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Google issues refunds amid accusations it missold ads on third-party websites

Written on August 14, 2023 at 2:30 pm, by admin

Google has reportedly issued refunds to marketers amid claims it has been selling low-quality ads.

A representative from the search engine confirmed the payments but insisted it was common practice.

The payouts come after Google was accused of violating its own advertising standards approximately 80% of the time, according to an Adalytics study.

Why we care. Advertisers paying premium prices for a service Google has allegedly been failing to deliver will want their ad dollars back. This cash can then be reinvested to improve campaign performance elsewhere.

What has Google said? A spokesperson for Google told Ad Age:

• “As part of ongoing relationship building, we sometimes issue credits to advertisers, this is not uncommon.”
• “As we’ve stated repeatedly, Adalytics used a flawed methodology to make wildly inaccurate claims about Google Video Partners.”

What did the Adalytics study find? The report accused Google of misleading advertisers by:

• Playing premium ads without the promised audio.
• Placing ads in small videos in low-value places such as the side of a page’s main content.
• Placing ads in automatically-played videos.
• Placing ads on websites that don’t meet Google’s standards for monetization.

Companies and organisations impacted include small businesses, Fortune 500 companies and even the U.S. Federal Government. Dozens of marketers have since expressed their regret over purchasing Google’s True View ad product, its primary video ad product, as a result.

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Who is Adalytics? Adalytics is a crowd-sourced advertising performance optimization platform that was set up to review and improve the digital advertising landscape. The company conducted this research by investigating campaigns for more than 1,100 brands that achieved billions of ad impressions between 2020 and 2023.

Deep dive. You can learn more about Adalytics’ investigation by reading its report, Did Google mislead advertisers about TrueView skippable in-stream ads for the past three years? You can also read Google’s ‘Transparency and brand safety on Google Video Partners‘ statement which was made in response to the report.

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YouTube tests new anti-adblocker popup with countdown timer

Written on August 14, 2023 at 2:30 pm, by admin

YouTube is trialling a new anti-adblocker popup that features a timer warning when the next advert will play.

A countdown clock, which reportedly runs for 30 to 60 seconds, appears in the top righthand corner of the message, showing non-paying viewers how long they have left to take action before another ad starts.

Viewers can then choose to either “Allow YouTube Ads” or “Try YouTube Premium”.

Why we care. Banning adblockers is a great way to boost reach, however, constant notifications may negatively impact the user experience, and brands must be mindful to not annoy potential customers.

Why now? YouTube has been increasing its efforts to persuade non-paying viewers to sign up for its Premium service, which bans ads entirely, allowing viewers to watch videos without interruption. However, people have been reluctant to convert due to the rising costs of YouTube accounts, which recently increased from $11.99 to $13.99 a month in the US.

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How it works. Right now, the warning is being served to select groups of people around the world that have ad blockers enabled. When they sign into their accounts to watch content, all videos will be blocked unless they either change their settings to disallow ad blockers or they sign up for YouTube Premium. The warning they are served, looks like this:

What has YouTube said? YouTube has said that it is taking these measures to ensure that its content creators are compensated for their work. Oluwa Falodun, a spokesperson for Google, told The Verge in a statement:

• “Ad blocker detection is not new, and other publishers regularly ask viewers to disable ad blockers.”
• “We take disabling playback very seriously, and will only disable playback if viewers ignore repeated requests to allow ads on YouTube.”
• “In cases when viewers feel they have been falsely flagged as using an ad blocker, they can share this feedback by clicking on the link in the prompt.”
• “We want to inform viewers that ad blockers violate YouTube’s Terms of Service, and make it easier for them to allow ads on YouTube or try YouTube Premium for an ad free experience.” 

Deep dive. For more information on YouTube’s ad policy, you can visit the YouTube Advertising hub.

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

YouTube enables linking between Shorts and long-form videos

Written on August 12, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

YouTube creators will soon be able to link Shorts to other types of content, such as long-form videos.

The platform announced that it is going to start introducing a safer way for creators to direct viewers by the end of September 2023.

