Bruce Clay's Blog, page 29

Lisa Williams’ New Digital Marketing Book Available for Free Download During #SMX Week

Lisa Williams’ New Digital Marketing Book Available for Free Download During #SMX Week was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Between conferences and clients, Lisa Williams — a woman who needs no introduction in the SEO community — has been hard at work on her first book, “When Everybody Clicks: Sustainable Digital Marketing,” will be available on June 2. In fact, “When Everybody Clicks” will be available for free download June 2–5.

In writing this book, Williams interviewed more than 60 digital marketing thought leaders, including Bruce Clay, Eric Enge, and Michael King. The aim of this passion project? To understand how relationships impact the technology industry. We turned the tables on Williams and asked her to answer our questions in this exclusive interview. Williams, who is speaking at SMX Advanced next week, reveals lesson learned while writing “When Everybody Clicks” and talks about digital marketing priorities and Google’s mobile-friendly update.

Kristi Kellogg: As you interviewed the industry’s best and brightest, how was your own digital marketing interviews impacted?

Lisa Williams: The most powerful lessons for me were around discovery and client partnership and engagement. For instance when you take on a new client it’s important to first spend time in discovery and make sure that they’re a good fit for you and that a strong partnership is a possibility. Ian Lurie from Portent Interactive shared that the biggest issues for establishing the client relationship is that brands often want consultants to behave as tacticians. Conversely, agencies need to better understand the business problem the brand is trying to solve rather than pushing their specific services. Bill Hunt founder of Back Azimuth shared the importance of spending time getting to know a potential client. For example he shared that he asks the sponsor of the project how they handle failure. What he’s looking for is a pattern in partnership. Do they get angry and quit taking phone calls or do they look at failure as an opportunity to learn? How we choose our clients is just as important as the work that we execute for our clients. That focus and investment in partnership goes both ways.



KK: We know that one of the experts interviewed in your book is Bruce Clay, who illustrates the importance of communication and education. Who will get a great education reading “When Everybody Clicks?”

LW: It is my hope that this book will be helpful to not just those on the consulting and agency side, but also for CMO’s and brand managers better manage work with agencies. After interviewing for and writing the book I’m more convinced than ever that establishing a great relationship and partnership is the path to sustainable digital marketing. Daina Middleton, past Performics CEO and current senior director at Twitter shared how much time agencies must spend to create good relationships with brands and how that’s an often overlooked piece of the relationship. She highlighted the importance of both sides understanding and committing to partnership

KK: What was the biggest challenge in writing “When Everybody Clicks?”

LW: To be honest every step has been a challenge for me. Finding the right people to interview was a challenge. I didn’t really know anyone when I started writing the book a few years ago and my friend and mentor Anne Kennedy paved the way for me to interview the right people by setting up an interview with Bill Hunt. He turned out to be one of my favorite interviewees. I learned so much in my first interview with him that I was certain that I was on the right path.

The next challenge was understanding how to create a process and focus around the interviews. Taking my learnings and putting them into a workable format was a challenge. Finally getting the book published has been a challenge … If I had to do it again I’d join something like Jim Kukral’s Author Marketing Club rather than learn most of the hard lessons on my own. The one final challenge for me was accepting that the goal for my book, besides educating myself, is curating and driving this conversation around how important it is for us to commit to the relationships that are a part of the digital marketing ecosystem.

KK: Your resume and projects list reads like an encyclopedia. What are your top three productivity tips?

LW: That’s just what happens when you been practicing for 19 years

The Complete Guide to Disavowing Links for Google and Bing

The Complete Guide to Disavowing Links for Google and Bing was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

The search engines’ disavow links tools are needed in today’s link penalty environment. As with all powerful tools, they come with questions about proper use and concerns for abuse. It doesn’t help that site owners have no insight into disavow data held by Google and Bing. As is often the case, SEOs have become comfortable with the unknown.

Are you at risk for a Penguin penalty? What about in the next update?

Are you a victim of negative SEO? Are you sure?

How do you know if you have backlinks that others have disavowed?

Would you like to know if another site has disavowed your pages?

On Monday, June 1, we’re launching a free product that will bring transparency to disavow data. Next week at SMX Advanced we’ll share a new tool with the search marketing community that will right an imbalance of data ownership. It will help answer the questions above and bring SEOs peace of mind. Every site will be able to benefit from this free service, so look out!

In the meantime, let’s talk about the whys, whens and hows of the search engines’ tools for disavowing links. This guide provides steps on disavowing links for both Google and Bing. Get a clear map of disavow links tools best practices, including:

How to tell if you need the search engines’ disavow tools and the benefits of using them
Some drawbacks and limitations of the disavow links tools today
How to create and submit a disavow file to Google and how to use the Disavow Links tool from Bing

How Disavow Files Help

Quality backlinks are a requirement of healthy search rankings. But it’s clear from the mouths of the search engines that you can’t go very far if your site is associated with off-topic or spammy inbound links. While it’s important to attract good links, it’s just as important to remove bad ones. This is why link pruning is a critical task of SEO.

A problem arises, however, when you’re stuck with a few bad backlinks. If you can’t get them removed, how do you avoid a search engine penalty for these backlinks? Fortunately, both Google and Bing have an answer: each search engine has a tool for disavowing links, or telling them the backlinks that you want them to ignore.

The search engines’ disavow links tools can help your website in many ways.

First, it can improve your inbound link profile. Disavowing a low-quality backlink essentially blocks it from the search engines’ considerations. If a search engine feels that a low-quality link is dragging down your trust factor, removing that link via disavow can help your site regain some of that trust. In fact, we’ve seen that getting rid of low-quality backlinks can provide positive results in a way similar to attracting quality links to your site. Of course there are exceptions, which is why it’s very important to properly evaluate your links before using the tool.

Another benefit to using the tool is the opportunity to discover negative SEO. While gathering link information, you might find artificial links pointing to your site that you had no part in generating. If you are indeed negatively targeted by your competition, asking nicely to remove the links may not work. While rare, negative SEO is a great example of when disavow links tools can stop poor-quality links from harming your site.

Who Needs a Disavow File?

Google has said that not everyone needs the disavow links tool. The search engine calls it an advanced tool and warns users to only use the tool if “…you believe you have a considerable number of spammy, artificial, or low-quality links pointing to your site, and if you are confident that the links are causing issues for you.”

So do you really need this tool?

The short answer: probably. (Sorry, Google.)

Why? There are many reasons disavowing links might be the right choice for you, the first of which is: “Not everyone has a perfect link profile,” says Robert Ramirez, SEO Manager at Bruce Clay, Inc.

Ramirez says most sites today have a disavow file. While initially envisioned as a last resort, disavow tools have become a required last step in a complete link pruning process. As our founder Bruce Clay says: “Everyone has a weakest link. We all have links that we wish would go away.”

Once you’ve worked to remove as many low-quality, off-topic, or spammy inbound links from your site, if you’ve found you’re stuck with a few stragglers (which is very common), the disavow links tool might be the best way for you to avoid current or future penalty.

You might also want to use the tool if you’re turning a new leaf in your SEO strategy. You or a past vendor may have consciously created unnatural backlinks in the past. Whether or not you have been penalized for these backlinks yet, you’re eager to follow the search engines’ guidelines. Using this tool helps you to get on the path of SEO best practices.

Here are other very important reasons you might need to use the disavow links tool.

You know you need a disavow links file if:

You receive a manual link penalty or a Google link warning in Search Console (formerly Webmaster Tools)
You suspect a Penguin algorithmic link penalty, or
You believe you might be a victim of negative SEO

Drawbacks and Limitations with Disavowing Links

If you fall into one or more of the categories mentioned above, the disavow links tool might be the best option for you. That said, there are drawbacks and limitations to disavowing links.

Problems with the disavow links tools:

No knowledge of your links or domain being disavowed by others
No control of insight into the disavow data black box: The search engines take disavow information from users – a list of URLs or domains you want ignored. What if we could tap into some of this data?
Disavowing links may backfire on the user. Sites may inadvertently damage their link profile during a clean-up effort. Ramirez notes that this often happens to sites with manual penalties. “You’re forced to prune links that still have value in your effort to appease Google. You end up getting unpenalized, but your link profile is severely depleted as a result.” We stress the importance of using search engine disavow tools with the help of a professional.

