Science Acquires Pinpuff, a Klout for Pinterest
Science is the young Los Angeles-based technology incubator/studio responsible for the Dollar Shave Club and Uncovet. It has just made its first acquisition with its purchase of Pinpuff, a "Klout for Pinterest" that measure the influence of Pinterest users. "The deal is yet another sign of how the ability to curate and mine social media information can be considered as important as the social media platforms themselves." The financial terms of the deal were not revealed. (TechCrunch)
Google AdWords Has a New Look
In response to suggestions made by advertisers and agencies, Google has unveiled some new design changes to AdWords, which began rolling out last week. The new look simplifies the interface and frees up some space to allow users to see more data without scrolling. (Search Engine Watch)
What Is a Good CTR for PPC?
"What is a good click-through rate (CTR) for pay-per-click (PPC) advertising?" This is a common question with no easy answer, since it depends on factors like channel, targeting and keywords. To help, here is an overview of the basics of CTR, along with some general ideas for good CTRs for search, display, Facebook and LinkedIn. (ClickZ)
Google Pushed out Panda Update 3.8 on June 25
Google pushed out a new refresh of its Panda algorithm on June 25. The update, version 3.8 of Panda, affects about 1 percent of queries worldwide, according to Google. The company said there were no updates to the algorithm or changes in signals, but that the algorithm was just run again. (Search Engine Land)
Google Tells Startups How to Do SEO
Google recently wrote a post titled "SEO essentials for startups in under 10 minutes" on its Developers Blog. "The tips range from simple, such as setting up a Google Webmaster Tools account and verifying your site ownership so that Google can inform you of any problems accessing your site, to the less obvious, such as doing a domain background check to ensure that whoever owned your domain before didn’t taint your web address with spammy content, scams, or even malware." Among the tips is for startups to focus on creating an identity on key social media sites as opposed to springing up on every site. (VentureBeat)
Content Apps Could Start the Embrace of Facebook Mobile ‘Likes’
With third-party mobile developers now able to integrate Facebook “likes” into their mobile apps, app developers and branded-content creators could spark a movement. Apps with content might be among the early winners, since content tends to be sticky, according to one expert. (ClickZ)
How to Write Attention-Grabbing Blog Post Titles
The title of a blog post can make or break its success. When trying to write an attention-grabbing (and “link-baity”) title, keep these things in mind: openability and backing up claims. Here are some good, bad and ugly examples. (Unbounce)
7 Tactics to Write Better Blog Posts With the Help of Social Media
If you’re not writing blogs posts using words and phrases your audience can relate to, you’re hurting yourself. Social media offers an easy way to study the language your audience uses so you can write better blog posts. Among the seven tips to bear in mind are: study your audience’s words on social media (e.g., Twitter, Facebook, blogs, forums, reviews – not industry blogs), find trending hashtags and get rid of the jargon from your site. (Search Engine Journal)
DuckDuckGo: A Search Engine Worth Paying Attention to
DuckDuckGo is an alternative search engine that seems to understand that though search engine results pages have become more gimmicky, the core goal of a searcher remains the same since the Internet began: get in and get out with the information you’re looking for. Search engines must therefore succeed at retrieval and presentation. DuckDuckGo is what Google used to be, and that’s why it could post a long-term threat to the current king of search. (Conductor Blog)
Facebook Unveils ‘Find Friends Nearby’ Feature
Facebook has quietly rolled out a new feature called “Find Friends Nearby,” which makes it easier for users to become friends with someone you’re hanging out with. “Essentially, Find Friends Nearby takes you to a web page where you can see other people who are near your location and also looking at the FFN page. In an ideal situation, if you and a person that you just met want to be friends on Facebook, you could both could go to the FFN page rather than typing in each other’s names the old-fashioned way.” (VentureBeat)
The Top 10 SEO and Social Media Marketing Tactics of 2012
A good SEO strategy requires a social component, as SEO and social media blend into each other. Among the top 10 SEO and social media marketing tactics of 2012 are getting an on-site SEO audit, registering your brand name on major social channels, building your email list and starting an SEO link-building campaign. (VentureBeat)
The New (Old) Measurement of Online Advertising Success
