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Heading 1 for the October newsletter

 

In the previous month, various news outlets highlighted significant improvements made to OpenAI’s ChatGPT. These enhancements enable ChatGPT to engage in web browsing, react to audio cues, and process images. Here’s a look at some incredible updates about ChatGPT, and you’re going to love them!

 

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1. ChatGPT Now Surfs The Web

Did you know ChatGPT used to have a limitation on the data it could use? Well, that’s history now! ChatGPT has learned a new trick—it can browse the internet. Yep, you heard that right! It can fetch you the latest info and even give you direct links to the sources.

Right now, this feature is only available for Plus and Enterprise users, but they’ll expand it to all users soon. Just click on “Browse with Bing” under GPT-4.

One thing to keep in mind though; not all websites’ data will be available due to some restrictions. So, while ChatGPT is super helpful, it’s always a good idea to double-check and edit the info it provides.

 

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2. ChatGPT Can Now See, Hear, And Speak

This is where things get really cool. ChatGPT can now understand and work with voice and images. Here’s how it all works:

  • Voice Conversations: OpenAI introduces voice capabilities, allowing you to have interactive conversations with your AI assistant. Just go to settings, opt into voice conversations, and choose your preferred voice from five options. It’s powered by advanced text-to-speech technology and supported by professional voice actors and Whisper, OpenAI’s speech recognition system.
  • Image Interaction: You can also show ChatGPT images to make your conversations more engaging. You can snap a pic and have ChatGPT tell you all about it. Or if you’re wondering what to make for dinner—just snap some pics of what you’ve got in your fridge, and ChatGPT will help you cook up a delicious meal, step-by-step. Plus, in their mobile app, there’s a drawing tool that lets you focus on specific parts of an image.

These image capabilities are available for Plus and Enterprise users, with voice coming to iOS and Android (opt-in within your settings) and images available on all platforms. It’s all powered by some super-smart models, GPT-3.5 and GPT-4, which use their language skills to understand a wide range of images, including photos, screenshots, and documents with both text and images

 

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In a nutshell

ChatGPT is now your go-to source for real-time web information, a helpful companion for voice conversations and image discussions, and an even more powerful tool to assist you in your daily tasks. These updates are a game-changer, bringing ChatGPT closer to being your ultimate conversation buddy. Use these new features to make your daily tasks easier and more fun.

 

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header number one about google announces changes to how to and faq rich results

 

Google has decided to change the results in FAQ and How-To rich results, showing them less often in the search results.

Google wrote in the post, “To provide a cleaner and more consistent search experience, we are changing how some rich results types are shown in Google’s search results. In particular, we are reducing the visibility of FAQ rich results and limiting How-To rich results to desktop devices.”

Overview of the Change

After these changes, the primary use of FAQ and How-To structured data for site owners will be affected.

Going forward, FAQ (from FAQPage structured data) rich results will only be shown for well-known, authoritative government and health websites. For all other sites this rich result will no longer be shown regularly. Sites may automatically be considered for this treatment depending on their eligibility.

There is no need to proactively remove the structured data, as structured data that’s not being used does not cause any problems; moreover, it has no visible effects in Google Search.

How-To (from HowTo structured data) rich results will only be shown for desktop users and not for users on mobile devices. However, to show How-To rich results on the desktop, Google uses the mobile version of a website as the basis for indexing. So, the mobile version of your website must include the appropriate markup.

Changes in Search Console Reporting

These changes will also appear in Search Console reporting for both of the items.

“In particular, this will be visible in the metrics shown for FAQ and How-To search appearances in the performance report and the number of impressions reported in the appropriate enhancement reports. This change does not affect the number of items reported in the enhancement reports. The search appearances, and the reports will remain in Search Console for the time being.”

 

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Header number two. Discover what google reveals in the new GBP Policy!

 

In the previous month, Google published a new help document, to assist you in navigating your Google Business Profile (GBP) regulations. If you happen to be a GBP Merchant, it’s likely that you received an email notification about this update.

Google Business Profile announcement about simplifying googles policies and guidelines

In their Overview of Google Business Profile policies, Google emphasizes on the importance of ensuring that all content you add to your Business Profile accurately represents your location and adheres to their provided policies and guidelines. In cases where these rules are violated, Google will proactively take action, which could involve restricting the display of content or limiting access to your profile or merchant account.

This comprehensive guide goes on to offer detailed insights into some key areas of Google’s policies and provides explanations for common issues that merchants may encounter. These topics include:

1. Prohibited and restricted content
2. Account level restrictions
3. Eligibility
4. Ownership
5. Posting restrictions
6. Reasons why submitted content may be rejected
7. Other reasons content may fail to publish

It’s important to note that while this document provides valuable information, it doesn’t cover every aspect of Google’s GBP policies and guidelines. For a more comprehensive understanding, Google encourages you to refer to their complete list.

 

Final Takeaway

If you’re a Google Business Profile merchant, especially if you’re new to the platform, we highly recommend dedicating some time to studying the help document. It will help you navigate the GBP landscape more effectively and ensure you comply with Google’s

 

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header section three. Google Ads' new pitch: premium support for small advertisers

In an unanticipated move, Google Ads has started testing a paid version of customer support for its small business advertisers. And guess what? They didn’t even make a grand announcement. Instead, they casually dropped the news via email to one of the digital agencies. Talk about keeping things low-key!

