Four most interesting search marketing news stories of the week

We’re back with our weekly round-up of the most interesting search marketing news stories from around the web.

I hope you all enjoyed last Friday’s Easter search trivia quiz, and if you haven’t had a chance to test your knowledge yet, be sure to have a go and share your score with us on social media!

This week: a look at the newly-relaunched Google Earth and what it could mean for marketers, and a study has shown that 45% of marketers say their biggest difficulty with Schema.org markup is proving its value.

Plus, Google’s new “suggested clip” feature in search results shows how far its ability to search within videos has improved, and a new menu of Partner-only Features on Google’s Developer Blog hints at some exciting things to come.

Relaunched Google Earth introduces 3D local maps, visual storytelling opportunities

Google has just unveiled a stunning relaunch of Google Earth, with a wealth of new features and information to explore. On Search Engine Watch this week, Clark Boyd gave us a tour of the new Earth, including a look at how marketers can take advantage of the visual storytelling opportunities it presents, and what it means for local search, where “near me” searches will activate a 3D local map featuring business names, photographs and contact details.

45% of marketers have difficulty showing the value of Schema markup

A recent survey carried out by Schema App, a provider of tools to help marketers use Schema markup, has provided some insight into the difficulties that marketers encounter when using Schema markup.

Schema markup is often touted as a killer search tactic which is nevertheless seeing very little uptake among website owners. It can vastly improve the look of websites on the SERP with the addition of rich data, and it is integral to a number of Google features like featured snippets.

But according to Schema App’s survey, 45% of marketers say they have difficulty in “showing the value of doing Schema markup – reporting the impact and results”. Forty-two percent struggle with maintaining the ‘health’ of their markup when Google makes changes, while 40% cited difficulties in developing a strategy around what to mark up with Schema.

Meanwhile, nearly a quarter of respondents (24%) said they had difficulty understanding Schema markup vocabulary at all.

Google shows “suggested clip” feature in search results

Google is continually improving its ability to search within a video, and to surface a particular search result within the content of a video. In a previous search news roundup we reported on the fact that Google’s machine learning technology can now recognize objects within videos, as demonstrated at Google’s Next Cloud conference in early March.

Then this week, Ryan Rodden of Witblade reported that Google is now showing suggested video clips in search results for particular queries:

Image: Witblade

The suggested clip appeared in a query for “blur out text in imovie”, highlighting a suggested clip of 25 seconds in the middle of a how-to video. While it’s unknown how accurate this result was for the query, it shows that Google is making bold inroads into searching within video and is treating video like other kinds of content to be crawled, indexed and presented as a Featured Snippet.

Given the huge rise, and popularity, of video of all forms in marketing, social media and publishing at the moment, it’s a smart move and something we can probably expect to see more of in future.

Google adds extensive new menu of Partner-only Features

Google’s Partner-only Features are a forum for it to debut certain search features to a select group of approved and certified providers, before they are rolled out on a wider scale. Aaron Bradley noted in the Semantic Search Marketing Google+ group this week that Google has just added a huge new menu in the Partner-only Features section of its documentation.

The new menu features eight sub-sections including “Carousels”, “Indexing API”, “Jobs” and “Live coverage”.

All of the links currently lead to a 404 error, but it could be an interesting insight into what’s to come from Google.

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/21/four-most-interesting-search-marketing-news-stories-of-the-week-2/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159830035179

How to use Google’s new demographic targeting for search ads

Through AdWords, Google has given advertisers a lot of control over when their ads are shown, by means of the different match types and using remarketing lists for search ads.

Until recently, however, you were unable to target users based on demographic – a function that has been available for a while now on both Facebook and Bing.

The new feature allows advertisers using Adwords to target users based on:

• Age
• Gender
• Parental status

This feature will be particularly useful where user intent varies considerably based on these variables. For example if you were selling high-end investments or watches, it is unlikely that young people under the age of 25 would have the necessary capital to purchase them.

However when using this feature, it is important to make sure that your conclusions are based on data as opposed to your gut feelings. A study by Google has shown that some of our preconceived ideas about which demographics purchase which items may result in us missing out on a considerable proportion of buyers.

Image: Google

For example if you were running a campaign selling home improvement products and excluded women on mobile devices, you could lose 45% of your traffic.

One thing to bear in mind is that your customer might not always be your customer. For instance, the study by Google showed that 40% of baby products are purchased by households that do not contain parents.

Here you can see that a considerable proportion of some markets are not the consumers themselves, but people purchasing on behalf of consumers.

