Weekly Marketing Update: Google I/O Wizardry & Mobile Search Share
Google captures the headlines in this week’s digital marketing news, as it unleashes a plethora of technical gadgetry at its I/O conference and puzzles webmasters with its announcement that it is dropping Google+ author photos and circle counts from its search results.
Other marketing highlights include insights from BrightEdge’s 2014 Mobile Share Report, research findings on tablet vs. smartphone traffic patterns, and expert advice on launching a successful content project.
Enjoy this week’s picks!
Content from the Bright Ideas Blog
“How to Make SEO a Bigger Slice of the Marketing Budget” by Andy Betts
You know your company needs to focus more on SEO this year, but you need to convince the others. And, if you’re an enterprise-level business, there’s likely one or more acronyms standing between SEO initiatives and budget, be it the CEO or CMO — or both.
In this post by Andy Betts for the Bright Ideas blog, he looks at three key ways to put the CEO or CMO “hat” on to build a case for budget, including:
- Identifying the “low-hanging fruit.”
- Benchmarking and forecasting.
- Using data to back up the need.
In the end, SEO needs to align with business value in order to get the attention of the decision-makers.
In-Depth Articles from the Marketing Community
”The 4 Questions You Must Answer When Launching a Content Project” by Joe Pulizzi
Content Marketing Institute’s CEO, Joe Pulizzi, outlines for Entrepreneur readers the four essential questions that must be addressed for a content project’s successful launch.
As Joe explains, whether you’re looking to drive qualified Web traffic to your site or simply retain customers, you first need to identify your “core audience” and then answer these four questions for your content marketing campaign to achieve its goals:
- Who is the audience for each piece of content?
- Why are you doing this?
- What’s in it for the reader?
- What is the replacement factor?
Joe emphasizes that the “who” (customer persona) of your content strategy is key, saying:
While all these questions are important, if you have multiple responses to “who,” the other questions are almost impossible to answer. Having multiple audiences waters down the content, has less impact and will be almost impossible for you to accomplish your marketing goals.
”Tablets Vs. Smartphones: Online Engagement Patterns Present Opportunities” by Andrew Waber
Increasing engagement is a “much more nuanced task” for the online marketer than maximizing reach , says Andrew Waber in this Marketing Land article .
Citing research from several sources comparing (North American) tablet vs. smartphone usage and click-through rates, Andrew’s takeaway is that “not only is smartphone usage fairly consistent at all hours of the day, but perhaps more importantly, engagement rates for those users are nearly identical regardless of the time.”
He further notes, “in terms of overall usage volume, smartphones still significantly outweigh their tablet counterparts in North America, and this is unlikely to change anytime soon.”
Search Marketing News
Mobile Implementation Errors Cost Sites 68% of Organic Smartphone Traffic
According to new data from BrightEdge, errors in the implementation of mobile solutions may be costing sites up to 68 percent on average of their organic smartphone traffic, reports Jessica Lee at Search Engine Watch. Some of the most common implementation errors are highlighted in this chart:
Jessica further reports these mobile implementation errors translate into a poor user experience, and BrightEdge research indicates that sites making these mistakes “saw an average smartphone rank drop by about 1.82 positions.”
Jessica quotes BrightEdge CEO Jim Yu as saying:
”If you think about it, a couple of years ago, there wasn’t a lot of difference between if you searched on desktop versus mobile in terms of the rankings between smartphone and desktop … now, a huge percentage varies from desktop to smartphone. This change really means that as marketers and brands, we need to pay attention to how we’re approaching mobile.”
BrightEdge’s 2014 Mobile Share Report provides the complete details of its Data Cube research.
Google Drops Profile Photos, Google+ Circle Count from Authorship In Search Results
In a move that has digital marketers puzzled, Google’s John Mueller has announced that the search giant is removing the profile photo and circle count from the search listings for authorship.
There will, however, be a new format for authorship, and Barry Schwartz at Search Engine Land provided a visual comparison of the old and new formats, shown below.
Here is the new design for authorship, displaying only a clickable author name:
The original authorship with an image next to a search result “would lead to more visibility and click-throughs,” Barry reported.
Barry added that Google’s new authorship format is evident in its news results, where you’ll see a smaller profile image and no Google+ circle count.
The Search Engine Land post quoted John as saying that the “click-through behavior on this new less-cluttered design is similar to the previous one.” To that, Barry said, “For some reason, I highly doubt that, but webmasters can be the judge of that as this gets rolled out.”
Google I/O: Better-Connected World, Greater Advertising
Google’s latest I/O conference keynote introduced an overwhelming amount of amazing new technology that allows advertisers far more channels to reach consumers and a “seamless integration with the world around us,” reports David Fagin for ClickZ .
He observes:
By connecting each of us to each other, and to our gadgets, Google is effectively “burrowing” into the bedrock of our modern lives faster and more encompassing than any of their competitors. At least for the foreseeable future.
David describes Google’s new Android operating system (“Lollipop”) as mind-boggling in its ability to seamlessly keep people connected, “be it on your wrist, in your car or on your flat screen.”
He writes that the most impressive advancement in its gadgetry is the much-anticipated Android Auto in-car “infotainment system,” which will allow advertisers to reach consumers with visual ads as they drive.
Other wizardry includes Google’s Android TV system and its new LG G-Watch with a Pinterest feature.
Events
Share 14 Coming Up Soon!
Mark your calendar for August 20 to 22! That’s when Share14, BrightEdge’s digital marketing event , will be held in The Palace Hotel in San Francisco. You don’t want to miss this premier venue, featuring the world’s leading brands and their thought leaders. Discounted pricing ends August 7.
Have a great weekend!