Display ads should now be considered old media, and they require a different way of measuring success. Click-through rate just isn’t an effective metric, and aiming to be as invasive and “personal” as possible is silly. Measuring the success of advertising campaigns should be based on the old question “How did you hear about us?” (The Next Web)
Link Incentives Violate Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
Google’s John Mueller warns against webmasters giving users “upgraded listings” in exchange for linking from their sites to their profiles on the webmaster’s site. In other words, incentives are, indeed, paid links, and that violates Google’s guidelines. (Search Engine Roundtable)
3 Ways to Improve Your Established Affiliate Program
How can you spur continued growth in an established affiliate program after the “new car smell” has worn off? Finding incremental revenue opportunities becomes more challenging, but here are three ways to improve the ROI of your established affiliate program: 1) a commission-structure refresh, 2) cost-effective affiliate platforms and 3) introducing new affiliate tools. (Search Engine Land)
Facebook’s Answer to AdSense
Zynga.com displays Facebook ads and Sponsored Stories, which could be a hint at Facebook’s ad network across the Web – its answer to Google AdSense. The initiative appears limited to Zynga for the time being. (Inside Facebook)
Twitter Ads Will Go Global
Twitter plans to expand its advertising products to as many as 50 countries by the end of the year. Promoted Tweets, Promoted Accounts and Promoted Trends will be launched in Brazil and other Latin American countries, along with countries in Western Europe. (Marketing Land)
Bing’s Image Search Gets a Facelift
Bing updated its image search with a new look and new search and discovery features. Among the changes are a Pinterest-like tile-based layout and a filter bar at the top of image results that enables users to drill down based on various factors. (Search Engine Land)
Anatomy of an Internal Link
“While the specific way that the engines weigh individual links is not known (and would likely change even if it was), there are principles you can be apply to understand how the weight is being carried through your site past simple mathematics.” This overview includes location, sidebar links, header links and breadcrumb links, among other factors. (Search Engine Watch)
14 Unique Types of Content Marketers Should Try
If you need some inspiration for content for your site, this list of 14 unique types of content will help. Marketers should consider implementing things like animated GIFs, comics/cartoons and podcasts in their campaigns and websites. (HubSpot)
8 Ways to Boost Your AdWords CTR
Lifting click-through rates can be done by: 1) adding an extension, 2) adding sitelinks, 3) extending headlines, 4) considering the display URL as marketing copy, 5) using seasonal headlines, 6) using trademarks, 7) removing prices and ad discounts, and 8) giving something away for free. (Certified Knowledge)
Facebook’s Mobile Ads Might Not Be as Awesome as They Seem
If you look at data from SocialCode, mobile ads on Facebook have a fantastic CTR. But many of these clicks may be unintended, which would mean advertisers are paying a premium for clicks that are less likely to convert. (Econsultancy)
Top Yahoo Ad Executive Leaves the Company
Rich Riley, a 14-year Yahoo veteran who most recently served as the head of its Americas advertising unit, has departed the company in light of the recent changes at the company. This comes shortly after new CEO Ross Levinsohn hired Michael Barrett as chief revenue officer to head Yahoo’s global sales. "I remain eternally bullish on the prospects for our company and will be cheering you on as a shareholder and proud alum," he wrote in an email to staff. (AllThingsD)
8 Elements of Content That Inspire Action
How do you create content that compels your audience to take a desired action? Here are eight elements of content that inspires action: 1) provocative, 2) visionary, 3) differentiated, 4) relevant, 5) timely, 6) demonstrates mastery/thought leadership, 7) can be delivered on, and 8) has a story with a clear narrative. (SEOmoz)
7 Mobile Marketing Best Practices
"If you aren’t tailoring your marketing for a mobile audience, you could be selling your marketing efforts short — and missing a huge opportunity to get results." Among the seven best practices for mobile marketing are: simple is better than pretty, brevity wins and make it easy to share your content. (MarketingProfs)
9 User-Experience Mistakes That Drive Users Away From Your Website
Sometimes you lose a visitor to your site because of factors out of your control; other times, those factors are very much in your control. Center-of-page advertisements, stock photos, a site that isn’t easy to use and auto-play videos are some of the user-experience pitfalls
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