The search community has long fostered collaboration, knowledge sharing and comraderie among its members. Beginning today, we’re going to regularly feature news about what people are up to, where they’re headed, awards received and other notes about those that make up our diverse industry. Keep an…

Google Shopping ads have been updated with a suite of new features that enhance the discovery, research, and comparison of products. With mobile shopping on the rise, so too is the amount of research being conducted on mobile devices before making a purchase. Here is a look at the enhancements to…

In this week’s Search In Pictures , here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more. Happy Thanksgiving cupcakes: Source: Instagram Android candy dispenser: Source:…

Continuing its effort to guide searchers toward credible content, Google has announced plans to introduce eight new trust indicators. Google’s first step toward labelling news stories was came last year when the Fact Check tag was introduced. Most recently, Google has added publisher Knowledge…

Today’s Google doodle pays homage to the iconic Mexican singer and actor, Pedro Infante. Born in Mazatlán, Mexico, Infante began playing music as part of his father’s band when he was a teenager. “Infante experimented with the style that made him most famous,” writes Google on the Google Doodle blog…

Big business has for a long time had to compete on the playing field of PPC and AdWords, but with the recent re-brand of Google’s ‘Home Service Ads’ to ‘Local Services by Google’ , and its expansion into more cities in the US, it’s clear that Google is pursuing a ‘pay-to-play’ model in local search.…

Facebook’s standalone Events app has received a significant update, which comes with a full rebranding and more opportunities to discover local highlights. No longer being focused exclusively on events, the app has been renamed “Local.” In addition to being able to find local events, the new app…

Today’s Google doodle celebrating Veterans Day was designed in partnership with VetNet, a Google employee network made up of Veterans and family members and friends of Veterans. Leading to search results for “ Veterans Day ,” the doodle highlights the Marines, Coast Guard, Air Force, Navy, and Army…

A federal court in California has blocked implementation of a Canadian Supreme Court ruling that ordered Google to delist websites associated with a company called Datalink from Google’s global index. The Canadian decision ( Google Inc. v. Equustek Solutions ) was an example of a court in one…

Tired of guest posting all the time? Looking to shake things up? This list of 83 next-level link building ideas should inspire you to give some new tactics to try. Let’s dive in, shall we? 1. Prior Linkers: Reach out to people who have linked to you in the past when you released a particularly good…

In a move that’s certain to prick up the ears of anyone working with a Service Area Business, Google has rebranded its ‘Google Home Services’ advertising and verification for local service providers to ‘Local Services by Google’. Along with the name change comes an expansion beyond the Bay area to…

We’ve long used reviews to determine whether things are worth our time or money. Critics evaluate movies, stage performances, music, and more. Back in the day, though, if you wanted to find out about these things, you either needed to read the paper, or hear it by word of mouth. The internet has…

SEM Sign up for our daily recaps of the ever-changing search marketing landscape. Amazon's CFO said that advertising revenue is growing "very quickly." on October 27, 2017 at 6:19 pm More Yesterday Amazon announced third-quarter earnings. The company reported sales growth of 34 percent to $43.7…

One of the biggest things business bloggers struggle with is gaining influence or establishing thought leadership in their field. According to the B2B Content Marketing Report , thought leadership was one of the top three content marketing goals, with 43 percent of respondents indicating that it was…

As the organic search results are increasingly being eaten up by PPC ads, the Knowledge Graph , and People also ask boxes, featured snippets signal a new hope for many SEO pros. And for good reason. Google shows featured snippets for more search results every day. And over 70 percent of them are…

We all know that search traffic is important – but here’s something you might not realize: While the core Google search engine makes up a full 64.8 percent of searches on all major web properties (including Amazon), Google Images make up another 21.8 percent. Google Image Search Share Is Bigger Than…

Next time you’re curious about what you see in a Snap, new context cards from Snapchat will have the answer. Context cards allow users to search for more information about what’s in a Snap simply by swiping up. Information is sourced from TripAdvisor, Foursquare, Michelin, and goop — all of which…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Target expands voice-commerce relationship with Google to battle Amazon Oct 13, 2017 by Greg Sterling Retailer joins Walmart in climbing aboard the Google Express.…

Google has made a significant change to the way AdWords budgets can be used, and the advertising community is not the least bit happy. Campaigns are now able to spend up to twice their average daily budget. The means on high traffic days, costs could soar as high as double the budget you have set.…