How to set up demographic targeting in AdWords

The demographic targeting options can be found within the audiences tab alongside your remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) data. To add bid modifiers take the following steps:

STEP 1. Go to the “audiences” tab and then to the “demographics” sub-tab as shown below.

STEP 2. You can switch between demographic data for “age” and “gender” using the two sub-tabs that are located under the graph.

STEP 3. Bid modifiers can be set within the “bid adjustment” column by clicking on the dashed line.

Once you have done this you should see a popup like the one below where you can enter your bid modifier.

STEP 4. To calculate your bid modifier you should use the following formula: divide the age conversion rate by the ad group conversion rate, subtract one, and multiply by 100.

So for example if the conversion rate for people aged 25 – 34 is 3.52% and your conversion rate for the ad group overall is 2.76%, then your bid modifier would be 28%. Note that you need to round up your modifier to the nearest whole number.

When you are faced with “Unknown” data where Google is unable to match the user to their data, you will in most cases not want to exclude this audience.

In some cases we have found that Google can’t match data to a large chunk of your traffic, which can be frustrating, but if you exclude this you are likely to miss out on a considerable portion of your traffic.

Conclusion

Overall, demographic targeting for the search network gives advertisers another dimension with which to narrow down their audience to target the most relevant people.

Google’s example of baby products being bought by households that do not contain any parents is a perfect example of why it is necessary to follow the data as opposed to your gut feeling when using this feature. Otherwise you run the risk of losing a considerable portion of your audience.

Finally, when you are faced with the dreaded unknown column, think twice before excluding this data. In the vast majority of cases this will account for a considerable chunk of your traffic so it is best not to exclude it.

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/20/how-to-use-googles-new-demographic-targeting-for-search-ads/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159798050484

What’s new with Earth? First impressions of the relaunched Google Earth

Google has just re-designed, revamped and re-launched its Earth product, and it has certainly been worth the two-year wait.

Earth is now built into Chrome, so there is no longer a need to download a cumbersome desktop app to access this global repository of images, videos, and knowledge cards.

The Android app has been updated too, with support to follow soon for mobile browsers and iOS.

So what’s new?

A lot.

First impressions of Earth are simple: this is a hugely impressive feat, one that truly celebrates the world – both natural and man-made – by capturing its farthest corners in finite detail.

So, let’s get started. We begin with a zoomed-out view of the planet, before a short introduction from Google on some of Earth’s upgraded features.

These features work in a cumulative fashion, each adding to the last and building up to three-dimensional, customizable, multimedia experience of our planet.

First up, the search function. The foundation of any great Google product, this deceptively simple search bar leads to any location in the world:

This is given extra potency when combined with Google’s vast inventory of knowledge cards about cities, rivers, buildings, and basically just about any landmark you can think of.

These are typically pulled from Wikipedia and appear as a clickable carousel, although other resources are cited on infrequent occasions.

It is possible to zoom in to the level of Google Street View to get a closer look at the palace in this screenshot, as has been available via Earth and Maps for some time now. This is labeled the ‘Photo Sphere’.

Added to this is the “I’m Feeling Lucky” feature, which takes the user to a random point on the map and works like the button of the same name in traditional Google search.

My first trial of “I’m Feeling Lucky” took me from Lagos to Legoland in just one click. It can be quite a dizzying trip, depending on your screen size and propensity for motion sickness, but the speed of flight can be adjusted in the settings menu.

Layer by layer, this builds up to Voyager, the section most likely to keep users engaged with Google Earth.

Voyager contains a wealth of curated content from sources as diverse as Sesame Street and the BBC, but we should expect many more publisher partnerships in future.

This is significant, as it takes Google into the realm of visual storytelling and opens up a host of new opportunities for publishers willing and able to get on board.

There is already a good variety of content on here, including city guides, nature trails, and the work of specific architects like Frank Gehry. That said, this is an inexhaustible resource that will play host to a lot more experimentation soon.

One highlight is the ‘Revealing the Center of Life’ tour, which takes us on a journey underwater to explore coral reefs.

As an educational center, this offers unparalleled scope for exploration and will undoubtedly spark much healthy discussion. Some of these knowledge cards are accompanied by videos and behind-the-scenes features too, providing further context to the images.

The implications for marketers

Brands should really be thinking about how to avail of the storytelling possibilities that this brings. For travel and tourism companies the opportunity is perhaps a little more obvious than for other industries, but in truth there is an opening here for almost everyone.