Google mentioned that this pilot is a result of “customer feedback” and is aimed at enhancing the Ads customer experience. The objective? To ensure that small businesses receive the same level of support as the big fish in the pond. However, there’s a twist in the tale. Google’s statement that they’ll be “building on this strategy over time” has raised a few eyebrows. Could this mean that even the big players might have to pay for personalized support in the future? Only time will tell.

For now, it’s still in the pilot phase, and not all small advertisers have been granted access. But if the stars align, Google might roll this out more broadly post-pilot.

For agencies collaborating with clients in this program, there’s a silver lining. They can schedule specialized paid support sessions, ensuring their clients get the attention they deserve.

Wondering if you’ve been chosen for this exclusive pilot program? A quick peek into your Google Ads interface might reveal the answer. And for those scratching their heads at the £40 price tag, it’s roughly $50US. Currency conversion, check!

 

Preferred Language Settings with 3 card options to select email, community, or new pilot

The digital community had its say on X (formerly Twitter), with reactions ranging from sheer disbelief to labeling it as “straight garbage.” One comment aptly captured the sentiment:

a google discussion topic

It’s hard to trust the Big G. The underlying concern? That this “paid support” might just be a gateway for Google to nudge businesses to increase their budgets, even if it’s not in their best interest.

To get the full scoop on this whole affair, tune in to the discussions on X.

 

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Thanks to a study that was earlier published by Sterlingsky, we learned that if a local listing manages to garner 10 reviews or more, they get a ranking boost in the Local Search Results by Google. The study also shed light on the fact that the recency and length of the reviews play an important role.

 

Last month, we saw the results of another study being published! This new study suggests that reviews with more than one upvote tend to stay in the top ten for around 100 more days as compared to those with one or no upvote.

Take a look at the chart below that clearly indicates the more upvotes a review gets, the longer it stays in the top ten.

Considering the fact that a previous study conducted in 2021 reported that the upvotes play no role in moving a review up in position, the findings of the latest study have surprised many.

Why This Is Important?

Having useful reviews appear in the top ten is bound to be more beneficial not only for your business but also for your customers. Hence, it is recommended that while asking your customers to leave a review, you also ask them to upvote the helpful reviews they find on your listing.

Are you interested in repairing your online reputation to increase your review quantity? Contact us to see how eBizUnvierse can improve your online reputation.

According to Google, links may become less important in the future. But a recent survey contradicts Google’s prediction. The survey says that links continue to be a critical ranking factor.

The survey anonymously asked 755 professional link builders about how they build links, what works best / worst for them, and what it really takes to make link building work for their business.

Here’s a summary of the most interesting findings and key statistics:

  • 3% of link builders pay for links. We knew this number would be high, but didn’t expect it to be this high.
  • We broke down the specific amount being paid and found that the average cost of a paid link is $83.
  • However, when comparing those who pay for links VS those who don’t, we found that paying for links yields only an extra 2 links per month.
  • In-house SEOs pay 75% more for links than niche site owners. Nobody seems to have a problem spending other people’s money.
  • Looking at all links, when salaries are factored in, we found that experienced link builders can build links 41% cheaper.
  • It takes an average of 3.1 months to see the impact of a link on the search ranking, with very few saying it takes longer than 6 months or less than 1 month.
  • Guest posting is, by far, the most popular link-building tactic. It is somewhat contradictory to the point that the same people said creating content or linkable assets is the most effective link-building tactic.
  • Google has told us that nofollow is a hint, not a rule. Our participants agreed, as 89.1% of link builders say nofollow links have an impact on rankings.
  • Looking for a way to boost your results? Are you using social media for outreach? Link builders using social media build 22% more links than those who don’t.

This survey was published in November 2022, just before Google’s Link Spam Update. This update specifically targeted purchased links, showing that Google still considers links to be an important part of its ranking algorithm.

However, there is a possibility that Google is overestimating its ability to detect purchased links. Only time will tell if buying links is still a viable ranking strategy. So, for now, be careful and stay tuned for updates.

Are you having trouble keeping up with all the Google SEO updates recently? Contact us and see how we can help you maintain your high ranking without sacrificing your time.

There is a question that is being discussed all over the world now: Can ChatGPT answer all of our questions in the way we want? And if it can, will it revolutionize how we search for and ask for things on search engines? Well, you may wonder, discuss, or throw your opinions straightaway, but Microsoft is bringing ChatGPT’s AI question-and-answer service to its Bing Search, opening a whole new world of possibilities for us to interact with AI in everyday life.

This chatbot, launched by OpenAI, has become incredibly popular across the globe. Everyone, not just professionals, is using it for their projects, research, homework, writing essays, and getting answers to their queries. Some people loved it so much that they called it the “Google killer!” So, is it a code-red for Google, or are we going too far? Let’s find out.

Launched in November 2022, ChatGPT is based on OpenAI’s GPT-3.5 family of large language models and has been refined through supervised, reinforcement learning techniques. It can teach itself how to answer questions by using content drawn from the web that dates up to 2021. However, it has difficulty keeping up with recent and popular topics!

Keeping all that in mind, Microsoft is planning to launch a version of its Bing search engine that uses the artificial intelligence behind ChatGPT to answer search queries instead of simply providing a list of links. This feature will depict a human-like interaction, which Microsoft thinks will help it outflank Google.

