enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 7 years 7 months ago

t 9 min read

The search engine giant announced last week that they would be adding additional features to their new Google Search Console (GSC).

This new Google Search Console was initially released in beta to a few users at the end of 2017 and then rolled out to all users beginning in early 2018. The initial beta version initially included the most popular functions, including search performance, index coverage, AMP status, and job posting. Google announced their intention to continue to add more features throughout the year. These latest features are imports from the old Search Console.

As the company has said about their new Google Search Console:

“The new Search Console was rebuilt from the ground up by surfacing the most actionable insights and creating an interaction model which guides you through the process of fixing any pending issues."

If you noticed some changes as you logged into the new Google Search Console, we have outlined what you should know.

What you will find in the new Google search console

Links Report

On the Links Report, you will be able to easily see both the inbound links to your site as well as the internal links between your pages as Google search sees them. This report will combine the insights that you used to see in the “Links to your Site” feature and the “Internal Links” that you saw on the old search console.

You will also be able to gain valuable insights from this new Google Search Console report such as:

• Which sites link to your domain the most
• Which specific pages on your domain receive the most links
• The text that commonly points to your site

Why does the Link Report matter?

Inbound and internal links play valuable roles in SEO.

Inbound links let Google gain a better idea of how other people view your site. Sites generally viewed as reputable and valuable will receive more inbound links than others. Quality inbound links, therefore, will give the Google algorithm a good idea of how people view your material.

Helpful links can also drive traffic to your site.

People link to your site because your content would give valuable information for their users. If those readers want more information, they will click on the link, therefore bringing more readers to your domain.

Internal links help both people and search spiders enhance their navigation of your site. They will keep people engaged by encouraging them to visit additional pages relevant to their topic of interest. They will better explore the depth your site offers and begin building that important relationship of trust.

Internal links will also help search engine spiders navigate the site. They will see clearly how the different pages connect together and get a better idea of the value and depth you offer. This can help improve your standings in the SERP. They will also help to ensure that no pages of your site are overlooked by the spiders, so everything gets indexed regularly and remains updated.

Mobile Usability report

The Mobile Usability report on the new Google search console will contain issue names consistent with the ones that appeared in the old report. It will also have a new feature, however, allowing GSC users to submit a “validation and reindexing request.” If Google highlights an issue on the mobile usability of your site and you correct the problem, you can then use this request to let Google know the problem has been corrected. Given the importance of mobile in today’s search algorithm, correcting these issues as quickly as possible will be critical.

Google has placed a large emphasis on mobile users in recent years. The search engine giant points to the high levels of smartphone saturation, including that in a number of countries, there are more smartphones than personal computers.

Given the number of people who currently use mobile devices to access the internet, brands need to have confidence that these readers can easily engage and interact with the website. Pages that do not conform to Google’s’ mobility-usage recommendations may use small fonts, force people to zoom in on the page, or otherwise not fit the screen, causing a poor user experience.

Why does the mobile usability report matter?

Google has placed a considerable amount of emphasis on usability for mobile users over the past few years. They used mobile compatibility as a ranking factor beginning over 3 years ago with the Mobilegeddon update in April 2015. Beginning at the start of 2018 they also began rolling out their mobile-first algorithm, which looked at the mobile version of a website first when determining the ranking of pages on the SERP.

This report within the new Google Search Console will provide important information for users so they can remain confident that their site does not contain mobility-usage errors. Failing to uncover and address such errors could easily result in a drop in rankings as well as a poor user experience for a number of potential visitors.

What does mobile usability mean?

Sites that rank highly in their mobile usability provide easy navigation for users on-the-go.

You want to think about the page-load speed, text, images, and other visual content you produce. Make sure it appears easily on mobile devices. Small font sizes or fancy designs that make it hard to read will both detract from the mobile user experience as will videos and images that do not display on mobile devices.

You also need to think about the buttons you use. People on mobile devices generally navigate using their fingers. Navigation features, such as your menu or arrows, should all have enough space in between them that mobile users can easily click where they intend.

Mobile friendliness also includes developing layouts and content that assists on-the-go visitors with finding the information they seek. Google, for example, has found that 94% of people on smartphones use them to find local information. Creating content that addresses these local intentions and anticipates what people want to see will produce higher engagement rates.

With the new Google Search Console, Google continues to work towards an improved user experience, and that includes giving site owners the tools they need to improve the usefulness of the content they produce. Through using these features, you will have greater insight into your site’s performance and what you can do to boost it with the help of the new Google Search Console and the BrightEdge SEO platform.

gregalbuto

M Posted 7 years 7 months ago

t 9 min read

Video has quickly emerged as a leading form of content with 87% of online marketers generating video content. This growth in production aligns with the increase in interest from consumers. About one third of online activity is spent watching video.

