Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

I posted the big Google webmaster report where you can catch up on the more important SEO related changes in the past month. Google Search Console’s URL inspection tool has errors but Google should be fixing it, if it is not fixed already. Google Business Profiles may require you to double verify your business. Google spoke about translated content and garbage parameters in URLs. Google also spoke about blocking users from the USA and how that can lead to huge Google ranking issues.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• March 2022 Google Webmaster Report
  It is time for the March 2022 Google webmaster report, where I look back at the past 30-days of SEO news related to Google and highlight the most important changes over that time period. This month we had a confirmed rollout begin of the page experience update for desktop, we learned about an update to the Pirate update, a new shopping ranking factor and more.
• Google Search Console URL Inspection Tool Errors
  Yesterday, Google confirmed that some folks trying to use the URL Inspection tool via the console or even the API may be seeing errors. Google said it is working on a fix but almost a day later, some are still having issues and Google has yet to confirm it is resolved.
• Google: Translated Content & Garbage Parameters In URLs
  You may end up confusing Google when you have “garbage” parameters trailing in your URLs, espesially when it comes to translated content parameters. There is this interesting conversation when a large multilingual site found its translated content excluded from Google Search with a “crawled currently not indexed” status.
• Google Business Profiles May Require Additional Verification
  Google has updated the help document on how to verify your business to say “we may require you to verify by more than one method.” So if you verify using one method, Google might decide it needs you to verify again but using a different method.
• PSA: Blocking USA Users But Allowing Googlebot Is Against Google’s Webmaster Guidelines
  Google sends its crew of crawlers, Googlebot, from the United States. That is where 99% of the crawling originates from. If you are not allowed to show your website to users based in the United States, then you also cannot show that website to Googlebot.
• Google Charleston East Dome Almost Ready
  Here is a photo from Louis Gray of the new GooglePlex building, he said it is called the Google Charleston East Dome building. He also said it looks almost done and ready to move in.

Other Great Search Threads:

• @yandexcom is the largest technology company in Russia and the country’s second-largest search engine. The former head of its news division, Lev Gershenzon, just made this remarkable post on Facebook, addressed to his form, Ilya Lozovsky on Twitter
• Cloudflare affects SEO?, WebmasterWorld
• March 2022 AdSense Earnings and Observations, WebmasterWorld
• Terrorists use Google maps tags to adjust the fires!! Please help! – Форум , Google Maps Help
• That looks like valid HTML (it’s fine to have multiple attributes on a tag), so it would be fine. That various tools don’t see them would suggest that there’s more to it than just this HTML snippet though, so I’d dig f, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

IndexNow has grown more support over the past week, now on millions of websites. Google said it does not use disavow files to discover link networks. Google says one site will never always rank above another site. CSS colors are not a Google ranking factor. A poll says that most people think Google will still be dominate in 10 years from now.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Survey Says Google Will Remain Dominate In 10 Years
  Greg Sterling, a search industry analyst (amongst other things), posted a poll on Twitter asking where will Google be in ten years from now. The vast majority of responses said Google will still be dominate in 10 years from now, while only 13% said it will have been replaced by something else.
• IndexNow Added To Duda, All In One WordPress & Rank Math SEO Plugins
  Last week, Microsoft Bing announced over the course of three days that IndexNow gained support from Duda (a sponsor here), the All In One WordPress plugin and Rank Math SEO Plugin. This brings support for IndexNow to millions of sites, up from well under a million sites using it last time we checked.
• Google Does Not Use Disavow Files To Target Link Networks
  Google’s John Mueller said again that Google does not use the link disavow files for discovery of spammy link networks. He said on Twitter “usually problematic link networks are easier to recognize in other ways. I don’t think the disavow tool would be a very useful signal there.”
• Google: One Site Won’t Always Rank Above Another Site
  Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter “it’s never that site A always ranks above site B.” He was asked if Medium articles always rank better than articles found on LinkedIn and John said no. He added “there’s no special search ranking for any particular site.”
• Google: CSS Colors Are Not A Google Ranking Factor…
  Google’s John Mueller said on Twitter “we generally don’t use color as a factor.” He then added “but CSS tweaks can include a lot more than just color changes.” We know that making site changes can impact your rankings but John has said numerous times before, just making color changes should not impact your rankings.
• Google Wooden Hammock
  Here is a photo from outside the amazing Google office in Brazil of a wooden hammock. It looks like a nice and relaxing spot to think about how to get people to click on more search ads in Google.