So is it really a “Call the ambulance!” moment for Google? Well, experts in the industry are saying no. Google already has advanced AI and machine learning that can do the same as ChatGPT or even better. And to add to this, it has ways to detect AI-generated plagiarism and scraped content. In conclusion, it’s a “Call the ambulance, but not for me!” from Google’s side.

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In August, Google announced a new big search ranking algorithm update, named the helpful content update – probably its biggest update in a decade.

 

What We Know

The helpful content update will target websites with a relatively high amount of unsatisfying or unhelpful content, where the content has been written explicitly for search engines to leverage rankings.

Unlike many Google algorithms that get applied page-by-page, this new helpful content update will be sitewide. That means that if Google determines your site is producing a relatively high amount of unhelpful content, it will impact your whole site.

This reminds us of the early Panda and Penguin update days. Just as a quick reminder – or in case you weren’t working in SEO a decade ago – those updates did a lot of damage back then, and we made significant changes to our SEO strategies to recover and protect our client websites.

 

Which Sites Were Likely Impacted?

According to Google, this update impacted these types of content the most:

  • Online educational materials.
  • Arts and entertainment.
  • Tech-related.

This is because content written in those areas has historically been written more for search engines than humans.

These are the folks that were hit the hardest:

  • Publishers focused on a broad range of topics like CNET, Forbes, etc.
  • Sites that collect and monetize organic search traffic without providing unique value.
  • Sites that have content created with AI tools like Jasper or Copymatic.
  • Sites with SEO doorway pages created for the sole purpose of boosting rankings.
  • Sites with spammy content with a very high keyword density.

 

Our Observations:

We were quick to run a deep ranking audit of more than 3.5K websites, and we are happy to inform you that so far, this update did not have any significant negative impact on our client’s websites. In fact, we have seen good improvement in positions for the sites we are working on. This implies that our content strategy, in conjunction with our other SEO efforts like on-page optimization and link building, is working well and protecting our client’s websites.

 

Analyze your site to see if it is up to date!

 

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Are your GBP posts getting rejected? Well, that’s because GBP has added more restrictions to its list of guidelines. As stated in their support document under the “Avoid Spam” header, Google warns business owners to avoid uploading duplicate photos, posts, videos, or logos.

Here’s a screenshot of the other guidelines that you should know.

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So, using original images & relevant content is the only way to get your posts accepted.

Need help? Get in touch with our technical support team for assistance.

 

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Recently, it has been discovered that Google Maps is emailing customers who have posted a review for any business when their review is flagged as fake and, therefore, not posted.

It came to light after Lucio Laria – Consultant SEO International raised this issue on the Google Business Profile community. When a help forum titled Legitimate review started getting flagged as “Fake Engagement”, he wrote:

 

Hello,

I just settled my Google profile and asked my client for a review. Google is filing this review as a fake engagement when this person is a legitimate client of mine.

I’m waiting for this to be fixed before asking other of my clients for their reviews.

Why is this happening, and how can I fix it?

Thanks,

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Among the many conjectured reasons and suggestions put forth by knowledgeable forum members are the following:

  • It may be related to the review content. See Prohibited and restricted content. Ask the reviewer to delete it and then write a new review.
  • It may be due to a problem with the reviewer’s account.
  • Because the provider is in France and the client is in Argentina, the distance between them could be the reason.
  • Ask the reviewer to try again, leaving a 4-5 sentence review, and add specifics about the services provided and, if pertinent, the location at which they were provided. If that fails, ask them to leave a review from another account.

The reviewer received the email notification about 15 minutes after posting the review. As the forum community pointed out, the review was being “filtered by an algorithm that enforces Google’s content policies”.

 

Why You Should Pay Attention to This Issue:

As we all know, getting legitimate reviews is not an easy task. It takes a lot of effort to impress a client and even more to convince the client to post a good review. It is disappointing when our sometimes hard-to-get legitimate reviews get taken down for “algorithmic” reasons, as requesting the client to post it again can be a bit awkward.

So, it’s crucial to learn how to get our good reviews to stick the better we can prep our customers and clients to get it right the first time.

 

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.

 

 

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Google updates its algorithm frequently. At times, they announce the major updates beforehand, and at times they inform after initiating one. The last update was rolled out on May 25th, and to learn about such updates, we had to wait for tweets & official answers from the team.

 

Google thought of improving this process and has created a dedicated Google Search ranking updates page. With the help of this page, you can check all the latest and previous updates easily.

If you wish to learn how Google improves the search engine, there are several articles from Google to help you. Also, its blog page has more information related to the updates. This page is definitely important for all site owners and SEO experts.

 

Need more details? Reach out to our support team for assistance.

 

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To help businesses grow their eCommerce site, Google developer advocate Alan Kent recently hosted a video that outlines “8 tips” for SEO-optimizing an eCommerce site.

 

Here are the 8 tips that Alan believes will help you:

 

Tip 1: Make sure you have the technical basics in place – You need to ensure your URLs and internal links are friendly to crawlers.

Check out Designing a URL structure for E-Commerce Websites on Google Search Central for advice on how to design URLs for your website.