The Argentinian artist Federico Winer has partnered with Google to create a photographic series on airports, for example.

There is also a history tour that traces the steps of characters in the novels of Charles Dickens, and another that visits some of Ernest Hemingway’s favorite haunts.

With consumer attention spans at an all-time low, Google Earth should now be viewed as an incredibly powerful, engaging tool, should publishers have the imagination to avail of its potential.

In perhaps more prosaic terms, local search remains just as vital as it has been for some time now – perhaps even more so.

Typical searches like the one below for [book store near me] will bring up an interactive 3D map of the local area with some options, so it is vital to have business names, addresses, opening hours, photos, and phone numbers up to date.

Customizing Google Earth

And it doesn’t stop there. Users can import KML (Keyhole Markup Language) files to overlay images and charts onto Google Earth. Google even provides an example of this in action, with an overlaid image of Mount Etna erupting.

KML is based on the XML standard and provides a few extra functionalities, like paths and polygons, that are particularly useful for Google Earth.

Google provides a sample file and comprehensive guide to get started, although this should be pretty familiar to anyone accustomed to creating custom Google Maps.

In summary

The new Google Earth is more than the sum of its features; at its best, it can both distort and inform our perception of space and time.

A historical echo of this project would be the eighteenth-century Encyclopédie, a Herculean effort by Denis Diderot, Jean le Rond d’Alembert, Voltaire, and many others, to catalogue and categorize all human knowledge.

Combine that persistent thirst for knowledge with the technology at Google’s disposal and the product is something as engrossing and enlightening as the new Google Earth.

It seems fitting to give the final word to Google:

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/20/whats-new-with-earth-first-impressions-of-the-relaunched-google-earth/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159798050094

You Can Use 404s to Boost Your SEO. Here’s How.

The dreaded 404 error page.

We’ve all encountered it at some point.

And in my opinion, there’s no bigger buzzkill than getting hit with a 404 error when browsing a site.

You’re right in the middle of exploring interesting content, and all of a sudden, you’re thrown a curveball.

If you’re not sure what a 404 page is, let’s look at a formal definition.

According to Google,

A 404 page is what a user sees when they try to reach a non-existent page on your site (because they’ve clicked on a broken link, the page has been deleted or they’ve mistyped a URL).

Here’s what an ugly, generic 404 looks like:

Not too flattering, huh?

But you can pretty them up, like I did on Quick Sprout:

You’ve seen 404s. You’ve cursed 404s. And your site might even have 404s.

The problem with 404s

What’s the big deal with 404s?

Are they really that bad?

First off, let me make something clear.

Every site will get some 404s, and it’s okay! 404s happen when people—your potential site visitors— type in the wrong URL.

For example, if I type in “businessinsider.com” in my browser and continue typing gibberish, I’ll get a 404.

It’s not Business Insider’s fault I got a 404. It’s my fault.

You’ll never be able to eliminate 404s completely.

But there are some 404s that are within your control and which you do need to pay attention to.

Here’s why.

If a user encounters a web server issue such as a 404 page, they’re highly likely to hit the back button and return to the search engine.

When your visitors do this en mass, it creates a phenomenon called “pogo sticking,” which looks like this:

This is a problem because it tells Google that your content isn’t adding value for a particular keyword query.

If this happens enough, you’re likely to see a drop in rankings.

Not cool.

The inevitability of 404s

As I mentioned above, 404s are going to happen. It’s not if but when your visitors will encounter them.

Many 404s won’t be your fault. But some will be your fault, and it’s hard to control them. Even if you’re an amazing SEO or webmaster, some will slip through the cracks.

And the bigger your site is, the more 404s you’ll have.

One of the leading causes of 404s is broken links.

Websites change. Links point nowhere. And 404s happen.

In fact, some huge websites can acquire up to 10 new broken links every day.

Just look at the number of broken links found on some of the world’s top websites:

If it happens to behemoths like Cisco and Apple, you can bet it’s going to happen to you.

And as I mentioned earlier, broken links are just one reason behind 404s. Other times, it’s simply due to a visitor mistyping a URL.

The bottom line is that 404s are inevitable, and you need an effective way to deal with them.

What’s the solution?

It’s actually pretty simple.

You need to create a customized, branded 404 page.

Here’s a good a example of one from MailChimp:

Here’s another from Hootsuite:

Think about it.

Would you rather get hit with an ugly, generic 404 or one that’s well-designed and cleverly branded?