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

What is an integrated marketing campaign?

As marketers we distinguish between campaigns in different channels, because of differences in format, cost, frequency and dozens of other variables. Often, marketing staff are siloed with one team handling organic social, another team, SEO, another team handling events and so on. So, it’s easy to forget that our customers don’t necessarily make the same distinctions. In fact, a guiding principle of integrated marketing as it was formally defined by Northwestern professor and “father of integrated marketing communications,” the late Don E. Schultz, is that from the many points of exposure to and interaction with a brand, consumers form one singular perception.   

An integrated marketing campaign, then, is a cross-channel marketing strategy that involves creating consistent campaigns across different platforms to provide a cohesive experience for the customer. Each brand experience should be consistent whether a customer experiences the brand through social media, direct marketing or another channel. 

Why is integrated marketing important? 

An integrated marketing campaign understands that customers are not confined to a single channel. Consumers today are encountering brands and advertisements everywhere they go, from the bus to their favorite websites to their email. For your brand to stand out to customers, you need to create campaigns that live on the platforms that customers frequent. Simultaneously, the campaigns must share similar features, so they stand out in customers’ minds and build on each other in customers’ perception and awareness of the brand and offering. 

When your campaign is fully integrated, customers will recognize your brand regardless of where they see it. This will help them remember what you had to say, thus strengthening your relationship with them. 

What are the elements of an integrated marketing strategy? 

A quality integrated marketing campaign will take on a few features. Visually and textually, they will provide consistent messaging regardless of the platform. The colors, layout and images should all be easily recognizable across the different formats. 

Your campaign should also specifically target a variety of platforms that are regularly viewed by your target audience. Break down social media sites, email touch points, PPC keywords and any other channels that will be leveraged in the campaign to maximize exposure for the particular buyer persona. 

You also want to make sure that any customer-facing employees are informed about this campaign. For example, if you have a physical store, make sure employees know how to redeem email coupons for online discounts. 

How to build an integrated marketing campaign? 

1. Decide who the campaign will target and how success will be measured. 
2. Identify where this targeted audience is most likely to engage and interact with your content and make those channels the focus of the campaign. 
3. Bring together the marketing and sales teams that will participate in the campaign and have them align with goals. 
4. Have the teams outline how they will contribute to achieving the goals. 
5. Use your defined metrics to judge the success of your campaign and to understand which platforms are the most effective at bringing in these customers. 
6. Use this information to guide future campaigns to be more efficient and more productive. 

Integrated marketing campaigns are an important part of reaching modern consumers. This type of campaign hinges on the belief that consumers do not interact with your brand in just one channel, and that not all customers interact with your brand in all channels. Instead, they will be using a different mix of platforms. An integrated campaign helps you effectively meet these people and bring them closer to your brand. 

Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

Google took action in the Russia invasion of Ukraine with some new ad policies and restrictions. Google’s local pack map is now interactive and no longer a static map photo. Google is hosting an SEO workshop with Google internal SEO experts. Google is testing placing the search bar filters and options at the top right side of the search box. As a reminder, the top stories box no longer has an eligibility requirement. Plus I posted a new vlog interview today.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Local Pack Is Now Interactive (Not A Static Map)
  Allie Margeson from Whitespark noticed that the Google local pack in the search results is no longer a static map. The map is now interactive and lets searchers zoom in and out, move the map around, hover over businesses to see the names and reviews and even click on the map to go to a specific local business.
• Google Internal SEO Experts Hosting SEO Workshop – Is That Okay?
  David Mihm pointed out on Twitter that Google is hosting a partner workshop event named “Drive Traffic to Your Website with SEO.” The interesting bit is that the workshop says it is “hosted by one of Google’s internal SEO experts, this workshop will give you a behind-the-scenes view into how Google approaches SEO for its own sites.”
• Google Tests Search Bar Filters & Options On Top Right Side
  I am seeing multiple reports of Google placing the search bar filters, you know, the bar that says “all, videos, news, images, more, etc” which is normally placed under the search box, is being tested on the right hand side of the search box. It doesn’t look like a bug but Google has had many weird quirks recently.
• Google Blocks Search Ads From So-Called Donetsk People’s Republic & Luhansk People’s Republic
  Google has posted a new legal requirement policy that blocks search ads related to what is going on with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The policy says that entities and individuals who are restricted cannot create or use a Google Ads account or have Google Ads used on their behalf for those who are located in or reside in so-called Donetsk People’s Republic (DNR) and Luhansk People’s Republic (LNR).
• PSA: Google Top Stories Eligibility For All Pages, Not Just AMP Or Good Page Experience Scores
  This is just a reminder, since I covered this back last April but I forgot myself, there is really no top stories eligibility requirements in Google Search anymore. It use to be that you needed to have AMP pages to be eligible in top stories on mobile. But that went away and you also do not need to have good page experience to be in top stories either.
• Vlog #161: Taylor Kurtz On SEO Gratitude & Getting Up Early To Work
  Taylor Kurtz (@realtaylorkurtz) is the Founder of Crush the Rankings and he stopped by my office to talk SEO. Crush the Rankings is now about four years old and he started this company based on him working on a site that was ‘black listed’ in Google…
• Making A Video At Google For Edible Food Surplus
  Here is a photo from a video production company at a job they had at the GooglePlex, the Google headquarters, where they shot a video recording some Google chefs on the top of edible surplus food.

Other Great Search Threads:

• I don’t think it’s sustainable to rely on the indexing requests for organic changes – it’s sometimes a sign that we’re not convinced of the site overall, and just getting a page indexed won’t change that. It’, John Mueller on Twitter
• To be honest, I don’t think either heading makes the site more relevant to users. It makes it clearer to Google what you want Google to think your page is about, but you’re going to have to do a lot more tha, John Mueller on Twitter
• Googlebot looks at the links on a page and may use them to determine which other pages to crawl. It doesn’t “leave” a site, it only ever looks at individual pages. Link to sites that you think provide valu, John Mueller on Twitter
• Do you have an example of a “good directory”?, John Mueller on Twitter
• Earning from EU hugely drop in past week, WebmasterWorld
• No, not really. We discover lots of URLs, on all kinds of sites, that were don’t crawl. It’s normal that were don’t crawl it all. Of course if your site is very slow, that’s still a problem to check out., John Mueller on Twitter
• There would be more to the story than just 2 domain names, so I’d recommend looking into the bigger picture, and the details. In general, just duplicating content from one country is not a good way to show, John Mueller on Twitter
• There’s no requirement from our side. Noindex, 404, 200, hidden – are all options. If you feel they’re coming back soon, keeping it hidden means you can just make it pop back in. Keeping it live with a “back in, John Mueller on Twitter

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

• Google Maps, Apple Maps, and smartphones are at the forefront of modern war, AppleInsider
• Local Pack Update Allows Searchers to Interact with the Featured Map, Whitespark
• Ukraine, Core Web Vitals and Local Rankings, Local Inventory Ad Click Surge, Near Media
• Google temporarily disables Google Maps live traffic data in Ukraine, Reuters
• Who Is Policing the Location Data Industry?, The Markup
• Why Are My Google Business Profile Posts Getting Rejected?, Sterling Sky Inc

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Other Search

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

I am seeing new signs of a possible, but yet, unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update that seemed to touch down on Thursday, February 24th. To be honest, this is most likely unrelated to the desktop version of the page experience update that started on Thursday, February 22nd.

There is both a spike in SEO and webmaster chatter from the industry and many of the tools are showing an increase in volatility starting around February 24, 2022. I know a lot of folks will point fingers and the page experience update but like I said, that update will take several weeks to roll out and is not expected to shake up the search results much at all. So I really do not think what we are seeing with this volatility is at all related to the page experience update.

Just some recent history, we did see some minor chatter around February 14th and before that February 6th and February 1st / 2nd but those two were unusual ones. Then before that on January 22nd, January 19th and 20th, January 14th, 15th and 17th, then before that on January 11th and then it was quiet until some tremors in late December.

Here is what we are seeing across the chatter and the tools that track these updates.

SEO Chatter

The ongoing WebmasterWorld thread has several comments in the past day or so about a larger update. Some calling this a “huge” update, saying this is bigger for them than “any core update.” Others are reporting drops in 20% of their traffic, while some saying they see half of what they normally see from Google.