 

Tip 2: Create content relevant to users at different stages in their shopping journey – To check the breadth and quality of your site, think about likely searches by shoppers at different stages in their shopping journey. Once you have a set of queries, try them out. Does your site come up well-positioned? What about your competitors?

 

Tip 3: Be sure to mark up your product variant pages correctly – Product variants are when you have multiple colors or sizes of the same product. Informing Google of the relationship between the product pages can help Google better understand your site content.

The URL Inspection tool can also be used to check the status of individual pages.

 

Tip 4: For sales events that occur regularly, use the same URL across all event occurrences – This can help Google understand and trust the purpose of such pages. To identify problems, check the URL for promotional event pages on your site.

 

Tip 5: The “performance” of your web pages matters – Performance is important to users as a page that takes too long to load may be abandoned by them. It is also an important Google ranking signal. It can be particularly important if you use the same supplier-provided product description as other sellers online. The PageSpeed Insights report is useful for checking the performance of the web page.

 

Tip 6: Wait for it – Be patient to see the results. SEO, unfortunately, is a long game. Some ranking signals may take months to change. Worse, there is no guarantee of success. While it may take months to reap the benefits of a content creation strategy, it does not mean there is nothing you can do until then.

 

Tip 7: Seek professional help for your website – If you have done your best to improve your site but are still not getting the results you want, we’re here to provide expert SEO advice.

 

Tip 8: It’s all about the user – The ultimate goal for Google Search is to put the best possible content in front of the users. Algorithms change over time, but the ultimate goal does not. It does not mean you should not measure your site’s performance. It is still recommended to use tools such as Google Search Console and Google Analytics to collect data on your site.

Here is just one of our success stories that shows the importance of SEO! Ready to be our next success story?

 

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As known to most SEO experts out there, Google renamed Google My Business to Google Business Profile last year while also rolling out more support for managing a business profile.

Going a step further, the search engine giant has now launched another feature that is bound to give small businesses operating out of homes a reason to be happy.

 

Google Business Profile now features a toggle that will allow businesses to hide their business address from customers if they wish to do so.

The screenshot above shows the businesses can now toggle ‘Show business address to customers’ on and off.

 

Why Is This Important?

 

This recently launched support feature is perfect for entrepreneurs operating virtual businesses that aren’t tied to a physical location. It can also prove to be quite helpful for all those home-based service operators who wish to avoid customers visiting.

 

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.

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Local SEO strategy refers to the overarching strategy or process used to optimize your site content and online presence for higher rankings. Local SEO strategy focuses on improving business rankings in local search engine results pages (SERPs).

 

The difference between traditional SEO and local SEO is local SEO focuses your efforts on attracting customers near your physical location — and getting them through your door, while traditional SEO boosts your visibility on a wider scale.

 

The main benefit of local SEO is that it lets you take advantage of increased visibility in your immediate area.

 

How does it work?

Google uses numerous factors when ranking local content, but it predominantly focuses on these three signals:

  • Relevance: Does your business listing match the searcher’s intent?
  • Distance: How close is your business to the searcher at the time of the search?
  • Prominence: Is your business well-known both online and offline?

 

When a user conducts a search using a location or “near me” and your business listing best matches the query, you’ll appear in Google’s local SEO 3-pack — a listing of the top three local businesses that meet the search criteria.

 

12 local SEO strategy tips to boost rankings and revenue:

  1. Optimize your local listings and citations
  2. Understand your local personas
  3. Conduct local keyword research
  4. Earn backlinks from local sources
  5. Write in-depth, local content
  6. Optimize your title tags and meta descriptions with local keywords
  7. Include an internal linking structure for location pages
  8. Update your website
  9. Improve your UX
  10. Post local content on social media
  11. Earn reviews from happy customers
  12. Track the results of your local SEO strategy

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In true Google fashion, the search engine giant has now come up with an update for its rich results guidelines. These updated guidelines are meant to better align the rich results content with the overall Google merchant guidelines.

 

The new guidelines deny rich results for products that are widely prohibited and are known to facilitate harm in any way to anyone. For example, products that fall into categories like weapons, fireworks, recreational drugs, tobacco, gambling, etc.

 

The guidelines now have an additional section

Google rich results content guidelines, which have already come into effect, have been updated to add the following section:

 

“Don’t mark up content that promotes widely prohibited or regulated goods, services, or information that may facilitate serious and/or immediate or long-term harm to self or others. This includes content related to firearms & weapons, recreational drugs, tobacco & vaping products and gambling-related products.”

 

The new policy applies to all forms of markup

According to Google, the new guideline policies will apply to rich result markups in all forms, be it star ratings, prices, information regarding a product’s availability or other such factors. This, in turn, will impact the prohibited products’ structured data markup.

 

How does this affect your business?

If you are into the business of selling products that fall into any of the above-mentioned prohibited categories, this update definitely applies to you. All you can do right now is remove the structured data markup from your product pages because Google will not show rich results for them.

Although the search engine will not issue any manual action, the removal of rich results in itself will act as a penalty against violating the rich results content guidelines.

 

See How You Can Improve Your SEO! 

 

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For years, Google’s SERPs have been including knowledge panels so users can find the required results quickly. In this article, we’ll discuss how knowledge panels are created and how they work.