I’d bet most people would opt for the latter.

But that’s just part of it.

Although these 404 pages are cute, they won’t do anything for your SEO.

Use 404s for good

What you want to do is not only stop 404s from hurting your SEO but use them to boost your SEO.

But doesn’t that seem a little counterintuitive? How in the world can 404s be beneficial to SEO?

Here’s what you do.

Create a custom 404 page with a branded design, like the ones from MailChimp and Hootsuite, and add several internal links to it.

I like to shoot for anywhere between 25 to 50 links.

Bam!

Instead of leaving your site in a hurry, visitors will be encouraged to check out more content and keep browsing.

Assuming the links you provide lead to engaging, helpful content, many visitors will stick around for awhile and work themselves deeper into your sales funnel.

In terms of SEO value, this reduces any pogo sticking from taking place and supplies your site with more SEO juice. Rather than 404s being a detriment to your SEO, they actually become an asset.

You’re basically turning a negative into a positive—pretty sweet.

And there are several other benefits as well:

• You’re far less likely to annoy your visitors
• It can increase your brand equity
• You can increase the average amount of time spent on your site
• You can reduce your bounce rate
• Visitors are more likely to check out additional content
• In the long run, this should have a positive impact on conversions and sales

In many ways, a customized 404 page with internal links is like an SEO magic bullet.

It can do much good without much effort on your part.

Specific strategies and examples

Now that we’ve established that adding internal links is the technique you want to implement, let’s get into the specifics of it.

One way to implement this strategy is to link to some of your most popular posts as well as your homepage.

Even Google suggests doing this:

I recommend looking over your analytics to see which posts received the most engagement (clicks, shares, comments, and so on).

Then include these on your 404 page.

Doing so can increase the number of pages on your site that get indexed, boosting your SEO.

And it totally works.

In fact, I used this very strategy a few years back when I was working with TechCrunch.

Within 30 days, I was able to boost their search traffic considerably (9% to be exact).

Add a search bar

This is an incredibly simple feature, but it’s one that can have a tremendous impact.

According to Econsultancy,

…conversion rates through site search can be up to 50% higher than the average. Visitors converted at 4.63% versus the websites’ average of 2.77%, which is 1.8 times more effective. Consequently, visitors using search contributed 13.8% of the revenues.

In other words, “People who use search are more likely to purchase.”

Try to put yourself in a visitor’s shoes for a second.

They arrive on your site and are looking for information on a particular topic or product.

They stumble upon a roadblock with an unanticipated 404 page.

Rather than leaving annoyed, they can simply look up whatever interests them in the search box.

Voila! They instantly find other valuable content to quench their thirst.

Twitter pulls this off well on its 404 page:

So does GitHub:

Add links to products

Let’s say you run an e-commerce store.

One way you can improve the customer shopping experience is to link to other areas of your website.

More specifically, you can create links based around different product categories.

Here’s a really good example from ModCloth, a women’s fashion store:

Not only does this improve SEO and keep visitors happy, it facilitates a smoother shopping experience and should improve conversions as well.

Talk about turning lemons into lemonade!

Include a link to your sitemap

I’m sure you’re at least somewhat familiar with sitemaps and how they affect SEO.

If you’re not, here’s a screenshot of some of the key benefits of SEO according to OnCrawl:

Why not include a link to your sitemap?

That’s what Starbucks did:

And its 404 page turned out looking great.

Here’s one last little tip

Be sure to explain what went wrong.

I’ve found this helps reduce user frustration.

I know I feel some sort of relief when I simply know what’s going on.

This 404 page from X-Cart does a great job of this:

Notice there’s no crazy jargon.

In plain English, it explains some of the possible reasons for the 404 error you’ve encountered on their site.

How to create a customized 404 page

Now that we’ve established just how beneficial a personalized 404 page can be for SEO, this brings us to one important question.

How the heck do you create one?

As you well know, I’m a huge fan of WordPress.

It truly is a godsend for anyone who wants to create a beautiful, professional looking website but doesn’t know much about coding.

I suggest using the 404page plugin for WordPress.

It’s a one-stop-shop for creating a basic 404 page.

You can customize it and include whatever information you’d like to share with visitors who encounter your 404.

The best part is you don’t need to have any programming skills to use it.

However, if you want your 404 page to be super specialized and brand-centric, you may want to shell out the cash to hire a professional developer.

If you’ve got the budget and want it to look uber-professional, this is usually the best route to take.

