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Moz debuts new metric, Brand Authority, to measure brand strength

Monday, August 7th, 2023

A new metric, called Brand Authority, is now available in the Moz Pro SEO toolset and the Moz API, the company announced today.

What is Brand Authority. Moz’s new Brand Authority metric can be found in Domain Overview. Moz assigns an “online brand strength” score between 1-100. There is also a new brand comparison visualization.

• “At a high level, Brand Authority combines Moz’s knowledge of search intent and search volume to calculate a score that reflects the total strength of a website’s branded search terms,” according to Dr. Peter J. Meyers, Moz marketing scientist.
• “For instance, we know that searches like [iPhone 15] and [iPad Pro] strongly reflect awareness of the Apple brand. Brand Authority combines all this data and scales it against the strongest known brands.”
• “While we can’t tie a specific Brand Authority score to a specific offline factor, it inherently reflects the total (including offline) influence big brands have in the world.”

This metric is based only on U.S. data, but Moz said it plans to add data from more regions in 2024.

The data points used by Brand Authority will be updated at different intervals, but the metric will be refreshed bi-monthly, Meyers told Search Engine Land.

The price of a Moz Pro won’t be increasing with the addition of this metric. However, accessing Brand Authority data in the API will incur additional charges, Moz said.

Why we care. Moz customers may want to check out the metric and see whether it’s useful for SEO, PR or other marketing activities – and get a general sense of how Moz assesses your brand strength compared to your competition. However, I expect many SEOs, especially those who don’t use Moz, to be skeptical of another 1-100 “authority score.”

Why Moz cares. I asked them why how SEOs and marketers can use this score. Meyers said:

• “While the mechanisms of how brands impact search results are complex and not always transparent, we know that understanding and being able to measure brand influence is incredibly important for SEOs, hence the motivation to create a metric like Brand Authority.
• “Because Brand Authority encompasses success signals beyond search, it has many interesting use cases for PR and broader marketers, but it is firmly rooted in our SEO expertise.”

How Moz describes Brand Authority. According to Moz, users can use the metric to:

• “…assess their marketing gaps to maximize their return on investment (ROI), see the true value of sales prospects and potential acquisition targets, and assess the real influence of the media brands that pick up their stories.”

How it’s different from Domain Authority. Moz is the company that created the controversial Domain Authority metric, which predicts “how likely a website is to rank” in search, using a similar 1-100 scoring system.

Domain Authority isn’t going away. Both metrics will co-exist. Meyers said the metrics are “complementary” and there is little overlap between how the two metrics are computed:

• “Domain Authority remains an important indicator of online strength and ranking potential, while Brand Authority captures broader signals of an organization’s influence.
• “Our improved Domain Overview tool now displays a 4-quadrant visualization of Domain Authority vs. Brand Authority to help customers understand their relationship to their competition.”

Brand Authority vs. other brand score metrics. Search marketers have relied on metrics such as NPS (net promotor score), share of voice and sentiment analysis to measure brand strength. But Brand Authority attempts to “capture people’s awareness of a brand even before they begin their search and buyer’s journey,” Meyers said:

• “Brand Authority is a search-centric metric that helps us understand the influence of brands (including ‘offline’ influence, such as traditional advertising and word of mouth) on our online efforts, by analyzing searchers’ awareness of brand terms (including sub-brands, products and services),” Meyers said.

Top 500 U.S. brands. In addition to the new metric, Moz revealed a list of 500 sites with the most Brand Authority. Five brands achieved a perfect score of 100:

• google.com
• youtube.com
• facebook.com
• amazon.com
• walmart.com

Also making the top 10:

• target.com (98)
• yahoo.com (98)
• homedepot.com (96)
• walgreens (94)
• foxnews.com (94)

The post Moz debuts new metric, Brand Authority, to measure brand strength appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

TikTok rolls out major Ads changes to meet EU regulations

Monday, August 7th, 2023

TikTok is implementing major changes to its ad products in Europe to ensure it meets EU regulations.

The platform plans to significantly reduce targeted advertising capabilities, while ads that violate its rules will be put on global bans.

Under the Digital Services Act, the platform is also going to provide users with additional reporting options and give more clarity to creators about its content moderation decisions.

Why we care. It’s more important than ever for marketers to keep up-to-date with TikTok’s policies as an ad being banned worldwide would be disastrous; reach and conversions would plummet, ROI would fall and it could also cause reputational damage. The changes to targeted advertising could also have a negative impact on reach, which may make you want to consider if ad space on an alternative platform would be more profitable.