Here are some of those recent comments:

Huge drop in traffic. Bigger than any core update I can remember.

Here, too. Halved from G. Normal from other sources.

20% down on my side after a 10% drop last week. Let’s see how deep it goes…

I have almost identical numbers. This is absolutely extreme for a site like mine which receives very stable traffic and has been around for ages.

Our European travel site’s Google traffic (and traffic in general) were down slightly today, with most of the decline coming from Eastern, Central, and Northern Europe. I’d say that’s pretty understandable, given the circumstances.

Hmm seeing my traffic cut on half again yesterday and today, assumed everyone was busy watching the news!

I was genuinely surprised that yesterday my global site achieved precisely 100% average PVs.

Lots of my usual, targeted single PVs today with the UK much higher than normal so far, Europe lower, India and China average at the moment.

Also in these comments section there is chatter:

We’re facing same issue and our category is Clothing industry. My website traffic drop around 60%. But we don’t know its done only with this google update or anything else. So, If anyone have solutions plz guide us.

Interesting page experiance update. Both websites on same server, same design, same keywords, same speed, etc – one got -35% drop from google, another still holding.

What I see now in my niche is most of sites that rank are some random expired sites that copy and spin content around, various only videos on site with just random text. Google is doing updates, that’s okay, but what I see is that since this update it just got worst and there’s 0 relevancy, domains are super spammy. I really hope that this update is not final. But i think it was Google panda update?

Same here. It hit really hard.

Tracking Tools

Here is what the tracking tools are showing, many are showing a big swing up in volatility in the past day or so.

Mozcast was super hot:

Semrush:

RankRanger:

Accuranker:

SERPmetrics:

Cognitive SEO:

Advanced Web Rankings:

Do you see anything on your end? Let us know in the comments.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

This week was packed with algorithm and ranking topics but not the typical unconfirmed Google updates. We had Google officially begin rolling out the desktop version of the page experience update, it will take several weeks to fully rollout. I am also seeing an unconfirmed update start to roll out yesterday into today. Google quietly announced the Google Shopping experience scorecard that will give a ranking boost to those merchants that provide excellent customer experiences, it is a bit controversial right now. Google said it has strengthened the DMCA/Pirate update and if a site is hit by it, on average that site drops 89% in search traffic. Google Shopping search might not support keyword exclusions, which is weird. Google said while there is no EAT score, EAT is important and indirectly used for ranking. Google said when it comes to pagination, think about showing newer content closer to the first page of the pagination set. Google said your web stories performance in search is not indicative of your overall search performance. Google said the referring URLs in the URL inspection tool is not really important. Google said using the Indexing API for other content that it is not meant for, won’t hurt you. Google said it fixed the high latency issues and error messages in the Google Ads console. Over 70% of search marketers said their CPC costs are up from last year. Google said standard shopping campaigns will continue to be supported for the foreseeable future. Google is testing three images in search ads, each taking you to a different landing page. Google is testing a messaging feature for Google Merchant Center sites in Google Shopping. Google AdSense is adding an AdSense for YouTube section, which is really not a great thing. Microsoft Advertising launched dynamic descriptions for DSAs. Google image search is testing rounded corners on images. And if you want to help sponsor those vlogs, go to patreon.com/barryschwartz. That was the search news this week at the Search Engine Roundtable.

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Here is a recap of what happened in the search forums today, through the eyes of the Search Engine Roundtable and other search forums on the web.

I am seeing signs of an unconfirmed Google search ranking update, I don’t think it is related to the page experience update. Google Shopping is testing messaging with customers within Google Merchant Center. Google is testing three image links in search ads. Google still is not going to recognize SEOs or give them official stamp of approvals and certification. Google said absolute or relative links are not slower or faster.