You can find skilled developers through sites such as Guru and Upwork.

Many are more affordable than you might think.

Conclusion

The way I look at it, 404s are an unpleasnt yet unavoidable part of running a website.

Of course, you can use tools like the Online Broken Link Checker, but you’ll still have issues at some point.

And even if you somehow manage to catch all the broken links, visitors will still mistype URLs.

The best way to handle 404s is to customize them and incorporate relevant internal links.

A customized 404 page will not only protect your SEO from harm but also improve it.

Not to mention that it makes for a much more satisfying user experience.

To learn more about the broad spectrum of 404 pages, check out this post I wrote on NeilPatel.com.

Are you persuaded to keep exploring a site if it has a helpful 404 page?

from http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Quicksprout/~3/RyD5N7vXIbQ/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159772959619

A guide to setting up Google Analytics for your WordPress site

Of the many tools available for tracking visitor behavior, Google Analytics is one of the most famous ones.

This free tool provides website owners with insightful information about the traffic driven to their website, helping them to determine exactly where each user originated and how they ended up on the site.

So, if you are an enthusiast who is setting up a website or a new blog using WordPress as your CMS, it is highly recommended to install Google Analytics to your WordPress site.

Why Google Analytics?

A lot of visitors and subscribers visit your website daily and hence, it becomes increasingly important to track information about their visit. If you are focused and determined to monitor your website’s traffic statistics, data drawn with the help of Google Analytics can be extremely useful.

This tool helps you track how your visitors are moving ahead and navigating through your website. This information is vital because it will help you identify the key areas of your website which are doing well and the others, that need a little more attention.

After installing Google Analytics on your website, you can learn about the geographical location of your visitors, their browser information, their duration of stay at your website, pages visited and much more.

With so much information available to access, we hope that we have answered your question as to why you even need this tool. In this blog post, we will provide a step-by-step guide to help you use Google Analytics with your WordPress site. So, let’s read on.

Getting started with your Google Analytics account

For the very first step, you are required to create a Google Analytics account by using your Gmail account. A Gmail account is imperative if you want to start using the Google Analytics tool with your WordPress site.

• Visit the signup page for Google Analytics. You will be presented with the Gmail login page. Simply, enter your Gmail account login credentials to move forward with the process.

• You will be asked to provide information regarding what would you like to track with this service. You can either track statistics for your website or your mobile apps.

• Since this blog post is about tracking results for your WordPress website; select the ‘Website’ option.

• Fill in the other relevant information to start tracking with the Google Analytics.

 

• Enter your website’s name, its URL and the type of industry it is related to.

• Select your time zone so that the service can accurately track the results as per your requirement.

• Finally, get your Tracking ID by agreeing to Google’s terms of service usage.

• Once you have your Tracking code, copy it and keep it handy.

Adding Google Analytics to your WordPress site

There are several methods that will help you add Google Analytics to your WordPress website. We will mainly discuss two methods here that are suited to readers with a non-technical approach to blogging.

Using the plugin ‘MonsterInsights’

A very popular plugin with over 13 million downloads, has proved its worth when it comes to seamlessly integrating Google Analytics with a WordPress site.

With a free and a premium version on the shelf, this Google Analytics plugin works well for even the most basic users. Let’s see how you can use this plugin to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site.

1. Download the plugin and activate it on your WordPress site.
2. Once the activation is confirmed, the plugin will add a new label to your admin dashboard by the name, ‘Insights’.
3. For configuration of the plugin, visit the ‘Settings’ tab under the ‘Insights’ label.  
4. A tab will be presented to you that will read ‘Authenticate with your Google Account’. Click on it and then you will be asked to enter a Google Code.
5. Above it will be a tab that will ask you to click on it, in order to receive the code. Click on it and then click on the Next button.
6. Allow ‘MonsterInsights to access your Google Analytics data’. Finally, provide the plugin with the permission to view and manage your Google Analytics data.
7. A Success Code popup will follow. You will be required to copy it carefully and paste it on the popup (discussed above) in point number d.)
8. In a final step, select the profile that you want to track with the Google Analytics plugin.

Whenever you want to view reports regarding your site’s visitors and subscribers, you can simply go to ‘Reports’ tab in the ‘Insights’ label of your Admin dashboard.

Using your WordPress theme

In the process discussed earlier, you received a Tracking ID from Google Analytics signup procedure. To use this method, locate the Theme settings option of your WordPress site’s theme. Then, find the label that leads you to a tab asking you to add a Footer Script.

