewer featured snippet results in the search results page. Most, if not all, of the tools that track the Google search results, are showing significant declines in featured snippets showing up.
Related Articles:
SEO: Firefox Launches Total Cookie Protection
Mozilla’s latest release allows even stricter blocking of cookies. This is the latest move in its continued fight to protect user data.
SEO: Google: Title Tags Longer Than What Is Displayed Has SEO Benefit
Gary Illyes from Google said in last night’s Google Central Live event that there is a benefit, I assume an SEO benefit, to having title tags longer than what is displayed in the search. He later added that you should keep the title tag “precise” to the topic of the page and do not worry how long it is or if it is too long.
SEO: Google Lets Agencies Dismiss Some Partner Program Recommendations
Google said partners have the flexibility to apply or dismiss performance recommendations based on your own assessment in order to meet a minimum optimisation score of 70%.
SEO: Google Won’t Talk About Spam Prevention For Page Experience Update
Malte Ubl, a Technically a Software Engineer at Google, said he won’t be talking about any efforts around abuse and spam prevention for the upcoming Google Page Experience update. Specifically how some may try to fake the Chrome User Experience Report (CRUX) data for better or worse to manipulate rankings of their own site or competitors.
SEO: Google: There Is No SEO Reason To Make Bloated Sites
John Mueller from Google said on that there is no SEO reason for making such terrible & bloated sites.
Paid: New validation for line items in Display & Video 360 API
Beginning in May 2021, the Display & Video 360 API will start enforcing new validation when creating or updating line item resources.
Paid: How to identify your products for Google
Google has published a list of best practices to help ensure that its search engine understands the products that are being referenced. The list contains an explanation of how Google identifies products, as well as tips for manufacturers, retailers and publishers.
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Paid: Providing better product information for shoppers
Google provide guidelines for manufacturers, retailers, and publishers on how to ensure that Google understands the products they are selling or referencing.
Paid: Google set to deprecate Showcase Shopping ads on April 1
Google will stop serving Showcase Shopping ads and remove Showcase Shopping ad groups beginning on April 1, the company stated in an email to advertisers sent on February 23. After April 1, previous Showcase Shopping ad layouts will become part of Product Shopping ad groups. Advertisers will retain access to performance data for removed ads and ad groups in their account reports.
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Paid: Google Ads Console Is Down & We’re Back
Google Ads is currently not loading for advertisers now. If you try to login to ads.google.com you will be presented with a 502 server error.
Paid: Advertisers have until February 2022 to adjust to Google’s new Partner Program requirements
In an email to Google Partner Program members around the world, Google announced changes to the Program structure and badge criteria. The changes were initially slated to take place June 2020, but due to the pandemic will now go into effect beginning in February 2022. This means Partners will have a year to meet the new Program requirements.
Content: Google: Mixed Content Warnings Won’t Remove Your Site From Search
Google’s John Mueller said that having mixed content on your site and getting mixed content warnings won’t result in your site being removed from Google Search.
Social: Twitter Lets Users Monetize Tweets With ‘Super Follow’
Twitter announces an upcoming paid feature, Super Follow, which gives users the ability to monetise their content.
Social: Snapchat Now Reaches 70% of 13 to 24 Year Olds
Snapchat reveals that it reaches 70% of 13 to 24 year olds, and 80% of its reach is above 18 years old.
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: Snapchat Reports Increase in Mobile Video Viewing
Snapchat is reporting a significant increase in the consumption of mobile video content among millennials and Gen Z.
Social: LinkedIn Pages Updated With New Features
LinkedIn is launching new features for Pages to help businesses generate more leads and keep employees engaged.
Local: Yandex Accused of Anti-competitive Practices in Russia
Russian Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) issued a warning to Yandex to cease favouring their own sites at the expense of competitors