 

Introduction To Knowledge Panels

Knowledge panels/entity boxes are information boxes that appear on Google’s search results page when you search for specific content. The main aim of these boxes is to provide users with the information they need in brief. The content you search for (for example – people, places, organizations, things) should be present in knowledge graphs to appear in knowledge panels.

 

Only limited categories or entity types (books and book series, educational institutions, government, local shops, companies, events, movies & film series, music groups & albums, and more) are considered for the knowledge graph. Also, only the most relevant or popular entities of every category are included in the knowledge graph.

 

Knowledge panels are different from business boxes, as the latter is based on Google Business. The best way to spot a classic knowledge panel is by looking for a share button in the upper area of the panel. Also, the entity type is specified below the name & depending on the category, various attributes are assigned & the available content is filled.

 

The image below is an example of a classic knowledge panel. Google prefers using different templates for various entities.

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How Are Entities Selected For A Knowledge Panel?

Google has not given any criteria or procedure to select an entity for a specific category. But we have listed some of the most possible ways that Google uses to create a knowledge panel. Several websites that provide semi-structured data, for example – Wikipedia and Soundcloud, can be used by Google to select relevant entities for each category.

 

How Are Knowledge Panels Created?

In the Google patent, you can learn more about the basic methodology related to knowledge panels. The steps given below describe the basic process followed to create a knowledge panel:

  1. Finding relevant entities in the query
  2. Shortlisting relevant sources
  3. Creating the most appropriate search results
  4. Cross-checking whether the search query refers to the actual entity
  5. Determining an entity type/category for the entity requested
  6. Finalizing a suitable template for the panel (which should match the entity type)
  7. Arranging relevant content elements for the main entity from a trusted source
  8. Referring to another trusted source for content elements
  9. Attaching placeholders in the selected panel template with the finalized content elements
  10. Merging search results and knowledge panel on one SERP

 

How Are Images Selected For A Knowledge Panel?

The Google patent describes how images are selected for various entity types and incorporated into the knowledge panel. The steps given below are a shorter version of the same.

  1. Most relevant images are selected
  2. Cluster by similarity
  3. Most popular clusters are identified and separated
  4. Image format (portrait or not) is determined
  5. A portrait score is assigned
  6. The most representative image is selected
  7. The image is attached to the knowledge panel

 

The clustering of images into various categories depends on the proximity to the entity as well as the aspect ratio. We can also determine the possible categories by looking at Image Search.

 

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In Google’s patent related to images, the images are labelled with attributes and are assigned to specific entities. These attributes are primarily determined by considering the initial image. Additional attributes can also be added by referring to similar images. It is believed that Google selects relevant images by using data from popular sites (Wikidata, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, social media profiles, magazines, and more).

 

Reasons Why Knowledge Graph Is Gaining Importance

The SERP features are gaining more importance every year, so it’s expected that the Knowledge Graph will also follow the trend. Since the entities are at the center of the Knowledge Graph, it will definitely affect the rankings and overall search results. To conclude, SEOs should not miss out on the Knowledge Graph when preparing their SEO strategies.

 

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.

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As we all know, Google launches core updates at least two to three times a year. These updates cause a hassle to all the web developers and SEO specialists because they have to monitor the rankings and make the required changes.

On May 25th, Google announced an update via a tweet.

June DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS

 

This core update was further explained on Google Search Central. According to this article, Google makes changes to the ranking process to increase the accuracy of the search results. These improvements are called core updates. The core updates are not specific to certain sites but will certainly generate notable effects. Some sites’ ranking may drop, while others may rank better.

 

Also, Google said that if any site does experience a drop in its ranking, they don’t have to fix anything. These updates are meant to improve the system, helping under-ranked sites to get better traffic.

 

So, if your ranking suddenly drops, there’s nothing to worry about. You have not violated any webmaster guidelines. You just have to sit back and wait for the next core update. One last thing you can do is observe the sites that have ranked higher and try to figure out the factors that helped them.

 

Still have any issues? You can get in touch with our experienced team for assistance.

 

Analyze your analytics?

 

June DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS

Last month Google laid out new, more specific guidelines to help the virtual food brands and delivery-only businesses with their Business Profiles on Google. These guidelines are meant for food businesses that don’t really have a physical location in an area, but they do re-package and deliver the local restaurants’ food.

 

The guidelines can be found in Google’s Guidelines for representing your business on Google, under the section Guidelines for chains, departments & individual practitioners.

 

Here’s a look at what these new guidelines have to say:

 

June DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS

 

Final Takeaway

If you own a virtual food business, it is in your best interest to take a look at the new guidelines so that you can create a business profile on Google that isn’t suspended.

 

See How You Can Improve Your SEO! 

 

June DIGITAL MARKETING INSIDER SECRETS

Recently Google’s Dikla Cohen gave a presentation on video indexing, which explains that video indexing does not rely on where and how you host your videos. You can host them yourself or choose from the most popular video hosting platforms and services.

With this, he announced Google is soon launching a new set of reports and tools in Search Console to make video indexing easier to track and diagnose.

With this new launch, the Video Page Indexing report will show a summary of all the pages that Google’s systems find with a video while crawling and indexing your website. At a glance, you can see how many video landing pages were indexed.

 

Issues will be grouped with a trend line and counts of the affected videos. For example, which videos are missing a thumbnail URL, with reasons – the largest impact ranked on top.