You can simply paste the Tracking code to this section and you will be good to go. Always save the settings in order to confirm your changes.

Once your settings are done and you are ready to take off with your Google Analytics tools, always wait at least 12 hours to let the tool reflect proper results.

Other alternatives

There are other ways to add Google Analytics to your WordPress site. The ones mentioned above are easy to pursue and are highly recommendable. The following are methods that can involve some technical briefing.

• You can manually add the tracking code by editing the header.php file
• If you don’t want to edit your theme file, you can install and activate the Insert Headers and Footers plugin to insert the Google Analytics code
• You can also use the Google Analytics + plugin to access the visitor performance of your WordPress website.

Summing up

Google Analytics is of huge help when you are looking to track results about a recent marketing campaign and are expecting some conversions to take place. This tool will also help you identify the keywords that are relevant to your site’s search engine optimization.

With so much to offer, Google Analytics is a must-use tool for all website owners out there. I sincerely hope that this detailed guide will help you make the right decision without having to expend too much time and energy on the implementation.

If you still have questions, feel free to drop them in the comments below. We are always open to receiving feedback and awesome suggestions.

Lucy Barret is a Sr. WordPress Developer at HireWPGeeks, a WordPress Development Company, and a contributor to SEW.

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/19/a-guide-to-setting-up-google-analytics-for-your-wordpress-site/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159761407389

The State of Schema.org: What are the biggest challenges surrounding Schema markup?

Using Schema.org markup, a form of structured data which helps search engines to interpret your webpages, is widely agreed to be beneficial from an SEO standpoint.

While it may not correlate directly to an increase in ranking, using Schema.org markup allows search engines to pull through rich snippets and rich data like images, reviews and opening hours, making your site appear more attractive on the SERP and thereby increasing click-through.

Schema.org markup is also becoming increasingly important in the age of voice search, acting as a signpost that points digital assistants towards the information that will correctly answer a user’s voice query. Voice queries depend heavily on implied context, and Schema markup can help give that context to an otherwise ambiguous page of text.

But while the advantages of using Schema.org seem obvious enough on paper, actually implementing it can be much more challenging. As a result, a startlingly small minority of website owners make use of Schema.org.

The figures vary as to exactly how many; Schema.org’s website claims that “over 10 million websites” use Schema.org markup, which translates into less than one percent of all websites; an investigation by ACM Queue put the figure at 31.3%, while a study by Bing and Catalyst found that just 17% of marketers use Schema.org markup.

Either way, even the highest estimate of Schema.org adoption still comes in at less than a third of websites.

With Schema.org being a well-known advanced search technique with well-established benefits, what is holding SEOs and website owners back from implementing it?

The state of Schema markup

Schema App – a provider of tools to help digital marketers use Schema markup – recently ran a survey which sheds some light on this question. The study, ‘The State of Schema Markup’, surveyed users of Schema.org markup on the size and type of their business, how frequently they maintained their markup, the challenges they experienced in using Schema.org, and any tools they used to tackle these problems.

It’s worth noting that the survey results were drawn from a fairly small sample of only 75 respondents, which limits our ability to generalize them too widely, but they nevertheless give some interesting insights into the use of Schema markup among marketers.

Perhaps surprisingly, respondents from the smallest companies – those with five or fewer employees – made up the largest percentage of Schema.org users, with two-fifths of respondents reporting that they carry out Schema markup for companies of just five employees or fewer.

It’s hard to say exactly why this is – maybe smaller, more agile companies are better at keeping up to date with advanced search tactics; or maybe they will do whatever it takes to stand out on the SERP in order to increase their competitivity with larger organizations.

The second-largest group, conversely, was made up of companies with more than 1,000 employees, although this group still only amounted to 13% of respondents.

A third of respondents to the survey came from digital marketing agencies, while 28% said they came from small or medium businesses. Sixteen percent of respondents were from enterprise organizations, while a fraction under ten percent were from start-up companies.

The job titles of respondents to the State of Schema Markup survey revealed that it’s not just SEOs who are doing Schema markup. While more than half of respondents to the survey were search specialists (either SEO specialists – 45% – or Heads of Search – 8%), digital marketers, business owners, CTOs and even CEOs were among the remaining 47%.

Another interesting finding was the frequency at which respondents update their Schema markup. Judging by the frequency of posts to the official Schema.org blog, updates to Schema.org are fairly sporadic, sometimes coming two or three months apart, other times going six or seven months without an update.