Updates. TikTok announced several changes to its platform that will impact the user experience int he EU. These include:

• Additional reporting – TikTok users in the EU will now be able to report ads they believe are illegal. The platform is rolling out new features to simplify this process, including introducing complaint categories such as hate speech, harassment and financial crimes.
• Global bans – If content is found to break TikTok’s Community Guidelines, it will be removed from the platform globally. Content that doesn’t break its guidelines but does violate the law will be taken down in that country only.
• Ban on targeted ads for teens – Teenagers in Europe aged 13-17 will now no longer see personalised advertising based on their activities, whether that is on or off TikTok.
• Option to turn off personalisation – When personalisation is turned off by users in the EU, the ‘For You’ and ‘LIVE’ feeds will show popular videos from both where live and around the world – as opposed to content based on their personal interests. Similarly, when using non-personalised search, they will see results made up of popular content from their region and in their preferred language.
• More transparency – TikTok is planning to share more detail about its content moderation decisions with creators, including whether AI decided the action taken.

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What has TikTok said? TikTok confirmed the updates via an announcement on its blog. A spokesperson said:

• “The European Union has set a clear vision for platform regulation with the Digital Services Act (DSA). Following our updates in July about our Research API and Commercial Content Library, we are providing more information about the work that we are doing to meet our obligations under the Act by the August 28 deadline.”
• “Our mission is to inspire creativity and bring joy. We know that ensuring the safety, privacy, and security of our European community is critical to achieving that goal.”
• “We will continue to not only meet our regulatory obligations, but also strive to set new standards through innovative solutions and by working with our industry partners, regulators, lawmakers, and civil society.”

Deep dive. Read TikTok’s Digital Service Act announcement in full for more information.

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Google Merchant Center sending ‘inappropriate title’ warning

Monday, August 7th, 2023

Google Merchant Center has been issuing a new warning – for “inappropriate titles.”

The message appears to apply to Google Discover and Demand Gen ads within Google Merchant Center.

Product titles that fail to meet Google’s criteria face being penalized with restricted visibility in the U.S., according to a screenshot of the warning:

Why we care. A drop in visibility means your campaign will be seen by fewer potential customers, which could harm your revenue and ROI. In addition, getting Google to lift a penalty can be a lengthy process and, depending on how long it takes, this has the potential to have a long-term impact on your account, negatively affecting your visibility.

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Google’s requirements. How can you avoid this kind of Google penalty? Your product title must meet the following requirements:

• Assets must meet the Discovery and Demand Gen product ads quality requirements
• Assets can’t contain obscene or offensive language, including but not limited to profanity and sexual innuendos
• Assets can’t use placeholder text, distasteful formatting such as nonsensical punctuation or capitalization or incomplete sentences.
• Assets can’t be longer than 10 words before a delimiter
• Asserts can’t contain excessive details like product codes, SKUs or part numbers that aren;’t part of the product name.

Reaction. Google Ads ecommerce expert Dennis Moons, flagged the issue on X, prompting several other marketers to report similar experiences.

Some have commented that there may be a “bug” with the warning as it is being issued to product titles that are “harmless.” However, Google is yet to respond.

Deep dive. Read Google’s Discovery and Demand Gen Campaigns guide for more information.

The post Google Merchant Center sending ‘inappropriate title’ warning appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

[Next week] Actionable search marketing training + live Q&A from SMX

Monday, August 7th, 2023

Don’t miss your chance to participate in tactic-rich, expert-led training on your search marketing specialty – and get specific answers to your burning questions: Register now for your choice of live, two-day SMX Master Class – happening online next Wednesday and Thursday, August 16-17!

(Need to convince your boss to let you attend? We’ve got you.)

Each Master Class is loaded with actionable tactics you can implement immediately:

• Supercharge your SEO and PPC efforts with the all-new Generative AI training, featuring Aleyda Solis, Frederick Vallaeys, and more expert instructors
• Make data-driven decisions with Colleen Harris’ Google Analytics 4 training
  
• Improve rankings and boost visibility with Bruce Clay’s Advanced SEO training
  
• Drive targeted PPC traffic with Brad Geddes’ Advanced Google Ads training
  
• Optimize your online presence with Eric Enge’s Technical SEO training
• Boost conversions with Brian Massey’s PPC landing page optimization training
  
• Reach, engage, and convert new customers with Michael Brenner’s SEO-friendly content marketing training

Attending the Master Classes is a win-win-win:

• Can’t attend live? Instant on-demand access is included with your pass.
• Can’t choose one class? Purchase multiple to save 15% off total registration.
• Attending as a group? Unlock a unique team-building experience and save up to 20% off*

Don’t be left behind. Explore the hottest topics in search alongside industry legends who are ready to answer your specific questions – all from the comfort of your own computer. No travel, no hotel room, no time out of the office.