Using video SEO successfully, however, requires more careful thought than just adding numerous videos to your site.

Consider that over half of video content is consumed on mobile. Those on mobile devices, however, can be very particular about page load times. Google found that 53% of users will click off a mobile page it if takes more than 3 seconds to load.

Videos can be a tremendous drain on load times, which means that poor use of videos can hurt the user experience. Slow load times will result in you losing users. It can also hurt your reputation with Google--who uses page load time as a ranking signal.

To use video properly, here is what you need to know about creating a site that is video SEO friendly and caters to the visual trends within the consumer base without compromising on-site and page quality.

Uses of video marketing

Brands have found that video marketing can fill many website roles. Here are just a few ways that you can use video SEO to engage users.

1. Create videos to show tips or help with your products and services. Video demonstrations that let people see your products in action can encourage them to make purchases. They can also help them get the most out of their purchase. You can create videos teaching people how to troubleshoot common problems, ensuring excellent customer service even after the purchase has been completed.
2. Videos can get people excited about upcoming products and services. Develop videos that let people know about upcoming release dates and show them why they should be excited about purchasing the new product or service.
3. Give consumers a behind-the-scenes look at the business. Let them see the office building, "meet" the employees that they commonly interact with through email or on the phone, or even get an interview with members of the C-suite, such as the CEO or a founder of the business.
4. Encourage people to get excited about upcoming events. For example, if your brand regularly hosts an industry conference, video can build enthusiasm for the upcoming dates. A similar method can be used if a member of your brand will speak at a particular conference or event, encourage people to come and check out the speaker by highlighting other speeches they have given.
5. Provide meaningful and practical non-brand content: A growing area of focus for video is content marketing. Generally this is any video content where you aren't necessarily talking about brand (directly) or any of the other areas mentioned above and instead concentrating on providing constructive material for your target audience, including how-tos, best practices, thought leadership, and industry trends or news.

Here's a good example of practical non-brand content in our own video SEO space from noted SEO thought leader Eric Enge and his Stone Temple Consulting group. In this video--hosted on YouTube but shared across the Stone Temple website and social profiles as well--Eric and a colleague discuss the ways in which SEOs and digital marketers should be looking at data.

Three main ways to include video SEO on your website

To properly employ video SEO, you need to first consider how you want to add the video to your site. You have 3 main options.

1. You can build the video into the structure of your website. Many sites will use this option if they want to use a background video, for example.
2. You can use YouTube to upload the video and then embed a copy into your website. This allows you to simultaneously promote your video on the enormous YouTube network, which can build brand reach and reputation while also bringing in more traffic to your site.
3. You can use a video host, such as Vimeo. This works well for videos that might not see as much success on YouTube, as these types of hosting platforms do generally give you more control over how the video appears on your site.

One of potential challenges of video SEO is the amount of resources required to execute on it. There are the logistical requirements like investing in physical equipment, editing software, etc. In addition to that is the creative requirements of developing ideas to execute on for a new channel. An effective way of mitigating the creative need for video SEO is to draw and adapt ideas from your other media.

For example, by creating shorter videos summarizing blog content or product content you're publishing on your site, you can leverage video across multiple marketing channels. Have a 1-minute explainer video about a blog post you just published? Embed it in the blog post itself as rich media, post it on your social accounts with a link back to the original post, and cross-publish on your YouTube account with in-video cards pointing to the post and/or other products or offers mentioned in the content.

Optimizing for video SEO

Step 1. Keep your video built directly into site as small as possible

Remember the importance of page load time. With video SEO you want to minimize the buffering time and help mobile users reduce the amount of data they have to use to view your site. To help with this, any videos you build directly into your site should be compressed and avoid having background videos on an endless loop.

Step 2. Consider mobile and auto-play videos

Let your users decide if they want the video to play. Customers generally respond negatively to attempts to force them to play or otherwise consume content. Therefore, if you feel you definitely want to have videos on autoplay, give people a pause button so they can have the option to stop it if they want to. Remember also that mobile devices will often disable autoplay, so consider changing out autoplay background videos or otherwise unnecessary videos with another type of content on mobile versions of the site.  

Step 3. Consider where the video should be placed

Where the video lives on the page also impacts the user experience and video SEO. If the video will likely be the primary form of content, you likely want to put the video towards the top of the page. On the other hand, if the video will be secondary or complementary, it might live on the side or more towards the middle of the page.

Step 4. Make sure the video remains clear

The video should be clear for all users, regardless of their device. You can control this looking at the frame you select for the video. Most videos play clearly when you use a ratio of about 640 by 360 pixels.