 

You can click on one of the rows to get more details, such as affected video page URLs. You can also download the list of examples and double-check them. So, you can narrow down the details and understand what is happening and how to resolve issues.

 

Once your website is updated; and you think you have resolved the issue you were facing, you can go back to the Video Indexing Report, go to that specific issue type, and then use the validate fix button to inform Google.

 

This way, you can initiate the recrawling of known URLs affected by the issue. And as the pages are being reprocessed, you will be notified if everything is resolved or if there are remaining issues.

 

But you will have to note that it can take some time to go through all the URLs.

If you wish to check the video indexing status, you can get there by entering the URL of the video landing page at the top of the search console. It will first show you the current status of that URL, as well as the video index status of the page. It will inform you whether Google detects a video on the page. And, if so, did they manage to index it. If a detected video is not indexed, it will list the reasons preventing it from being indexed.

Also, please note that Google indexes only one video per page, even when a page has multiple videos.

To summarize, with the new tools,

  • You will be able to see how many video landing pages Google has discovered and how many of them were indexed.
  • Examine reasons for unindexed videos on video landing pages.
  • You can use the list of affected video page URLs to debug and fix issues.
  • You can use the Validate Fix button to initiate recrawling of the known URLs affected by the issue.
  • You will be able to check the video indexing status of a specific video using the URL inspection tool.

 

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 February 2022

Google Released a New API for Search Console Profile

Google Launches a New Feature Shops

URL Changes for Google Search Can Take a Long Time

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Last month Google released a new API for Search Console — the URL Inspection API. Now you have a developer tool that can debug and optimize your web pages. Isn’t that great!

While launching this tool, Google said, “Today we’re launching the new Google Search Console URL Inspection API, which gives programmatic access to URL-level data for properties you manage in Search Console.

The Search Console APIs are a way to access data outside of Search Console, through external applications and products. Developers and SEO tools already use the APIs to build custom solutions to view, add, or remove properties and sitemaps, and to run advanced queries on Search performance data.

With the new URL Inspection API, we’re providing a new tool for developers to debug and optimize their pages. You can request the data Search Console has about the indexed version of a URL; the API will return the indexed information currently available in the URL Inspection tool.”

How the new API works:

You need to make an API call. The request parameters include the URL you’d like to inspect and the URL of the property as defined in Search Console. Once you make the API call, you will get a response with all relevant results or an error message if the request fails.

Here’s an example of the response you’ll get from the API.

Example Response from API

There is a usage limit to Search Console APIs. Specifically, with regards to the URL Inspection API, the quota is enforced per Search Console website property. Queries are limited to:

  • 2,000 queries per day
  • 600 queries per minute

The new API looks useful and could potentially be added to CMS platforms and SEO toolsets shortly.

Analyze your site?

Google Launches a New Feature Shops

Google recently launched “Shops” to help customers with their shopping-related queries. The initial search result shows only three shops, but users can expand the results to view more merchants. The results are based on organic search ranking.

Results on Organic Search Ranking

Google recently launched “Shops” to help customers with their shopping-related queries. The initial search result shows only three shops, but users can expand the results to view more merchants. The results are based on organic search ranking.

Google has further enhanced its shopping-related results by including the unpaid, organic listings, introducing a “Deals” section, and other such significant integration. These updates are important to the retailers because their businesses now stand a chance to attract more customers and drive traffic.

Points to Remember

  • Try to rank well in the organic SERPs by optimizing your site.
  • Focus on Google’s other Shopping Channels to gain better visibility.

Have Questions About Your Shop?

URL Changes for Google Search Can Take a Long Time

URL Changes for Google Search Can Take a Long Time

Google’s Search Advocate, John Mueller, revealed that changes to a site’s URL structure is not so easy for search engines. Google recently put out a short, 2-minute video explaining the kind of SEO impact you should brace for if and when you decide to change your site’s URL structure. Turns out that the entire process could take months…when done properly!

Here’s the video released by Google: https://youtu.be/FHjVmi1tkEw

What Makes the Process Not So Simple

As per Google, each URL is stored as an address in the search engine’s index on a per-page basis. When you change the URL structure, all the data for the original URL, including signals, links and other important information that Google has on that page, needs to be forwarded to the new URL.

Things to Bear in Mind When Considering URL Changes

  • Google’s Site Move Documentation

As the URL change process can be quite complicated, Google has taken efforts to detail site move documentation. Muller has summarized the key points from the site move documentation.

  1. Do your research before initiating the migration.
  2. Go for the update when you can afford to have a dip in your site traffic.
  3. List down all the old and new URLs for mapping purposes.
  4. Make use of 301 redirects and internal site updates, such as navigation and XML sitemaps, to implement the migration.
  5. Keep a close eye on the migration through analytics and Google Search Console.
  • The Timing of the Migration

Google states that while completing the URL change process can take months, the search engine will process the “more important” pages faster. On the other hand, the less important URLs will require more time to be processed.

  • The Redirects

Google recommends that the redirects used during migration, the 301 redirects, are left in place for at least a year.

Final Takeaway

SEOs, site owners, webmasters and publishers know just how scary URL changes can be. Hence, going about it the right way with the right tools in place to monitor the progress and catch any errors along the way can do a great deal to reduce your stress.