Secure your spot at one of these exclusive SMX Master Classes for just $299!

Psst… Think you have what it takes to be an “award-winning” search marketer? Enter the 2023 Search Engine Land Awards for your chance to boost team morale, attract new business, and stand apart from the competition!

*Groups of 3-5 save 10%, 6-11 save 15%, and 12 or more save 20%. Email reg@thirddoormedia.atlassian.net. Discounts for different offers cannot be combined.

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Google releases Responsive Search Ads guide

Friday, August 4th, 2023

Google has released a Responsive Search Ads guide to help marketers improve their campaign performance.

The new RSA guide includes Google’s advice and information on how:

• To write ads for maximum conversions.
• RSAs use Google AI to generate ad copy.
• To evaluate a campaign’s effectiveness.

Why we care. You may find this guide to be a helpful resource, especially if you’re newer to working with RSAs. It may give you a better understanding of how RSAs work and how to optimize for maximum performance and potentially increase conversions and ROI.

A comprehensive guide. Google’s new document contains seven sections:

• The challenge with delivering the right ads.
• Why responsive search ads
• How responsive search ads select combinations to generate Search ads
• Ad Strength: a feedback mechanism for creative content
• Tools to help create high quality assets
• Evaluate the effectiveness of responsive search ads
• AI-ready account structure: Smart Bidding, broad match, & responsive search ads

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Google also provided five key takeaways to get the most out of RSAs:

What has Google said? A Google spokesperson said:

• “Our goal is to simplify the work it takes to create high-quality ads that achieve your business objectives at scale.”
• “To do this, we’re hard at work applying the newest AI-powered innovations across asset generation, customizing assets for relevance, and both simplifying and improving tools for managing ads.”

Deep dive. Read Google’s Responsive Search Ads guide (PDF) for more information.

The post Google releases Responsive Search Ads guide appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

Margin-based tracking: 3 advanced strategies for Google Shopping profitability

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

Are your Google Shopping campaigns profitable? 

Tracking your PPC performance will help you make better business decisions. 

You can unlock data beyond basic revenue metrics by implementing margin-based structures and advanced tracking methods. 

This article discusses three strategies to approach profitability-based tracking and campaign structuring methods.

1. Profitability-based account structures

The easiest and fastest way to start is with margin- or inventory-based structures. 

They revolve around three key concepts:

• Product profitability.
• Inventory status.
• Campaign segmentation. 

These elements work together to drive profitability in Google Ads.

Product profitability

When you know the profitability of individual products, you can prioritize efforts and allocate budgets more effectively. 

Start by analyzing the cost of goods sold (COGS) and factoring in other costs associated with production, packaging and shipping. 

Transferring the COGS or product margin into a custom label enables you to segment Performance Max campaigns in margin-based clusters.

Inventory status

The inventory should be clustered in priority or inventory status on a scale like low, medium or high to make it useful.

Campaign segmentation

Segmenting your Performance Max campaigns based on product profitability and inventory status is the final and crucial step in margin-based structures. 

You can now:

• Create a product scoring out of the profitability and inventory custom label.
• Or use them separately and build campaigns like “high margin – high inventory status” to push certain products. 

This segmentation lets you apply different bidding strategies and budgets to each group and allocate resources where they will generate the highest returns.

Google frames this approach as “Shopping for Business Objectives.” 

Theoretically, this should lead to profitable campaigns because the bidding strategy can focus on one goal, which should work for most products in that cluster. 

While it works great for advertisers with few margin clusters and simple product structures, it has a few flaws. 

It’s impossible to visualize which products were bought, and hard to see how the gross profit of a campaign looks because you just throw similar margins into one basket. 

This strategy is a decent solution for starters, but should be improved to get more leverage.

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2. Tracking cost of goods sold (COGS) and reporting conversion with cart data

Cost of goods sold (COGS) tracking and conversions with cart data reporting are among the most overlooked built-in features of Google Ads. 

COGS is an optional value that can be passed to the Merchant Center in the data feed for Google Shopping. 

The attribute [cost_of_goods_sold] represents the cost price at the product level and must be specified as a monetary value (i.e., not as a percentage). 

Since purchase prices can change more quickly depending on the industry, working with an approximate guideline at the beginning is advisable.

Most companies have their COGS stored in their enterprise resource planning (ERP) software, while some might also store it in their shop backend. 