Search Engine Roundtable Stories:

• Google Search Ranking Algorithm Update On February 24th (Unconfirmed)
  I am seeing new signs of a possible, but yet, unconfirmed Google Search ranking algorithm update that seemed to touch down on Thursday, February 24th. To be honest, this is most likely unrelated to the desktop version of the page experience update that started on Thursday, February 22nd.
• Google Testing Messaging For Google Shopping & Google Merchant Center
  Google seems to be testing a form of messaging between businesses and merchants that use Google Merchant Center. Google said in an email to some Google Merchants that it is testing a “new messaging pilot to help you connect with customers and improve your sales through Google Shopping.”
• Search News Buzz Video Recap: Google Page Experience Update For Desktop, Shopping Experience Scorecard, Stronger Pirate Update & Google Ads Latency
  This week was packed with algorithm and ranking topics but not the typical unconfirmed Google updates. We had Google officially begin rolling out the desktop version of the page experience update…
• Google Tests Three Image Links In Mobile Search Ads
  Google is testing an ad format, that I think is new, where it has three images in the ad, all that link to different landing pages. So if you click on one image, it takes you to one unique URL, if you click on a different image in the ad, it takes you to a different unique URL.
• Google SEO Recognition Or Stamp Of Approvals Does Not Exist
  Google’s John Mueller if a claim found on an SEO website that says “recognized by Google as an agencies as SEO specialists in SEO for Real Estates” is legit. The answer is no, Google does not provide certification or approvals for SEO agencies.
• Google Link Speed Difference Between Absolute Vs Relative Links – Nah…
  Is there a speed difference between using absolute versus relative links and if so, does it matter to Google. I am pretty sure there is no speed difference and I am confident that either way, it won’t matter for Google SEO reasons.
• Happy Googler at Google
  Here is a smiley Googler standing in front of a Google sign whiteboard at the Google Dublin office. She looks happy and she has been at Google for two and a half years as a Senior Digital Marketing C

Other Great Search Threads:

Search Engine Land Stories:

Other Great Search Stories:

Analytics

Industry & Business

Links & Content Marketing

Local & Maps

Mobile & Voice

SEO

PPC

Search Features

Feedback:

Have feedback on this daily recap; let me know on Twitter @rustybrick or @seroundtable, you can follow us on Facebook and make sure to subscribe to the YouTube channel, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts or just contact us the old fashion way.

Did you know that 15% of all search queries have never been searched before? Well, that’s according to Google in a recent tweet. We don’t know about you, but we think it clearly highlights the fact that keyword research should be an ongoing process.

The last two weeks have seen several small feature releases and updates from both Google and Bing. Google is trialing a new section called “Buying Guides” in search results that may present opportunities for content marketers. The prioritization of local news in search results is also highly positive. 

Bing has also made some notable changes. Automobile-related results are showing on search pages. And PubHub has been incorporated into webmaster tools. 

Finally, Search Advocate John Mueller clarified several long-standing SEO questions. If you’ve ever wondered about whether or not to display CTAs above the fold, change dates after updating content, or use original photography, you’ll be interested in his answers. 

Let’s dig into all the latest SEO updates, feature releases, and analysis from the last two weeks. 

Google Trials Buying Guides

A new feature called Google Buying Guides is currently being trialed by the search engine. The widget currently appears for some product-related terms in mobile results. Users can choose from various options, including content suggestions that review searched-for products in more depth. 

While this feature is still embryonic, it is potentially very good news for content marketers. Buying Guides widgets use dropdowns that, when selected, describe a certain type of product – such as “baseball bats” – in more depth. These dropdowns display third-party content.

As a publisher, having your content shown here has obvious benefits in terms of generating site traffic. If Google decides on a full rollout, you should seriously consider optimizing your content to increase its chances of appearing. 

Google Prioritizes Local News Publications

Google announced that it would be giving greater priority to local news publications by including them in Top Stories, a widget that appears in generic search results. It is also giving publishers more control over which stories appear in the local section of the Google News aggregator. 

This is excellent news for small news websites which have to fight with large publications for a limited amount of search real estate.

In a post published on its main blog, The Keyword, Google said: “Today, we’re doing more to make it easier to find local publishers in Google News Showcase by bringing their panels into the local section of Google News. News Showcase publishers hand pick the content for these local panels, enabling them to highlight the most important stories of the day in their area and giving them another powerful way to deepen their relationship with readers.”

Bing Adds Automobile Search Features

Microsoft Bing has added new automobile features to its search pages. Browsers that search for car-related terms will see a dedicated area displaying a selection of cars that are listed on the MSN Autos Marketplace. Bing has also included filters for narrowing down results by budget, year of manufacture, color, and so on. 

