This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Internal Linking and Page Importance
Internal linking is an easy way to convey a page’s importance to Google. Less important, yet crucial pages such as the About Us and Contact Us pages often have a lot of internal links but aren’t exactly the page you want users to land on. Google’s John Mueller informed SEOs this week that generally Google is smart enough to know a highly linked Contact Us page versus an actually important landing page. That doesn’t mean you should abandon internal linking since it still acts as an indicator of importance, but you don’t need to add noindex tags to pages you’d like to view as less important. Source: The SEM Post
Emojis Spotted in AdWords Ad Titles
Emoji’s in AdWords ads have emerged once again with a recent report of emojis showing up on a query for “autohaus mainz” on Google.de. There is some speculation that this is a very small test by Google, though there are also some speculating that this advertiser in particular found some sort of loophole which may soon be shut down by Google. If these tests actually roll out further, experts believe that they could have an impact on ad CTR, which in turn could affect quality score. Source: Search Engine Watch
Unconfirmed Google Update Focuses on Link Quality
Once again, webmasters are seeing sudden changes in their rankings leading to widespread speculation of an algorithm update. Although Google has yet to confirm any major changes, SEOs are seeing ranking jumps (or crashes) that seem to be related solely to link quality. Source: Search Engine Roundtable
AdWords Testing Extra Description Line for Ads
Another test recently spotted is an additional description field for AdWords Expanded Text Ads. The field is labeled “additional description (optional)” and offers an opportunity for even more text on top of an already hefty description line thanks to the Expanded Text Ad format. When inquiring about the validity of this test, a Google representative stated that they are “testing out new products and features to improve user and advertiser experience.” Source: Search Engine Roundtable
Adding the Security of HTTPS is a Ranking Win
In 2014, Google began their “HTTPS Everywhere” campaign. Google’s goal is to create secure connections for communicating data all over the web. Not only does adding an SSL certificate improve your site’s overall security, but Google is beginning to provide better rankings to HTTPS sites. Implementing HTTPS also allows Google Analytics to provide more valuable organic traffic insights beyond “direct traffic.” Source: SEMRush
Additional Commentary
Using Automation Tools to Scale Facebook Ads
PPC Hero Sahil Jain shares how automated rules can turn your mundane manual optimizations into an automated dreamland. One important automated rule is performance alerts, which allows you to receive e-mail alerts based on the positive or negative performance trends that you set. Jain also recommends setting ad scheduling if you’re more of a cost-conscious advertiser. Also, optimization rules let Facebook make optimizations on your behalf based on the conditions you set. If you find that there is a certain optimization you’re constantly making day after day, why not automate it? Analysis: Sahil Jain, PPC Hero
Use Influencer Marketing to Build Inbound Links
As traditional methods for getting backlinks become less successful, finding a new way to collect inbound links is essential. Influencer marketing could be your solution since an advertising survey done by Nielsen indicates that 92% of people trust a recommendation from a person over an advertisement. Influencers have loyal followers who take their recommendations seriously. Working with an influencer to create content or a brand campaign can provide inbound links from sites with strong domain authority as well as encourage traffic from their followers. Analysis: Marcela De Vivo, Search Engine Watch
