Digital Marketing Insider Secrets January 2022 eBizUniverse

Few dashboard updates you might be interested in

Google now allows product placement at the top of local and maps listingWhy do web pages drop out of search console reportseBizUniverseFew dashboard updates you might be interested in

We have been busy working on our platform and updating our technology and have some good news to share. Here are few of the important updates we wanted to share:

    • Late last year we realized that search engines like Bing were getting more aggressive in banning bots. This affected our keyword ranking (SERP tracking) module. We did some brainstorming and came up with the idea that in order to get the most accurate results we would have our technology to replicate actual human visitor behavior. It’s with great pleasure and excitement we are announcing this new SERP tracking technology for Bing keyword tracking. We hope to slowly use this technology for Google rankings, audits, and other key areas to future proof our results.
    • Not only regular search results, but we will prioritize tracking of other important sections in Bing SERP that includes “People Also Ask” results, Video and Image search results and show them on our dashboard.

People-also-ask-Bing

 

Video-results-Bing

 

Video-results-Bing

 

    • One of the most requested features by agencies – Apart from Local Map pack in Google SERPs, we are moving one step further to track local rankings by detecting your client’s website presence in Google Maps results.

Google-Maps-results

 

    • Keyword opportunities are always a great KPI you can show your clients. We will be introducing a new section to show “suggested search keywords” for each keyword we are tracking. This offers additional keywords we can target and rank – thereby increasing traffic to the website.
    • Tracking multiple business names for a business is difficult. So far, our system could track rankings for only a single business name. We will improve this system to track more than one name for a particular business. This gives a chance to show more keywords that are ranking for a business.
    • Scan your client’s website health for 100+ harmful issues with our much-improved high speed SEO crawler. Our advanced crawler will identify issues on the website that might be limiting its rankings. This should help to make your client’s website more search friendly, thereby improving rankings.
    • Crawler audit data will also be introduced on a “Per Page” basis giving accurate information about a particular page in addition to the whole website (global level). This gives a chance to resolve SEO errors at a minute level.
    • Our website monitoring system is getting an overhaul with more accurate information. Our improved and reliable website uptime/downtime monitoring system will instantly alert you via email if the website goes down.

 

If you have any request for new features to be added or improvements in existing modules, please feel free to reach out to us.

Analyze your site?

Google now allows product placement at the top of local and maps listing

Google My Business, which has been rechristened as Google Business Profile, now has a new feature that will allow businesses to mark a product as “Special”. This feature, which has been rolled out by Google recently, appears in the products section and takes the product marked as special right to the top of the products listed in a business’s Google Business Profile Listing.

 

Here’s a look at what the product section now looks like:

Google Business profile products section display

The Google Business Profile products section setting displays the option to “Mark as Special”. It clearly states that “Products marked Special are shown at the top of the page.”

What makes this an exciting development

While not all businesses may see the need for this feature, a section of local SEOs and businesses have been looking for a way to promote certain products at the top of the page. This feature gives them the ability to put the best of their products high up in their Google local search and Maps listings.

Have Questions About Your Google Business Profile? Ask Us!

Why do web pages drop out of search console reports

A query was raised by the user regarding Search Console reports. The user stated they are having a problem with some of their web pages showing up and then dropping out of Search Console reports. Especially in regards to the Core Web Vitals report, they are seeing a steady decline in the number of pages reported from month to month.

 

Google’s John Mueller recently addressed this issue in an office hours segment where he said, “it’s a matter of how Search Console reports on web pages. Rather than attempt to include every page in the report, they use a sample of the URLs from your site. The number of pages they use to sample your site can vary from month to month in exactly the way that you’re reporting.”

 

He further added, “it’s something where having fewer URLs in these reports doesn’t mean that the other URLs are bad or problematic. It’s just we didn’t check them.

So especially for the aggregate reports, which is for the Core Web Vitals to some extent, the AMP report, the Structured Data report, mobile friendliness … for those reports, we only take a look at a sample … and that sample can change over time.”

 

He explains, “they might look at 200 URLs in one month and then in the next, they’ll look at maybe 100 URLs or something like that. It doesn’t mean that anything bad is happening; it’s just that Google is looking at a smaller sample of pages from your site.”

 

He advises that instead of stressing out about the changing sample size you should focus on what is actually being reported – specifically the relationship between the bad pages that are reported and the good ones.

 

If you see that all of the URLs in the report are without errors, then you’re good to go. But if you’re seeing errors, and especially if the proportion of errors is increasing over time, then you’ve probably got some fixing to do.

 

In any case, the total number of URLs in the report should not be your primary concern. It’s the relationship between the pages and the reported negatives that you should focus on and attempt to fix.

 

You can watch this video here, where John discusses the issue starting at the 51:33 mark:

https://youtu.be/rCcDsmjn-SA

Are you getting the best return out of your digital marketing?

Need an extra pair of eyes to review your online game plan? Let our experts take a look at your current state and do a comprehensive digital marketing analysis at no cost to you. Please call us at (800) 379-2829 or contact us today and we will get to work right away.

DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS October 2021

All you Need to Know About the Google Titlepocalypse UpdateSimple SEO Guide for New eCommerce Websites Impact of WordPress Themes on RankingseBizUniverseAll you Need to Know About the Google Titlepocalypse Update

Google’s new system for generating titles – “Titlepocalypse”, which was supposed to generate titles for about 20% of the web pages in the search results, was not very well received. Many were of the opinion that the search engine giant rushed to roll out a system that they had not yet thoroughly tested.

Taking into consideration all the user feedback they received, Google revised the update to rewrite and generate HTML titles for just around 13% of the time. Furthermore, they provided an explanation on what triggers the system to rewrite a title tag.

So what leads to a title tag rewrite?

In a document titled, ‘More information on how Google generates titles for web page results, Google helps creators understand what exactly they look for in a title hence Titlepocalypse.

They explained that title elements are used most of the time. Google’s new system is said to use the HTML title element as the title shown in the search results for around 87% of the time. Since 2012, Google has had to use text other than title elements when their system determined that the present title failed to describe a page very well. Mostly, the web pages that fell into this category were those with empty title tags, duplicate titles regardless of the content on page and pages with no title elements whatsoever.