Why we care. YouTube Shorts are viewed by more than 2 billion logged-in users a month and are seen by people who may not be subscribed to your channel, so linking this content to your long-form videos could be vital in unlocking your brand’s growth and success.

Are there ads on Shorts? There isn’t currently an option to display pre or mid-roll ads on Shorts –however, linking Shorts to long-form videos provides an opportunity to monetize that traffic, as ad products are available on long-form videos.

How it works. Creators can add a link to any Short they post using a new option now available in YouTube Studio. Once a link has been inputted, it will then appear in the description of the Short video, accompanied by a play button encouraging viewers to tap through to the linked content. Once they hit that button, viewers will be redirected to the linked video, expanding their YouTube experience with your channel, as shown below:

What has YouTube said? YouTube announced the link update via a statement on its blog:

• “We know that clickable links help creators direct their Shorts audiences to other types of content, like their long-form videos. By the end of September, we’ll start introducing a safer way for creators to direct viewers from Shorts to their other YouTube content – stay tuned!”

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Deep dive. Read YouTube’s Link Updates announcement in full for more information.

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YouTube creators can now include more external links on their channels

Written on August 12, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

YouTube is expanding its link listing display on creators’ channel profiles.

The platform now allows you to include up to 14 prominent clickable links near the ‘Subscribe’ button to create awareness of your other platforms, such as websites, social profiles, merch sites and any other links that comply with its Community Guidelines.

The new feature will be visible on desktop and mobile to everyone by August 23.

Check out the images below for a preview of the new layout:

Why we care. This is a quick, easy and cost-effective way to promote a brand’s online presence from YouTube. Your subscribers might not know there are other ways to follow your brand, so let them know and start building stronger relationships with potential customers.

Customization. YouTube is also enabling content creators to customize the titles of external links. In addition, links will appear next to the relevant platform icon for glanceability.

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What has YouTube said? A YouTube spokesperson said in a statement:

• “We know that links are an important way for creators to share information and recommend products/brands to their communities, so we’re actively working on safer ways for creators to include important links in their content.”

Deep dive. Read YouTube’s External Link Policy to find out what links are eligible, and check out its Link Updates announcement in full for more information.

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X (Twitter) lowers eligibility threshold for ads revenue sharing program

Written on August 12, 2023 at 8:27 am, by admin

X, formerly known as Twitter, has reduced the eligibility threshold for its ads revenue sharing program.

Verified creators now need to have generated 5 million impressions in the previous three months – as opposed to 15 million.

In addition, the company has also lowered the minimum payout requirement to $10 instead of $50, enabling more content creators to get paid for posting on the Elon Musk-owned platform.

Why we care. X’s ads revenue sharing program was criticised for failing to pay creators on time and making its eligibility threshold extremely high. Lowering its criteria could be a step in the right direction in terms of damage control, building trust and encouraging creators, as well as advertisers, to return to the platform.

Who is eligible now? To be considered for the creator ads revenue sharing program, your account must meet the following criteria:

• Subscribed to Blue or Verified Organizations.
• Have at least 5 million impressions on cumulative posts within the last three months.
• Have at least 500 followers.

If your account meets these conditions, you must have a Stripe account – X’s payment processor. You’ll also need to follow X’s Ads Revenue Share Terms (e.g., the Creator Monetization Standards and the X Rules). 

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How it works. If your account is eligible, this is how to get started:

• Join and set up payments from within the Monetization section of the app, which can be found in the side menu on iOS and Android, and the overflow menu on web.
• Click on Join and setup payouts, which will redirect you to Stripe.
• Setup a Stripe account to receive your share – this is the account you will need to transfer funds to your external bank account. 
• Once you opt in, you will receive payouts at a regular cadence, so long as you have generated more than $10.

What has X Said? A spokesperson announced the news on the company’s official X account:

• “Now, even more people can get paid to post! We’ve lowered the eligibility threshold for ads revenue sharing from 15M to 5M impressions within the last 3 months.”
• “We’ve also lowered the minimum payout threshold from $50 to $10. Sign up for a Premium subscription to get access.”