It’s ideal to dynamically export those values into your feed management application of choice. However, you can start out with a static export if automation is out of the question. 

For example, you could create a sub-feed with a Google Sheet. 

Just fill in the item id [id] and cost of goods sold [cost_of_goods_sold] in the first two columns and then import it as a supplemental feed into Merchant Center.

Implementing COGS in the product data and cart data reporting in the GTAG also lets you use additional metrics like gross profit, COGS, product gross profit, etc. They are a great addition to the basic revenue pixel that most advertisers optimize on.

From a technical perspective, it might look a bit complex to implement. But all variables needed are within the analytics dataLayer and can easily be used when using a Google Tag Manager (GTM) setup.

3. Custom margin tracking

The most advanced and complex solution is to use custom margin tracking and set up a dedicated pixel. 

Some tools integrate with shop systems, but setting up your own tracking offers independence and customization options. 

But if you’re looking for a quick and easy solution to implement, profitability tracking tools might be enough to do the job.

Many shop systems enable setting the COGS or item cost for internal reporting reasons. You can transmit the value into the data layer, which you can later use for conversion tracking.

For instance, Shopify allows you to set metafields, which you can use to set the COGS on a product level. 

Below, you’ll find an example metafield used to capture the product costs.

Luckily, Shopify allows us to read the metafield value on the storefront, which we can use to transmit it into the dataLayer. 

Depending on the dataLayer, the specific code must be individualized. 

Here’s sample data that we could use with a dataLayer.push command

<script>
window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || [];
window.dataLayer.push({
 'COGS': '{{custom.cost_of_goods_sold}}'
 });
</script>

We can make it available for further use GTM.

We can now calculate our profit using a custom JavaScript snippet or any other way depending on the technical circumstances.

var costOfGoodsSold = {{custom.cost_of_goods_sold}}; 
var revenue = {{revenue}}; 
// Calculate profit 
var profit = revenue - costOfGoodsSold;
console.log(profit);

Using the profit variable as a revenue variable in the GTAG lets us purely track profit on our marketing activities. 

Tip: This setup opens the risk of competitors spying on our dataLayer. 

To address this, you can build in a factor of the gross profit. 

This cloaks cost data from competitors and makes it easier for your account managers to work with bidding strategies.

So instead of reporting back a gross profit of $20 from a $100 order, you could factor it by 5 and report back a $100 order. 

If you know about the factor of 5, you can now easily calculate the true gross profit by dividing numbers by 5 or whatever factor you’d like to use.

Profit-driven strategies for better advertising ROI

Profitability-based tracking in Google Ads offers advanced insights into campaign and product performance. 

Whether it’s structuring campaigns with inventory and margin data, implementing COGS tracking, or using custom margin tracking pixels, there’s a solution for every situation. 

Standard GTAG pixel and revenue tracking are not enough for data-driven decisions. 

Advanced reporting and analysis enable you to:

• Identify high-profit opportunities.
• Optimize bidding and budgeting strategies.
• Enhance overall campaign profitability. 

Embrace margin-based tracking to push your ecommerce business forward.

The post Margin-based tracking: 3 advanced strategies for Google Shopping profitability appeared first on Search Engine Land.

Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing

Link building in 2023: 10 ways to win or fail

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

Link building is a consistent and proactive practice that requires time, effort and resources.

It remains a fundamental aspect of SEO, but success doesn’t come easily. 

As you fine-tune your SEO action plan for the rest of the year, consider ways to win – or fail – at link building. 

Fails: Common link building mistakes

Fail: Ignoring personal connections

Start with who you know. You likely have personal connections in your industry who can help deliver valuable backlinks. 

So many marketers overlook their own network as a resource, focusing solely on cold outreach and missing out on opportunities for more natural, relevant links. 

Go through your LinkedIn connections, and ask. 

Fail: Chasing low-quality links

This is not simply a game of volume. In highly competitive niches, the quality and quantity of links matter. 

Getting a larger number of low-quality links is often easier, which will ultimately hurt your website’s SEO. 

Instead, strategically approach your backlinking efforts to ensure you gain high-quality and highly relevant backlinks from authoritative websites. 

Fail: Building links from irrelevant websites

When you go through the effort of building backlinks, one of the worst things you could do is select a domain that links back to completely unrelated websites. 

Building links that are relevant to your niche is critical. 

Getting links from irrelevant websites won’t help improve your search visibility or generate the readers and customers you seek. 

Fail: Ignoring local SEO 

Local SEO is a great opportunity to increase your backlinks, but many companies miss this step. 

Especially for businesses with a local audience, geo-targeted link building will help you increase your website’s local search visibility and be more relevant to your target audience. 