Imagine if you could see which of your backlinks other sites have disavowed. Imagine if you could see if a site has disavowed your site. Information like this would enable the SEO community as a whole to combat inbound link spam. The tool we’re releasing soon addresses many of these issues …

How to Build a Disavow Links File for Google

Google’s disavow tool requires you submit a list of the domains and pages you wish Google would ignore when evaluating your inbound link profile.

The first step to using the Google disavow links tool is to create a .txt file. Per Google’s instructions, this file type has to be a.txt file encoded in UTF-8 or 7-bit ASCII. Within this file, list the URLs and domains you want to disavow; each domain and URL should have its own line.

To include a domain-level link in the file, add “domain:” before the URL of the domain home page (for example, “domain:shadyseo.com”).

To submit a page-level link, simply list the URL.

Add notes to each submission by starting the message with “#” on the line before the URL or domain listing.

An example disavow file from Google Search Console Help

Once you have your .txt file, you can now submit the final list to Google’s Disavow Links tool. Here’s how:

Sign into Google Search Console.
Go to https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/disavow-links-main.
From the dropdown menu, select the website for which you are disavowing links.
Select “Disavow Links.”
Select “Choose file.”
Upload your .txt file.

A message of successful submission of a Google disavow file

Note: If you want to remove links from or add links to your disavow file in the future, upload a new and complete file. The new file will replace the previous one.

Pro Tip: Domain-Level Disavow

Google cautions users about the domain-level disavow because of potential damage it can cause. However, Ramirez says something a little different. Disavowing links on the domain level is a more thorough approach to cleaning up bad links. He says he utilizes domain-level disavow often because a “link from a blog page may also be included on a tag or category index page and as more posts are added to that tag/category, the link gets pushed further into pagination.” A link can be a moving target within a site and the only way to safely extract it is by disavowing the domain as a whole.

Bing’s Disavow Links Tool

The way to use Bing’s disavow links tool is slightly different than Google’s tool because you don’t need to upload a .txt file. Instead, you manually enter each domain or URL.

Log into Bing Webmaster Tools.
Go to “Configure my site” and then select “Disavow Links.”
Within the Disavow Links tool, use the dropdown menu to indicate that you are disavowing a page, directory, or domain URL.
Enter the URL you want to disavow and click “Disavow.”
Your submission will be featured underneath the tool along with the date it was disavowed.
If you want to a delete a submission, select the check box and click the “Delete” button.

The user interface for the Disavow Links tool in Bing Webmaster Tools

What’s Next?

After you’ve submitted the links you want Google and Bing to ignore, it’s time to wait. Google says it could take weeks before it recrawls your site and “reprocesses the pages.” This might be especially frustrating if you’re waiting to recover from a certain manual or algorithmic penalty. Bing says you might not notice any dramatic changes at all! At least you can sleep a little better knowing that you’ve cleaned your house of low-quality backlinks – until, of course, it’s time to do it again.

AdWords 101: Keyword Research Tool 1-2 Punch — How to Use Google’s Keyword Planner Tool & SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions Tool

AdWords 101: Keyword Research Tool 1-2 Punch — How to Use Google’s Keyword Planner Tool & SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions Tool was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Bruce Clay, Inc. is a certified Google Partner and Bing Ads Accredited Professional organization. We use education as a tool to further the business goals of our SEM services clients, and with the AdWords 101 series, you become familiar with a platform you can use to reach shoppers, intent-driven mobile device users, and people looking for your businesses online.

New to SEM and AdWords? Welcome to AdWords 101 from Bruce Clay, Inc., resources to introduce you to search advertising tools. With AdWords 101 information, you can start search advertising yourself or talk to your SEM manager with basic knowledge as background.

This post dives into two powerful keyword research tools: the Google AdWords Keyword Planner and the SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions tool. SEMs have come to love these tools because they get to the heart of search terms that people may — or may not, as your research may show — be using to look for you and your competitors.

Both the AdWords Keyword Planner and SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions tool are especially useful if you find yourself in any of the following scenarios:

Researching keywords if you’re starting from square one: If you’re starting keyword selection with a mostly blank slate, get keyword suggestions based on seed keywords. Info that helps you decide if it’s a good keyword includes competitiveness, popularity of search use and a search engine assigned category.
Vetting keywords by checking to see if they’re actually used: If you want to vet a list of PPC keywords, check to see how much people search for them and get trending data.
Expanding your keyword list with new, relevant keywords: If you already have a list of PPC keywords, you may want to expand your list with opportunities you’re not currently aware of. You can use your SEO keywords to develop and inform your PPC keywords, as well.

Why use one rather than the other? Here’s where the tools primarily differ:

Google Keyword Planner is integrated with AdWords so as you identify keywords you want to add to your Google paid search campaign, you can add them with a click.
SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions tool provides data from both Bing and Google so you can get a broader view of keyword activity
SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions tool is part of a larger suite of SEO analysis tools. As you identify keywords you want to target with paid search, you can add keywords to an organic ranking monitoring project supporting paid-organic search marketing synergy.

While both powerful, each has a specialty to keep in mind as you’re reaching for a keyword research tool.

Get Keyword Statistics and Forecasts from the Google Keyword Planner Tool

The Google AdWords help article for the Keyword Planner is a good starter resource for how to use the tool. And here we present the tool as we do when introducing or educating clients.

As a prerequisite to using the tool, you need an active AdWords account.

When you first log in to the Google Keyword Planner Tool, you’re presented with four options. Here we’ll break down your options and explain how to use and what you get from each feature.

Where you start using the AdWords Keyword Planner depends on where you want to go.

Search for new keyword and ad group ideas:

Scenario: You want to get new keyword ideas. With this function, an SEM can find opportunities to start or expand their campaigns. You start by entering some keyword ideas you have, typing or pasting them into the “Enter keywords” field or uploading a CSV or text file with your keywords. You can also include your landing page URL which will give the tool more clues with which to generate keyword ideas. You can narrow the results the tool will show you by including:

Location targeting: Options to get data by country, city or region, and by default, if you’re in the U.S. the tool will report on the U.S.
Network targeting for either just Google or Google and partners
Negative keywords: Name keywords you don’t want included in the tool’s suggestions
Date range: By default, the tool reports data averaged from the last 12 months, but you can change this if you want a more narrow range of time or to include data from further back

What you get after you plug in seed keywords and set your filters is a list of keyword ideas and ad group ideas with historical statistics. Historical data reported here includes average monthly searches, competitiveness and cost, which you can use to decide if you’d like to add that keyword or ad group to your plan. If you think you might want to add a keyword or group listed, click the arrow next to it to see an estimated required budget for these new ads. You’ll even be able to see how many clicks and impressions you can expect for that keyword based on the budget you set.

The new keywords and ad groups you get by plugging in some starter keywords and landing pages delivers the information you need, from impressions to cost, to decide if the keyword is a good fit for your AdWords campaigns.

Get search volume for a list of keywords or group them into ad groups:

Scenario: You have a list of keywords and you want to find out how popular they are. If you have a list of keywords you think are good candidates for SEM, but want to know what their search activity is like, this is the option to choose. This function provides users with search volume for your submitted keywords with your specified targeting. You get the same options for inputting seed keywords (type them in one by one or upload a file) and you get the same targeting options (location, network and negative keywords) and date range options. Your resulting report has a chart section at the top and a table with two tabs at the bottom.

Click to enlarge

In the top chart section, you can see some useful info about the search volume for the keywords you entered:

To see if and when keywords are searched for in order to judge if keywords are good candidates for your ads, view a graph of search volume by month.
To see if keywords get mobile traffic, view a comparison of searches on mobile devices compared to the total monthly search volume.
To understand device targeting opportunities, a breakdown by device shows you searches coming from computers, tablets and mobile devices.
To understand audience targeting opportunities, view a breakdown of where searchers are located.
To identify opportunities where your competitors are showing up and you’re not, see the charts comparing your ad impression share with market leader or competitor domains.

In the tabbed table area, the first tab will give you suggestions for how to structure your given keywords into ad groups. The second tab gives you the following historical statistics for your submitted keyword:

Average monthly searches: A number that tells you how many searches actually use this keyword each month
Competition, described as low, medium or high: A rating that indicates how many competitors are using the keyword in their paid search campaigns
Suggested bid: A dollar amount you should expect to pay if you want your search ads to show up for that keyword
Ad impression share: If this keyword is currently active in your AdWords campaign, here you’ll see if these ads of yours get any impressions, or views

With this feature you get help with grouping your ideas into recommended ad groups and data that shows you opportunities based on searches from previous months, where searches are coming from, and how often your ads are showing up so you can find opportunities for improvement.