Deep dive. Read X’s Ads Revenue Sharing guide for more information.

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Google Ads account suspensions: What advertisers need to know

Written on August 11, 2023 at 5:26 am, by admin

Account suspensions are essential to “maintain a healthy and sustainable digital advertising ecosystem with user protection at its core,” according to Google Ads.

While we can all agree that the platform needs to be a safe experience for all, it can be a minefield for advertisers navigating the account suspension process.

Let’s look at account suspensions, the three main types of account suspensions and how to deal with them. 

Why do accounts get suspended?

Accounts get suspended when Google Ads finds a violation of one of their policies. 

Google Ads uses a combination of automated systems and manual reviews when detecting violations.

The process includes reviewing the account and other aspects, including customer reviews, your business practices and the content of your website.  

How are accounts suspended?

Depending on the violation, accounts may be suspended immediately upon the detection of a violation. 

In other cases, advertisers will be given a prior warning of at least seven days before the suspension takes place.

What happens when an account is suspended?

When an account is suspended:

• Ads will not run.
• You won’t be able to create any new content, such as ads, ad groups or campaigns. 

You can, however, still access the account to review historical data and reports.

In some instances, accounts related or linked to the suspended account may also be suspended, such as linked Merchant Center accounts or those linked to the same manager account. These will be lifted if/when the original suspension is resolved. 

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What are the different types of account suspensions?

Policy violations

These suspensions occur when an advertiser violates either a Google Ads policy or their terms and conditions.

Common violations include: 

• Inappropriate or restricted content.
• Issues related to editorial requirements.
• Misuse of data. 

Egregious violations

These are suspensions that Google Ads deems unlawful or harmful. 

They typically reflect the overall practices of a business, not necessarily their campaigns or account. 

As such, it is unlikely that the suspension will be overturned and will probably be permanent.

Common egregious violations include: 

• Circumventing systems.
• Unacceptable business practices.
• Malicious software.
• Counterfeiting. 

Other suspensions

Other reasons why an account may be temporarily suspended include: 

• Suspicious payment activity.
• Unpaid balance.
• Unauthorized account activity.  

What to do if your account is suspended?

Policy violations

If your account has been suspended for policy or terms and conditions violations, you must resolve the issue causing the suspension before submitting an appeal. 

The Google Ads help guides are full of detailed information about these policies, so make sure you read these thoroughly. 

Do not submit an appeal until you are certain that you have made the relevant changes.

For example, if you have been suspended for violating editorial requirements, review your ad copy to check for potential issues regarding capitalization, spacing, spelling and symbols.

If you are uncertain about the violation/s that caused the suspension and how to fix them, you can use the account troubleshooter to determine what steps need to be taken.

Head over to the Google Ads account suspensions page and click Get started.

To submit an appeal, click on a Contact us link, which will direct you to the appeals form. You have a minimum of six months to submit this appeal.

Egregious violations

Egregious violations are treated very seriously. In most cases, the suspension is permanent.

However, if you genuinely believe that the suspension is baseless, then you can submit an appeal.

Make relevant changes to your account and/or business practices before you submit your appeal. This is important because egregious violations only get one chance to submit an appeal. 

Take the time to review your business practices honestly and make sure you have done all that you can to comply.

Other suspensions

In many of these cases, billing issues cause suspension, so check the billing section of your account.

Ensure that billing information is accurate, your payment method is up to date, and recent payments have not been declined. 

If your account has been suspended for a billings and payment issue, you must fix this within 30 days. 

You may also be required to complete the advertiser verification program to confirm your identity or business operations.

In the case of an “Unauthorized account activity” suspension, Google Ads has detected suspicious activity, and your account has been suspended to protect your account. 

This may be triggered due to recent changes to account access, an unusual increase in your ad spend or if your ads are sending traffic to unfamiliar destinations. 

You will need to:

• Change your Google account password immediately.
• Check for any unfamiliar devices signed in to your account.
• Submit a compromised account form.

Next steps 

Unfortunately, many advertisers are reporting long wait times to hear back about their appeal. This means that you will need to be patient and wait for a response via email.

