This Week’s Industry News
Compiled by the Rocket Clicks Team
Top Stories
Google Search Results Begin Rolling out Multifaceted Featured Snippets
The new Google Snippets will be surfaced for queries that are broad enough to allow for more than one interpretation. More than one featured snippet will display with the original query rewritten as the questions that Google assumes users may have intended. Compared to Bing’s Multiple Perspective Answers, Google is targeting multiple intentions of a query instead of multiple viewpoints of a single query. Multifaceted snippets are rolling out first on mobile and will be coming to desktop results over time. Source: Google Blog
BingAds Launching Fan Community Program
Available for BingAd’s most dedicated advertisers, Bing Ads is creating a community program to help advance the platform. Bing Ads Community Manager Frances Donegan-Ryan says the Bing team is looking for users who want to “build better products” “push us to be innovative” and “advocate for our tools”. Community program members will have the ability to network with other search professionals, provide feedback on problems and opportunities directly to the Bing Ads team, access insider news, and get free goodies. Source: Search Engine Land
Keyword Planner Update with New Interface
The latest version of Keyword Planner features streamlined workflows that will match the new AdWords interface. The start screen now condenses the options to “Find new keywords” and “Get metrics and forecasts for your keywords”. The keyword ideas chart will now show mobile search volumes in the main chart. Two new metrics “Organic impression share” and “Organic average position” can be added as columns to the Keyword ideas report. The new forecast section automatically shows the total estimated performance impact. And, rather than toggling between menu tabs, the new overview includes cards that can be adjusted to show devices and locations. Source: Search Engine Land
Facebook Removing Redundant Ad Metrics and Adding Methodology Labels
In an effort to improve transparency and clarity of ad measurement within Facebook Ads, Facebook will be removing roughly 20 reporting metrics including Button Clicks, Link Click Destination, and Amount Spent Today. In addition, Facebook will be adding labels for some metrics that will mark them as “estimated” or “in development”. Metrics specifically labeled as “estimated” are calculated using data modeling or sampling and metrics labeled as “in development” are obviously still in the testing phase. To go along with all of this, Facebook will be launching a “Measure What Matters” program In march to help marketers learn more about their measuring principles. Source: Marketing Land
Google Releases Tools to Show Importance of Mobile Page Speed
Google released a Mobile Scorecard which shows how a site ranks against competitors on mobile and an Impact Calculator tool. The Mobile Scorecard uses the Chrome User Experience Report data to compare the speed of multiple sites on mobile. Google recommends that a site loads within 5 seconds on mobile devices. The Impact Calculator is designed to show how much conversion revenue a site is missing because of its slow loading speed. The calculator uses a sliding tool to shows how a change in page load speed can drive revenue. Source: Search Engine Land
Analysis
Post-Click Optimization Tips
PPC Hero Fahad Muhammad shares his top optimization tips for the post-ad click landing page experience. Writing a compelling ad can only be half the battle, you’ll need message matching to ensure your ad’s primary message corresponds with the content on the landing page especially if there’s a particular offer. In addition, you need a 1:1 conversion ratio, referring to the number of clickable elements on a page compared to the number of conversion goals, with that clickable element obviously being the CTA button. The author notes that landing pages with more than one clickable element can often distract the visitor from the intended conversion goal. A smaller optimization you can make to improve the post-click experience is to have a contrasting CTA button, having it stand out in comparison to whatever you’ve set your background color of the page to. Source: Fahad, Muhammad, PPC Hero
What You Can Do to Optimize for Voice Search
Search Engine Land found that about 41% of voice search results come from Featured Snippets. Rob Marsden from Search Laboratory gives tips on how to gain results in voice searches. He explains that you should aim for getting favorable Google reviews as part of your local strategy. Also create an FAQ page on your site that targets customer questions and concerns. This will create page content that is aimed at solving your customers’ decision-making process. Finally, adopt a more conversational tone in your content because unlike typing, voice searches will most likely be asked in a conversational way. Source: Search Laboratory