Google updates like the recent introduction of rich results for podcasts to the SERP can also give marketers an incentive to add new coding, as can regular site maintenance. However, I was surprised that close to a fifth of respondents (19%) said that they update their Schema markup every day.

A further 31% of respondents update their markup weekly, while the largest proportion (39%) update their markup once a month. An unstated percentage (which visually looks to be about 8%) say they work on their markup once only.

The biggest challenges surrounding Schema markup

Anyone who has tried to tackle Schema.org markup (or write a blog post about it), particularly without much of an understanding of code, knows that implementing it can be easier said than done. Even tools like Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper have their limitations, making it necessary to understand markup if you want to fill in the gaps.

This reality was reflected in the comments from marketers who took the Schema App survey. One respondent wrote,

“When I first learned about the existence of schema, I was so confused on how to implement it. I am not a developer. After trying many online generator tools and finding them unsatisfactory, I turned to my programmer hoping he could take over this task for me. He explained it was a different code altogether than what he writes. I felt overwhelmed when he confided he had no idea at all how to do it, even after spending a little time looking at it.”

Another respondent observed that “The examples given on schema.org were not clear and sometimes it seemed they did not follow even their own rules.” A third described Schema.org markup as feeling “a bit like witchcraft”.

Although a number of search blogs like Moz, WordStream, Yoast and indeed yours truly have set out to write guides on how to use Schema.org markup, there are still a limited number of resources available to help with this process; and comments on the State of Schema Markup survey reveal that many of those which do exist are flawed.

“Worse is that some of the schema is supported … but not in the Structured Data Testing Tool,” one respondent wrote.

Another wrote that, “It’s still very much a trial and error process for me as I find that some of the guides out there, when put through Google’s tool, don’t actually parse correctly. Very frustrating…”

Overall, the most widely agreed-upon problem experienced by survey respondents was “Showing the value of doing schema markup – reporting the impact and results” (reported by 45%). Close behind this was “Maintaining ‘health’ of Schema markup when Google makes changes” (reported by 42%).

Two-fifths of respondents cited difficulties in developing a strategy around what to mark up with Schema, while 37% struggled with how to implement Schema markup at scale – few solutions exist for the bulk markup of webpages, which can create huge challenges for companies with large websites, on top of the difficulties that we’ve covered already.

 Although it ranked near the bottom of the list of concerns cited by survey respondents, close to a quarter (24%) of respondents still cited “Understanding Schema markup vocabulary” as one of their biggest obstacles to carrying out Schema markup.

And as we’ve seen, this is coming from a group of marketers of whom the majority use Schema markup habitually – no wonder the wider marketing community is having trouble getting on board with Schema.org.

Tools for tackling Schema markup

Finally, respondents were asked what tools they use to solve the problems they experience with Schema markup, from a range of options including WordPress plugins, Wordlift, Web JSON-LD generators, Schema App’s own tool, or no tools at all.

The last of these options was the most common by far, with 40% of respondents asserting that they do all of their Schema markup manually. I can’t help but notice that this corresponds exactly to the percentage of respondents from small companies with 5 or fewer employees – I wonder if there could be some correlation there.

Fifteen percent of respondents said they make use of Schema App’s own tool, while 13% use WordPress plugins. Another 8% use Web JSON-LD generators, while 24% use tools other than those listed in the survey.

One business owner wrote that they tend to solicit help on Schema markup from online communities: “I ask for help in online communities and usually get answers. The definitions and examples have become better over time in both schema.org and Google.”

A Head of Search at an enterprise company wrote that they use “Internally developed tools and markup checkers that were developed for our specific needs.”

For those two-fifths of respondents who opt to do their Schema markup without the aid of automated tools, this could be due to a lack of technical resources, a lack of confidence in automated solutions, or perhaps because they simply don’t know that these tools exist.

But we can clearly see that there is a demand in the marketing and search community for more accurate and helpful resources surrounding Schema.org, whether these be in the form of web generators, apps, or how-to guides and tutorials.

Perhaps Schema.org needs to take the initiative to make its markup language more accessible by creating these, or perhaps they will be created by an interested third party. Either way, without them, we are unlikely to see the dial shift much on the uptake of Schema markup among marketers and SEOs, no matter how useful it is.

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/18/the-state-of-schema-org-what-are-the-biggest-challenges-surrounding-schema-markup/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159726805984

How to use Search Console for quick SEO wins

SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. Here’s how a closer look at Google Search Console can lead to quick SEO wins.