In the meantime, do not submit additional appeals. This can delay the process.

If your appeal is accepted and your account is reinstated

You can resume running your campaigns via Google Ads as usual. 

Be aware of violating the same policy again in the future. Depending on the type of policy infringed, you may face permanent suspension for repeat violations.

If your appeal is denied

You may be eligible to submit another appeal, but you must make the relevant changes before you do so. 

While there is no limit on the number of appeals you can make, if too many appeals have been made, they may not be processed. 

For egregious violations

If your appeal is denied and you are permanently suspended, you have been banned from using Google Ads. Creating any new accounts will also result in suspensions.

If you still have funds in your account, you will need to cancel your account to receive a refund.

Making sense of Google Ads account suspensions

Account suspensions are designed to help keep advertisers and users safe. 

They help keep dangerous and malicious activities off the platform, improving the Google Ads experience.

While finding out your account is suspended is frustrating, in most cases, there are steps you can take to resolve the issues behind the violation and have your account reinstated. 

Dig deeper: Optimizing your Google Ads account: 10 advanced strategies

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Google Ads API version 14.1 rolls out

Written on August 11, 2023 at 5:26 am, by admin

Google Ads API version 14.1 is now available – two months after version 14 was released.

The minor update includes additional search term data, new recommendation types and account management assistance.

Why we care. The updated version of Google Ads offers a range of new tools and features to help you better monitor the performance of campaigns, so that you can make data led decision to improve optimization efficiency.

Upgrade needed. In order to use some of the new Google Ads API version 14.1 features, you will need to upgrade your client libraries and client code. The updated client libraries and code examples are set to be published by Google next week.

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New features. Although there are no breaking changes, there are several new features available through the updated Google Ads system:

• Account Management
  • Customer.customer_agreement_setting which shows if the customer has accepted the lead form term of service
• Assets
  • New fields in AssetGroup to show whether the asset group is serving or the reasons why it’s not serving: primary_status and primary_status_reasons
  • New fields in AssetGroupAsset to show whether the asset group asset is serving or the reasons why it’s not serving: primary_status, primary_status_details and primary_status_reasons
  • New values in the CallToActionType enum: BUY_NOW, DONATE_NOW, ORDER_NOW, PLAY_NOW, SEE_MORE, START_NOW, VISIT_SITE and WATCH_NOW
  • New values in the AssetLinkError enum: CUSTOMER_NOT_VERIFIED, UNSUPPORTED_CALL_TO_ACTION and PAGE_FEED_INVALID_LABEL_TEXT
• Billing
  • New fields in Invoice and AccountSummary: export_charge_subtotal_amount_micros, export_charge_tax_amount_micros and export_charge_total_amount_micros
• Campaigns
  • New values in the CampaignPrimaryStatusReason enum: HAS_ASSET_GROUPS_DISAPPROVED, HAS_ASSET_GROUPS_LIMITED_BY_POLICY and MOST_ASSET_GROUPS_UNDER_REVIEW
  • (Allowlisted accounts only) DiscoveryCampaignSettings with upgraded_targeting: When upgraded_targeting is set to true, you can add a location and a language as an ad group criterion
• Criteria
  • New enum value: CriterionError.INVALID_DETAILED_DEMOGRAPHIC
  • (Allowlisted accounts only) Support for adding LanguageInfo and LocationInfo as an AdGroupCriterion: This is available only for a Discovery campaign with upgraded targeting enabled
• Experiments
  • New values in the ExperimentError enum: DUPLICATE_EXPERIMENT_CAMPAIGN_NAME, CANNOT_REMOVE_IN_CREATION_EXPERIMENT and CANNOT_ADD_CAMPAIGN_WITH_DEPRECATED_AD_TYPES
• Recommendations
  • PerformanceMaxOptInRecommendation which recommends creating the first Performance Max campaign in the account
  • ImprovePerformanceMaxAdStrengthRecommendation which recommends improving the asset group’s strength of a Performance Max campaign
  • MigrateDynamicSearchAdsCampaignToPerformanceMaxRecommendation which recommends migrating a Dynamic Search Ad campaign to Performance Max
• Reporting
  • New metrics and segments about new versus returning customers: metrics.new_customer_lifetime_value, metrics.all_new_customer_lifetime_value and segments.new_versus_returning_customers
  • New customer_search_term_insight and campaign_search_term_insight views: metrics.search_volume shows the volume range for a search term insight category
• Shopping
  • New fields for listing groups: ListingGroupInfo.path and AssetGroupListingGroupFilter.path
  • New field: ShoppingSetting.advertising_partner_ids
  • New values in the CampaignError enum: NOT_LINKED_ADVERTISING_PARTNER and INVALID_NUMBER_OF_ADVERTISING_PARTNER_IDS
• Videos
  • (Allowlisted accounts only) AdType.DISCOVERY_VIDEO_RESPONSIVE_AD and its corresponding DiscoveryVideoResponsiveAdInfo

