Posts Tagged ‘ Google ’

Google bumps Expanded Text Ad deadline to January 31, 2017

Posted on: September 14, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Advertisers scrambling to figure out how to optimize expanded text ads and those that have procrastinated even getting started with them are apparently in good company and will be relieved to know Google has extended the transition period for expanded text ads. Google will continue to accept new traditional text ads through January 31, 2017, not October 26 as announced in July with the general release of the new ad format. After January 31, existing standard text ads will continue to run with Continue Reading ...

Tips for when and how to use Feed Rules in Google Merchant Center

Posted on: September 12, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

With Google’s roll out of the new Merchant Center interface came more functionality for Feed Rules. Feed Rules debuted earlier this year to allow marketers to make some changes to their product feed data right within Merchant Center. But what can you really do with Feed Rules and who should be using them? The consensus is that Feed Rules are still best for simple updates, and it’s ideal to make changes to the actual feed. In reality, however, that’s not always possible or timely and Continue Reading ...

The SEM automation primer

Posted on: August 29, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

To varying degrees, my last few posts have flirted with the use of technology in search engine marketing. These posts have resulted in a few great questions regarding tools I’d use, or how to get started with this or that. There was recently a #ppcchat dedicated solely to the role of automation in this field, so I decided it would be a good time to provide a bit of a resource to those wishing to step toward such an approach. Below is a list of entry points, in ascending order of complexity, Continue Reading ...

Google officially throttling Keyword Planner data for low spending AdWords accounts

Posted on: August 13, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Earlier this week some marketers noticed that Keyword Planner data was displaying ranged data instead of precise search volume. The ranges were wildly broad with results like “100K-1M” and “1M+”. Some wondered whether this was merely a glitch or if this was a calculated measure that favored higher spending AdWords advertisers. Today, Google confirmed the latter. At the end of June, Keyword Planner was acting up and many users got the message that they needed to have an active AdWords Continue Reading ...

KPIs for SEO: measuring SEO success

Posted on: August 5, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Measuring your results is a critical component of any SEO campaign. There are many, many variables at play in an SEO campaign, so successful campaigns rely on a control system to ensure the work undertaken delivers results. Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) act as this control system and allow you to identify what is working — and often, more importantly, provide the SEO with an early warning system if something is not moving the needle as expected. KPIs also provide a means to illustrate Continue Reading ...

How to get the old Google Keyword Planner volume data

Posted on: August 4, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Back in June, the AdWords Keyword Planner started displaying the same volume of searches for keywords that were similar. Search Engine Land reported on the anomalies and asked Google about it but didn’t receive a response at the time. Ginny Marvin speculated, and now an AdWords representative has confirmed, that this was caused by close variants. @tanestis Hi there, terms that are close variants of each other will show the same volumes within the Keyword Planner. -Mitch — Google AdWords Continue Reading ...

Google gears up for 2016 Rio Olympics with search updates & YouTube highlight videos

Posted on: August 1, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Google says it’s “bringing the best” of its products to this year’s Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. According to the Official Google Blog, the site will be adding event schedules, medal counts, athlete information, competition results and TV schedules (for 30+ countries) in Search. In addition to Olympic-related search updates, YouTube will have event highlights by official broadcasters from more than 60 countries. Also, fifteen of YouTube’s top creators will be in Rio Continue Reading ...

Merkle’s early data on expanded text ad CTRs: Results are mixed

Posted on: July 31, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

Merkle has released early results on click-through rates of expanded text ads relative to standard text ads in its Q2 Digital Marketing Report. The agency began participating in the expanded text ads beta in April and analyzed the longer ad format’s impact on click-through rate (CTR) across thousands of ad groups. When Google first announced that expanded text ads (ETAs) were coming, the company touted as much as a 20-percent lift in click-through rates on expanded text ads. Merkle Continue Reading ...

Excited about Google’s new map ads? You should be!

Posted on: July 29, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

As an avid Google Maps user on both a personal and business level, I’ve often wished for a more interactive and all-inclusive experience. For instance, wouldn’t it be great to get suggestions for options like the closest coffee shop or lunch spot while I’m driving from Point A to Point B? Sure, I could pull over, open up Google and search for these things separately, but who wouldn’t welcome a truly responsive and local experience within Google Maps? If you’re like me, then Google’s Continue Reading ...

Google reiterates suggested 33-character limit in ETA headlines to avoid truncation

Posted on: July 28, 2016 by in SEO
No Comments

As expanded text ads began rolling out, some advertisers noticed that the new, longer double headline is sometimes cut off. This can be frustrating and can have potential legal ramifications for businesses in highly regulated industries like pharmaceuticals. Here’s an example of a truncated ETA headline: Google AdWords’ social team responded to the tweet above with a recommendation to keep the combined character count of the two headlines limited to a total of 33 characters to avoid Continue Reading ...