SEO
The second part of Google’s spam update is complete
If you’ve noticed any changes in your rankings today, it’s because Google just announced on Twitter that part 2 of their spam update has begun (and is about to complete on the same day).
What will be affected: The update will be global and will only affect web and image search results.
What about part 1? SERoundTable did a comprehensive review of how part 1 of the update affected the web. In summary, unlike some other updates, there were no major changes.
What you can do about this: Want to take a guess? According to Google, just follow their best practices. No shortcuts to success here.
ADVERTISING
ATT is destroying ad performance. Here’s what you can do to adapt
If you were to ask us who is most familiar with Apple’s ATT and advertising updates, we have two words for you: Eric Seufert.
Eric just published an article on how advertisers can adapt to Apple’s ATT update (installed on more than 70 percent of iOS devices right now).
Here are some of the details:
- Use interest group targeting. According to Seufert, “throwing a lot of mud at the wall to see what sticks” no longer works.
- Bid on top-of-funnel conversions. Eric says that the algorithm now won’t be able to optimize as effectively if you bid on a bottom-of-funnel metric like a purchase. That’s why he recommends considering bidding on an install, registration or just a simple click.
- Revisit your landing pages. After Apple’s update, iOS visitors won’t be as qualified so you may need to do additional education on your landing pages, compared to someone pre-ATT who was really qualified and ready to buy.
- Learn about modeling so you learn better from limited data. Mix models, incrementality testing. Concepts like these weren’t needed in a world where you could track every user’s move. After ATT, concepts like these are needed more than ever.
Change breeds opportunity, especially when it’s rapid. So take Eric’s advice and adapt!
SPONSORED BY #PAID
This is how much you should pay for an influencer in 2021 – backed by data!
How much do influencers cost – really? What’s a fair rate?
You hear about how influencer marketing is great, it’s hot – but there seems to be very little transparency when it comes to pricing.
Which is why you should take a peek at the data #paid put together.
They’re spilling the tea on what the best content creators charged brands last year by industry, follower count, and content format.
- What you be should be paying your influencers.
- The major swings impacting cost.
- Bookmark the page, so when you’re ready to run influencer marketing for your brand, you can plan with confidence because you have real costs.
And if you’re ready to make smoking-hot content alongside big brands like Toyota, Volvo, and Verizon, #paid is throwing in $500 of free creative assets on your first campaign.
Have a look at influencer costs today.
SEO
How to build backlinks without posts and articles
Here’s a tactic to get backlinks: It comes down to leveraging Creative Commons images.
These are images that have been licensed. And, when people use them, they’ll link to your website to indicate the source.
Stacey MacNaught shared the tactic in an Authority Hacker YouTube video. But, for those who like to read – and get straight to the meat of the matter – Steve Toth has shared the key points:
- Do a Google image search using keywords related to your niche.
- Filter by Creative Commons and analyze the images that come up to select the type of images you want to create.
- Visit sites like Unsplash, Shutterstock, Getty, Alamy, and others to determine which images are the most popular and have received the most purchases.
- Create similar images and license them via Creative Commons. Then, upload them to stock photo websites.
- Watch the links roll in.
Stacey MacNaught starts with 50 images. Only two of these may truly work. And then she adds 5 to 10 images per month.
She uses COPYTRACK and picMatch to detect unmentioned use of the images without proper referral links. She then contacts these websites and requests a mention.
The Crew’s take: The better the websites that link to yours, the higher the quality of the backlink. However, this tactic should not be the only one you rely on to build backlinks.
It can be an add-on, but you should still create valuable posts and do PR activities to generate strong backlinks.
Bottom line: This can be the side dish, not the main course.
ROUNDING UP THE STACK
INSTAGRAM: How does Instagram work? Adam Mosseri, the Head of the company, takes on this question.
SOCIAL MEDIA: How do you go viral on social media? By attacking your opponent, according to a recent study.
INFLUENCER MARKETING: Influence the influencers. It’s not just a catchy phrase; it’s something that’s doable. This article goes into more detail.
GOOGLE: The search company is testing showing you seller rankings on its search results.
TIKTOK: Don’t make ads. Make TikToks. TikTok explains the reasoning behind this claim.
E-COMMERCE: Online-to-offline. It’s a trillion dollar industry, and the team at Shopify explains how to master it.
LINKEDIN: The company published its digital Business 2021 magazine issue.
BRAIN TEASER
At night, they arrive without being summoned. By day, they are lost without being stolen. What are they?
You can find the solution here.
POOLSIDE CHAT
Cool tech, (funny) business, lifestyle and all the other things marketers like to chat about while sipping cocktails by the pool.
Your next Uber might be an airplane
When you book your next Uber, you might not see something with wheels, but wings instead.
Meet electronic aviation, a new technology that can enable this. Even Larry Page, Google’s co-founder, is investing in an air-taxi firm, which may make vertical takeoff possible.
Some more ambitious companies plan to take off (pun intended) next year, although they all depend on one major thing: battery development. Those companies hope the technology will be advanced enough to a point that air travel will become profitable. But we know what happens in technology development and expectations… Things break.
Still, we’re happy there are companies that want to make affordable air travel possible.