Search Recap: Google’s June 2019 Algorithm Update, Search Console Changes, Domain Listing Restrictions and More
Google has recently unveiled several updates that have brought about interesting changes to search result data and rankings.
Learn more
Over the last month, there have been some interesting updates and rollouts across the search and social media marketing landscape.
As a business owner or marketer, it’s important to stay up to date to anticipate or understand any changes you may need to make to your digital marketing strategy moving forward.
Here are five of the top updates and new features in July.
1. “Request a Quote” Button Now Featured in Search Result Listings for Businesses
Google has begun including a “Request a Quote” button with business listings, appearing prominently on both mobile and desktop search results. The button is automatically added to businesses that have the Google My Business messaging feature turned on.
While this change could negatively impact web traffic by keeping users on Google, it has the potential to generate new leads. Learn more here.
2. Five Extensions to Boost On-Page SEO
Practising on-page SEO is essential to ensure your business effectively ranks in search engines. This can help your business generate leads, get more online exposure, track your site’s performance, and gain a competitive edge in your industry.
Some great extensions can assist in giving your on-page SEO a useful boost. Canonical URLs remove duplicate content and use meta tags to enhance a site’s crawlability, while the hreflang tag improves search relevance by geographical location. Learn about the useful extensions here.
3. Google Featured Snippets Uses Descriptions From YouTube
It was recently noticed that YouTube descriptions can be used by Google for featured snippets in search results.
In the example identified below, the original video description includes 61 words and 237 characters in total. This highlights another benefit of including detailed, high-quality descriptions or even transcripts for YouTube videos. Learn more here.
4. Facebook Launches Transparency Tool For Targeted Ads
An update to Facebook’s “Why am I seeing this ad?” feature aims to increase transparency around data collection and ad targeting.
According to Facebook Product Manager Sreethu Thulasi, the new transparency tool provides users with more detailed reasons about why they are shown particular ads. These include past site visits, Page likes, and the interests and categories used to match users with an ad. Before this update, users were only shown one or two vague reasons, such as a target demographic. Find out more here.
5. YouTube Masthead Ads Now Available to All Advertisers
After successful beta testing in select markets, YouTube masthead ads can now be purchased on a cost-per-thousand impression (CPM) basis. In addition to the prominent placement on YouTube’s homepage, new tools can control who sees the ad.
Previously, ads were only available for an entire day and did not include any targeting options. This change will make masthead ads more accessible and affordable for small businesses and marketers. Learn more information here.