Get traffic forecasts for a list of keywords:

Scenario: You want to learn how well a keyword might perform in the future. Use this function to help establish and plan your budget. You get click and cost estimates or impression estimates that reflect your targeting, bid, and daily budget entered.

Pro tip: Start by entering a bid and a budget that’s high just to get a sense of the boundaries of the keywords you’re researching. You want to know the high end of the bid spectrum that would get you a satisfactory average position for these keywords you’re researching.

Click to enlarge

The data displays as an interactive graph where you can see how your targeting, bid and budget interact to get you clicks and impressions. As you move the vertical slider along the X axis, you can see how many clicks and impressions you can expect for a projected cost. You can view forecasts for clicks, impressions and cost by device and by location by choosing the “Daily forecasts” tab you want to view.

By viewing the projected views and clicks segmented by device and location, you might find new locations to target or find a possible increase among specific devices. Are your selection of keywords being searched on the desired device or in the identified location? This will inform your keyword selection, not to mention your budget, and audience and device targeting.

Multiply keyword lists to get new keyword ideas:

Scenario: Get new keyword ideas by combining lists of keywords. Use this feature when you’re expanding your keyword list with new, relevant keywords. You may already have a list of SEO or PPC keywords, however researching and identifying keywords is an ongoing task. Combining keywords may unveil new opportunities. With this tool, you can enter two list of keywords and, in return, you receive one list. This list has variations of the submitted terms, many longer-tail combination keyword strings, and the historical data you need to evaluate a keyword’s viability.

Get Suggestions and Statistics Across Search Engines with the SEOToolSet Keyword Suggestions Tool

At its core, the Keyword Suggestions tool in SEOToolSet Pro takes user-provided seed keywords and generates more ideas for keywords. The source of its suggestions are the search engines themselves, care of APIs from Bing, Bing Ads and Google. An SEM analyst gets a rich and rounded view of keyword categories and trends as search engines see them.

The tool also supports shared keyword intelligence and strategy between SEM and SEO. In other words, the SEOToolSet, enables SEO and SEM to inform and amplify one another. Seed your paid search keyword analysis with the stored and monitored keyword list of your SEO project. If you’re an online marketer wearing both PPC and SEO hats, you’ll get potential paid search keywords and you’ll have the ability to add keyword suggestions to your SEO project list right from the research report.

Find this tool after logging into your SEOToolSet Pro account, then selecting the Keyword Suggestions tool from the “Keywords” area of the left navigation. If you’re not an SEOToolSet user, sign up for SEOToolSet Pro for $89 a month or the free SEOToolSet Lite. Note that the Keyword Suggestions tool described here is available in the Pro tools. A free version is embedded at the end of this post and available on our free SEO tools page.

To seed the Keyword Suggestions tool, add keywords one at a time or via a pre-populated list you’ve entered into your project. The tool reports back with a list of potential keywords and data to help in your evaluation. As seen below, you see the source of that keyword suggestion (whether the Google, Bing or Bing Ads keyword APIs), and a score for how related the suggestion is to your seed keywords.

Click to enlarge

From the list of keyword suggestions, check the box to select the keywords that jump out with potential. Click the button to “Get more statistics for selected keywords” for an even richer view of the keywords you’re vetting. You’ll see historical PPC statistics similar to the AdWords Keyword Planner, as well as keyword categories and trends:

AllInTitle is an indicator of how competitive this keyword is based on how many pages in Bing’s index include this phrase in the title
Activity, CTR and CPC are historical PPC statistics that illuminate the potential opportunities and budget requirements
Confidence is an indicator of how related this keyword suggestion is to your seed keywords
Categories (main and secondary) provided by Bing tell you more about what the search engine thinks your keyword is about, and a mismatch may be telling
Trends over the last year pictured as a line graph so you can understand how seasonality, current events and overall trendiness affects your potential keywords

Click to enlarge

Don’t let the name SEOToolSet fool you. The Keyword Suggestions tool presents a rounded view of potential PPC keywords drawn from and categorized by multiple search engines, presented with trending data and confidence scores. SEOToolSet aids not only organic optimization efforts, but also your research-intensive paid search marketing tasks.

Free Keyword Suggestions Tool
Enter Search Word   

 

Leveraging Keyword Tools for Stronger Paid Search Campaigns

When it comes to finding new opportunities and optimizing an AdWords campaign, take the time to explore the features that the Keyword Planner has to offer and expand your keyword research with the SEOToolSet. Whether you are reviewing current keywords or looking for ideas on what keywords to select, these keyword tools provide you with the data you need to confidently move your campaigns forward.

#SMX Sneak Peak: Conversion Rate Rock Stars

#SMX Sneak Peak: Conversion Rate Rock Stars was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Inbound marketer Purna Virji has been honing her CRO game for more than eight years. In that time she has become one of the industry’s most prominent experts focused on conversion through her column at Search Engine Watch and her speaking engagements at SMX, Affiliate Summit, and the ecommerce conference eTail. When she speaks at the conversion-focused SMX Advanced session “Conversion Rate Rockstars,” her tips will revolve around ways to drive your efforts with data. In advance of SMX Advanced, we asked Virji to share some next-level conversion optimization advice to help digital marketers expand their field of knowledge. In this interview, Virji looks at:

What useful qualitative data (data you can’t put a number on) can be used to inform conversion optimization
Myths of conversion optimization that could be holding you back
How to use PR and traditional marketing in conversion optimization efforts
Conversion and usability obstacles unique to the mobile experience

Conversion rate optimization is a chief concern for any digital marketer. Conversions (sales, leads, sign-ups, etc.) are, after all, how you prove the value of what you’re doing as an optimizer or paid search manager. The more conversions you can claim for your efforts, the more your own department budget can grow. Here Virji shares how to go about improving the rate of website conversion by looking at how visitors interact with your site now.

“Gather qualitative data before you start brainstorming or creating hypotheses for tests,” said Virji. Remember, qualitative data is any data that’s not a number. Qualitative data includes attributes, qualities and characteristics used to describe your visitor’s behavior when they’re on your site. When it comes to qualitative data, Virji says web marketers can gain insights from:

Purchase motivations: Sometimes these can surprise you. What you feel is the main USP might not be what’s actually resonating.
Landing page and ad experience: What information could be a turn-off? What are people surprised to learn? What do they connect with the most?
Why they don’t buy: Are they going to a competitor? Was there something you could have done to persuade them to purchase?

“Testing is expensive since not only do you have the actual testing cost, but there is also opportunity cost to consider. A lot of tests are based solely on analytics data and looking at performance of KPIs and other numeric metrics. Certainly that can be very effective. However, without the qualitative understanding of your customers and how they interact with your site, you could be missing out on achieving your maximum profit potential. These qualitative insights can help you not only strengthen your purchase triggers but also overcome any objections or hindrances to converting.” said Virji.

Want to take your CRO to the next level? Read on for more tips and strategies for increasing conversion rate (CVR) in this exclusive interview with Purna Virji.

Kristi Kellogg: Can you share some cringe-worthy examples of mistakes that website owners have made on the path to conversion success (that we can then avoid!)?

PV: Sure! It’s always good (and less expensive!) to learn from other peoples’ mistakes. A couple of head-smacking mistakes that come to mind are:

Not testing till significance: When there is insufficient data, the standard deviation is greater and tests can see a higher level of variance at the start. Additionally, factors like day of the week can also come into play, so making decisions based on insufficient data is a huge no-no. Panicking early and stopping the test means you lose out on any learnings, or on the other hand, happily crowing a winner without reaching statistical significance can be a costly mistake. Ideally, it’s best to achieve a 95 percent confidence level of statistical significance and if your test can reach that in under a week, it’s still best to run it for two full weeks to get proper understanding of variance by day of week.
Assuming a winner in one channel will work across all channels: Rolling out a winning test from one channel, e.g. PPC, across all channels without testing them first can be a big mistake. Traffic behaviors vary by source and someone actively searching on Google may be at a different stage of the funnel than someone clicking from a display ad. Test out winners in different channels to ensure they’re winners there too before rolling them out.
Listening to HiPPOs (highest paid people in the office): The boss hates this color and wants it changed. Or they’re sure that because the competition has a long landing page, you need one, too. While it’s great that they’re so involved with testing and have recommendations, going down this path can lead to wasted time and money. The main people you need to be listening to are your customers. Use qualitative data to better form your tests and you have a much higher probability of success.

