ALL TOOLS AND SCRIPT FOR FREE

🔍 In case you weren't focused on mobile, Advanced YouTube tactics

Good morning search marketers, which mobile device are you reading this on?

Yesterday, Google rolled out a new feature in the Google Ads console that shows mobile page speed rankings for more landing pages.The hope is advertisers will know if their ads are being served on pages that generate a poor user experience due to slow page load.

(Side note: Of course, Google yesterday made a similar announcement about how well AMP ads perform.)

Meanwhile, Bing is following Google in requiring addiction centers to be certified by LegitScript before they can run ad campaigns on the site. Good decision.

Also, Bing told the audience at SMX West that Bing Ads is moving away from keywords and towards intelligent audience marketing with its Microsoft Audience Ads program. It's no surprise that this includes tie-ins with LinkedIn profiles. Eric Enge has written up a great breakdown of their presentation.

There's more below, including an interesting indicator on local search and a YouTube-related Pro Tip from what was probably our most talked-about session from SMX West.

Go mobile.

Henry Powderly
VP, Content

 
 
 
Pro Tip
 

Advanced tactics: YouTube custom audiences

To make the best YouTube targeting options better, start with custom intent audiences, Joe Martinez of Clix Marketing explained during his SMX West session. To get started, focus on these four areas:

1) Convert search queries then try converting keyword (yes, they are two different targets). 2) Use localized terms when working with local shops. 3) Choose top selling products in Google Analytics. 4) Site search queries can be a great target base.

READ MORE »

 

Live Webinar: How to Prepare for a Successful Marketing Analytics Implementation- Feb. 26

Sponsored by CardinalPath

Analytics are critical to fuel the success of your marketing investments. Whether you are taking a hard look at your current deployment, or a new deployment is in the works, this non-technical webinar highlights the 5 most common issues that can prevent you from realizing value from your analytics implementation. Join us to discuss best practices that will pay dividends in the long run.

READ MORE »

 
Search Shorts
 

Don't sweat those 404s

No, no … that's for ads. Google's John Mueller explained that click share metrics is a Google Ad thing, and is not used for organic search rankings. He also said that those UX playbooks are ad related and not organic search related.

Confuse Google? John Mueller says that using UTM or analytics parameter tracking for internal links can cause confusion for Google in terms of indexing and choosing which URLs to show in the search results. It ultimately should not impact your ranking in Google, though.

404s are normal. Don't worry about having 404 errors in Google Search Console. It is normal for web sites to return 404, page not found, for web pages that are no longer available. It doesn't impact the rest of the web site's rankings, Google's John Mueller said.

 
SMX Update
 

We're looking for speakers for SMX Advanced

The agenda for our upcoming SMX Advanced show is live and we've opened up our speaking pitch form for select sessions for the show, June 4-5 at the Bell Harbor International Conference Center in Seattle. Unlike some other industry conferences, our primary goal in programming SMX is to make sure our attendees get the maximum possible value from the time and resources they spend to experience the show.

Our attendees are looking for cutting-edge advanced tactics that they can put to work right away. Think you've got what it takes? Take a look at our speaking guidelines, view the SMX Advanced 2019 agenda, and then let us know how you'd like to wow SMX attendees by pitching to speak at the show.

 
Indicators
 

Are you earning as much as your peers in local search?

Senior-level local search marketers, on average, earn nearly twice as much as their mid-level agency co-workers, finds the latest edition of the BrightLocal local search industry survey. The research also took up questions about what local search marketers do and how many clients they handle.

READ MORE »

 
Reading List
 

Today's theme: You are what you EAT

How to Implement AMP: A Quick-Start Guide to Accelerated Mobile Pages – BruceClay.com

7 Outdated SEO Writing Myths That Will Not Die – SuccessWorks

Amazon Alexa and the Search for the One Perfect Answer – Wired

E-A-T confirmed by Google to be an important part of their algorithms – Marie Haynes Consulting

Google Reenables Assistant Calls Over Duplex For Local Businesses After Opting Out – Search Engine Roundtable

 
 
 
Join Us
 

Gain expert SEO & SEM tactics to drive your campaign's success. Attend SMX Advanced, June 3-5!

Attend Search Engine Land's SMX Advanced, June 3-5, 2019 for expert-led sessions, networking (including the 2019 Search Engine Land Awards), and top amenities including WiFi, delicious meals, and snacks. This is your once-a-year event to learn only advanced SEO and SEM tactics. You'll come away with at least one tactic that you can immediately put to use… we guarantee it. View rates and register today!