This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Discover Performance Report Added to Google Search Console
Google Search Console added a new performance report that tracks a site’s traffic, clicks, impressions and average CTR in Discover to provide users with even more insight.
Data in the Discover performance report includes:
- How often a site is shown in Discover
- Amount of traffic generated from Discover
- Top performing pieces of content in Discover
The report also allows users to see if their content performs differently in Discover compared to traditional search results.
If you don’t see a Discover performance report in your site’s Search Console, it’s safe to assume your content isn’t appearing enough in Discover to have accumulated enough data for the report. Although both new and old content can appear in Discover, new content is often prioritized in the feed. Continue to post new, quality content with high quality images to increase your chances of appearing in Discover.
Those who do have a Discover report will only be able to access data from 2019.
Sources: Search Engine Journal
Facebook is Replacing Exclude Categories with Brand Safety Ad Filters
By the end of May, the Excluded Category options for Audience Network, Instant Article, and in-stream video ads will be replaced with the new Inventory Filters, giving marketers streamlined control over content associated with their ads. The new filters, which include “Limited,” “Standard” and “Full” inventory options, will replace Facebook’s five exclusion categories. Limited inventory provides maximum protection. Standard inventory offers moderate protection and is the default choice when placing ads. Full inventory involves “minimal” protection with ads delivered to all eligible content.
*Image provided by Marketing Land
Source: Marketing Land
Google Tests New before: and after: Search Commands to Sort by Date
Google is testing new before: and after: commands, which allow users to sort by a specific date range right in the search bar versus having to access the Tools tab. These new search commands make it easier and more convenient to paint a quick picture of how sites’ rankings have fluctuated over time.
How to use Google’s new before: and after: commands:
- To get search results before a given date, include “before: YYYY-MM-DD” at the end of your search query.
- To get search results after a given date, include “after: YYYY-MM-DD” at the end of your search query.
- To get search results within a given timeframe, include both “before: YYYY-MM-DD” and “after: YYYY-MM-DD” commands at the end of your search query.
Users can substitute dashes for slashes to yield the same results, as well as only include a year without a specific month or date.
With these new commands now available to the public for beta testing, Google has retired the sort-by-date option unless it’s a news search. Users testing the new commands are encouraged to submit any issues to Google.
Source: Search Engine Roundtable
Pinterest Introduces New Conversion Features
Pinterest launched two new conversion tools, offering conversion optimization for Promoted Pin campaigns and a new conversion goals feature for Promoted Videos. Both are available to any brand with a Pinterest business account. Previously Promoted Pin campaigns were optimized only for clicks. But now, with the newly introduced conversion optimization feature, advertisers can optimize Pinterest campaigns for specific actions to drive online checkouts, more signups or better leads. Pinterest is also expanding Promoted Video features to include “conversion goals,” that click to open a landing page that contains the advertiser’s website and a closeup of the video.
Source: Marketing Land
Analysis:
5 Types of High Converting Content
High volume search terms are usually at the top of the funnel meaning people are searching from them, but not necessarily with the intent to purchase a product or service. Posts with the highest volume of traffic are generally not posts with the highest volume of conversions. On the other hand, keywords with lower search volumes are oftentimes searched for by people with higher purchase intent.
In order to target high intent keywords, it’s important to understand the customer’s point-of-view. Starting research here will give writers insight into common customer pain-points and help them come up with content ideas that address these issues.
5 Types of High Converting Content
- Comparison posts – compare product or service to top competitors
- Best products or services list – give searchers a list of pros & cons for the best products or services in a particular category
- Articles discussing pricing – if prices of your products or services are not clear, you can explain pricing here. This also works for competitor pricing if it’s not easy to find.
- Alternatives list – show searches how your products and services can be an alternative to popular competitor products and services
- Product or service solution – address a common problem searchers have by solving the issue and/or providing your product or service as a possible solution
Source: Grow & Convert
4 Strategies to Improve PPC Lead Quality
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- Target more specific keywords – The name of the game for lead quality is finding those users who actually know what they want, and long-tail keywords are a better way to target them. Plus, exact and phrase match allow for the most control in keyword matching. Be vigilant with search query reviews and negative keyword additions, and limit your use of broader match types.
- Use qualifying copy in ads – When quality is the focus, advertisers may need to purposefully deter some users from clicking on our ads. However, this needs to be done tactfully. Just because someone isn’t in the right place to click and convert now, doesn’t mean they never will be.
- Write landing pages for target customers, not all customers – use landing page copy to outline what an ideal customer would be. Utilize copy as well as images to call out characteristics of what your product was built for.
- Give your form the attention it deserves – One surefire way to scare off folks who are only window shopping is to ask them for more information. If you’re noticing a large number of forms filled by lower quality leads, try increasing the amount of information you ask for. But be sure it makes sense in the context of the form.
Source: Michelle Morgan, WordStream
