NEW: Rank Beyond 10 Blue Links with SERP Feature Tracking in Moz Pro

Posted by Dr-Pete

From Featured Snippets to In-depth Articles to Knowledge Panels, Google SERP features have remade the search marketing landscape. After three years of planning and many months of work, I'm thrilled to announce the launch of advanced SERP feature tracking in Moz Pro, available immediately to all customers! Using the most comprehensive data set on the market, Moz Pro now provides advanced analysis of the 16 features listed below:

Try it out now under the [Rankings] tab within any campaign, or read on for a walk-through of the new features. New to Moz Pro? Take a free 30-day trial!

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Stage 1: Awareness

At MozCon 2013, I gave a talk called Beyond 10 Blue Links, documenting the diversity of Google features surrounding organic results. Many of us at Moz felt strongly that the world of SERP features could have a profound impact on search marketers, and so we started to catalog Google's changes and collect the data to find out just how much SERPs were evolving.

In early 2014, we built a prototype to better understand how we could help customers track SERP features, but we discovered that most of our customers were unfamiliar with them. None of us knew, at the time, exactly what impact SERP features were having or how we should adjust our tactics. The idea of tracking possibly dozens of types of results was daunting, especially in an industry where most of us already wore too many hats.

So, we kept tracking the data, and we learned along with the industry. We also, I hope, contributed to that education. We built the infrastructure we knew we'd need down the road (much credit to our Silo team), even if we weren't sure when the turn in that road would come. Eventually – and in large part due to the growth of Featured Snippets – we knew that our customers were ready.

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Stage 2: Acceptance

As of August, 86% of the SERPs in our 10,000-keyword tracking set had some kind of non-organic feature (a Knowledge Panel, a Featured Snippet, Rich Snippets, a Local Pack, etc.). If you count ads and shopping results, that number goes up to 97% – the days of 10 blue links are long gone.

We recently did an analysis of over 400,000 search result interactions (thanks to Russ Jones) and found that SERPs with rich features send 28% fewer clicks to traditional organic results. At the same time, many of these features, including Featured Snippets, create new opportunities for non-traditional clicks. Either way, the impact on your SEO is very real, and it's essential to understand what you're up against.

The challenge in tracking SERP features, as an SEO, is that which features matter to you can vary wildly with your niche. I've seen a single feature radically impact traffic for some sites, while that same feature may have little or no impact on others. Once you've accepted the reality of SERP features, you have to understand how the landscape looks for your own industries and sites:

One of the first things you'll see on the new SERP Features page is the overview. This graph shows the presence of features across your campaign, as well as the proportion of features that you're listed in (where applicable). At launch, we support the 16 highest-impact desktop SERP features. Click on the pull-down above the graph, and you can pull up a Trended Analysis for any feature. Good news: we've already got a 60-day history available at launch.

It's time to accept that SERP features really do exist, and dive into the details. Scrolling down, you'll see a comprehensive list of your Campaign keywords along with your current ranking, plus the features those keywords displayed the last time we checked them:

The keyword list shows all of your campaign keywords, along with their rankings and a list of icons signaling which features appeared on those SERPs. Blue icons indicate that your site appears in the feature, red icons indicate your competitor is in it, and orange icons mean that you're both listed (this might occur in multi-listing features, such as News Packs).

At the top of the page, you can narrow your list by keyword, label, location, or feature. Let's say you just wanted to see keywords with Featured Snippets. Next to the funnel icon at the top, click [+], then select "SERP Feature" and choose one from the list:

The overview graph and keyword list are both filtered now, and you can explore whatever features are most applicable to your work.

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Stage 3: Opportunity

So, what do you do with this knowledge? We've developed an insights system to help you answer that question. For example, if a keyword in your campaign currently displays a Featured Snippet, and you rank in the top 5 organic results, you've got a decent shot at being able to compete for that snippet. So, we call that out:

Click on any keyword with "Insights" to see possible opportunities. At launch, we highlight keywords with Featured Snippets, News Packs, Reviews, Videos, and Site Links (if you're not currently listed in them). We hope to add more insights in the near future.