This new feature will be of interest to car dealers and individuals in the process of selling their cars (listing on MSN autos is straightforward). From a more general perspective, it will also prove beneficial to buyers forced to navigate a tumultuous and often under-supplied post-COVID car market. 

Bing Incorporates PubHub into Webmaster Tools

News PubHub, a Bing service that helps news publishers distribute their content, has been moved to the Webmaster Tools console. It was previously accessed via its own site, which is still live but now links to Bing Webmaster. 

If you are a news site and have not already submitted your site for inclusion in the Bing news index, you can do so by following the PubHub guidelines. You can check your approval status from within the Webmaster console. 

Publishers will also have access to extra analytics features that allow them to see how readers are interacting with their stories in real time.

This should enable them to respond quickly to trends, add context to stories, and organize their panels more effectively. 

John Mueller Clears Up Issues Around CTAs Above the Fold

Although this isn’t a major announcement, it relates to a point of contention that is often raised in SEO circles. Ask the question, “Is it bad to put CTAs above the fold?” and you’ll get a whole range of differing responses. 

Well, not anymore. Google Search advocate John Mueller has said in no uncertain terms that it doesn’t matter. He said, “Google search doesn’t say anything about CTA buttons.”

If you’ve been concerned about displaying an opt-in or other call-to-action above the fold, you’re safe to do so as it might lead to more direct response conversions. However, keep in mind that above-the-fold CTAs are not pop-ups, which can be detrimental to rankings. 

Change Dates in Certain Circumstances, Says John Mueller

When should you change the publication date of evergreen or partially evergreen content? 

In a recent tweet, Search Advocate John Mueller said, “When you write something new, or significantly change something existing, then change the date.”

This might seem like common sense advice, but it’s worth restating here because it’s an area of common confusion. It means that date changes are sometimes warranted but not in all cases.

“Fake changing” dates can lead to penalties and doesn’t represent a good way of letting Google know that evergreen content is still relevant despite remaining the same. And only minor changes and reviews probably don’t warrant a date change (an in-content note is preferable). “Significant” is the key word here. 

John Mueller Recommends Using Original Photographs in Product Reviews

John Mueller has said that websites publishing product guides and reviews should use their own photographs. Original images may positively affect rankings after a manual site review by a member of Google’s Quality Rater team. 

In an SEO office-hours hangout on the 4th of February, John Mueller said, “I think the guidelines that we have for reviews, or the recommendations that we have, should really be focused on unique photos that you create of these products, so not artificial review photos.”

To close out this edition of SEO Bright Now, I leave you with a few SEO jokes:

• How does an SEO drink their tea? They serrrrrp it. 
• How do SEOs cut their hair? They snippet. 
• What kind of music do SEOs like to listen to? Heavy meta.

Social media metrics like engagement, reach, audience growth, and many others are essential for measuring and improving the effectiveness of your marketing campaigns. They are relevant to all outcomes, whether you’re generating new customers, deepening engagement with your existing followers, or simply building brand awareness. 

What’s more, social media metrics allow you to demonstrate a clear return on investment (ROI) from social media spend. Great for justifying your expenditure to pesky upper management, right? 

The world’s most popular platform, Facebook, had 2.9 billion monthly users at the end of 2021. It’s understandable why businesses of all shapes and sizes are eager to take advantage of this vast source of potential traffic, leads and customers. 

Let’s look at the most important social media metrics and how you can use them to drive tangible results for your company. 

Why Are Social Media Metrics Important 

Social media metrics allow organizations to measure the success of their overall social media marketing strategy.

With a suitable collection of metrics, it’s possible to track fans and followers as they turn into subscribers, customers, repeat customers, advocates, and so on. Metrics enable you to tie user actions to specific stages of your sales funnel and equally important, to identify parts of your customer journey that require attention due to high levels of abandonment. 

Social media metrics are also vital when it comes to making improvements to specific campaigns. They provide valuable insights about your content, audience and potential clients, all of which can be used to make incremental changes and optimizations. 

Biggest Social Media Networks by Number of Users

Here’s an overview of the largest social networks by users, as reported by Statista at the beginning of 2022:

• Facebook – 2,910 million
• YouTube – 2,562 million
• WhatsApp – 2,000 million
• Instagram – 1,478 million
• TikTok – 1000 million
• LinkedIn – 810 million

10 Social Media Metrics That Matter: An Overview

There are dozens of social media metrics. Unfortunately, trying to incorporate every single one into your analytics strategy will do little more than give you a headache.