Work to obtain links from business listing websites, local blogs and local directories. 

Fail: Sticking to outdated tactics

It was never right, but we all know it happened. Old school and outdated tactics to get backlinks, such as spammy directories and mass blog commenting will only hurt your website’s SEO.

Google still will take manual action on sites that engage in these practices, so it’s essential to stay up-to-date with the latest link building strategies and ensure your efforts align with Google’s guidelines.

Dig deeper: Why most brands fail at link building: Top 5 mistakes

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Wins: Effective link building strategies

Win: Competitor backlink analysis

Evaluate your competitor’s ranking performance and backlink profile. This can help you understand your gaps and opportunities. 

What lists are they on? What interviews and guest posts have they done?  

If your competitors are appearing on specific domains, then there is an opportunity for you to be a fast follower. 

Use tools such as Ahrefs or Moz, and identify potential targets for your own link building efforts.

Win: Capitalizing on unlinked mentions

You’ll often find that your website or brand was mentioned on a site, but no link was associated with it. 

In these situations, reach out to the site operator and politely request they add a link to your site. 

Brand monitoring tools like Talkwalker, Critical Mention or BuzzSumo can help you find unlinked mentions, providing opportunities for easy link building.

Win: Contributing to crowdsourced posts

Participate in crowdsourced posts by providing expertise to journalists or bloggers seeking input from industry professionals. 

HARO is a great place to identify opportunities to contribute to content. This can lead to valuable backlinks from authoritative sources and increased visibility for your brand.

Win: Creating valuable data-driven content

Everyone loves visuals. Look for opportunities to create content from your valuable data, including infographics, research results, case studies and surveys. 

Citing statistics and percentages is also important, so focus on creating content that showcases your expertise and provides rare, insightful data. 

With the increasing use of Canva, it’s much easier to create compelling graphics for your website. 

Win: Getting help 

As you read this list of best practices, you’re likely asking, “How much time will this take?” 

Link building is time-consuming, but reputable consultants and agencies can do the tough parts for you, helping you increase your backlinks effectively and efficiently. 

Don’t be scared to ask for help. 

Avoid common mistakes, embrace winning strategies

Focus on creating high-quality, link-worthy content and pursuing natural, relevant backlinks from authoritative sites. 

Understand that link building is a long-term effort requiring consistent monitoring and effort.

Adopting these practices will improve your website’s visibility and boost its SEO performance in the long run.

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Trivago blames profit drop on opting out of new Google Ads product

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

Trivago’s decision to opt out of Google’s new property promotion ads was apparently a costly mistake.

Revenue was down 14% year-on-year to $137 million in the second quarter of 2023, following a decrease in website traffic, Trivago reported.

Meanwhile, revenue for Expedia, which did advertise with on the search engine’s new ad unit, reported a record second quarter with revenue up 6%.

A regretful data-led decision. Trivago did not to advertise with Google’s new ad product because it is part of Google hotel ads – which historically hasn’t performed well for the company, Skift reported. However, this soon became a decision the team would regret.

• “We did not participate in this ad format prior to this rollout, and when this got more visibility [at the expense of] traditional advert placements, we lost traffic volumes,” said Trivago Chief Financial Officer Matthias Tillmann.

Why we care. When new ad products are launched, particularly by industry giants like Google, brands should make sure they are paying close attention and not be so quick to dismiss the possible potential. If financial risk is a concern, perhaps it may make more sense to trial a new product on a smaller scale rather than to disregard it all together. It’s also important that marketers ensure they are constantly monitoring the performance of their websites and campaigns. If you have noticed a drop in traffic, address it sooner rather than later to control financial losses.

Drop in ad spend. In its Q2 results, Trivago also announced that ad spend in the US had decreased by 10% to $32.9 million. The company spent 4% less on advertising in Europe, compared to the same period in 2022, as well. Commenting on the results, a company spokesperson said:

• “Our reliance on search engines, particularly Google, which promote their own product and
  services that compete directly with our accommodation search and may negatively impact our
  business, financial performance and prospects.”

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What has else Trivago said? Trivago addressed its Q2 results in a statement published on its website. A spokesperson said:

• “We observed increased volatility in the results of our performance marketing campaigns. As we continued to be disciplined with Return on Advertising Spend (ROAS) targets, we experienced significant declines in performance marketing traffic volumes coupled with decreases in profit contribution.”
• “Despite these headwinds, we ramped up our brand marketing investments as planned. While these expenditures had a negative impact on our profitability in the second quarter of 2023, we believe they will have a long-term positive impact on the volume of direct traffic to our platform and our financial performance.”