The document also listed examples of when the system went beyond the title elements. The new system is designed to address certain situations where going beyond the title element may be more helpful for the web pages. Some of the situations listed are as follows:

    • Pages with Half-Empty Titles

Half-empty titles are titles wherein the site name may be present, but it may be missing the summary of the page. This situation generally occurs when templates are used to create titles. These tiles usually look somewhat like this:

| Site Name

The system detects such titles and tries to make adjustments based on the header elements or any other prominent text it can find on the page, such as:

Product Name | Site Name

    • Pages with Obsolete Titles

Obsolete titles occur when the same page is used every year but the title element fails to reflect the latest date. For instance:

2020 admissions criteria – University of Awesome

If the headline on this page reads “2021 admissions criteria”, the system will go ahead and change its title to:

2021 admissions criteria – University of Awesome

    • Pages with Inaccurate Titles

If Google detects that a web page’s title is not properly describing the content on the page, it will consider the title to be inaccurate. An example would be a page with dynamic content and a title that reads:

Giant stuffed animals, teddy bears, polar bears – Site Name

Google may then take it upon itself to change the title to something along the lines of:

Stuffed animals – Site Name

    • Pages with Micro-boilerplate Titles

A micro-boilerplate title is that one title which is used for a number of pages within a site, such as those used for television shows that may have several seasons but the season numbers are omitted from the titles. An example of such titles would be:

1: My so-called amazing TV show

2: My so-called amazing TV show

3: My so-called amazing TV show

The system may modify these titles to display the season numbers mentioned in the headline text so that it becomes a little easy to identify which page is for which season.

Season 1 – My so-called amazing TV show

Season 2 – My so-called amazing TV show

Season 3 – My so-called amazing TV show

Final Takeaway

We have to give it to Google for acknowledging that the system they have in place for creating titles is not perfect. Moreover, they welcome the creators to provide their feedback.

Also, it may help to review and follow the SEO guide provided by Google on their help page on creating good titles and snippets in search results. After all, Google uses the HTML title elements to determine the ranking 100% of the time!

Remember

  1. Title tags are considered for rankings even now.
  2. Continue to focus on creating great title tags with focus on target keywords.
  3. Include H1 and H2 in your page content including your target keywords.

Analyze your site?

Simple SEO Guide for New eCommerce Websites

Wish to improve the search visibility of your eCommerce site? Google Search Central has released new SEO guidelines for developers. In this article, we will brief you with the steps you must follow and also attach the reference links so that you can make a better plan.

Google states that –

Your content shows up in Google Search & other Google surfaces only when Google can find and parse your eCommerce data and site structure. Your site and products will then be visible to the shoppers.

All the eCommerce’s SEO Guide–

    1. Understand Google Surfaces

Google has many surfaces where your content can be displayed. Understanding every surface can help you reach new potential customers. Check out the article from Google to learn more.

    1. Provide product data to Google

Sharing your eCommerce product data with Google can help you get more traffic to your site. Wish to know more? Visit this link – Share your product data with Google.

    1. Google appreciates structured data!

When you add structured data to your websites, Google’s accuracy to understand your content is highly enhanced. For more details, visit Google Search Central now.

    1. Steps to launch a new eCommerce site

If you are planning to launch a new eCommerce site, Google suggests you follow certain steps so that your site is recognized & crawled by Google.

    1. Well-designed URLs can help…

A well-developed URL structure can help Google to locate your web pages. Are you building your site? Check out the SEO guide from Google to avoid indexing issues.

    1. Navigation structures can impact Google’s understanding!

The navigation structure on your site helps Google to determine the importance of a webpage. To learn how you can assist Google, check out Google Search Central’s Blog now.

    1. Display a subset of a larger list

To improve page performance, Google suggests displaying a subset of results. Also, ensure that Google crawlers can find your site’s content. Read more about the UX patterns to get started.

We encourage you to check out the links in this article and discuss with your SEO experts to implement the SEO guide and guidelines. If you need help with your ecommerce website, please get in touch with us.

See How We Can Improve Your Site With The SEO Guide! 

Impact of WordPress Themes on Rankings

Google’s John Mueller has discussed the impact of WordPress Themes Logo on SEO. According to him, rankings are affected when one changes the theme of a WordPress website. The various details that the website themes can determine are as follows:

    • Content display
    • Internal links
    • Page load time
    • Content options
    • Structured data use

John further added that you should try various themes on a test website before finalizing one of them. You can also add some content from your site and note the details while keeping the above points in mind.

John also recommends that you follow some additional steps, such as:

Factors that can affect page speed load times:

    • Faulty coding & un-optimized CSS, javascript.
    • Need for multiple plugins.
    • Excessive loading of internal or external resources.

Final takeaway

You can always take certain steps to ensure that your WordPress themes do not affect your ranking, such as:

    • Select your website theme wisely.
    • Faster load times should be your main goal.
    • Some themes claim they are SEO-friendly, but still, test them.
    • Prefer using Gutenberg-based editors (aka, Gutenberg blocks builders).
    • Remember to block the indexing of your test website.
Are you getting the best return out of your digital marketing?
Need an extra pair of eyes to review your online game plan? Let our experts take a look at your current state and do a comprehensive digital marketing analysis at no cost to you. Please call us at (800) 379-2829 or contact us today and we will get to work right away.

DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS September 2021Google Rewrites Titles Rankings are Not Affected

Googles Link Spam Update is Complete After a Month You Will Soon See Ads in Instagram ShopseBizUniverseGoogle Rewrites Titles Rankings are Not Affected

On August 17, 2021, many people noticed Google using header tags (H1s & H2s) rather than meta title tags as titles. A number of people posted their questions and complaints related to this change on various forums and social media platforms.

Below are some of the public mentions & the answers from Google and other SEO professionals.

Google and Other SEO Professionals1

Google and Other SEO Professionals2

Google and Other SEO Professionals3

Google and Other SEO Professionals4

From the above posts, we can confirm that your rankings are definitely not affected by this update (at least for now)!! Its only purpose is to make your titles more readable and precisely describe your document’s content. This new system is preferred by the users, as they can connect with the page content easily.

Many people wanted Google to explain more about this update, so there were many comments related to this topic. Google’s staff answered their queries in this official post.