Step 5. Make transcript or similar content for video SEO available

Search engines still cannot interpret content that lives in a video. You might also have some users who are not able to listen to your video, such as those in a quiet public place who do not want to use the volume. To accommodate these factors, you want to make sure you also include a transcript or otherwise incorporate your video content into text-based content somewhere on the page.

Even just including a brief summary of what the video contains can be helpful for users and video SEO alike. To maximize your video SEO, this also provides you with a good opportunity for relevant keywords.

Step 6. Put the video code in the footer

Any video code should be placed in the footer. You want your video to load last. This will allow your users to begin interacting with your site as quickly as possible and provide them with the optimal user experience. Placing the code in the footer allows the rest of the site to load first.

Step 7. Make sure your video is compatible with HTML5

HTML5 has replaced many video formats and now most sites at least offer HTML5 as an option, even if they provide the video primarily in another format. Given the direction that the web seems to be moving, we recommend that your videos should be compatible as well.

Video marketing KPIs

As with any other marketing channel, it's important for you to establish success metrics for your video efforts and determine how you're going to measure success across those metrics.

Where you host your video content plays a big role in how and where you do that tracking. YouTube is often a sensible first step since it offers a strong combination of built-in reporting and basic editing tools with a separate search ecosystem for organic discovery and building brand equity.

Once you've established where you're going to host your video content you can start tracking metrics based on the capabilities available to you. Some common video marketing KPIs are:

Top funnel: Landing page traffic, video iframe impressions, bounce rate, exit rate

Mid funnel: Video view time, number of Stops/Plays

Bottom funnel: CTR on video interstitials or View More options, conversions/sales from referral traffic from Video

Video can be a powerful means of interacting with your audience, creating a more personal experience for the user and helping them digest information more efficiently than reading long articles. Understanding how to set up your videos on your site, however, allows you to take advantage of video SEO while still maintaining your user experience.

Dov Markowitz

M Posted 7 years 7 months ago

t 9 min read

Get Certified or Re-Certified at Share San Francisco

Certification was a runaway hit at prior Share events. Over 400 people signed up for 250 positions and the room basically overflowed with knowledge-seeking BrightEdge customers. After the 4-hour training everyone who passed the exam could be seen at Share proudly displaying their BrightEdge Certified seals. The BrightEdge team is thrilled to announce that Certification will be returning at Share SF on October 9th and 10th. Plus, for the first time Share includes two levels of certification to keep up with the rapid pace of innovation and release and meet the needs of all of our clients.

What is BrightEdge Certification?

BrightEdge’s core value is customer success, which includes empowering users to maximize their value from the BrightEdge platform and earn an industry-recognized certification. With more than 7,000 certified users worldwide BrightEdge Certification is now demanded by top companies, agencies, and recognized internationally as a benchmark for SEO knowledge. Many search job listings now request BrightEdge certification of applicants. At prior live certification and we completely sold out with over 400 people getting certified and networking together. ShareSF certification will very likely sell out as well!

What is the value of becoming BrightEdge Certified?

For BrightEdge Users:

• Official designation –BrightEdge Certified Professional badge that can be used on business cards and social profiles
• Recognition in the BrightEdge platform BrightEdge Certified Professional badge appears when logged into BrightEdge
• Professional community –Inclusion in an exclusive LinkedIn group for BrightEdge Certified Professionals
• Certificate PDF – Electronically delivered certificate that can be proudly displayed
• Marketable skill – A BrightEdge certification validates a user’s skill and provides differentiation in the marketplace

For Businesses:

• Hire skilled professionals – Tap into a network of certified professionals, and validate that your employee base has the proven skills to help succeed in search and digital marketing
• Maximize value of platform – Ensure users fully leverage the BrightEdge platform to drive results

What’s new for Share18 certification?

For the first time ever BrightEdge will be offering two certification options at Share San Francisco:

• Introductory: For new users or those that want a review of BrightEdge core features. Designed to get BrightEdge users up and running with all of the core BrightEdge capabilities.
• Intermediate: Focusing on features released in the last 18 months and is designed for those that are already certified and looking to up their BrightEdge knowledge right from the source. We will introduce the new UI and menus, refresh on key platform capabilities like Data Cube, Keyword Reports, Page and Site Reports, and go deep on StoryBuilder, ContentIQ audits, Intent Signal, Visual Parsing, and more.

Join a community of over 20,000 global users, prove expertise in the BrightEdge platform, get access to the most cutting-edge technology right from the source, and ensure that your company is maximizing the investment it has made in BrightEdge.