Deep dive. Read Trivago’s Q2 2023 Earnings Release statement in full for more information.

The post Trivago blames profit drop on opting out of new Google Ads product appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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8 new Google Analytics 4 features to enhance app measurement and performance

Thursday, August 3rd, 2023

Google Analytics 4 has unveiled eight new features to improve app campaign measurement and performance.

The additional AI-powered insights have been set up to give marketers a better understanding of how users behave across both web and app – all in one place.

Why we care. The more insights you have into who your target audience is, the more effectively you can optimize campaigns and ensure content is as engaging as possible. The better a campaign can connect with its target audience, the more conversions a brand will likely see, leading to a higher ROI.

What are the new features? Google has spent the last few months working on new GA4 tools to give marketers improved audience insights. Here are eight new features that are available to use right now:

1. New unnotified users suggested audience – This feature enables brands to engage more easily with existing app users who may not have yet been reached via push notifications. Considering only 37% of customers enable push notifications, this tool could prove particularly useful for improving reach.
2. Seamlessly re-use app and web audiences – Once you have created an audience in GA4, this feature will ensure only relevant app users will be targeted for your app campaigns.
3. Access  GA4 Audience Builder in Google Ads – You will be able to build audiences directly in GA4 in the coming weeks, which will simplify the setting up and managing campaigns process.
4. Additional performance uplift – This tool automatically optimizes App campaign performance. In order to get started, ensure you activate Google signals in your linked GA4 property.
5. Comprehensive web-to-app conversion measurement – Google’s new privacy-safe URL parameter enables better iOS app conversion measurement for web campaigns which deep link users into an app.
6. Integrations with SKAdNetwork – You can configure your SKAdNetwork conversion value schema using this tool for improved in-app event measurement and optimization.
7. On-device conversion measurement – GA4 has rolled out additional support for more types of consented user sign-ins, such as phone numbers. This solution works without any user-identifying information ever leaving a user’s device or being disclosed to external parties, including Google.
8. Geo-based conversion lift measurement – This tool, which is currently available in beta, gives marketers the ability to run controlled experiments to more accurately understand the causal, incremental effects of your iOS App campaigns.

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What has Google said? Google announced its latest GA4 feature updates via a post on its official blog, which read:

• “As an app marketer, you want to not only find, but also keep, your highest-value app users. Google Analytics 4 provides robust audience management tools to reach the right users. And you now have access to new audience features.”
• “Many businesses are seeing performance success with using Google Analytics 4, particularly on iOS. For example, knowing its iOS users were some of its most profitable users, Revolut, a United Kingdom-based banking technology company, wanted to scale its iOS campaigns in its top markets. After implementing and beginning to bid on Google Analytics 4 events, Revolut saw a 12.5% increase in additional first-opens and achieved a 11.2% decrease in its CPI.”
• “These are just a few of the newest features available to app marketers who use Google Analytics 4. There is a full suite of App campaign measurement and performance features you can access with Google Analytics 4 to help you drive business growth.”

Deep dive. Read Google’s full announcement for more information about its latest features.

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The best AI tools for global SEO expansion

Wednesday, August 2nd, 2023

Expanding your business internationally is a strategic move with tremendous potential. 

But to succeed, it’s crucial to speak the language of your target audience. 

Over 70% of consumers are more likely to choose a product if it’s in a language they understand. 

That’s why preparing your website for localization and translation is key.

By adapting your code to support text expansion, multiple languages, and different text orientations, you create a seamless user experience.

Here’s how to make your website a welcoming space for global customers using AI translation tools and engines.

What is an AI translation tool?

An AI translation tool or engine is a software application that leverages artificial intelligence (AI) and algorithms to perform automated translation of text or speech from one language to another. 

These tools use machine learning, natural language processing, and neural networks to analyze and understand the meaning of the source text and generate an equivalent translation in the target language. In technical terms, this is called machine translation (MT).

AI translation tools have evolved significantly in recent years, particularly with the advancements in neural machine translation (NMT). 

NMT models, powered by deep learning algorithms, can process and translate text using an encoder-decoder architecture that reads the source text and generates the target translation. 

They can capture complex language patterns and produce more accurate and fluent translations than earlier rule-based or statistical machine translation approaches. 

The best AI translation tools to expand globally

Machine translation has evolved significantly over the years due to AI advancements. But there are no absolute best tools, engines or providers. 

Even the widely held belief that an NMT system guarantees the highest quality translations is only partially accurate, as it has limitations. 

Considering quality and technological features, below are some of the best translation engines to help with your internationalization plan.