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 December 2021

Google My Business Is Now Google Business ProfileGoogle Finds a Mix of Positive and Negatice Reviews More ReliableEverything You Need to Know About Microsoft Bing Page Insights

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Google My Business Is Now Google Business Profile

According to the latest announcement, Google has renamed “Google My Business” to “Google Business Profile”. The Google My Business app will mostly retire in the coming years.

Benefits of the latest update include:

  • To get to your profile, you can search your business name on Google, go to Google Maps app, or search for ‘my business’ on Google Search.
  • You can complete the verification, resolve any issues with your profile, and edit your details easily including address, store hours, photos, and more.Your Business on Google
  • In the coming months, merchants can complete their account setup directly on Google Search and Google Maps.
  • You can see whether your profile is visible to the public. If not, the necessary steps will be included.

Verify to Connect with Customers

  • Google Search and Google Maps now have additional tools to help you better manage your business profile.
  • The changes in-line with this update will soon be evident on Google’s Help Center, Community & Support channels.
  • The GMB website will be renamed to Business Profile Manager and will now support larger businesses having multiple profiles.
  • Google expects smaller businesses to manage their profiles on Search & Maps.
  • Google has shared some new ways to help you connect with your customers easily and increase your business.

After reading the above brief related to the latest update, we recommend you keep a track of the emails & videos from Google or follow Google Business Profile on Twitter so that you can get the best out of your business profile.

Analyze your site?Google Finds a Mix of Positive and Negatice Reviews More Reliable

Customers prefer business accounts that have reviews on their profiles. Reviews next to your Business Profile in Maps and Search can drive traffic to your site & help you get more customers. Google has provided some tips to help you get more reviews.

Best practices listed by Google include:

  • Verify your Google Business Profile
  • Remind customers to leave reviews
  • Reply to reviews to build customer trust

Many business owners have a mindset that only positive reviews can help improve their business, but it’s not true.

Google recently updated the guidelines page and added a new point, “Value All Reviews”. According to this point, honest & objective reviews are more helpful for new customers. A mix of positive & negative reviews is more reliable & trustworthy. The team at Google also suggests responding to customer reviews so that customers know that you care. In case the reviews don’t follow Google’s posting guidelines, the business owner can send a removal request.

Google thinks having 99% positive reviews is not natural, and the team may audit the reviews if such a case exists. So, it’s totally fine to have mixed reviews & this won’t even affect your rankings!

Finally, we think businesses can now share their review link to all customers without fail and stop worrying about negative reviews. However, make sure that you are responding to such reviews.

If you need help with review management, we are just an email away.

See How You Can Improve Your Review Management! 

Everything You Need to Know About Microsoft Bing Page Insights

On 23rd November, Microsoft Bing announced the launch of a new feature, Page insights. Now users will see a lightbulb icon on the right-hand side of the search results that provides more details about the search result.

So, what does Page Insights do? Microsoft said, “it provides summarized insights from a page on your search results so you can find what you’re looking for faster.”

Here’s how it looks.

Mars Exploration NASA Google Search Engine Results

Adding more information, the company said, “Page Insights help you verify that the source is relevant to your needs, helps you get caught up to speed at a glance on top factoids you didn’t know about, and lets you jump straight to the relevant section of the page when you click ‘Read more’ for a specific question.”

If you wish for more details, there is a section to “explore more” that will help you find relevant search results.

But as of now, the feature is only available on desktop search results because of the screen size required to properly display the results.

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 November 2021 Guidelines to Create an SEO-friendly websiteMicrosoft Clarity Insights - A Brand New Tool by Microsoft AdvertisingFacebook is Now Meta!

 

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Guidelines to Create an SEO-friendly website

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) can help you increase the visibility of your website when your target audience is searching for services or products related to your business. The process involves optimizing your website and content as well as staying well-informed about your competitors.

Reasons to design an SEO-friendly website…

a) Greatly improve customer experience

Good customer experience ensures that they will return to your site the next time. Also, the more time the customers spend on your site, the higher your rankings are.

b) Gain the favor of web crawlers

SEO helps you to update your site according to the latest search engine requirements, enhancing your rankings significantly.

c) Increase customer engagement

An effective SEO strategy can help you attract more customers and ensure that they spend more time on your site. This step is very important to improve your rankings.

d) Achieve a higher ranking

You must work on your website content, site design, and SEO strategy to rank higher. Higher rankings ensure that you have better sales and that you stay on par with your competitors.

e) Excellent returns

SEO activities are known to deliver the best return on investment. When you achieve a higher ranking and relevant site traffic, you can easily get the desired returns.

Points to consider while designing an SEO-friendly website.

a) Easier website navigation

Buyers prefer a website that has relevant, organized information. Don’t forget to incorporate a sitemap page so that users can easily find and visit the required link.

b) Select an SEO-friendly domain

Your domain name should have keywords related to your services or products. This helps your target customers to find your business easily. Also, the domain name should be unique yet relevant to your industry.

c) Optimal & easy-to-understand content

Your website content can affect its loading speed. It is important to keep your website light to ensure an excellent user experience.

d) Mobile-friendly site

Many people access various websites through their mobile. A mobile-responsive website ensures that your target customers can reach out to you via various gadgets.

e) Reach out through social media

Social media can help you drive traffic to your site, improve your online presence, and increase sales.

f) Add captions to your images & videos

Adding captions ensures that website crawlers can find your content. Insert appropriate keywords in your captions so that people can find the content easily.

g) Update your content

Creating new content is a must to increase the rankings of your pages. The best way is to remove old, low-ranking articles and add new, fresh information to attract new audiences.

h) Include internal and external links in your strategy

    • Internal links can help a visitor to navigate your website easily. It aims to introduce other web pages of your site to visitors.
    • When external links direct users to your website, search engines consider your site reliable and trusted.
    • Link building does take time, but it can significantly boost your traffic.