Managing social media takes more than 15 minutes a day. This is true whether you work for an agency or brand, or you own your own business. The need to engage is at an all-time high. That’s because 73 percent of consumers are more likely to buy from brands that are responsive on social media. Even…

Updating your e-commerce platform can do a lot of positive things for your brand. But if you aren’t careful, it can also wreak havoc on your site’s authority with search engines. Here are nine things you should do to safeguard your SEO efforts during the process. 1. Create a List Of All URLs On Your…

Google’s latest update to its iOS app allows users to filter search results by date range. Here is the info included in the changelog: I tested it out and it works exactly as advertised. You’ll find the “Tools” option toward the end of the option bar after you search for something. After tapping on…

This week, Google celebrated its 19th birthday . A lot has changed in nearly two decades. Rather than relying primarily on PageRank to evaluate the quality of web pages , Google now uses a whole array of techniques to suggest a wide range of content in response to queries, from simple direct answers…

Site owners can now export data contained in Google Search Console’s Index Coverage report. G-Squared Interactive was the first to notice the new feature and spread the word on Facebook: Index Coverage is a relatively new report within Google Search Console that was first introduced in early August.…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: 10 AdWords copywriting hacks Sep 22, 2017 by Digital Marketing Depot The holiday season is quickly approaching, and competition for ad clicks gets more competitive…

We all know that social media plays a great role in your marketing success. There are 2.8 billion social media users globally in 2017. But you must do it right. Social is about sharing and building a relationship with your audience first, not selling. Social media channels provide you an opportunity…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Spark Foundry takes home Bing’s 2017 Agency of the Year & Innovator of the Year awards Sep 15, 2017 by Amy Gesenhues Hosted by the Daily Show’s Trevor Noah, Bing’s…

I recently reported on an algorithm update impacting the local results that happened on August 22, 2017. This was a strictly-local update, from what I can tell so far, which means that it had no impact on the non-local organic results. What changed? The update, which I have dubbed “Hawk,” was a…

Pretty much every company has a blog , but most face the same challenges. With consumer attention spans dwindling and so much competition, just how can you cut through and get people to view your content regularly? How do you become a destination site for content consumption if your company is known…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Google adds trending searches and instant answers to iOS app Sep 1, 2017 by Greg Sterling Google adds previously introduced Android search capabilities to iOS app.…

Key performance indicators, or KPIs, are used across almost every industry as a metric of how well something is or isn’t working. In PPC, you can use KPIs to determine how successful your campaigns were. Understanding the key indicators of campaign performance is essential for anyone working in PPC…

SEO is commonly defined as a methodology of strategies and tactics used to increase a website’s organic visibility on the web. One word you don’t often see when looking at its definition is “experimentation.” Why is that? Experimentation is at the forefront of SEO. Experimentation is what drives the…

A buyer’s overall experience is critical to closing a sale. When it comes to online shopping and e-commerce in general, the importance of speed cannot be emphasized enough. After all, more than 40 percent of users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load. Search engines…

Showing your clients SEO ROI is the subject of lengthy discussions and often raises ethical and credibility questions. Achieving high-performing organic search results is one of the holy grails of digital marketing. Ranking a site organically in the search results is the goal for many companies —…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: Featured snippets: How much do you really know about them? [QUIZ] Jul 28, 2017 by Stephan Spencer Think you’re an expert on featured snippets? Then put your money…

The ultimate goal of all marketing is to generate sales. Yes, you want brand awareness and traffic and leads. But those things don’t matter without sales. We know content marketing can help you increase revenue . But have you thought about leveraging your content for social selling ? Why social…

Every day business owners are bombarded with phone calls and emails from “digital marketing experts” vying to help them get on the first page of Google, get social media likes and followers, build a new website, etc. The promises made by these marketers are endless. All of this leaves most business…

Are you looking for ways to drive revenue to your business? Meet today’s digital consumer: Kat. The web, social media, email, and other digital channels provide instant information at her fingertips. She came across your awesome posts on social media and decided to check out your site. She loved…

Below is what happened in search today, as reported on Search Engine Land and from other places across the web. From Search Engine Land: After Windows 10 bump & Yahoo deal, Microsoft’s search revenue growth looks stagnant Jul 21, 2017 by Ginny Marvin Search ad revenues are growing, but the rate has…

How to Become an Expert in Local Search 93 Author Posted on July 21, 2017 Filed under Google My Business , Local Search , Local SEO If you’ve been in the local search industry for any length of time, you know how challenging it can be to keep up with the latest local SEO information. What’s working.…