It’s important to track the metrics that are most relevant to your business goals. Some of these metrics will be available directly from social media analytics platforms, while others will require you to configure your tracking software. 

1. Engagement – Engagement is calculated by dividing the total number of meaningful audience actions (likes, comments, shares, etc.) by the total number of impressions. You can calculate this metric at both a granular level (for individual pieces of content) and a general one (for all the content associated with a campaign). 

2. Brand awareness – Generally speaking, “brand awareness” is measured by tracking the number of mentions that your brand receives over a period of time. It is possible to correlate social media activity with general brand awareness and thus gain insights into the effectiveness of a particular campaign.

3. Audience growth – Like engagement, audience growth is calculated at both a platform-specific granular level and in terms of all social media accounts. It is a measure of the number of new followers that you gained over a week, month, or quarter relative to the previous period. 

4. Content reach – “Post reach” is a standard metric that should be available from your social platforms’ analytics dashboards. It refers to the number of people that have seen a piece of content. It is useful because it helps you determine when to publish content to achieve maximum exposure. 

5. Share of voice (SoV) – Share of voice is a similar metric to brand awareness but measures how much exposure your brand is receiving compared to your competitors. It is calculated by tracking the brand mentions of several companies over a period of time and applying a percentage value to the proportion of attention they receive. 

6. Click-through rate (CTR) – Click-through rate is a well-known metric used to gauge the effectiveness of both organic content and ads. It refers to the percentage of people that interact with your content by clicking a link and tells you whether or not your call to action (CTA) is effective. CTR is important for determining your ROI on ad spend. 

7. Cost-per-click (CPC) – Cost-per-click represents the average amount you pay for a click on an ad. Like CTR, when you have a clear understanding of the cost-per-click for paid ads, you can use it to calculate higher-level metrics like cost per lead and client acquisition cost. 

8. On-site bounce rate – Your on-site bounce rate of traffic arriving on your site through social media is important because it allows you to gauge the effectiveness of your landing pages. You might have the most impressive social media strategy of all your competitors. But if your landing pages are subpar, you’re needlessly throwing away traffic.

9. Influencer score – An influencer score tells you how popular you are on a particular platform. It is a useful general indicator of your relative reach and prominence over time. Influencer scores are generated using proprietary algorithms by companies like Klear. 

10. Return on investment (ROI) –  Your overall return on investment (ROI) is ultimately the single best barometer of the effectiveness of a social media campaign. ROI is relatively easy to track for paid campaigns. However, it is also possible to calculate ROI for “organic” activities by linking content spend to engagement, site traffic and leads. 

How to Execute a Data-Driven Social Media Campaign: 

Building a successful social media campaign is a sequential process. Once you have determined your goals and picked corresponding metrics to measure your progress, you can start thinking about content. 

Follow the steps below to execute a social media campaign: 

1. Set out concrete, measurable goals – Are you aiming for brand awareness? New leads? Long-term customers? Be specific about the outcomes you are seeking.

2. Link marketing activities to specific stages of your sales funnel – Who are you targeting? A campaign that retargets existing customers will look very different from one designed to elicit interest from users new to your brand. 

3. Evaluate existing content based on audience engagement data – Existing content that has generated high levels of engagement should act as a guide for your new content. 

4. Update and create shareable, on-topic content – Ensure that your content creation processes account for evidence-based principles that lead to greater shareability and virality. 

5. Set up your tracking infrastructure – Some metrics will be available from within the dashboard of the social media platform you are using. Others will only be accessible in third-party analytics tools. Ensure that your tech stack is complete before you start publishing content. 

6. Review and refine going forward – The difference between a novice content marketer and a veteran one lies in their respective abilities to optimize their strategies through ongoing testing. The review and refine process should occur during a campaign, not once it has finished. 

So there you have it! All the ingredients to cook up a hard-hitting, lead-driving, revenue-generating social media campaign. 

Interested in learning more about social media? Check out some of the in-depth articles from BrightEdge listed below. 