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Bonus: Questions in KWE

Want to put this to the test today? Here's a way to easily start tracking Featured Snippet opportunities. Go to Keyword Explorer, enter a term, view all results, and then, in the first pulldown select [are questions]. You'll get a list of question suggestions related to your chosen search term:

Now, select the questions that interest you, and add them to your Campaign. We'll start tracking Featured Snippets and other SERP features, and soon you'll be discovering new opportunities to stand out from your competition.

Thanks to everyone involved on the Product and Design teams, and special thanks to our Silo team for putting the pieces in place over the past year to make tracking features possible. Please reach out to us with any comments or suggestions, and we hope you enjoy the new features!

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Join our Launch Day Twitter Q&A Party!

Try it today and tweet questions (the occasional comment or rave also welcome!) to @Moz with #OwntheSERP. Questions will be answered in real-time throughout the day (ok, technically between 7:00 am and 4:00 pm US-PST) by one of our pros: @RandFish, @Dr_Pete, @BritneyMuller, @JontheExiled.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

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Reaching Your Golden Influencers with Content Through LinkedIn Ads

Posted by WilcoxAJ

We’re all well aware that the tides have shifted in SEO. Building links for the sake of building links is no longer the best strategy.

We’ve all heard the gospel of great content being preached: "Just create great content, and the links will naturally come." While this may be true for brands with existing followings, it’s often a very different story for most SMBs.

The fact of the matter is that if a brand lacks social presence and followers, it may get more eyeballs on its great content by printing a copy, and stapling it to a tree.

For that reason, you need to pay to get that great content in front of the eyes that are most likely to share/blog/mention it. I’m going to show you how to do this using LinkedIn Ads.

LinkedIn, the resume site?

"LinkedIn?", you say? "Why would I share content on LinkedIn?", you ask? Very good question!

Everyone’s favorite professional social network is very well known for its ability to host your resume, as well as its usefulness in finding your next job. What you may not have noticed is that LinkedIn has been making great strides towards becoming a content hub, and it began back in 2012.

In 2012, LinkedIn released their Influencer program. It allowed business celebrities like Bill Gates and Richard Branson to publish long-form articles, and it allowed the likes of us peasants to follow that content without requiring said celebrities to accept our connections.

In 2013, the network announced its acquisition of Pulse, a news and content engine, which can push you content based on your industry, seniority, etc. It then released a new ad unit called "Sponsored Updates," which allows advertisers to put content in front of the right eyes.

In 2014, long-form posting (such as the likes of Arianna Huffington and Barack Obama enjoyed) was then released to all LinkedIn members.

You can see how, gradually, the professional network positioned itself to become the place you go for your business news.

Getting started

By now you may realize how helpful LinkedIn advertising can be for your content marketing efforts, but you don’t know how to get started. No problem! Here’s what you need:

1. Company page admin access

Sponsored Updates (the native ad unit that was built for sharing content effectively) require a connection to the company page. First and foremost, you’ll need to have an existing administrator of your LinkedIn company page add you to that as well.

Here’s that process:

Have your existing admin go to www.linkedin.com and search for your company name
Click on the result that is labeled "Company Page"
Click the button at the top that says "Edit"
Scroll down to the section called "Company Page Administrators"
Type in the name of the person to be granted access (you, presumably). In order to add someone, you must be connected already on LinkedIn.
Click "Publish" at the top of the page

If your company has not yet created a company page, that’s no problem either — they’re quick and easy. You can create your company page for free.