Points To Remember:

  1. Title tags are considered for rankings even now.
  2. Continue to focus on creating great title tags with focus on target keywords.
  3. Include H1 and H2 in your page content including your target keywords.

Analyze your site?

Googles Link Spam Update is Complete After a Month

Google recently announced that the link spam update is complete. The update that initially began rolling out on July 26th, 2021, is now done rolling out as of August 24th, 2021. It took over a full month for this update to roll out and two weeks longer than Google had said.Google Search Central

Here’s Google’s announcement about the link spam update that is done rolling out.

Earlier, Google said, “This algorithm update, which will roll out across the next two weeks, is even more effective at identifying and nullifying link spam more broadly, across multiple languages.”

The update is finally fully live.

So how do you know if your site has been impacted by the update? Tough to say as of now! We had a bunch of unconfirmed updates after this announcement was made. Maybe they were related to the link spam update, maybe not.

All we know is that the Google link spam update didn’t have any negative effect on our client rankings.

If you’ve been affected by this update, you can get in touch with our team for professional help.

See How Here! 

You Will Soon See Ads in Instagram Shops

All You Need To Know About This New Feature!

  • The Shop Tab of Instagram will now include ads.
  • This feature is still under test in the U.S.
  • Ads can either be a single photo or multiple photos.
  • Only a few retailers such as Away, Boo Oh, Clare Paint, DEUX, Donni Davy, Fenty Beauty, and JNJ Gifts could participate in this test.
  • An auction-based model will be used to launch Ads in Instagram Shop.
  • The Instagram Shop tab is a mobile-only feature, so the ads will only appear on mobile.
  • How many ads a single consumer sees will be determined by several factors, such as:
    • Instagram, how do they use it?
    • And, how many people are shopping in the tab?
    • Instagram also plans to monitor consumer sentiment to balance ads and content.

Why This Feature Is Important

If this feature is approved, many retailers will be able to reach their target customers easily. Also, cross-app tracking and third-party cookies will not be an issue anymore.

Final Takeaway

There are no details available yet as to when other retailers would be able to join in. However, it is clear that this feature will surely be made available globally in the coming future.

For more information, check out this article.

Are you getting the best return out of your digital marketing?

Need an extra pair of eyes to review your online game plan?

Let our experts take a look at your current state and do a comprehensive digital marketing analysis at no cost to you.

Please call us at (800) 379-2829 or contact us today and we will get to work right away.

eBizUniverse July 2021 Newsletter Cover

June Turned Out to e an Action Packed Month for Google

Google Launches Search Counsole Insights

A Simple Guide to Local SEO Strategy

eBizUniverse Monthly Newsletter Blog

June Turned Out to e an Action Packed Month for Google

Update eBizUniverse July 2021 Newsletter

 

The month of June saw SEOs scrambling to keep up with a number of updates rolled out by Google, namely core, page experience, and spam updates. These updates also had the SEOs scratching their heads, trying to figure out the exact cause of the change in rankings.

While the rolling out of the core update finished on the 12th of June, Google started rolling out the page experience update right on its heels, on the 15th of June. This roll-out is expected to go on right until the end of August. Also, Google went on to roll out a two-part spam update – part one of the update began on the 23rd of June, and part two began on the 28th of June.

What These Updates Signify

The page experience update has a lot to do with HTTPS and metrics such as the speed, responsiveness, and core web vitals. If you wish to see how this update may affect your site, the updated layout is live in all the testing tools and Google Search Console. However, you need to bear in mind that the Search Console data is delayed, as it is based on the CrUX (Chrome UX Report) data aggregated over the past 28 days.

As this roll-out is going to last months, chances are you may not see any drastic shift in a site’s visibility. This should give you the time to work on your site’s metrics so that its performance meets your expectations.

Unlike core and page experience updates, spam updates begin and end on the same day, which means your website rankings may be impacted almost immediately. Hence, if a website saw any changes in rankings on the days when this two-part update rolled out, you know what may have caused it.

That said, none of our websites experienced any major shift in rankings.

Final Takeaway

Although there is a great deal of talk around these updates, it is still too early to know exactly how they will affect site rankings. As for the spam updates, the SEOs do not seem to be too impressed and feel that too many spam sites are still being ranked.

When it comes to core updates, here’s a look at all a site owner should know about Google’s core updates. Also, if you would like some more information on the page experience update that is still rolling out, keep an eye out for the updates posted on the Page Experience Blog and the Core Web Vitals & Page Experience FAQs.

Analyze your site?

Google Launches Search Counsole Insights

eBizUniverse July 2021 Newsletter

 

Last month Google Search Central announced via Twitter “a new experience” called Search Console Insights “to help you better understand which content of yours resonates with your audiences.”

According to Google

“This experience joins data from both Search Console and Google Analytics with a goal of making it easy to understand your content’s performance. Whether you are a web content creator, blogger, or a website owner, and independent of your technical expertise, it can provide you with an overview and helpful insights on how your content is performing.”

July 2021 eBizUniverse Newsletter Insider Secrets

 

This experience will help you answer certain sample questions listed by Google.

  • What are your best-performing pieces of content, and which ones are trending?
  • How do people discover your content across the web?
  • What do people search for on Google before they visit your content?
  • Which article refers users to your website and content?

At present, you can access Search Console Insights in a couple of ways:

  1. Select Search Console Insights from the top of Search Console’s Overview page.
  2. Access it directly and save a bookmark.
  3. You will “soon” be able to access it in the iOS Google App by selecting Search Console Insights in the account menu. Google went on to say that they are “working to also add Android Google App support.”

July 2021 eBizUniverse Insider Secrets Newsletter

What Actions To Take

Search Console and Google Analytics give a great amount of information, but if you do not have the time to regularly go through everything, it can be a bit too much. Search Console Insights filter this information, giving you a brief overview of the updates related to your site.

When it comes to SEO agencies, Search Console Insights will come in handy to help less savvy site owners see how your work is benefiting their site. This also means that you can use Search Console Insights even if you do not use Google Analytics.

To get complete insights about your content, Google suggests linking your Google Analytics property with your relevant Search Console property.

Queries, if any, can be directed to one of Google’s support channels and also at @WebCreators on Twitter or @GoogleWebCreators on Instagram.

Ask us now!