DeepL

DeepL, a German-based MT tool, is one of the standouts in the industry. 

Leveraging the latest advancements in deep learning, DeepL’s engineers trained their models using data from the online dictionary/translation database Linguee resulting in cutting-edge machine translation software. 

It offers a web-based platform and tools that integrate into multiple ecosystems and APIs for even better customization.

The web interface and standalone app can customize translations by “forcing” specific terminology for selected language pairs. 

Even in the free version, users can toggle to incorporate preferred (corporate) terminology, addressing one of the challenges of machine translation: consistency.

The Pro version offers an expanded terminology function without limitations, allowing users to fine-tune translations further. 

It also includes additional settings, such as adjusting the formality of the target text, which can significantly impact the tone of voice, especially in Latin languages such as Italian.

Unlike other MT providers, DeepL does not offer the option to customize the translation model using proprietary, pre-translated data for training the engine. 

Pro subscribers can access a computer-assisted translation (CAT) tool integration to ensure end-to-end encryption for the translated data, prioritizing data security and privacy.

Google Cloud Translation

Translate by Google is the most famous and extensively used machine translation tool, offering instantaneous translation between multiple languages to individuals and businesses. 

The Cloud Translation tool is specifically for businesses needing support for their translation needs. 

The language library of Google Translate encompasses support for over 100 languages, making it remarkably versatile and valuable in various contexts. 

The functioning is similar to the ones offered for free, but Google Cloud Translation offers APIs enabling businesses to integrate it into existing internal workflows easily.

It is possible to choose between Cloud Translation Basic and Advanced. Advanced has more business-friendly features, such as batch requests and glossaries, which are particularly interesting for SEO localization projects.

Google Cloud Translation charges on monthly usage, with the first 500,000 characters per month free to use. 

It is possible to try Translation to see how it performs in real-world scenarios and get free credits to run, test, and deploy their first workload.

AWS Amazon Translate

Amazon Translate is a powerful tool specifically designed for organizations requiring language translation for multi-lingual websites, applications, user-generated content, or real-time communication. 

The tool:

• Enables the localization of content for global users.
• Facilitates cross-lingual communication.
• Provides accurate and natural-sounding translations using deep learning algorithms.

The service offers a free tier, allowing translation of up to 2 million characters per month for the initial 12 months following the first translation request. 

Accessible through the AWS Management Console, AWS CLI, or AWS SDK, Amazon Translate offers a range of features, including:

• Neural machine translation.
• Customization of machine learning-translated output.
• Real-time translation capabilities.
• Support for over 5,550 language combinations.

Developers can easily incorporate Amazon Translate into their applications using a single API call through batch translation or real-time translation integration. 

The service auto-detects the source language, making translating content without manual language identification convenient. 

With its cloud-based infrastructure and deep learning API, Amazon Translate can handle large volumes of text and provides developers with a robust solution for their translation needs.

Microsoft Translator for Business

Microsoft Translator is a versatile language translation tool that provides a range of features to translate text and documents into multiple target languages. 

It’s an expansion of the consumer-oriented Translator offered by Bing. The business tool goes beyond basic translation capabilities by offering the option to customize translations using the Custom Translator feature.

This enables enterprises, app developers, and language service providers to construct neural translation systems tailored to their specific business and industry terminology. 

This customization ensures accurate translation of their unique language, aligning with brand, industry terminology, and communication needs for consistent multilingual content.

Key features of Microsoft Translator include:

• Text and document translation.
• Support for multiple languages in applications, websites, and tools.
• Translation through REST API calls.
• The use of advanced neural machine translation techniques.
• Seamless integration with customer support workflows.
• Speech translation capabilities for real-time communication needs.

Translator Business by Microsoft is free for up to 2 million characters of any combination of standard translation and custom training free per month. Afterward, it works as a pay-as-you-go model.

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How to integrate AI translation tools into your workflow

Integrating translation AI engines into existing workflows is straightforward using the APIs provided. 

But it’s even better to use a translation memory system (TMS), a software designed to facilitate the translation process and improve translation efficiency to scale expansion quickly. 

A TMS operates by creating and managing a database known as translation memory. 

This translation memory stores segments of the previously translated text, such as sentences, phrases, or paragraphs, along with their corresponding translations. 

Nowadays, the majority of translation management systems integrate machine translation. 

When integrated into a TMS, machine translation can be a valuable tool for:

• Providing initial translations.
• Generating draft translations.
• Assisting human translators in their work. 

When a translator works on a new project, the TMS compares the source text with the translation memory. 