2. LinkedIn Ads account access

If you have an existing LinkedIn Ads account, here’s how to get access:

Have an account manager navigate to LinkedIn.com/ads
Log into LinkedIn with personal credentials
Select the company’s account
Click the cog wheel at the top-center of the page and click "User Access"
Click "Add User"
Type in the name of the person to be granted access (presumably you) and grant "Account Manager" (administrator) permissions

If you don’t already have an existing account, here’s how you do it:

Navigate to LinkedIn.com/ads
Click "Get Started"
Sign in with your LinkedIn credentials
Click "Add Account"
Begin typing the name of your company name in the "Company Name" field
Create an account name (simply the name of your company is best, but anything to help you recognize which account you’re accessing if you manage several

Why use LinkedIn Ads?

Although the ads platform may not be pretty, or have the feature set we in PPC have come to expect, its granular control over B2B targeting can’t be beat. I’m certain you can see the value in being able to reach someone by:

• Job title
• Seniority level
• Department
• Industry
• Company
• Etc.

Who should I target?

That depends. Who would you get the most value out of seeing your content? Here are a couple angles that I’ve used:

1. Venture capital hack

Is your company getting ready to raise a round of funding? You could target those within the "Venture Capital & Private Equity" industry. The fact that potential investors have heard of you could mean precious increase to your valuation.

Here are the targeting settings where I did just that for a client:

2. Publisher hack

Do you want to get your content linked to? How about targeting those that buy ink by the barrel? Here’s what I’ve used for just such an occasion:

By reaching those with seniorities of manager and above in the publishing industries, you’re able to get your content in front of those who could cite, publish about, or otherwise authoritatively share your content.

Attitudes toward native ads

How do we feel about advertising? Savvy consumers are suspicious and skeptical of advertisers. The fantastic part about sponsoring content is the vast majority of consumers don’t view it as an ad. When you ask customers how they found you after arriving through sponsored content, you’ll get answers like "A friend shared…" or "I came across…"

Of course, if your sponsored update feels like an ad, you’ve shot all of your blissful goodwill in the foot.

What does it cost?

Depending on the audience, I’ve found LinkedIn clicks to cost between about $4–8. That being said, sharing content carries with it a huge advantage.

For those familiar with the AdWords auction system, it will come as no surprise that you can get significant discounts on your cost-per-click (CPC) if your click-through rate (CTR) is high.

For the uninitiated, each time a LinkedIn user loads a page on the site, there is an opportunity cost associated with showing an ad. Advertiser A may be willing to bid $20 per click, but if their CTR is .1% the platform would make, at most, $20 from showing the ad to 1k visitors. Contrast that with Advertiser B who is only bidding $3, but has a CTR of 1%, which results in a maximum of $30 to the platform for showing ads to those same 1k visitors.

This means that LinkedIn maximizes its revenue when advertisers have great CTRs, so it lowers costs of high CTR performers in order to reward them for their profitability.

The advantage, then, of sharing content that's low in friction and high in interest is that it garners high CTRs, and therefore lower CPCs than content that presents more friction.

Remember that you're targeting your ideal audience here, and getting as many of them as possible to your content/offers will likely pay significant dividends in the future.

Added bonus!

Remember in the section above when I mentioned getting your ideal audience in front of your content pays significant dividends? This is where I get more specific.

You’ve got your ideal audience to your site now, and you paid between $3–7 per click to do it, which is costly in many verticals. Do you keep relying on $3–7 clicks to continue to bring them back until they’re raving fans and ready to talk to your sales team? You could, but then your cost per engagement will look sky-high.

Contrast this with the possibility of placing your LinkedIn traffic into AdWords, Twitter, and Facebook retargeting audiences (tutorial here). You can even name those audiences after the persona you drove there (i.e. Media, or Venture Capital) to make interpretation of the accounts easy.

For instance, if your LinkedIn campaign is targeting media, then call your retargeting audience “Online Media Professionals” or something to that effect.

How much do you normally pay for retargeting traffic? $.60? $1? Less? Whatever it is, it’s bound to be a huge discount compared to your original source of the traffic, and the big advantage to you is that everyone in that audience, you got to qualify through the most effective B2B targeting.