KK: What are some myths circulating around conversion rate optimization?

PV: There are several of these that float around. The top three that come to mind include:

Use a big orange button: Good old BOB has been clutched at by many a company, but it’s not always the best solution. While call-to-action buttons in contrasting colors can mean they stand out more, it may not be the right lever to pull. It’s better to look at it all in context with overall user experience on the page.
Long copy: The variations with long copy are either: we need super long copy or we would never use long copy since readers don’t scroll. Ultimately, you would need to test that to find out if it could work for you, but the length of copy isn’t the sole determination of success. Your value prop and how you present it matters the most.
Test everything: Yes, but within reason. There always has to be a well-outlined hypothesis behind everything you test. Simply testing continuously for the sake of testing can waste money.

KK: How can public relations assist with website conversions and what are some tips for CRO-PR synergy that brands might not be aware of?

PV: Press coverage can be quite helpful when it comes to conversion rate optimization. Since adding more trust and authority factors to the page can help improve CVR, good press coverage can provide the clout of a reputable third-party endorsement. For example, adding “As seen in the New York Times” can help increase the trust level for the company.

Additionally, being featured in the press also increases the top of mind awareness for the company, wherein visitors to the site who’ve read or seen the coverage could be more likely to think they have heard of the company before or it’s more of a known entity to them. This familiarity could have favorable effects on the CVR.

KK: Looking forward to hearing more of what you’ll share during Conversion Rate Rockstars on June 3 at the sold-out SMX Advanced. Speaking of SMX, what keeps you coming back to SMX? What do you get as a speaker? As an attendee?

PV: I absolutely love the SMX conferences; they’re so well run, topic selection is always on point and they bring in phenomenal speakers. As an attendee since 2010 and speaker since 2012, I love how the team has managed to make each event better than the last. It’s well-balanced between agencies and in-house, so the audience can get the best tips from both. I enjoy the panel format; you get to hear a few different takes on the same subject to give you a broader perspective.

Plus the networking opportunities are fantastic. I love how they’re always trying to encourage new talent and also women in tech with the Janes of Digital event they put on in conjunction with Bing. I’ve met some of my closest friends in the industry because of SMX events.

KK: 2015 has been a big year for website owners to adapt or die with mobile. What are some of the biggest challenges brands are facing when it comes to getting website visitors to take action?

PV: I think the obstacles many brands are facing at the moment really fall into two main categories. The first is properly understanding user intent and then serving up distraction-free, prioritized content that really addresses the visitors’ goals as quickly as possible.

I’ve seen businesses look at their desktop pages and try and identify ways to make them work for mobile, such as simply making the page responsive or trying to keep in the same amount of information – often to limited success. Instead, since mobile goals and desktop goals can frequently differ, it’s better to start with user intent first and devise a hyper-focused mobile experience that can best address it.

Mobile users tend to be in browsing mode and distractions are literally a fingertip away. To grab and hold attention, site owners need to distill down the main message their user is seeking and carefully guide them down the conversion path. Content needs to be concise and focused, with a clear hierarchy and calls to action, to quickly grab attention and interest. Special offers for mobile consumers can help provide the push from browsing mode to transaction mode and help complete the conversion.

The secondly is usability. We still see cases of long forms, complicated payment processes, slow loading sites or complicated navigation options. Poor usability means poor conversions.

Site owners would benefit from really thinking through the entire mobile funnel and identifying ways at each step to make the process as easy as possible for the users. Even putting together a small internal focus group of employees of different ages and mobile habits and seeing what issues they run into or ideas they have can result in some winning ideas.

Typing is a pain on mobile devices so identify ways to minimize any typing users have to do- be that may in the form of a social log-in option, shorter forms (my pet peeve is mobile forms that ask for city, state and zip, when just zip is enough to auto-populate city and state!) or faster payments using Amazon payments or PayPal. Better yet, improve your user-experience by tying in mobile’s unique functionalities — horizontally swiping through different categories and images, double-tapping to save or add to cart. Smashing Magazine had a very interesting article on Embracing the Gesture-Driven Interface that has great inspiration for elevating the mobile user interface.

KK: Conversion optimization as a specialty connects so many dots when it comes to online marketing ranging from SEO to PPC to PR to web analytics. Can you share with us your favorite tools and/or platforms that make your conversion-focused life more efficient and easier?

PV: My favorite tools when it comes to conversion rate optimization have one thing in common- they all help understand target audiences better, which is the key to successful tests:

Magitest (great for mobile UX testing)
4Q from iPerceptions
Crazy Egg
Survey Monkey
UserTesting.com

KK: I’ve heard you speak six languages (wow!). Which languages are they? Does your polyglottal talent come into play as a digital marketer?

PV: Growing up in India, where there are 22 official languages and several hundred additional languages and dialects, it’s very common to speak multiple languages. I picked up the languages organically growing up and since then have tried to continue learning new languages. While English is my first language, I also speak Hindi, Gujurati, Kutchi (a dialect), Marathi and Urdu. I also have a paltry smattering of French.

Personally I find being multi-lingual does help me in marketing as I’m more connected to the nuances of language. Strangely I’ve also found that learning grammar rules in other languages does help reinforce one’s first language. Plus, speaking another language opens up a new world of culture — from film to literature and food. There are more opportunities to draw inspiration for connecting with different people, when you can see the common threads that engage audiences across different cultures.

KK: You must have a list of your favorite people or brands to follow that help keep one eye on the trending news of search and social. What are your top five favorite Twitter accounts to follow for digital marketing information?

PV: Ooh, that’s a tough one. Our industry has so many phenomenal people. Narrowing it down, my top five faves would be:

@BruceClayInc: I love that you find the best tips and news to share. They’re an excellent example of effective curating and really great search tips.
@moz: In-depth, helpful, well-explained articles.
@seland: If there is any news, we’ll hear it from them first, with a very informed and balanced perspective.
@bgtheory: For PPC advice, I always turn to Brad Geddes, who I absolutely hero-worship.
@HennekeD: For content tips. She’s a fabulous writer and I’ve learned a lot from her.

KK: If you could shadow someone for a day who would it be and why?

PV: I’d love to shadow Rand Fishkin for the day. He’s built (along with all the amazing Mozzers) this well-loved company with an amazing community of devoted fans really by truly understanding his audience well. Plus, I’d get to hang out with his wife Geraldine, whose blog The Everywhereist I am addicted to and who has the best cookie recipe ever. SEO, business advice, consumer insights and chocolate chip cookies, what more could a girl ask for?

LL: I love The Everywhereist, too! And indeed, what more could you ask for than SEO and cookies?! On a closing note, would you please leave us with a mantra that you live by when it comes to conversion rate success?

PV: Know thy customer. Understand who they are, what their goals are, what annoys them, how you can help them, and use this information to build a stronger foundation for testing hypotheses.

Thanks so much to Purna for sharing her time and tips with us! We can’t wait to see you in Seattle. SMX Advanced is sold out but free networking passes and 10 percent discounted workshops with code SMXA15BRUCECLAY are still available!

Mobile Marketing: How to Convert the Mobile Visitor

Mobile Marketing: How to Convert the Mobile Visitor was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Digital marketing is having a moment — and it’s a mobile one. For months, digital marketers have been readying their sites for mobile traffic page by page and #Mobilegeddon has come to define the current zeitgeist. According to SMX Speaker and WordStream Content Marketing Specialist Margot da Cunha, this has been a long time coming.

“Everyone’s been preaching the importance of having a robust mobile marketing strategy for the past seven years or so, and although we all know this, a lot of us still decided to put mobile on the backburner. Now that ‘Mobilegeddon’ is upon us, and Google is constantly telling us how important mobile ‘micro-moments’ are, marketers are being forced to act — 2015 could turn out to be the actual ‘year of mobile,'” said da Cunha.

When SMX Advanced hits Seattle next month (June 2-4), mobile-friendliness will be addressed from every angle. Da Cunha will take the stage alongside Lisa Williams and Phoebe Hanley in “Converting the Mobile Visitor.” They will discuss the best ways to attract and convert mobile users, and share strategies on text ads, display ads, click-to-call offers, targeting by device and location, and demographic research. Today, da Cunha gives us a sneak peak of what’s to come in her SMX presentation!