A Simple Guide to Local SEO Strategy

Local SEO eBizUniverse Insider Secrets Newsletter July 2021

 

Have a business that serves a specific location? It is important to develop an SEO strategy that can help you target local customers and rank higher in Google search. While all businesses can benefit from search engine optimization, certain industries, like Professional Service Industry (banks, accountants, attorneys, financial planners, and many others), Home Repair & Renovation Service Industry, Medical Industry, Restaurant and Food Service Industry, etc., can benefit more.

Let’s take a look at some important benefits that Local SEO offers for small as well as large businesses.

  • SEO puts you up higher on Google’s search result pages and helps you get more traffic to your site.
  • Other local businesses can find you easily to create a coordinated marketing campaign that can benefit both.
  • SEO helps you get positive reviews, rank higher, and earn more trust.
  • You can save on advertising costs if your business is sufficiently high in the rankings.
  • Your business can appear in local business directories.
  • Voice searchers can find your business easily.

The above-mentioned benefits give a clear answer to your question ‘why my business needs SEO?’. Let’s now understand how to create a local SEO strategy for any business.

Follow the steps given below:

  • Prepare a list of keywords related to your business. For example, if you run a restaurant, your keywords can be Mexican Food, Chinese Food, etc.
  • Perform an SEO audit on your site to identify any existing technical issues. If you are already aware of any issues, address them first.
  • Conduct a competitive analysis using SEO tools to find out what keywords your competitors are ranking for. This analysis will help you determine which keywords are a perfect fit for your site.
  • Add your location to the keywords and perform an SEO analysis to find out the search volume and keyword variations of Geo-specific Keywords (example: Mexican Food Seattle, best Mexican Food Seattle, etc.).
  • Follow on-page SEO best practices to optimize your site for local search. On-page optimization would include –
    • Keyword mapping of individual site pages
    • Unique & relevant title and description for each page
    • Informative content about your products & services
    • Relevant internal links on your site pages
    • Images that are appropriate & compressed
    • Short & targeted URL structure
  • Localized landing pages can help you get more organic searches. To create perfect landing pages, you must optimize your page headings, include keywords in page content, etc.
  • Create your GMB account, and be sure to add the correct business address, contact number, images, and other details.
  • List your business with other online directories to gain more customers.
  • Create a Link Building Strategy to increase the ranking of your site.
  • Try to generate positive reviews across the directories your business is listed in. Also, respond to negative reviews in a professional & kind manner.

Are you getting the best return out of your digital marketing?

Need an extra pair of eyes to review your online game plan? Let our experts take a look at your current state and do a comprehensive digital marketing analysis at no cost to you. Please call us at (800) 379-2829 or contact us today and we will get to work right away.

Digital Marketing Insider Secrets April 2021

Get Insights of Your Business Profile in Google My Business GMB Tips to Get Your Products Listed in Search Results Tips to Optimize Your Videos

eBizUniverse Monthly Newsletter Blog

Get Insights of Your Business Profile in Google My Business GMB

A new Google My Business (GMB) performance report feature has been introduced, using which you can easily check how people find your business.

It enables you to even track what device and platform people are using to access your local listing. Under the header, you’ll see how many people viewed your business using a desktop and how many viewed it using mobile. You will also be able to see whether they used Google Search or Google Maps to find you.

As per the updated help document:

“A user can be counted a limited number of times if they visit your Business Profile on multiple devices and platforms such as desktop or mobile and Google Maps or Google Search. Per breakdown device and platform, a user can only be counted once a day. Multiple daily visits aren’t counted.”

Google went on to say that this metric indicates the number of users, which can be lower than the number of views you see on GMB and email notifications.

Google warns that, since the metric focuses on views of the business profile, and not the overall views of the business on Google, it may also be lower than the number of views you see on GMB and email notifications.

What You Can Do

Go through the relevant support documents to find out more details about the performance report feature:

  1. Check Your Business Profile Performance
  2. Changes to Your Insights Data

Analyze your site?

Core Web and Mobile Vitals Across Industries

A recent study came up with a report comparing “four distinct markets that have different sites that dominate their categories”.

The four markets are:

  • Finance
  • Business to Business (B2B)
  • Educational
  • Retail

The graphic below will explain to you the effect that Google’s upcoming Page Experience update will have on rankings for each of the markets as a whole.

Google's upcoming Page Experience update

The report suggests that around a quarter of the top finance sites are prepared to receive a boost. While about 13% of the B2B sites would benefit, less than 5% of the Educational sites and almost none of the Retail sites would enjoy a boost in rankings if Google flipped the switch.

It is found that the differences between the industries’ expected results were primarily due to the nature of the typical website features normally found on the sites within each market. Like, the finance sector features sites that are often informational and are competitive in terms of search engine optimization. While on the other hand, education and retail sites are more media and image-orientated – features that are more challenging to optimize for speed, thereby reducing Core Web Vitals performance.

Here are the key findings:

  1. The Mobile Experience is critical for all categories.
  2. Image compression seems to be a leading challenge for the best of brands.
  3. Pages doing well for CWV tend to be informational in nature.
  4. Retail, in particular, could see significant disruption if second-tier retailers receive a boost.

The report concludes that you should focus on:

  1. Reducing your Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) reduces user bounce rates. Reducing First Contentful Paint can improve conversions by as much as 15%. Your audience has other things they want to do; respect their time.
  2. Improving Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) provides your audience a visually stable and engaging experience. Layout shift disrupts the user experience and annoys your audience. Annoyed users don’t convert well.
  3. Improving First Input Delay (FID) helps a website respond quickly to the actions your audience takes. The quicker your site responds to a user’s actions, the crisper their experience is. Users are less likely to return to a website they feel is poorly designed or broken.

See How You Can Improve Your Site! 

Tips to Get your Products Listed in Search Results

Do you have an e-commerce site? This article is a must-read for you! The tips listed here are designed to help you get more traffic on your site. Let’s get to the point quickly without wasting much time.

How does Google list your products on its search page?

  • Google aims to help the users make the right decisions, and it does so by using special formatting for products. For example, Google shows product details like Ratings, Reviews, Prices, etc.
  • Google also displays product images with additional details like ‘in stock’.
  • The tools in Google Shopping Tab help the users filter products, depending on the price range, brand, etc.
  • If you have provided the location of your inventory, Google Maps can also display your products when a user enters a specific location.