Staying on top of your ideal audiences’ minds with banner ads is great and all, but what gets even more exciting is then using those retargeting audiences as persona development.

Persona development

From following the retargeting strategy above, you know that you’ll end up with a retargeting audience that contains your ideal audience. This allows you to serve a lot of impressions very inexpensively. Use this to your advantage to test content titles, etc.

Are you interested in finding out whether the phrase "data-driven" is more engaging than "big data?" How about testing colloquial messages as opposed to more formal? Try running different versions of the content in image A/B tests to test what resonates most with your persona!

As you test against this audience, you’ll start to find out how best to talk to them, and what types garner the greatest results. After all, you’re paying for the traffic, so you might as well get all the use out of it you can.

Recap

To sum it all up, start by gathering a significant announcement, and decide the influencer who would have the greatest sway over publishing/funding it. Target those folks using LinkedIn’s powerful ad targeting. Then retarget those visitors using your favorite retargeting channels to further invest in the influencers. Then watch business results happen, in a truly scalable fashion!

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Facilidad para acceder al contenido en móviles

En la Búsqueda de Google, nuestro propósito es ayudar a los usuarios a encontrar rápido las mejores respuestas a sus preguntas, independientemente del dispositivo que utilicen. Por eso, hoy anunciamos los dos próximos cambios que afectarán a los resultados de búsqueda para móviles con el fin de facilitar la búsqueda de contenido a los usuarios.

Resultados de búsqueda para móviles simplificados

Hace dos años, añadimos una etiqueta optimizada para móviles para ayudar a los usuarios a encontrar páginas donde el texto y el contenido fueran legibles sin necesidad de hacer zoom y los elementos táctiles contaran con la separación adecuada entre sí. Desde entonces, el panorama ha cambiado: el 85% de las páginas de los resultados de búsqueda para móviles ahora cumple estos requisitos y muestran la etiqueta de optimización para móviles. Para presentar los resultados de búsqueda de forma ordenada, vamos a eliminar la etiqueta, aunque los criterios de optimización para móviles seguirán influyendo en la clasificación. Seguiremos ofreciendo el informe de usabilidad en móviles en Search Console, así como la prueba de optimización para móviles, para que los webmasters comprueben cómo afecta a sus páginas la señal de optimización para móviles.

Mayor accesibilidad al contenido que buscan los usuarios

Aunque la mayoría de las páginas ahora incluye texto y contenido legible sin necesidad de hacer zoom, hemos visto recientemente que muchas de estas páginas muestran intersticiales intrusivos a los usuarios. Si bien el contenido subyacente está presente en la página y disponible para su indexación en Google, puede quedar oculto por un intersticial. Los usuarios pueden acabar frustrados porque no pueden acceder fácilmente al contenido que esperaban tras tocar el resultado de búsqueda correspondiente. 

Las páginas que muestran intersticiales intrusivos empeoran la experiencia de usuario en comparación con otras páginas en las que se accede al contenido de forma inmediata. Esto puede ser problemático en dispositivos móviles con pantallas pequeñas. Para mejorar la experiencia de búsqueda en móviles, a partir del 10 de enero de 2017, es posible que empeore la clasificación de las páginas donde no se pueda acceder fácilmente a su contenido tras tocar los resultados de búsqueda para móviles correspondientes.

A continuación, presentamos algunos ejemplos de técnicas que hacen menos accesible el contenido para los usuarios.

• Mostrar una ventana emergente que tapa el contenido principal, ya sea justo después de que el usuario acceda tras tocar un resultado de búsqueda o mientras navega por la página.
• Mostrar un intersticial independiente que el usuario tenga que rechazar para acceder al contenido principal.
• Usar un diseño en el que la mitad superior de la página sea similar a un intersticial independiente, con el contenido original insertado en la mitad inferior.