An Interview with WordStream’s Margot da Cunha

Kristi Kellogg: You’ll be taking the SMX Advanced stage in the Local, Social & Mobile track on June 2 to speak on converting the mobile visitor — hot topic! Can you give us a preview of your perspective on this panel? Will you be providing the PPC point-of-view?

Margot da Cunha: It’s a really exciting time from a mobile perspective. Everyone’s been preaching the importance of having a robust mobile marketing strategy for the past seven years or so, and although we all know this, a lot of us still decided to put mobile on the backburner. Now that “Mobilegeddon” is upon us, and Google is constantly telling us how important mobile “micro-moments” are, marketers are being forced to act. 2015 could turn out to be the actual “year of mobile.”

I will indeed be presenting from a PPC point of view. I’ll be discussing some mobile PPC myths that most marketers believe (you’ll be surprised). I’ll also dive into some of the newest features that Google has recently released, and how marketers can use these features/tools to convert more mobile traffic.

What are the top three things digital marketers should focus on when it comes to attracting the mobile visitor?

MC: First, make sure you’re able to be found. Secondly, you need to ensure your offering is compelling in a way that speaks to your mobile visitor; this visitor isn’t necessarily “a different person then your desktop visitor, but rather interacting with you in a different mindset. Lastly, there’s no point in being found if your website sucks, so you need to make sure your landing pages have a user experience that appeals to and captures the mobile visitor.

After you’ve attracted visitors to your site from a search ad, what do you look to put in place to improve the chance of conversion?

MC: It’s all about the experience and design of the landing page. Of course, relevancy, clarity, and all of the components that are important on desktop search carry over to mobile, but with mobile, as I mentioned above, your visitor is in a different mindset. They’re on the train on their way home from work, or eating a sandwich during their 30-minute lunch break, or watching TV while cooking. You need to bear in mind that attention spans are shorter, and the willingness to abandon a page is likely higher due to outside distractions. If I’m shopping for sandals on my phone while cooking pasta, and notice my water is boiling over, then I’m probably not going to continue shopping, right?

Of course, having a mobile optimized landing page is going to work in your favor, especially now that Google is favoring mobile pages in the SERPs. In terms of design, you need to make sure the page fits the screen, CTAs are short and direct, that there’s minimal distractions, etc.

You have a background in PPC and SMM, and your title is content marketing specialist at WordStream. As a well-rounded digital marketer, what are some of the advantages of being chiefly content-focused?

MC: Personally, the main benefit is that I love to learn and write, and this role allows me to do both of those things on a day-to-day basis. It provides me a way to take my knowledge and past experience, create informative content, and share it with marketers that can hopefully implement and benefit from it.

In a recent interview , you said “SEO and paid search can be good friends.” What are some ways you bring the relationship together? Where does SMM fit into the mix?

MC: Yes, they should be! Although I know a lot more about paid search, I think it’s important for organic and paid to work together to achieve the best results possible. At WordStream, we’re focused on both, and our team is really great about communicating and working together to achieve maximum results. Social ties in because it’s another vehicle to promote content, find and nurture leads, interact with clients and build partner relationships.

Have you developed any guidelines for paid social media marketing that targets mobile users?

MC: We have a huge library of social media marketing content on the WordStream blog, and I also recently began guest blogging for socialmediatoday.com. In terms of mobile, we don’t have any strict guidelines laid out, but we’re keenly aware of how important mobile is, especially mobile apps, for social networks like Facebook and Twitter. Approximately 87% of Facebook users are coming from mobile, so clearly marketers need to cater the majority of their content to the mobile visitor.

That’s an important statistic to remember. Thanks Margot! Your SMX bio says you’re on the thought leadership team at WordStream. What’s the role of that group at WordStream?

MC: The role of thought leaders at WordStream is basically serving as a speaker and public presence for the company to share innovative, game-changing tips to really take one’s marketing to the next level. Creating phenomenal content, working with partners on webinars, attending classes and events to stay ahead of the game, and engaging in speaking opportunities like SMX Advanced are just a few of the things that our thought leaders at WordStream take part in.

What a great corporate-culture concept to help individuals in an organization shine. What tools and apps that make your conversion-focused, multi-platform life more efficient and easier

MC: There’s so much out there. Of course, for paid search marketers, WordStream Advisor is an extremely useful and powerful platform to drastically cut down the time spent managing PPC. Tools like our 20-Minute Work Week allow marketers to grow their accounts without spending hours and hours on optimizations. It’s easy to get lost in PPC, and waste a lot of time doing “guess work,” but our tools simplify the process and guide marketers to make these necessary optimizations without having to scrape through libraries of data to make the decisions on their own.

You have an interesting Twitter handle! What’s the story behind @ChappyMargot ?

MC: Thank you! Chappy was the name of my family dog growing up. He was the cutest cockapoo ever, although I’m pretty sure my dad trained him to dislike men (my family is made up of all girls). Chappy died of old age when I was in high school, so I’ve kept his spirit alive through my Twitter account. It sounds sort of creepy, but I also just love the name Chappy (and look how adorable he was)!

KK: That is so sweet. Chappy is gone, but obviously not forgotten.

Thanks for your tips and time, Margot. Looking forward to seeing you at SMX Advanced. If you’re reading and want to attend SMX Advanced, there are just a few tickets left. Get 10% off your registration with code SMXA15BRUCECLAY.

AdWords Upgrades! Mobile Ad Formats, Cross-Device Conversion Tracking, Plus Automation

AdWords Upgrades! Mobile Ad Formats, Cross-Device Conversion Tracking, Plus Automation was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Google AdWords super charged the search advertising platform in three exciting new ways announced last week. For our SEM management clients, we wanted to share the new ad formats, automation tools and measurement capabilities we on the Bruce Clay, Inc. SEM team will be putting to work on your campaigns in the coming months.

New mobile ad formats for shopping, hotels, autos, finance, with more verticals on the way
New tools to track conversions that happen across multiple devices and advanced attribution models that give credit beyond the last click
Automated solutions for bidding and dynamic ad serving

By the way, if you’re considering how your business can benefit from leveraging the enhanced tools and reports described here, we’d love to talk to you about how we can help your business with search engine marketing services.

It Starts Here: Reaching and Tracking the Multi-Device Consumer

“The customer journey has been fractured into a series of moments when we instinctively turn to our devices to learn something, to do something or to buy something. We’re calling this new digital reflex micro-moments.”

That was the rallying cry of Jerry Dischler, Vice President, Product Management, AdWords, during last week’s AdWords Performance Summit. (See the full livestreamed event here.) The micro-moments concept seems to capture the way that we can look up, drive to and purchase anything we want at any moment thanks to the many Internet connected devices in our lives. This ever-connected, multi-device behavior was the catalyst for the coming changes to AdWords that advertisers can expect to see rolled out in the coming weeks.

1. New Mobile Ad Formats Optimized for User Experience

Did you know, more Google searches take place on mobile devices than on desktops in 10 countries, including the U.S. and Canada?

Google’s Dischler explained that “91 percent of people use their mobile phones to search for things in the middle of some other task.” So, what can advertisers do to make their search ads really stand out?

Enter new engaging, flashy and functional formats for mobile ads.

On a mobile search results page, the new mobile ads present a carousel of product images along with informative details. Potential customers get more information for making purchasing decisions. AdWords introduced the new ad formats that will be rolling out this year in four specific industries: shopping, hotels, autos, and finance. Our clients in these verticals can look forward to having these new mobile formats implemented, and the good news for everyone else is that more verticals will be released in time.

Autos: Through a new mobile ad format, searchers will see a carousel of images of cars for sale, with photos of the interior and exterior of the auto searched. Images are accompanied by a direct link to sites, available offers, and dealers. A ton of the hassle and hard work of buying a car is alleviated with these new mobile ads for autos.

Hotels: New mobile ad formats offer hotel information, location, reviews, and hotel images, and searchers can even book their room directly from a mobile SERP on the hotel or travel site of their choosing by simply clicking BOOK! Traveling and planning a trip can be difficult, but this new ad format makes all the tasks of travel, from comparing prices and researching possible destinations, easier — even from a smartphone.

Finance: Google Compare comparison ads really shine in the financial space, where a consumer can be overwhelmed by options. Finance related mobile searches, like searches related to mortgages and credit cards, rose 48 percent year-over-year in Google. Now mobile searcher can compare mortgage offers and credit card offers in a functional new ad format.