If a match is found, the TMS suggests the corresponding translation, allowing for content reuse and ensuring consistency. 

This also helps train the machine for future translations, improving accuracy and SEO benefits.

To get the most out of an AI translation engine, I recommend using a TMS. These are four of the most versatile and complete TMS:

Smartling

Smartling is an advanced translation management platform that integrates different machine translation engines, enabling businesses to choose the one they prefer based on their industry and style. 

It also offers a range of features and tools, including: 

• AI-driven content and workflow management.
• Visual context for accurate translations.
• Quality checks.
• Flexible workflows.
• Real-time reporting.

Companies can either use Smartling’s platform or in-house translation team. 

In both cases, translators can access the brand’s style guide and glossary, ensuring consistency and adherence to brand guidelines. 

Integration options, such as integrations, proxy, or API, enable automated content ingestion, while AI-created dynamic workflows and an optimized translation process further streamline operations. 

Smartling has also just launched Smartling Translate, a GPT-enabled service allowing users to instantly select the best MT engine for their content to generate on-brand translations.

Phrase

Phrase, previously Memsource, offers a comprehensive solution by connecting to over 30 generic and custom machine translation engines, providing users with various machine translation options. 

Phrase NextMT can:

• Adapt and utilize your translation memories, resulting in higher-quality translations. 
• Automatically fill in the missing content whenever a partial match is identified, improving overall translation accuracy. 
• Go beyond the simple “search and replace” functionality many engines use, considering morphological inflection to reduce the need for post-editing. 

For a fixed monthly fee, users gain unlimited access to machine translation services from NextMT and other leading engines, providing an efficient and cost-effective solution for post-editing.

Weglot

Weglot is a little different from a classical translation memory system.

It’s a one-stop solution to translate/localize an entire website in another language, also considering SEO. 

It is easy to install and connects to Microsoft, DeepL, and Google to automatically translate a website in minutes.

At the same time, it allows translators to make human edits to the machine translations to customize the website at its best. 

Companies can also add glossaries for consistency and review content translated from the dashboard. 

One of the most interesting features of Weglot is the automatic implementation of hreflang tags to avoid content duplication and SEO issues between languages and automatic syncs with new content updates.

On top of this, Weglot acts as a middleman in implementing SEO for multilingual sites by automatically creating language subdirectories or subdomains. 

Weglot can translate into more than 100 languages, including custom languages such as British English or Brazilian Portuguese.

Lokalise

Lokalise helps companies needing translation and localizing, keeping a closer look at how the different elements look once adapted for a different language. 

Lokalise offers seamless integrations with design tools such as Figma and Adobe Illustrator, to facilitate smooth collaboration and efficient localization workflows. 

Lokalise supports the major AI translation tools engines (Google Translate, DeepL and Microsoft Translator). Users can pick which parts of their project they want to be machine-translated. 

Recently, Lokalise launched Lokalise AI (still in beta at the time of writing), which promises to be a “personal AI-based assistant.”

Interestingly, Lokalise AI also considers SEO, enabling users to select “Optimize for SEO” when requesting a translation.

The limits of AI translation tools and TMS for SEO

While AI translation tools and TMS offer significant advantages in terms of efficiency and accuracy, it’s essential to recognize their limitations in the context of SEO. 

AI translation tools have limitations in selecting appropriate keywords and understanding search intent, requiring further adjustments for SEO value. They may struggle with context, leading to reduced SEO potential for pages.

TMS may struggle with language nuances and cultural references, possibly leading to translation inaccuracies. 

Human translators can help but need SEO expertise to preserve SEO value and incorporate relevant keywords in machine-translated content.

Relying only TMS can lead to content duplication and cannibalization when identical or similar translations are repeatedly used within a single or across multiple pieces of content.

TMS excels at translation workflows but needs to address internal linking directly. Translated content can indirectly impact internal linking. 

SEO experts must manually verify and adjust translated content to maintain a proper linking structure.

TMS streamlines translation, but SEO professionals are needed for optimal internal linking and overall SEO relevancy.

On top of all these technical and practical considerations, one cannot be left out. The localization team usually manages a TMS, so a project management plan should be implemented to avoid pitfalls. 

Mastering global expansion with the best translation AI tools and TMS

Crafting personalized and localized experiences is the secret to successful global expansion.

The AI translation tools and TMS above can help you produce precise translations for effective communication with a global audience. 

However, human expertise is vital for resonance, SEO, and cultural relevance. 

By balancing AI and human elements, businesses can expedite their global plans, successfully navigate the international market, and ultimately drive global growth and success.

The post The best AI tools for global SEO expansion appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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