Related Resources From BrightEdge

NAP is an acronym that stands for “Name, Address and Phone Number.” It’s a core concept in search engine optimization because Google uses NAP when ranking local results. 

If you operate a local business, either in the form of an independent outlet or a chain of local branches, it’s essential that your website and business profile are NAP-optimized. Failure to do so will result in lost rankings, traffic, and customers. 

In this guide, you’ll learn everything you need to know about NAP. We’ll define key terms, explain why NAP is important within the broader field of SEO, and show you how to optimize for NAP. 

What Is NAP?

In an SEO context, NAP refers to the information that local businesses include in their various listings across the web. If NAP references are consistent across different sources, Google knows that they are correct and can confidently display a company’s details to searchers. 

What Are Citations?

To leverage NAP ranking factors fully, it’s necessary to understand how the broader search process works. Local search results – also called the “Local Pack” – are shown in a dedicated section before generic search results. A map is displayed above local business listings. 

Google first determines if a keyword has geographical or “local” intent. That is, if the searcher is looking for a result tied to a particular location, such as a hair salon or bookshop. This is known as “geo-targeting.”

Google then algorithmically ranks business profiles in local results according to a range of local factors. These include keywords in an organization’s Google Business Profile, past customer reviews, the user’s IP location, and NAP citations.

A citation is a business listing published on a third-party site. Nation-wide and global business directories like Yelp have extensive collections of business entries. But local online publications are also taken into account. 

Why Is NAP Important for Local SEO?

Google looks at two NAP-related factors (among a myriad of other ranking elements) when determining where to rank a local business: the number of citations and their consistency. Having a large number of consistent citations across the web is the ideal outcome from an SEO perspective. 

If Google finds discrepancies in data when comparing different sites and business listings, it can’t be sure of the information it displays to searchers. 

It’s also worth keeping in mind that NAP consistency is important from a user experience perspective. Customers often use third-party sites to check a company’s name, address, and phone number. A lack of consistency across listings creates confusion and interrupts the buyer journey. 

What Are the Consequences of Poorly Optimized NAP Listings?

Consumer behavior data shows that a typical customer will interact with a business across multiple online touchpoints—including its Google Business Profile, Google Maps, its company website, and third-party directories—before making an in-store purchase. 

To successfully complete their journey, a customer requires access to consistent information across all touchpoints. 

For example, let’s say an internet browser encounters your brand through an ad on a website. They then use Google Maps to check the location of the nearest store before visiting your website to browse products. 

Finally, they decide to visit your store to make a purchase, checking the address in your business listing in Yelp. If the addresses displayed in Google Maps and Yelp don’t match up, it is more difficult for the customer to make a purchase. This increases the likelihood that they will lose confidence, abandon the customer journey or report a low level of satisfaction. 

How to Optimize NAP for SEO:
A 5-Step Guide

Optimizing NAP information for SEO is both a straightforward and ongoing process. It’s important to ensure that current citations and new citations are correct and up-to-date. 

Take the following steps to optimize your NAP details for search:

1. Display information clearly and correctly on your “personal assets” 

First, check NAP information is visible and free of errors on your website and Google Business Profile (formerly known as Google My Business).

Use Google’s Structured Data Markup Helper to determine which Schema.org markup to use. 

2. Ensure that NAP citations are consistent across the web 

Google cross-references NAP citations on different websites, so ensure consistency across sources as best you can.

In particular, check popular business directories like Yelp, Yahoo Business Listings, Facebook, and so on, along with local listings in your area. Numerous tools can help to find your listings across the web.

3. Continue to add your business to directories 

NAP consistency is a key ranking factor. But it’s also essential to think about citation quantity. Continue to add your business to established directories to increase the number of citations around the web. This strategy will positively impact your local rankings. 

4. Follow best local SEO practices for multiple locations

If you manage multiple locations, follow best practices for local SEO, with separate site pages for each store and unique business profiles. 

5. Remember to update all listings if your NAP changes 

If you change your company’s name, address, or phone number, modify all listings across the web. Keep an up-to-date database of listings to streamline the process of updating NAP details. 

6. Avoid using different numbers for tracking purposes 

Sometimes, businesses will use unique phone numbers to track traffic from different directories. This approach is best avoided as it can result in Google treating each listing as a separate location. 

Related Resources from BrightEdge