Deep dive. Read the Google Ads API version 14.1 announcement in full for more information.

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Lyft starts serving ads on its app

Written on August 11, 2023 at 5:26 am, by admin

Lyft will start serving ads to customers on its app for the first time this week.

Adverts will appear while consumers wait for their taxi, when they are matched with a driver, and for the duration of the journey.

The company is also planning to roll out video ads on the app later this year in addition to exploring other ad products such as in-car screens.

How it works. Targeted ads will be served to Lyft customers using data collected via payment methods, ride histories and lifestyle segments. Users will have the option to opt out of targeted advertising, however, they will not be able to opt out of being served ads.

Why we care. It’s important to be open to testing new ad formats and to diversify as much as possible because relying too heavily on one platform or channel can have a devastating financial impact. However, there is a risk of potentially annoying customers if they are bombarded with ads. The targeted ads may also raise privacy concerns, which would not be a good look for advertisers.

Why now? The move comes after Lyft said that ad revenue had exceeded expectations and grown significantly in recent months. So it’s understandable that the company is continuing to invest in this area.

Notably, Lyft’s rival, Uber, launched in-app video ads last month. When the company announced its Q2 earnings last week, it said that advertising revenue exceeded expectations at over $650 million. Given the success Uber has experienced, it makes sense for Lyft to also trial in-app video ads.

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What has Lyft said? Lyft’s Chief Business Officer, Zach Greenberger, told the Wall Street Journal:

• “We’re going to continue to invest in our omnichannel strategy that we believe does create differentiation from our competition because we can hit a user on every kind of step and part of their transportation journey, which also includes our massive bike network.”

Deep dive. Visit Lyft’s advertising help centre for more information on its ad product offering.

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How to use SEO and CX for better organic performance

Written on August 11, 2023 at 5:26 am, by admin

A brand’s online success relies on interconnected variables. 

Two critical facets of this interdependent digital ecosystem are search engine optimization (SEO) and customer experience (CX). 

When SEO and CX work together, they:

• Pave the way for businesses to reach the right people.
• Convert visitors into customers.
• Retain customers in the long run. 

A well-optimized website attracts more traffic, and a positive customer experience ensures that the traffic converts into loyal customers. 

SEO brings customers to your digital doorstep, and CX makes them stay, engage, and return. 

The following tactics improve your search engine rankings and enhance the customer experience.

Help customers find what they need

Customers turn to search engines to solve their problems or to learn how to use your products. 

By creating content that addresses these concerns, you can leverage SEO as a powerful customer service tool. 

For instance, if you’re a software company, you could create blog posts or tutorials that answer common questions like “How to install X software” or “Troubleshooting tips for X software.” 

This helps your customers and improves your visibility on search engines. This strategy involves mapping the customer journey and identifying potential issues and concerns at each stage. 

Dig deeper: Content mapping: Who, what, where, when, why and how

Use interlinking to enhance content discoverability

Internal link building is fundamental to on-page SEO. 

For example, if you have a blog post about “The Benefits of X Product,” you could internally link to a related post like “How to Use X Product Effectively.” 

This helps search engines understand the relationship between your pages and guides your customers to additional relevant content. 