There’s no need to have a lot of technical knowledge to achieve quick SEO wins. Google’s Search Console, for example, can lead to great insights, provided that you’re eager to explore them.

Laura Hogan, Head of Search at Rice Media, shared her own tips at Brighton SEO on how to use Search Console.

There are four key areas in Search Console where you can find quick wins for SEO, and all of them can make a huge difference in your search optimization.

1)  Internal Crawl Errors

It’s easy to take advantage of crawl errors and use them as a way to come up with new link opportunities. Crawlers can help you get an overview of the errors to correct them and improve your site’s performance.

This can be particularly useful after migrating a site or changing URLs, which gives rise to more reasons for quick fixes.

This is a good reminder that every error can turn into an opportunity, provided that you’re willing to:

• discover all the errors
• proactively work towards fixing them

2)  Internal Linking

When it comes to internal linking, there should be some “priority pages”, the ones we want to focus on. This makes the optimization easier by allowing you to interlink depending on the level of priority for each page.

It’s a good idea to have a look at the Search Console to examine whether your top priority pages are already on top of the list. If not, time to link them with more pages to improve their presence.

Internal links can also enhance CTR, though it’s not recommended to use too many footer links, as they tend to look messy and spammy, decreasing their chances of being clicked on.

3)  Data highlighting

Schema markup should be the first choice for adding structured data markup to your site, but data highlighting can offer an alternative solution. Data Highlighter is a tool for teaching Google about the pattern of structured data on your site.

The first step is to decide the data you want to highlight. What makes your business stand out? What do you need to focus on? By using Data Highlighter, you can simply tag the important data fields on your site with a mouse.

Then Google can present your data more attractively on the SERP, and in Google features such as Knowledge Graph. Data highlighting offers a bigger SERP presence and increased CTR, all while being simple and requiring no coding to carry out.

This makes it easier for Google to discover your most important data, which leads to another SEO win.

4)  Search Analytics Report

Search Analytics Report should be a great ally in the attempt to get an overview of your site’s performance.

You can use it to explore your top performing pages, or the ones that have the potential for improvement. Moreover, you can find data and proceed to layer comparisons.

Is your old content working better than the new one?

Is the CTR from mobile traffic high?

This is a detailed report of your actual data, which means that it can lead to actionable steps:

• improving CTA
• keeping content up-to-date
• pushing blog posts in social media
• including blog post in next newsletter

If you haven’t explored this function of Google Search Console in depth before now, here are some of the best ways that you can make use of Search Analytics Report:

Top 5 uses of Search Analytics Report

• Check click-through rate

A closer look at the click through rate can indicate whether there is a problem with the positioning and the current optimization of a page. For example, if positioning is high, but the CTR is lower than expected, then maybe you need to edit the current meta description.

• Check rankings

An analysis of the rankings at the top 25 or top 50 search queries can offer great insights on what’s currently working and what needs to be improved. This can lead to many quick SEO wins.

• Apply data findings through other channels

The analysis of your data findings can help you improve the performance of other marketing channels, such as Adwords, or social media. Your report can offer new directions towards your marketing campaign, or it can even help you understand your audience and their habits.

• Understand your audience

Filtering the report by questions (“who”, “what”, “where”, “when”) can help you learn more about your audience. What are they really searching for? What’s the best way to find the best keywords to target them?

This may lead to interesting insights and more targeted content that will drive traffic, depending on what your audience types into a search engine.

• Check trends

An analysis of the impressions and the queries can indicate the trends that affect the traffic to your site. There could be a difference between a 30-day and a 90-day report, offering you new ideas on what content you should create.

5) Disavow

September’s Penguin update has made disavows more important than ever. The good thing is that they are now picked up a lot quicker and the results can be seen in less than two weeks.

It’s a good idea to keep your disavow up-to-date to make it easier for Google to understand your current ranking.

This could even work art a keyword level, as it may also lead to boosted traffic.

Overview

As we’ve seen, you don’t need to have in-depth technical knowledge to achieve SEO wins for your site – you just need to know how best to use the tools at your disposal. Laura Hogan summarized her presentation with the following takeaways:

– Use the crawl errors report for link opportunities

– Increase internal links to priority pages

– The search analytics report is your best friend for usable data

– Mark up your data, whether with Schema.org or Data Highlighter

– Disavows work, and are picked up quickly by Google.

from https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/04/17/how-to-use-search-console-for-quick-seo-wins/

source https://kateninablog.tumblr.com/post/159691915319