Importance of providing product data to Google:

  • Product data is more accurate and precise than the data fetched from web pages.
  • When the data you provide is accurate, Google can confidently filter your products according to the user requirements.
  • As we all know, structured data is preferred by Google to better understand your product details. One of the common ways to encode structured data on a page is using JSON-LD-encoded content.
  • From 2020, participating in Google Shopping Tab is free. Also, product data from Google Merchant Center can be displayed in organic search results. So, here is your chance to submit your data to Google Merchant Center and drive more customers.

Three strategies to get your product data into Google Merchant Center:

  1. Google’s Web Crawling
  • You can set up and configure Google Merchant Center and let Google crawl product data from your website. Also, make appropriate approvals in your Google Merchant Center account to get listed in Google’s Shopping Tab.
  • You can also use supplemental feeds to add additional fields to the primary data. Additional feeds include stock level, pricing, etc. Google combines your primary data with the supplemental fields to form a final view or table of your product. Supplemental feeds can be updated more frequently. Different ways to provide supplemental fields are – Google sheets, scheduled uploads, and on-demand uploads.

2. Periodic Feeds

  • In this strategy, you submit your entire catalog file to Google. Google then compares your feed data to original data and checks for data consistency. If your data is highly inconsistent, your product can be removed.
  • To keep Google Merchant Center updated with your current web page data, enable automatic item updates in your account.

3. Content API

  • It is tedious to replace a complete set of data related to your products. To make it easier, you can use API to insert, remove, or update specific products. The best part here is you can make changes to a single product as well as a small group of products.

Get Started!

  • Use structured data to improve accuracy.
  • Make a proper plan to send your product data to Google (for ex: API, Google sheets, etc.).
  • Add attractive or engaging content, especially images, descriptions, etc. related to your products.

Let Us See How Your GMB is Ranking!

Tips to Optimize your Videos

Whether you are uploading videos related to education, sports, or any other field, it is important that Google finds your videos and displays them to the users. In this article, we will give you some basic details on how Google Indexes Videos and also the best practices to optimize your videos.

How Google identifies a video

  • Google checks for various signals to identify videos. These signals are Video HTML tags, structured data markup, video sitemaps, and many others.
  • After identifying a video, Google tries to understand its content so that relevant videos are displayed to the users.
  • To understand the content of a video, Google looks for the available text on the video page. Various texts like page title, heading, captions, referral links (if mentioned), etc. are considered. Google also fetches structured data markup to analyze the audio & video content.

Locations where your videos can appear if optimized correctly

  • First, Google’s main search result page
  • Second, Google’s Video Search Tab
  • Third, Google’s Image Search Tab
  • And, Google Discover suggestions

Importantly, best practices to follow

  • Make your videos available publicly. Do not block your page by using robots.txt.
  • Use appropriate HTML tags to organize your content properly & make it easy for Google to understand.
  • Use specific & unique title or description for each video.
  • Each video must have a single, unique, and stable URL.
  • Use VideoObject markup to include details of your videos like duration, thumbnail, descriptions, etc.
  • Videos must include a high-quality thumbnail. Either you provide one or let Google generate a thumbnail for you. For more information about supported formats for images, click here.
  • For live streaming videos, display the ‘LIVE’ badge on your video. Use BroadcastEvent structured data and the Indexing API to make the badge visible.
  • Google suggests using Video Sitemaps. To test your sitemap, use Search Console Sitemaps tool or Search Console API.
  • Videos should start in minimum steps. Complex user actions make it difficult for Google to find your videos.
  • Even if the videos that are embedded on your page use platforms like YouTube, Vimeo, or Facebook, you must provide structured data & make sure that these hosts permit Google to access your video file.
  • You can also restrict your video based on the users’ location. If you use VideoObject structured data, then follow these steps.

Lastly, benefits of allowing Google to fetch your files

  • Google selects a preview of your video to make it more engaging. To set the duration of the video preview, use the max-video-preview robots meta tag.
  • Google can also automatically detect the key moments (video segments) in your videos. There are two ways to inform Google manually about the key moments.
  • If your video is embedded on your web page – add Clip structured data.
  • If your video is on YouTube, check out these points.

Are you getting the best return out of your digital marketing?

Need an extra pair of eyes to review your online game plan? Let our experts take a look at your current state and do a comprehensive digital marketing analysis at no cost to you. Please call us at (800) 379-2829 or contact us today and we will get to work right away.

March 2021 Digital Marketing Insider Secrets eBizUniverseGoogle Page Experience Update is All Set to Launch in May 2021SEO Features That Your e-Commerce Site Must Have to Rank HigherGMB Messaging for Desktop Now Rolling OutGoogle My Business Years in Business Feature
eBizUniverse Monthly Newsletter BlogGoogle Page Experience Update is All Set to Launch in May 2021

 

That’s roughly a year after the company first announced the update and gives us another six months to prepare for it. In short, Google will highlight search results that have a great page experience and could probably become a ranking factor. Google said you may see these icons and labels in the search results soon. The update will take expected user experience into consideration for ranking in search results.

What is Page Experience?

To understand how a user will perceive the experience of a specific web page, Google will evaluate a set of signals. This includes existing Google Search signals such as mobile-friendliness, safe-browsing, HTTPS, and intrusive interstitial guidelines. It also includes metrics in Google’s Web Vitals to do with a site’s loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability.

How to prepare for the Page Experience update?

For site owners and others, understanding these signals and making the necessary changes should be a priority. Among the steps to take are optimizing for mobile, improving page speeds, CTAs, and alt text for images.

You can start preparing now for user experience to become a ranking factor now. The Core Web Vitals report in Google Search Console is an excellent place to start getting a sense of how your site is performing in these areas. Alternatively, you can also make use of the PageSpeed Insights tool by Google (which is a part of our SEO Audit) to understand how your site stacks up.

How are we helping our clients with the Page Experience update?

To cope up with the update, we are already doing the below things for our clients:

  • Implement search-friendly alt texts for images while doing on-page optimization of your website.
  • Implement relevant schema tags on the website.

We have also updated our SEO Audit Reports to bring back the Mobile and Desktop Page Speed Insights sections which are a critical part in improving the Page Speed experience for users. In addition, our Audit also shows the Website HTTPS (secure website) status which is a critical ranking factor in relation to this update.