Strategically placed internal links can guide the customer experience and improve engagement metrics such as bounce rate, pageviews, and time on site.

Improve site speed

Site speed is critical in both SEO and CX. 

Consider compressing your images, reducing the number of plugins, using browser caching, and hosting your site on a dedicated server. 

Tools like Google’s PageSpeed Insights can provide a detailed analysis of your site’s speed and offer suggestions for improvement.

Dig deeper: Page speed and experience in SEO: 9 ways to eliminate issues

Focus on mobile-friendliness

A mobile-friendly site minimizes scrolling, loads fast, and avoids heavy elements.

For example, if your site is an ecommerce store, ensure that the product images are visible, the text is readable, and the checkout process is seamless on mobile devices. 

One way to make your site mobile-friendly is to use a responsive design, which automatically adjusts the layout of your site based on the device being used.

Create a knowledge base

A well-structured knowledge base can serve as a valuable resource for your customers, helping them find answers to their questions quickly and easily. 

This improves customer satisfaction and reduces the load on your customer support team. 

From an SEO perspective, a knowledge base provides a wealth of content that can be indexed by search engines, improving your site’s visibility. 

Ensure your knowledge base articles are well-written, easy to understand, and contain relevant keywords.

Implement schema markup

Schema markup helps search engines understand your content better. 

It can be used to provide additional information about your business, such as your address, operating hours, and product reviews. 

This helps boost search visibility and improve the user experience by delivering relevant information on the search results page.

Use culturally relevant and high-quality images and videos 

Visual content plays a crucial role in enhancing the user experience on your site. 

High-quality images and videos make your content more engaging and easier to comprehend. 

However, it’s more than just the quality but the relevance. 

Using images that reflect the cultural context of your target audience can significantly improve the customer experience. 

When users see images they can identify with, it helps them connect more deeply with your product or service. 

If you’re a global brand with a significant user base in a specific country, using images that reflect that country’s culture in your content can make those users feel more connected to your brand. 

These images and videos should be optimized appropriately with appropriate alt text and descriptions for SEO.

Create a glossary

A glossary is a valuable resource that can significantly enhance the user experience, especially for businesses that operate in industries with a lot of jargon or technical terms. 

By providing clear and concise definitions of these terms, you can help your customers understand your content better. 

From an SEO perspective, a glossary can provide a wealth of keyword-rich content to improve your site’s visibility on search engines. 

For example, a website that sells computer parts could benefit significantly from a glossary. Terms like “GPU,” “RAM,” “SSD”, and “motherboard” might be familiar to tech-savvy customers, but for others, they could be confusing. 

You can also hyperlink relevant terms in your articles to their corresponding definitions in the glossary. 

For instance, if you have an article about building a computer, you could hyperlink the term “GPU” to its definition in your glossary. 

Post-purchase follow-up content

Follow-up content is often overlooked for SEO. Yet, post-purchase, customers seek value, such as how-to guides or maintenance advice. 

Optimizing such content aids customers searching for product-related information and attracts those seeking solutions.

Encourage reviews and ratings

Customer reviews and ratings are a form of user-generated content that can boost your SEO. 

Encourage your customers to leave reviews and ratings of the products they’ve purchased so that they can offer value to other users. 

This can provide valuable feedback for your business and create fresh, unique content for your site. 

Positive reviews can improve your site’s credibility and attract loyal customers.

Any step we take to improve SEO – creating helpful content, improving site speed, or making our website more mobile-friendly – will also enhance your customer experience. 

The goal is to improve your search engine rankings while enhancing the customer experience. 

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Crafting a flawless CX through SEO: A detailed breakdown

Let’s explore SEO’s pivotal role in shaping the customer journey. 

Below is an ecommerce case study showcasing the synergy between SEO and CX.

Step 1: Landing on the site

The customer journey begins with a search, leading them to your site. 

Effective SEO ensures your website ranks well for pertinent keywords, directing users to you when they seek relevant products. 

The initial content they meet shapes their perception of your brand. 

With SEO, this content is tailored to their search intent, offering a positive, purposeful introduction. 