Seen here, Google Compare for Auto Insurance was released in March of this year. Now searchers will be able to compare credit cards and mortgages from a Google mobile search.

Mortgages: Google is now offering options to assist mobile searchers looking to take a big next step and major financial decision: buying a home! Mortgage comparison is soon coming to Google Compare, bringing comparable rates and agent support for the mobile mortgage researcher. With Google Compare for mortgages, first-time buyers or home buyers in general will be able to compare mortgage rates from multiple providers, from interest rate to term of loans and fees. Comparisons can be made by applying a customized set of criteria. Best part? Mobile users can apply and speak to a lender directly from that specific Google search ad.
Credit Cards: What about the mobile searcher looking for the right credit card? There are so many cards to choose from, with different rates and rewards to consider. The selection process is much less painful now that Google Compare includes credit card comparison in search results. From these mobile ads, searchers can compare rates and available informative information, and apply for the card right from the ad.

Shopping (local): Changes to the mobile shopping experience were announced in the form of improvements to local inventory ads. Local inventory ads let people searching for a desired product see if and where that product is available, before even stepping into a store. The enhancement announced last week is an expandable product card, where more details about the product are available when a viewer taps through. What was staggering to learn was that in the “first 5 months of this year, shopping searches saw a growth of 175%.” With the changes to local inventory ads, it won’t be surprising to see shopping search traffic increase even more for the remainder of this year. Google is surely on the right path of assisting both customer and advertiser in completing that purchase!

2. Out with the Old Attribution Models and in with the New: Advanced Attribution Models and Multi-Device Conversion Tracking

Did you know that nine out of 10 smartphone users start a task on one device and finish on another?

Attribution is nothing new to advertisers. What is new is attribution modeling available to AdWords advertisers. Attribution in AdWords has thus-far been limited to the last-click model. With last week’s announcement, attribution is being expanded with new options. Now, we can choose from the following attribution models:

Last-click
Time decay
Linear
Position-based
First-click
Data-driven

Of all these new options, the last one is important to call out as a brand new attribution model. Data-driven attribution uses machine learning and analysis to assign value to particular parts (keywords) of the customers journey path, reported as a percent contributor to the final conversion. In other words, it calculates the contribution for each of the keywords that take part in the customers’ journey. These advanced attribution models will be reflected in AdWords reporting, and eventually will be integrated into automated bidding, another announcement from the AdWords Performance Summit that’s explained in point No. 3 below.

Another way advertisers are getting more control by better being able to see the path of the customer journey is through newly announced cross-device conversion tracking. To be rolled out later this year, advertisers will be given insights into cross-device conversions, which will also be integrated into automated bidding.

3. Automation Solutions for Dynamic Ad Serving and Automatic Bid Adjustment

Did you know that 15% of searches on Google are unique and have never been searched before?

Addressing this, AdWords announced upgrades to an existing AdWords feature: Dynamic Serving Ads. The beauty of Dynamic Search Ads is that they automatically generate search ads that are relevant to a search by creating ads “based on the content of your website.” DSA campaigns can be set up “without the need to manage keywords.” DSAs were already pretty easy to set up within AdWords, and soon they’re going to be much easier and contextually helpful!

To be rolled out in the next few months, the Dynamic Search Ads dashboard promises to be easier to use. The upgrades lead to less setup time, more info about the dynamic ads that have been served and more targeting and suggestion options.

We recommend and use DSAs for our clients, and are happy to see an enhanced new DSAs dashboard that will include:

Category targets based on website content
Greater transparency into ads
Category CPC suggestions

Secondly, Google introduced a new addition to Automated Bidding family: simulation tools and a reporting dashboard focused on identifying and optimizing bid strategy opportunities. The bidding simulation tools provide insight into the differences between volume and costs at different CPA targets. The reporting dashboard is going to offer more transparency and tools for better campaign management. We can’t wait to get our hands on these in the next few months.

Putting It All Together

Google AdWords Product VP, Jerry Dischler, said: “We don’t go online. We live online. And we connect on mobile devices more than any other way, and while doing all sorts of activities.” AdWords advertisers like the SEM management services team here at BCI have an artillery full of new tools and data:

New ad types that dazzle on mobile. If you’re in auto, finance, shopping, hotels or brick-and-mortar retail, you have got to upgrade your ads to the visual and interactive new mobile ads.
Data-driven attribution models across devices. You’ll be able to credit keywords and ads along the conversion path, beyond the last-click, tracking the multi-touch, cross-device customer journey.
Automated bidding solutions that calculate volume and bids for your target CPA, and upgrades to Dynamic Serving Ads that make them easier to implement.

It’s not surprising to see that mobile is a big area of focus for Google, and we in the advertising community are the beneficiaries. These new tools help us understand what our advertising is doing to reach our customers living, working and getting acquainted with our businesses online. We expect the changes announced last week are just the beginning of enhancements to go give advertisers more information and more options for reaching searchers. It benefits Google, after all, to get more ad dollars from happy advertisers.

If you’re a BCI SEM management client, we look forward to talking with you in the coming weeks about our plans and recommendations to make the most of these new opportunities. f you’re looking to maximize your AdWords account management with these new features, request a free, no obligation quote and let’s talk soon.

Your Pass to #SMX Advanced: The Year’s Most Technical SEO Conference Is Here

Your Pass to #SMX Advanced: The Year’s Most Technical SEO Conference Is Here was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Less than 90 tickets remain for Search Marketing Expo (SMX) Advanced 2015! If you’re planning to register for the must-attend event, hurry — because it looks like it’s about to sell out for the ninth year in a row. When registering, save 10 percent on all passes and workshops with our discount code: SMXA15BRUCECLAY.

If you’re looking for next-level search marketing education and networking, this is the conference you don’t want to miss. Industry elite gather in Seattle to share advanced technical knowledge and tactical tips for search engine optimization, paid search and social media marketing. I’ll be on the scene liveblogging. Here’s where you’ll be able to meet Bruce, or, if our news coverage of the event is what you’re after, jump straight to the liveblog schedule here.

Speakers at SMX Advanced 2015 include:

Google Vice President of Product Management Jerry Dischler
Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes
Moz Founder Rand Fishkin
Microsoft Senior Data Scientits Lin Huang
Stone Temple Consulting CEO Eric Enge
aimClear CEO Marty Weintraub

See the full SMX Advanced agenda to discover the rest of the speakers and the sessions they’ll be speaking in.

Where to Find Bruce Clay at SMX Advanced

Bruce Clay and Mindy Weinstein will be in booth No. 29 in the Expo Hall throughout the conference.
Stop by the SMX Meet & Greet at the Bell Harbor Rooftop Plaza at 6 p.m. on June 1. It’s a great opportunity to mix and mingle with your fellow search marketers. Drinks are free, thanks to Bruce Clay, Inc.’s sponsorship. Come have a drink on Bruce — literally!
On June 3, catch Bruce giving a Solutions Spotlight presentation at 10:45 a.m. during “The Latest in Advanced Technical SEO” session.
Attendees at every conference can sign up for Bruce’s all-day SEO training workshop on June 4. Did you know Bruce has been the official SMX SEO training provider since 2008?

SMX Advanced Liveblogging Schedule

Here on the blog we’ll be providing coverage of sessions and happenings of SMX Advanced. If you’re not attending, or if you’re looking for copious session notes to supplement your attendance, check back on the BCI Blog all week long for liveblog coverage. I’ll be liveblogging or livetweeting the following sessions in real-time!

Day 1: Tuesday, June 2

Time
SMX Advanced Session




9 a.m.

Mad Scientists of Paid Search

11 a.m.
The Social Influencer as Key Marketing Search (Live Tweeting)


11:50 a.m.
The Future of Search Signals (Live Tweeting)


1:45 p.m.
Mobilegeddon


5 p.m.
Google Keynote with Gary Illyes (Live Tweeting)

 

Day 2: Wednesday, June 3

Time
SMX Advanced Session




9 a.m.

Google Keynote with Jerry Dischler

11:35 a.m.
The Next Generation of SEO (Live Tweeting)


 1:30 p.m.
 The Coming Paradigm Shift in Paid Search


 3 p.m.
  How Social Signals Affect Perception

 

See you in Seattle!