By showing this to your clients, it presents a lucrative opportunity for you to upsell add-on services like “mobile friendly optimization”, “improving page load speed”, “making website secure”, “CTA optimization”, “landing page optimization”, etc. If you’re interested, our team can discuss this further how to best provide these services to your clients at a minimal cost.

Get Your FREE Website Audit Today!

SEO Features That Your e-Commerce Site Must Have to Rank Higher

A large number of people shop online for almost everything. To get these customers, you need to be ahead of the competition. We have listed some important SEO features to help rank your product page higher.

The important SEO features are:

1) Short URL Structure

The URL structure for your product pages should be short and must have some primary keywords (related to your product) to generate high click-through. Let’s compare the two links that are given below:

http://www.freeridepowersports.com/catalog_product_detail.asp?cat_9781-107864-111049_product_2176989.Garmin_Montana_680T_GPS.htm

https://www.rei.com/garmin-montana-680t-gps

The first URL structure is long and cannot be shared easily. The second URL structure is simple and keyword rich – considered a better URL by Google.

2) Optimized Title Tags

Your title tag affects the search rankings. You must include important product keywords like Brand Name, Part Name, Color, etc. It should be easy to understand and can be a little long. For example, the title tag given below has all the important details related to a specific product, making it easier for the user.

Optimized Title Tags

You must also pre-plan your product category (by color, size, or other features) and then add your pages to an e-commerce site.

3) Mobile Friendly Product Pages

With so many reliable smartphone options, most people shop using their mobile devices. Your site must have a mobile-specific design or should be AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages) compatible. Don’t ignore your potential customers who use mobile devices. Take Google’s Mobile Friendly Test to ensure you are not losing business. You can also go a step ahead and use SEO audit tools to detect issues in your site.

4) Sitelinks Search Box

High-ranking e-commerce sites use the site search feature to help customers find what they are looking for. When does a search box appear? When you enter a brand name along with the word ‘website’ (Amazon Website), when you add a domain along with a brand name (Pinterest.com) or enter a brand name.

Wondering why you need a search box? You need a search box to improve your user experience and display results that are relevant to your customers from your site. To add the search box to your site, read the details provided by Google. Also, to monitor what people are searching for, set up Google Analytics Tracking for your search box.

Google Analytics Tracking for your Search Box

5) Unique Product Descriptions & Images

Online retailers must avoid using product descriptions and images supplied by the manufacturer. Duplicate content is very easily detected by Google and Bing and will not show up in top search results. Nowadays, many companies offer multiple photos of a single product from different angles and these images can also be zoomed-in for better clarity. Some even add short videos. Image optimization can also get you more traffic and hence, more sales.

6) Simplified Version Of Product Data

Product specifications are very important to customers. If you provide clear, easy-to-read information, your customers will trust you and possibly return to your site again. The added advantage is that Google loves specification tables and includes them in search results as a snippet.

Organize your data properly and keep your tables simple.

Product Specifications

7) Question & Answer Section

Having an FAQ or Q&A section on the product pages helps your customers to clear their doubts or confirm the details with previous purchasers. The users can make their purchase decisions faster.

 

Question and Answer Section

8) Longer Snippets by Google!

A recent update from Google states that there are no strict rules on how long meta descriptions need to be. This helps the users to find the product information they are looking for without clicking on 10 different links. The below-given snippet has 310 characters in its meta description. But it answers the users’ query properly, so Google displays the entire description in the search results.

Longer Snippets by Google

9) Rich Results

Customers prefer enhanced results or rich results. Rich results include additional details like pictures, reviews, prices, showtimes, etc. To generate rich results like the example given below, use Schema formatted Structured Data Markup of your website content. Microdata & JSON/LD are the two main options. Google prefers JSON-LD! Try out http://schema.org/Product to get started.

Rich Results

 

10) Reviews That Influence Your Customers

Every customer now checks the reviews before purchasing a product online.

Reviews that Influence Your Customers

Guidelines given by Google are as follows:

  • The reviews on your site must not be taken from other websites.
  • Both positive and negative reviews must be posted.
  • Only genuine, independent, and unpaid reviews are allowed.
  • Every review must be specific to a particular product or location.

To learn more, read Google’s Review Guidelines.

11) Video Content

Some videos are designed to answer most of the frequently asked questions in a single go. Hence, videos save users’ reading time and help in making online purchase decisions. The only disadvantage is the page load time. Using an image link that opens on a new page with the video can be an easy way to reduce the load time.

Video Content

12) Single Product Page with Many Options

Products are combined into a single page mostly when they differ in few specifications like size, color, etc. For example, a trouser that is available in various sizes and colors. The selection of a specific size or color generates a unique number or SKU. Such pages are preferred by customers and give better results.

Single Product Page with Many Options

 

Before creating combined pages, the points that must be considered include the following:

  • Make the site easy to use, so that all the combined products can be accessed by the customers without any hassles.
  • The SKU of every product on a combined page will not be shown on the page until that product is selected. Therefore, Google ranking is not possible.

A product page can rank on Google when the details of all the products are simplified in a chart or listed on the page. Check out the table given below to understand clearly. Creating such tables definitely takes a lot of time, but the rewards are also higher.

Product Rank Page

13) Easy-To-Follow Product Details & Ordering Process

Adding unwanted information or complex functions can drive your customers away. The customers must easily understand the options and receive what they have ordered. Redesign your page and make some internal changes if needed to improve your online sales conversion rates. Also, your ‘Buy now’ or ‘Add to Cart’ buttons must be optimized (location, color, button text, size, and shape) to improve the click rate.

14) Quality Signals

Quality Signals are very important for every e-commerce site.

The basic requirements are:

  • A DV (Domain Verification) certificate
  • A 100% HTTPS secure site (all pages)

These certifications will help you rank higher and assure your customers that your company is reliable & valid.

A shopping site must include Payment Policies, Exchange Policy / Information, Return Policy, easy to find Full Contact/Customer Service Information, Secure Server, etc. Check out the Google Quality Raters Handbook (PDF) for more details.

15) Fast Loading Website

A study shows that for every 1-second delay in page responsiveness, conversions can suffer by 7%. Also, Core Web Vitals will be included in page experience signals. So, Fast Loading Pages will be ranked higher.