For instance, if you sell eco-friendly products and a user searches for “sustainable cleaning products,” good SEO will bring them to an informative blog post about your offerings, ensuring their first encounter with your brand is impactful and aligned with their needs. 

The blog post is informative, engaging, and tailored to the user’s search intent. 

It provides valuable information about each product, including its eco-friendly benefits and how to use it. 

This makes the user’s first interaction with your brand positive and purposeful, as they found exactly what they were looking for.

Step 2: Product discovery and evaluation

SEO is essential in guiding users effortlessly through your website. 

Headers (H1, H2, etc.) structure content for users and search engines, leading to easier product evaluations. 

Continuing with the eco-friendly online store example, the user is intrigued by the “Sustainable Cleaning Products” blog post and decides to explore one of the products mentioned, a “Biodegradable Multi-Surface Cleaner.” 

In this case, SEO ensures a clear page title and keyword-optimized product descriptions detailing benefits and eco-features. 

The product page might also offer related content like blogs or videos for engagement, improving SEO. 

Header tags segment the information into sections, aiding in both user comprehension and search engine optimization. 

Linking complex terms to a glossary clarifies them for users, enriching the experience and adding keyword depth. 

Step 3: Proceeding to purchase 

In the example of our cleaner website, upon choosing the “Biodegradable Multi-Surface Cleaner,” the user hits “Add to Cart” and proceeds to checkout. 

The seamless experience is enriched with links like a “How to Complete Your Purchase” guide and key information sections such as “Shipping Information” or “Payment Options”. 

These guide the user and embed additional keywords. 

Buttons like “Proceed to Payment” clarify the process for users and search engines. 

Breadcrumb navigation, like “Home > Shop > Cleaning Products > Cleaner > Checkout,” contextualizes the journey, while the title “Checkout - Biodegradable Cleaner” precisely flags the page’s purpose.

Step 4: Checkout and post-purchase

The checkout page’s efficiency, especially its loading speed, is vital for customer satisfaction and successful purchases. 

Slow pages can lead to cart abandonment, making speed optimization crucial. 

Even post-purchase, SEO shapes CX by curating relevant follow-up content, such as personalized product tips or related blog posts, fostering ongoing brand engagement.

For instance, after purchasing the “Biodegradable Multi-Surface Cleaner”, users could receive optimized content like a “How to Use” guide. 

Based on their buying patterns, personalized recommendations, such as other eco-friendly products, can re-engage customers, driving continued interaction and potential further sales.

From search to satisfaction: Synergizing SEO and CX

We create an inviting environment by:

• Personalizing the users’ journey right from the initial interaction.
• Equipping them with relevant resources.
• Ensuring an effortless navigational experience regardless of location. 

The aim is to organically attract users and facilitate their journey to becoming satisfied, recurring customers.

Our focus shifts from merely bringing in traffic to nurturing a fulfilling experience that engenders loyalty and fosters long-term customer relationships. 

This is the power of converging SEO and CX – a game-changer setting the stage for lasting success.

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Google warns against content pruning as CNET deletes thousands of pages

Written on August 10, 2023 at 2:22 am, by admin

Gizmodo published an article “exposing” CNET for deleting thousands of pages, as they put it to “game Google Search.” This, even though content pruning is a fairly common advanced SEO practice.

What CNET did. “Thousands of articles” were deleted in recent weeks (CNET declined to provide an exact number), according to Gizmodo. CNET confirmed the content culling. CNET decided which pages to “redirect, repurpose or remove (deprecate)” by looking at metrics such as:

• Pageviews.
• Backlink profiles
• Amount of time passed since the last update.

What CNET said. Content deprecation “sends a signal to Google that says CNET is fresh, relevant and worthy of being placed higher than our competitors in search results,” according to an internal memo.

• Clearly, CNET needs better advice on how SEO works. Deleting content does not signal those three things. Publishing relevant, helpful, quality content for your audience is what makes you worthy of greater organic search visibility.