Web design mistakes to avoid…

a) Repetitive heading tags

Adding appropriate & unique headers (H1 and H2 tags) at the right locations can help improve your rankings. Also, adding necessary keywords is a must.

b) Non-responsive website design

If your website is not mobile-friendly, you may lose a lot of customers. If your site is not compatible with mobile phones, you should get this issue fixed as soon as possible.

c) High-resolution images

Large size images can affect the loading speed of your website. The best way to upload images is to compress and resize them. Use Google PageSpeed Insights tools to check the loading speed of your pages.

d) Too short content

To optimize the page loading speed, many designers do not add much content to the site, forgetting that it is equally important to add good, informative content to your site.

e) Adding the infinite scrolling feature

It is one of the effective ways to hold your users on your site for a longer time. Splitting the content of a website can make it easier for web crawlers to crawl them.

Lastly…

Whether you are creating a new website or improving a current one, keep the target audience and search engine algorithm in mind. Talk to your SEO experts and follow the above guidelines to improve your rankings. If you need help, we are just a call away.

Analyze your site?

Microsoft Clarity Insights - A Brand New Tool by Microsoft Advertising

To come up with a successful marketing campaign, advertisers need to understand post-click user behavior and engagement on landing pages. This is precisely why Microsoft Advertising took it upon itself to introduce a new tool last month – Microsoft Clarity Insights!

An overview of the key benefits of this tool

  • More Powerful Data – It helps you to understand the customer journey and enhance the signals to make optimization decisions on your website and advertising campaigns.
  • Free Website Analytics – It enables you to gain a deeper understanding of user behavior, path to conversion, and engagement on the landing pages.
    • Use Sessions Recordings to replay user sessions and better understand the customer journey
    • Through Instant Heatmaps decode engagement on ad landing pages, including clicks, scrolls, and movement
    • Make the most of the powerful Analysis Dashboard to analyze engagement by campaigns, channels, and browsers
  • Seamless UET (Universal Event Tracking) Upgrade – Sign up using your existing MS Advertising credentials and your existing JavaScript UET tags will be updated on the back end.

Several companies have harnessed the power of Clarity Insights to:

  • Increase the average time their customers spend on their blog
  • Significantly improve their click-through rates
  • Reveal any usability issues that they may be facing
  • Provide insights into the average scroll depth of their blog readers
  • Detect interesting user behavior patterns
  • Boost their conversion rates
  • Figure out the drop-offs and abandonments

Final takeaway

To get started with Microsoft Clarity Insights, you will have to reach out to your Microsoft account manager. However, it is important that you first ensure that your JavaScript UET tags are up to date. Ideally, you should place the tag across your website to attain all kinds of information on user behavior.

From November 2021, UET tag creation will be compatible with Clarity Insights by default. By mid-November, Microsoft will migrate all existing UET tags to include Clarity Insights, except websites that contain sensitive data. Once the UET tag has been updated, accessing Clarity through the MS Advertising account should be possible.

To learn more about the data collected through this tool, visit the following links:

We also recommend you go see a FREE live demo before signing up for this tool! If you have any questions, we are here to assist you.

See How You Can Improve Your Website! Facebook is Now Meta!

On 28th Oct 2021, Mark Zuckerberg announced that Facebook is renaming itself to “Meta” to encompass its expanding technology and role in what it calls “the metaverse.” Facebook owns apps such as WhatsApp, Instagram, Oculus VR, and more. In July this year, Zuckerberg told The Verge that over the coming years Meta would “effectively transition from people seeing us as primarily being a social media company to being a metaverse company.”

So what’s the Metaverse?

Mark Zuckerberg explains in his founder’s letter: “You will be able to teleport instantly as a hologram to be at the office without a commute, at a concert with friends, or in your parent’s living room to catch up.”

“Our hope is that within the next decade, the metaverse will reach a billion people, host hundreds of billions of dollars of digital commerce, and support jobs for millions of creators and developers,”

He gave marketers a clue about the opportunities that lie ahead and how the company is invested in them. It is said that the company will spend $10 billion over the next year on technologies needed for building its metaverse.

The announcement said, “Starting with our results for the fourth quarter of 2021, we plan to report on two operating segments: Family of Apps and Reality Labs.”

“We also intend to start trading under the new stock ticker we have reserved, MVRS, on December 1. Today’s announcement does not affect how we use or share data.”

Controversy Post Rebranding

Post the rebrand, whistleblower Frances Haugen’s revelations have Facebook under fire for its practices, morals, and social impact.

Zuckerberg pointed out in his founder’s letter that Meta’s metaverse may offer exciting avenues, especially for the digital industry.

Facebook is already a destination to discover local businesses. But, from a branding standpoint, we simply can’t look away from a branding fail, and “Meta” just feels like one.

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.