16) The Marketing Team & Keywords

The marketing team that spends time learning about their products, their target customers, participates in Online Forums, joins various groups, attends shows, etc., can form highly optimized keywords & excellent sales copy. This will help make the business highly profitable.

After going through all these features, make a list of issues that your site might have and start improving it. To stay ahead of your competition, you must focus on enhancing your site.

What’s Your SEO Score? Find Out Now!

GMB Messaging for Desktop Now Rolling Out

Aren’t yet seeing messages in your GMB desktop dashboard? Soon you will! Google My Business is rolling out messaging for desktop this month. Within a couple of weeks in March 2021, all businesses will have access to messaging on the web.

Opt-in to enable users to send messages via your GMB account to use the service. You can automate the welcome responses as per your brand and interact with the users messaging you.

This new feature will allow you to track messages and save and download all your conversations. However, you should take note that Google expects you to respond to the messages within 24 hours. By failing to do so, you can lose access to messaging tools. Also, know that your customized automated welcome messages do not count as a response here.

As per Google, this is how it works:

Once you turn on messaging, customers will find a “Message” button on your Business Profile and will be able to message you at any time.

  • The messages will appear in your Business Profile on Google. You’ll receive notifications for incoming messages.
  • You can customize the automated welcome message that your customers will get when they message you.
  • You can even share photos with your customers through messages.
  • If multiple people own or manage your Business Profile, each one can message the customers.
  • Customers may find your name and profile photo from your About Me

Steps to Take

Have Questions? We Can Help!

Google My Business Years in Business Feature

Aren’t yet seeing messages in your GMB desktop dashboard? Soon you will! Google My Business is rolling out messaging for desktop this month. Within a couple of weeks in March 2021, all businesses will have access to messaging on the web.

Here’s another update by Google! Last month, Google My Business added a new Years in Business feature. So business owners can now tag onto their Business Profile to tell their customers in which year a business opened or will open, at its address.

Have a look at the image below:

 

eBizUniverse Years in Business Google My Business

Follow the below steps to set your opening date

  1. Sign in to Google My Business.
  2. If you have multiple locations, open the location you’d like to manage.
  3. From the menu, click Info.
  4. Click Add opening date.
  5. Enter your opening date.
  6. Click Apply.

All you require is the year and month of your opening date. It allows you to enter a date in advance up to one year, but it won’t show on Google until 90 days before the date.

Google says that “On certain places in Google Search, the opening date may be used to let customers know how many years a business has been in operation.”

Actionable Strategy — The new feature is being viewed as a trust factor by several consumers. So if you’ve been around, you should take advantage of your years in business.

 

ARE YOU GETTING THE BEST RETURN OUT OF YOUR DIGITAL MARKETING?

Need another pair of hands to make sure you’re up to date with all of Google’s new updates?

Team eBizUniverse is ready to dive into your current state and do a comprehensive

Digital Marketing Analysis at no cost to you!

Give us a call at (800) 379-2829 or contact us so we can get to work right away!

That’s A Winner! Minor League Baseball Team The Schaumburg Boomers selects eBizUniverse as Online Marketing Partner.

eBizUniverse Schaumburg Boomers Official Marketing Partner

The Schaumburg Boomers have announced that eBizUniverse is the Official Online Marketing Partner for the team. As any baseball fan can tell you, the Boomers are a Frontier League professional baseball team based in Illinois. They are the current Frontier League Champions and is the 8th fastest-growing pro baseball franchise in the country.

The Boomers are known for being true professionals that are loyal and friendly to fans making them a preferred family event every season. In 2013 they were Frontier League Champions, becoming the first team in League history to finish the playoffs undefeated. If you follow the team you very well may see your favorite players become MLB team members one day! With Free Parking and fireworks (on weekends), Boomers Stadium is the most exciting place to be to catch a baseball game.

During this partnership, eBizUniverse will be developing Internet Marketing Strategy, Implementing SEO, Landing Pages and Web Content for the Schaumburg Boomers. We are proud to be chosen by this talented athletic team for their digital marketing needs and are looking forward to building their brand and fan base through online marketing.

For more information about the Boomers baseball team you can visit their website at www.boomersbaseball.com or like their Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/schaumburgboomers

The digital marketing team at eBizUniverse has been in business for 7 years and has a reputation for quality work and strong business relationships in the community.

WIN FREE BOOMERS TICKETS:

To celebrate this partnership, eBizUniverse will be raffling away free tickets for their facebook fans. Be sure to “LIKE” us on facebook to win: https://www.facebook.com/eBizUniverse

eBizUniverse Schaumburg Boomers Official Marketing Partner

Schaumburg Boomers Ticket Giveaway

FREE BOOMERS TICKETS FOR eBizUniverse CLIENTS:

If you’re an ongoing client of eBizUniverse, you already win FREE TICKETS! Please send us a message to collect your free tickets here: http://ebizuniverse.com/contact-us/. Tickets available while supplies last.

About Schaumburg Boomers:

Beginning play in the Frontier League of Professional Baseball in May 2012, the Schaumburg Boomers are the second club owned by prominent Chicago attorney Patrick A. Salvi and his wife, Lindy Salvi. Named after the Greater Prairie Chicken that once roamed throughout Schaumburg and the surrounding areas in the 19th century, the Boomers are bringing to the people of Schaumburg the fun, affordable, family entertainment. Free Parking, Kids Eat Free Tuesdays and Fireworks on weekends are some of the highlights of Boomers Baseball. For more information on the Boomers, check out their website: www.BoomersBaseball.com

About eBizUniverse – Digital Marketing Solutions

eBizUniverse is a Digital Marketing Company offering digital marketing solutions and services that help businesses increase revenue from their online channels.

For the past 7 years eBizUniverse has helped large media companies as well as small local businesses with Online Marketing/SEO, Social Media, Web and Mobile Website Development putting power into their business with cutting-edge Internet Marketing and Social Media strategies. More info: https://www.ebizuniverse.com

Mobile phones with Internet connectivity are very popular these days. The Internet is no longer just for desktop computers and laptops but also for mobile phones. It is for this reason that mobile responsive websites are also becoming a hot topic in terms of Web Design. There are varying opinions as to whether mobile responsive websites are better than creating a separate mobile site. For the benefit of those who are not familiar with what a mobile responsive website is, it refers to a website that is compatible on various devices, from desktop computers, to tablets and smartphones.