Removing content is not a decision CNET takes lightly. That’s what Taylor Canada, CNET’s senior director of marketing and communications, told Gizmodo:

• “Our teams analyze many data points to determine whether there are pages on CNET that are not currently serving a meaningful audience.”
• “This is an industry-wide best practice for large sites like ours that are primarily driven by SEO traffic. In an ideal world, we would leave all of our content on our site in perpetuity.
• “Unfortunately, we are penalized by the modern internet for leaving all previously published content live on our site.”

Sorry, CNET. Google doesn’t want to reward sites that are primarily driven by SEO traffic. The helpful content system is meant to reward websites that are primarily creating content for users, not search engines.

• There is no “penalty” for having old content on your website. Google will not send a manual action notice to CNET, or any site, because you have an article that was published in 2015, or 2007, or 2003, or whatever year.

‘Not a thing’. Before the article published, Google’s Danny Sullivan, via his @SearchLiaison account on X, posted:

• “Are you deleting content from your site because you somehow believe Google doesn’t like ‘old’ content? That’s not a thing! Our guidance doesn’t encourage this. Older content can still be helpful, too.”

Sullivan was then asked what to do when old content has broken links, is no longer relevant or can’t be made more helpful. Sullivan’s response:

• “The page itself isn’t likely to rank well. Removing it might mean if you have a massive site that we’re better able to crawl other content on the site. But it doesn’t mean we go ‘oh, now the whole site is so much better’ because of what happens with an individual page.”

Except, it is a thing. Well, sort of. Much of this belief that “deleting old content is good for SEO” can be traced back to when Google once advised removing content. After Google launched Panda, a Googler shared this exact advice (emphasis mine):

“In addition, it’s important for webmasters to know that low quality content on part of a site can impact a site’s ranking as a whole. For this reason, if you believe you’ve been impacted by this change you should evaluate all the content on your site and do your best to improve the overall quality of the pages on your domain. Removing low quality pages or moving them to a different domain could help your rankings for the higher quality content.”

Yes, that quote is from 2011. But logically, it makes sense because we know some of Google’s algorithms, including helpful content, evaluate sitewide signals.

Old and low-quality. If you were to create a Venn diagram – where one circle is for “old content on your website” and the other circle is for “low-quality content on your website” – I would bet good money that there is a big overlap. Much of what passed for “good” content 10 or more years ago probably wouldn’t today. This is especially true for a 25-year-old site like CNET.

Sullivan, in a followup thread with the article author, pointed out that there is more need for nuance in this particular discussion and tried to make it clear that Google has never advised people to delete content simply because it’s old.

Other prominent Googlers, including John Mueller and Gary Illyes, have also advised improving content, instead of removing it, whenever possible. Barry Schwartz has covered many of these points on Search Engine Roundtable:

• Google Advice On Old Content On News Sites: Remove, Noindex Or Leave It
• Google: Don’t Remove Old News From Your News Site For SEO Reasons
• Google: Don’t Just Blindly Delete Old Pages
• Googlers Disagrees About Removing vs Improving Content For Google Ranking Benefit
• Google: Old Content On New Domains Is Okay
• Google: Panda Victims Don’t Necessarily Need To Delete Old Blog Posts
• Google: We Don’t Recommend You Remove Content To Fix Panda Issues
• Google: Pruning Content Never Should Have Worked For Panda
• Google Retake: Improving Content & Pruning Content Are Both Valid Strategies

Why we care. I’ve found that deleting old content can be good for SEO performance. I’ve done it, written about it and spoken about it at conferences and on webinars. To be clear: deleting old content alone – just because it’s old – probably won’t help you much. However, deleting, improving and consolidating content should be part of your SEO strategy because it helps improve your overall content quality – or, as Mueller once put it, “building out your reputation of knowledge on that topic.”

Dig deeper. Why and how to delete content in bulk for SEO, a great case study by Search Engine Land contributor Jared Bauman.

Don’t trust Google’s advice blindly. Gizmodo’s article also featured a great quote Lily Ray, head of organic research at Amsive Digital:

• “Just because Google says that deleting content in isolation doesn’t provide any SEO benefit, this isn’t always true.”

The post Google warns against content pruning as CNET deletes thousands of pages appeared first on Search Engine Land.

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