How to Configure a Custom 404 Error Page in Microsoft IIS Server

How to Configure a Custom 404 Error Page in Microsoft IIS Server was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

The 404 error page is a generic, browser-issued web page that tells a visitor when a page they are looking for can’t be found. A custom 404 error page, on the other hand, is a specially-designed page that delivers the same message but in a more helpful, user-friendly way that honors the brand. It can tell the visitor what’s going on and what to do next. It can even be crafted to save a sale.

This post walks through the steps of setting up a custom error 404 page if you’re a small business administering your own IIS server either directly or through a hosting provider.

How to Identify Your Web Server

Photo by Marc Dubois (CC by ND-2.0)

There are several popular (and many more besides) software programs used to store and host web pages, called servers. If you’re not sure which  server you use, contact your web host and they’ll tell you. If they say it’s Apache — and it very well might be since it’s the most widely used server on the web — leave this post and read How to Configure a Custom 404 Error Page — Apache Server Edition. Not using Apache? There’s a high chance you’re using the second most popular web server in the industry, Microsoft IIS. You can also tell if you’re using Microsoft IIS server if your website is programmed in .NET or another Microsoft stack, such as ASP.

So, you’re using Microsoft IIS? Read on.   

Putting in place a custom 404 error page in Microsoft IIS takes four steps:

Design a custom 404 error page.
Put it in the root directory of IIS.
Edit your Microsoft IIS server properties to deliver your custom error page.
Go for a test run.

This post is going to skip to step three. We’re assuming you’ve already created a branded, custom 404 error page that’s designed with both website visitors and search engines in mind. You’ve also put this page in the appropriate directory so that IIS has it available to serve. If you want to go back to those steps, go to our guide on How to Design a 404 Error Page That Saves a Sale. If you’ve created and published the page, read on to learn how to tell your server to replace the generic page with the new and improved page.

A Possible Microsoft IIS Complication

Before diving into steps three and four of the process, it’s important to note a potential complication regarding your IIS web server. If your website resides on a dedicated server (one that isn’t shared) you’re good to go with the steps below.

If your website lives on a shared server run by a third-party hosting provider, only the administrator is allowed to make changes to your server files. In other words you will have to contact the hosting provider before you can gain access to the server and implement the changes outlined below. Unfortunately, this might take a while – but hopefully it’s a brief setback.

Another way to get administrative rights back in your power if you’re on a shared IIS server is to install an ISAPI_Rewrite plug-in into IIS. ISAPI stands for Internet Server Application Program Interface, and you can easily purchase this software from several places.

First, find out what version of IIS you’re using. If it’s IIS 7.0 or higher, you can download the software from Microsoft. Helicon Tech (www.isapirewrite.com) also creates a good version of the software that can be used on IIS 5.0, 6.0, 7.0 and 8.0.

How to Program Microsoft IIS to Deliver Your Custom Error Page

With administrative rights to make changes to your server files, you can get in there and make the appropriate changes. Exactly how to make those changes depends on the version of the software that you’re using. Here’s a brief guide for IIS 6.0 followed by another set of instruction for 7.0+.

How to Prepare Custom 404 Error Pages in IIS 6.0

Step 1: Open the Internet Services Manager. The Internet Services Manager is usually located below “Administrative Tools” in your “Programs” list.

Step 2: Expand the list. You can expand the list by selecting the plus sign (+) next to your server name.

Step 3: Expand the web sites in the same way you expanded the server name. Right-click on the “Default Web Site” and select “Properties” from the pop-up menu. If you have renamed the website, select the new name, then choose Properties from the pop-up menu.

Step 4: Click the “Custom Errors” tab.

Step 5: Choose the error 404, and then select the “Edit” button.

Step 6: Browse and choose your new and improved custom error page.

Step 7: After you’ve selected your page, select “OK” to exit the dialog box.

Once you hit “OK,” your custom 404 error page should be live and doing its job.

How to Prepare Custom 404 Error Pages in IIS 7.0+

Step 1: Open the Internet Services Manager.

Step 2: Double-click the Error Pages icon in the IIS section.  

Step 3: Select “Edit Feature Settings,” which will display its dialog box. “Edit Features Settings” is located underneath the “Actions” tab.

Step 4: Go to the “Custom error pages” selection.

Step 5:  Define the 404 error code. If someone has previously configured a custom 404 error page, select it and edit it. If this is the first time a custom 404 error page is being configured, click on the “Add” link under “Actions.” From there, you can type in “404” as the status code, and select “Insert content from static file into the error response” and put in the path to your custom 404 file.

Step 6: Define the individual error page by adding a custom page for the HTTP 404 error. Then, select “OK.”

Test Your New and Improved Custom 404 Error Page

Whether you’re using IIS version 6.0 or 7.0+, it’s time to check whether your new page is working properly. The easiest way to test your new page is to visit a bogus page on your website. Go to your web browser and type in a fake page on the site, such as www.mywebsite.com/bogus-cheeseburgers.

If the new custom page comes up, congratulations! You’ve properly set up a custom 404 error page for the Microsoft IIS server. If you’re still getting the generic 404 error page, it’s time to check some common problems and try again. If you can’t see your new page, consider fixing the problem using the following tips.

Troubleshooting in IIS 6.0

Did you use a “URL” instead of a “File”? If you used a “URL,” the server will produce a 200 response code. This is a problem because it will allow Google to index the page even though it doesn’t exist. To fix this issue, simply swap the “URL” for a “File.”

Troubleshooting in IIS 7.0+

Is the ASP.NET functioning properly? To avoid this problem, you can use a static HTML page when entering the absolute URL for the default error page.
Are you logged on locally or remotely? If you’re logged on locally, your custom errors will not come up. To fix this problem, return to the “Custom error pages” selection, and change the Mode to “Custom error pages.” Then, you’ll be able to test your new error pages.

Simple Change, Big Results

Imagine the moment right before you bite into a cheeseburger. You close your eyes, lean in, and open your mouth. What happens next should be a party for your taste buds. But what if the cheeseburger you’re about to eat is replaced by something else? Or worse, what if it disappears?

From a visitor’s point of view, coming across a 404 error page on your website is an experience much like the one just described — disappointing and confusing. And depending on what they get instead of what they wanted to get, a visitor can lose their appetite. In fact it’s not uncommon for a consumer who encounters a 404 error page to immediately click the back button and exit the site completely. A sad ending to a potential conversion.

No one enjoys getting a bite of something they don’t want. The good news is that a custom error 404 can save the day. While it might not be the main course that your visitors are craving, a custom error page can be the amuse-bouche that opens their appetites and leads them to the final entrée. Help your hungry visitors get over the shock and disappointment of reaching a generic 404 error page by creating and setting up a custom one. Help them find that cheeseburger and give them something good to eat in the meantime. A properly planned custom 404 error page has the power to lead your visitors and search engine spiders where they want to go, and may just improve your bottom line.

How to Improve Quality Score without Modifying Your Landing Pages

How to Improve Quality Score without Modifying Your Landing Pages was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

We at BCI take Quality Score very seriously. After all, it has a direct effect on your ad positioning and how much you spend per click! Having a good Quality Score is a must for any account, however, it can be difficult to optimize for. What works for one account might not work for another, and some things aren’t in your control as the SEM account manager — most notably, landing pages which can require members of design, development or IT to update and manage. Thankfully, there are other components that contribute to Quality Score that are in your control and can make a big difference.

We recently accomplished AdWords Quality Score improvements for one of our clients by addressing CTR and ad relevance alone — things you can do, too! Here we get in to how we were able to achieve it, but first let’s understand Google’s formal definition and the components of Quality Score.

Google’s Definition of Quality Score

Google AdWords Help defines Quality Score as: An estimate of the quality of your ads, keywords, and landing page. Higher quality ads can lead to lower prices and better ad positions.

The components of Quality Score (expected clickthrough rate, ad relevance, and landing page experience) are determined every time your keyword matches a customer’s search.
You can get a general sense of your ad quality in the “Keyword Analysis” field of your account (reported on a 1-10 scale). You can find this by selecting the Keywords tab and clicking on the white speech bubble next to any keyword’s status.
The more relevant your ads and landing pages are to the user, the more likely it is that you’ll see higher 1-10 Quality Scores and benefit from having higher quality components of your Ad Rank, like a higher position or lower CPC.

Now that we understand Google’s definition of Quality Score, how can you, the SEM account manager, improve it? Know that the tactics described here also address Bing Ads’ quality scoring calculations (outlined here) and should improve your Bing Quality Score as well.