A mobile responsive web design is better than a separate mobile site in many ways. For instance, it is better for Search Engine Optimization. Search engines recommend its use. In fact, search engine giant, Google, recommends a responsive design for websites. A preferred web design is one that serves different types of devices using the same set of URLs and only altering the CSS to render a website on a specific device.

With a responsive design, all content will be found in the same place. You wouldn’t be directed to a separate mobile site when you are using your smart phone. While you can use plug-ins that enable websites to work in mobile sites, the website may still look awkward. The content looks better with a responsive Web Design. It is also easier for viewers to read the content. Users don’t have to pinch or zoom their way through a website the way they do when the site isn’t optimized for a mobile phone. With a responsive design, your website is optimized no matter the size of the screen or device. Since the same style can be used for both the mobile phone and desktop computers, it also makes the website easier to maintain. You don’t have to copy and format content to suit various web properties. This is very useful for websites with a lot of content. Mobile devices also keep upgrading. With a mobile responsive website, you do not have to update your website design every time a new mobile phone comes out in the market.

Whether you opt for a responsive website design or create separate mobile site, it is important for you to develop a website with mobile phone users in mind if you want to stay competitive. According to research, there is an increase in the rate of mobile usage and mobile purchases and this trend is not likely to go down in the future. Therefore, a website that puts mobile phone users in mind will be really effective in driving traffic to your site. While this type of design may still have limitations, it can be a smart solution for website owners who want to widen their businesses’ market reach.

Need help planning an effective and user-friendly web design? eBizUniverse is composed of a team of experienced and knowledgeable professionals who can help you build a website that suits your business needs. You can send an email to [email protected] or fill out our contact form to learn about our services.

When you are deciding on a web page layout, one important factor you need to think of is whether you are going to use a fixed width or a flexible width layout. Thinking about this ahead of time will help you come up with the appropriate web design.  In the past, when people were still using those CRT screens, it probably wouldn’t have made much difference. But these days, with the varying widths of monitors, it has become harder than ever for web designers to decide on the best way to display websites. Which one is better, fixed or variable width? Each has its own pros and cons. By understanding them, you will also be able to make an informed decision.

Fixed Width

Pros

  • Whether the screen is large or small, the basic web layout for the webpage remains the same. This is preferred by those who want to provide a consistent image for their audience.
  • Fixed width web layouts have better control for line lengths. For larger monitors, tables can be used to prevent text to become too long.

Cons

  • Some parts of the page may not be viewed or may have horizontal scrolling. This happens when the browser is smaller than the page grid. Vertical scrolling is very common while many users find horizontal scrolling to be uncomfortable. That is why web designers want to avoid the need for horizontal scrolling as much as possible.
  • Fixed width web layouts may result to large empty spaces. Vertical scrolling may have to be done more than necessary.

Flexible Width

Pros

  • Remember that websites are displayed in varying monitor resolutions. In keeping the web layout flexible, it can be customized accordingly
  • The page will fill up the whole screen with no awkward empty spaces on either sides
  • You don’t have to choose a target monitor resolution when designing the layout
  • It is functional to a great number of users

Cons

  • On large screens or monitors, the text line length may look awkward as it fills the width of the browser. Text that is supposed to be in a form of a paragraph will become a long line of text, which can be very uncomfortable for readers.
  • While on large monitors, some elements may tend to float around, but on small monitors, elements may look cramped. Both scenarios make the layout less efficient and in a way, more difficult to navigate through.
  • Flexible web layouts allow the page to be customized for every display, but it also makes it unpredictable. Users may have varying experiences for the same webpage.

If you are a website owner, you may ask the help of a website designer to determine the best layout for your website. You should also take into consideration the devices used by your readers or visitors to access your website. If a lot of your readers are using their mobile devices such as tablets and smartphones, to visit your website, it may be a good idea for you to use a flexible width layout.

For more information on web design and development, you may fill out our contact form or send your inquiries to [email protected]

It is not enough that you create an attractive web design to get people to visit your website. Whatever niche you are in, the competition is always tough on the Internet and it gets tougher every day. You need to improve your website’s rankings in various search engines in order to get an edge over your competitors. This is where SEO or Search Engine Optimization techniques are used. Implementing different Search Engine Optimization strategies will get your website to the top pages of various search engines like Google and Bing. With an effective SEO campaign for your website, you will get better exposure on search engines, which can translate to more people visiting your website when they search for products and services related to your website or business.

Different techniques are used by Search Engine Optimization companies to boost a website’s ranking. One of the basic things you need to set up for a website when optimizing it for search engines is its URL structure. The URL plays a very important role when it comes to Search Engine Optimization. This makes sense as URLs are displayed in the search results, just below the title of the document and snippet. Keep the structure of your URLs simple to make it easier for search engines to find your website. Use words that are relevant to your website and avoid using numbers unless necessary for the structure of the URL. It is easier for users to remember URLs if its structure is simpler with no unnecessary parameters. Compare these two URLs for example: “www.yourwebsitename.com/?p=123” and “www.yourwebsitename.com/title-of-article.html”. The latter is recommended because it will give you a better ranking in search engines for your keywords. Those who want to link to your URLs may also use the URL of the page as anchor text. Therefore, you want to keep it simple as very long and cryptic URLs may only intimidate them.

In Search Engine Optimization, a simple directory structure is also advisable. This way, it won’t be difficult for your web visitors to access your pages. Users will appreciate it if the contents of a website are organized. Too many subdirectories will only leave visitors confused. You need to structure it in a manner in which removing a part of the URL will get the visitor to the main page.

There are a lot of things to be learned for Search Engine Optimization. Take your time in finding out the different techniques and methods you may use to bring your website to the top of the results page of search engines, like Google. By knowing the available techniques you may use, you’ll be able to collaborate well with a an SEO company as you are not left out of the dark with what the company is doing to achieve your online marketing goals.

eBizUniverse is a team of professionals with years of experiences under their belt. Contact us to learn more about our Search Engine Optimization services and what we can do to increase your website’s traffic and ranking.