🔍 Amazon affiliate rates slashed | Schema's higher profile

Apr 16, 2020

Good morning Search Marketer structured data is getting a national push.

Schema is getting a big awareness boost with the new tags designed for COVID-19 announcements. The White House and several agencies are coordinating with Schema.org to promote visibility for the new structured data tags "SpecialAnnouncement" and "eventAttendanceMode" introduced last month. Private sector businesses are among those being urged to adopt the new markup when appropriate. We think this could help promote awareness and adoption of Schema among developers more broadly — and make it easier for SEOs to get buy-in on markup.

Amazon has made several changes to its affiliate marketing program in recent weeks, and it's making more waves with news that commission rates are getting whacked across several major product categories starting next week. Affiliate referral rates for health and personal care products, for example, will be cut from 5% to just 1%. Other essential item-related categories like grocery were especially hard hit. Amazon's strained fulfillment capabilities have affected FBA sellers, but the company has now begun accepting inventory for some essential items.

I hope you'll join us tomorrow at 2:00 p.m. EST for a commerce marketing-focused Live with Search Engine Land. Subscribe to our YouTube channel while you're there. And in case you missed it, here's what some top SEOs are telling their clients now.

Keep reading for your daily Pro Tip and to hear about the handy new Google Ads feature that Kirk Williams spotted yesterday.

Ginny Marvin,
Editor-In-Chief

Pro Tip

What are good calls-to-action in LinkedIn ads?

"It's important to add value with whatever you're asking the user to do. Odds are you're asking them to fill out a form (generating a lead) in exchange for something. Think about the topics your target audience wants to hear about," explains SMX speaker Michelle Morgan of Clix Marketing. "What are their concerns? What decisions are they trying to make for their business? How can you help them with that information, not just giving them a sales pitch to your company?"

"If you provide value, they'll have a positive brand impression and are more likely to come back and purchase from you later down the line. Potential examples: calculator or tool with customized results, whitepapers, infographics, industry reports, webinars and workbook/tool kit."

Learn more »

Your 5 biggest Google Ads challenges & how to solve them

Paid search is more competitive than ever. Search marketers need to be proactive and learn how to get the best out of the right tools to stay on top of their PPC 'A-game' (A for automation). Adthena created this guide to address the top challenges and offer solutions that will help you get better results and make your life easier.

Get it now »

Search Shorts

Google's Webmaster Conference talks are coming to YouTube

Google Ads Columns Sync. It's finally happening: advertisers will be able to sync their reporting columns across different accounts in Google Ads. The new feature was spotted by Kirk Williams of ZATO Marketing. "This is easily the most excited I've been for a GAds release in years," he tweeted.

Introducing Webmaster Conference Lightning Talks. Google is rolling out a new series featuring short, conference-style talks delivered by members of its search team. There's even a (one-minute-long) trailer.

Geotargeting users via IP: "Just don't do it." Google's John Mueller says that, on top of being "totally annoying," this tactic won't help your SEO since Googlebot only crawls and indexes from one location.

What will marketing look like in a post-coronavirus world?

Join nearly 4,500 senior-level marketers online April 21-23 for Discover MarTech: three days of free, virtual, expert-led learning that will prepare you for what's coming next in modern marketing.

Register now! »