We know there are three main components used to determine Quality Score for AdWords and Bing:

Expected CTR
Ad relevance
Landing page experience

It’s not uncommon to hear feedback from clients and agencies alike that the landing page component is the most costly and time consuming to improve. This is because, as mentioned earlier, changes to landing pages can require the involvement of individuals on many teams, like designers and web developers and IT pros. That’s okay. While you’re waiting for those beautiful landing pages to come to fruition, you can still improve the other two components and see tangible results. On to the optimizing!

Refine Your Campaign Structure

Having a well-designed and executed campaign structure is key. Many times we’re asked what the ideal campaign structure is, and our collective answer is, you guessed it: “It depends!” As with almost everything else, what works for one account may not work for another. Therefore, we recommend basing your campaign structure on the following elements:

Performance: Let the data guide how you structure your keyword sets. By analyzing historical cost and conversion data, you can begin to group like-performing keywords into their appropriate groups.

Tip: Start by grouping keywords in two general buckets — high purchase intent vs. research-based keywords — and continue to refine keyword groups from there.

Match Types: Time and time again, we find significant differences in performance amongst the various match types. Here’s an example straight from the account that we recently optimized. Sometimes, segmenting your ad groups or campaigns by match type will give you more granular control by which to analyze performance. In addition, you can custom tailor your ad copy to each match type set.

Tip: Think about creating ad groups based on similar expected click-through rate and by ad relevance! By improving your match type selection and ad copy, you’ll improve these two Quality Score levers over time.

Landing Pages: While you may not be able to modify or create landing pages, you can stick to the best ones you’ve got. Use your account data to understand the landing pages that perform best from both a user engagement (bounce rate, time on site) and conversion rate perspective, and only direct traffic to those pages. With our example client, the account was utilizing 10 landing pages for five keyword themes, with two landing pages per theme. After analyzing our data, we found that the pages with the best engagement metrics also had the best conversion rate (surprise, surprise). It just so happened that these pages also had a better utilization of our PPC keywords and better tied in with our ad copy.

Tip: Think landing page experience. Put your lowest performing landing pages on the sidelines and direct all traffic to your top performing landing pages in terms of site engagement and conversion. Google will see an overall improvement to the landing page experience.

Refine Your Keyword Selection

We already touched a bit on this with the match type discussion. However, in addition to knowing which match types to focus on, it is also important to review the actual keywords your bidding on. As mentioned, try to segment your “purchase” keywords from your “research” keywords. In addition, be sure to review your negative keyword selection, as this is an all-to-often overlooked element.

For our example client, we reviewed all account data, including search query reports, and modified both our positive and negative keyword lists to better align with our performance goals.

Refine Your Ad Copy

Again, let the data tell you what to do here. In our example account, we were running multiple ad copy variations per keyword theme. When we analyzed the data, we eliminated the poor-performing variations and introduced new variations to test. This exercise also ensured that our ad copy was best aligned with our keywords and landing pages.

Ad testing is a process that will help to improve click-through rate (CTR) over time, which should help improve Quality Score!

The Results

By following the steps outlined above, we were able to increase our client’s impression-weighted AdWords Quality Score by 18%! This goes to show how having a well-built campaign structure can improve your Quality Score. Over time, we will pay less per click to achieve our ad positions, give searchers a better experience and capture additional conversions for our client!

Have any interesting tricks or observations you’ve used in your accounts to improve Quality Score? Please share!

The Comprehensive Mobile-Friendly SEO Guide for Business Owners Post-April 21st #Mobilegeddon

The Comprehensive Mobile-Friendly SEO Guide for Business Owners Post-April 21st #Mobilegeddon was originally published on BruceClay.com, home of expert search engine optimization tips.

Are you a hands-on small business owner managing your own digital marketing grappling with Google’s April 21st mobile-friendly update? We’re here to help. This article is your go-to guide for dealing with the aftermath of Google’s April 21st update. We’re one week out from Google’s latest major algorithm update and that means it’s time to dive into data and plan ahead — because even if the mobile-friendly update boosted your mobile traffic, we know search engine optimization is never complete.

Quick background: Last year traffic on mobile devices exceeded traffic on desktop, reflecting an evolution of search behavior. If creating a good user experience for your mobile visitors wasn’t enough incentive, Google has made mobile-friendliness mandatory: get mobile-friendly or your rankings will suffer consequences on the SERPs. To evaluate your own site’s mobile-friendliness, use Google’s free Mobile-Friendly Testing Tool — plug in your URL and the tool grades the page’s mobile-friendliness based on the ease of tapping links and buttons, the readability of fonts, the size of content and the presence of any content that may be blocked from a mobile browser. Read our quick guide to making your site mobile-friendly here.

Once your site itself is mobile-friendly, we encourage you to take steps to optimize how your listings appear on a mobile SERP. And you’ll want to look at the available reports to see how all the changes are impacting your traffic. This mobile-friendly SEO guide covers:

Creating a mobile baseline report in Google Webmaster Tools
Determining how your site was impacted by the algorithm update
The effect of the mobile-friendly label vs. other SERP annotations
How to edit the new mobile breadcrumb URLs

Create a Mobile Baseline Report

A mobile baseline report tells you the traffic you get from Google mobile searchers so you can compare this data to your traffic after the update. To create a mobile baseline report, you’ll need to access Google Webmaster Tools. Once inside, choose your site and drop down to Search Traffic > Search Queries. From there, click Filters and change Search to Mobile from Web.

Do your mobile search impressions reported in Google Webmaster Tools show a rise or drop after April 21?

Determine How Your Site was Impacted

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes said that it would take a full week for the algorithm update to reach its full effect, and as of today it’s been a week. It’s time to dive into the data and see where you’ve settled. While clicks are always the end goal of any SEO equation, you’re going to want to turn your attention to the impressions in this particular case. Fluctuation in impressions tend to indicate change in search engine rankings.

Be mindful, however, that site owners and digital marketers are testing searches and SERPs heavily right now, and data from the past week (and weeks to come) can very well reflect false inflation. It’s important, then, to keep monitoring the data closely in the weeks to come.

Mobile-Friendly Label vs. Other SERP Annotations

Just because your site is mobile-friendly doesn’t mean you’ll get the mobile-friendly label. If you’ve implemented schema markup that shows, for example, a video thumbnail, a jump-to-app link or how many product listings you offer, that markup will be shown rather than your mobile-friendliness label — even if your site is, in fact, mobile friendly. Read more about this phenomenon in “Why is My Mobile-Friendly Label Missing?”

If you’re wondering which SERP annotation is most important to have, Bruce Clay, Inc. SEO Manager Robert Ramirez explained that the critical aim is standing out.

“Whichever SERP annotation stands out is the one you should focus on,” Ramirez said. “If you’re in an e-commerce environment where a lot of product options is important, then the number of results on a page could be high value. A video thumbnail may really stand out, and so may ‘jump to app.’ It all depends on the business, the SERP and the competition.”

If you don’t have any other schema markup at play, the mobile-friendly annotation is a great thing to have. If your competitors don’t have the mobile-friendly label and you do, it will differentiate you from the pack. Furthermore, as searchers attune to the new label, we expect they’ll naturally start to click through to SERP entries with mobile-friendly labels.

The New Structure of Mobile URLs

Another change that came about in the weeks leading up to Mobilegeddon was how Google displays result URLs in mobile SERPs. Rather than showing the actual URLs, mobile SERPs now display the structure of the page location in a breadrumb-like format. The best part about this new look is that you have control over how your breadcrumb URL displays! Check it out:

URL structure is replaced by a breadcrumb format in Google mobile search results.

Examples of Structured URLs WITHOUT Schema

If you haven’t used schema to dictate your site name, Google will use your domain. The mobile SERP pictured below shows examples of three publications who have not yet used schema markup to designate their site names. The result is a lengthy URL that doesn’t capitalize on the new structure that aims to neaten and better present URLs.

Vanity Fair and Time Out would benefit from controlling how their site name displays in breadcrumb URLs.

If you want to control the breadcrumbs, you must use schema markup. We recommend it. Not only will your URL structure look neater in this new format, you’ll save on valuable SERP real estate by ridding yourself of the clunky www. and .com, thus allowing more high-signal information about the result to display in the breadcrumbs. Read more about this opportunity in “Google’s New Mobile Breadcrumb URLs: Making the Most of Your Site Name and URL Structure.”

How has the mobile-friendly update affected your site? Share in the comments!