Ejemplos de intersticiales que hacen el contenido menos accesible

Ejemplo de una ventana emergente intrusiva	Ejemplo de un intersticial independiente intrusivo	Otro ejemplo de intersticial independiente intrusivo

Por otra parte, presentamos a continuación algunos ejemplos de técnicas a las que no afectará la nueva señal siempre que se utilicen con responsabilidad:

• Intersticiales que aparecen como respuesta a un requisito legal (por ejemplo, en relación con el uso de cookies o la verificación de edad)
• Cuadros de diálogo para iniciar sesión en sitios web en los que el contenido no se indexa públicamente (por ejemplo, un correo electrónico privado o contenido no indexable tras un muro de pago)
• Los banners que ocupan un espacio razonable en la pantalla y se pueden ocultar fácilmente (por ejemplo, los banners de descarga de aplicaciones de Safari y Chrome ocupan un espacio razonable en la pantalla)

Ejemplos de intersticiales a los que no afectaría la nueva señal si se usan de forma responsable

Ejemplo de intersticial de uso de cookies	Ejemplo de intersticial de verificación de edad	Ejemplo de banner que ocupa un espacio razonable en la pantalla

Antes contábamos con una señal que comprobaba si había intersticiales que solicitaran al usuario la descarga de una aplicación móvil. A medida que avanzaba el desarrollo, vimos que era necesario centrarnos en los intersticiales de manera más general. Por lo tanto, para evitar el uso de señales duplicadas, cancelamos la comprobación de intersticiales de descarga de aplicaciones de la prueba de optimización para móviles y la incorporamos en esta nueva señal de la Búsqueda.

Recuerda que esta nueva señal solo es una de los cientos de señales que se usan para determinar la clasificación en los resultados de búsqueda. La intención de la consulta de búsqueda sigue siendo una señal muy importante, de modo que una página puede estar bien clasificada en los resultados de búsqueda si ofrece contenido relevante y de calidad. Como siempre, si tienes alguna pregunta o alguna sugerencia, visita nuestros foros para webmasters.

Escrito por Doantam Phan, Product Manager. Publicado por Joan Ortiz, Equipo de Calidad de Búsqueda

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Disfruta de una automatización de pujas más efectiva con la nueva herramienta AdWords Smart Bidding

Para que cualquier programa de marketing digital ofrezca buenos resultados, es fundamental contar con una administración eficiente y efectiva de las pujas. Hoy, estamos encantados de anunciar Smart Bidding, la nueva forma de referirnos a las pujas automáticas basadas en conversiones de AdWords y DoubleClick Search que refleja el eficiente aprendizaje automático en el que se basa.

Pujas más inteligentes para obtener un mejor rendimiento

Para crear Smart Bidding, se ha tenido en cuenta la extensa experiencia de Google en el uso del aprendizaje automático en una amplia variedad de productos, entre los que se incluyen el asistente de Google, la creación automática de álbumes en Google Fotos y AlphaGo, el primer programa informático de la historia en superar a un jugador profesional de Go. Smart Bidding puede tener en cuenta millones de señales para determinar la puja óptima y define mejor los modelos de rendimiento de tus conversiones en los diferentes niveles de puja para ayudarte a sacar el máximo provecho a tu presupuesto de marketing.

Las funciones de aprendizaje de Smart Bidding maximizan rápidamente la precisión de tus modelos de pujas para mejorar la forma en que optimizas las pujas más específicas incluso en aquellos casos en los que detecta áreas con un menor volumen de conversiones. Evalúa patrones de muchos datos, como tu estructura de campaña, las páginas de destino, el texto del anuncio, la información de producto y las frases de palabras clave, entre otros, para identificar más similitudes relevantes en todos los elementos de puja y aprender de forma eficaz de la relación entre ellos.

Además de sus funciones de aprendizaje automático, Smart Bidding se basa en tres ideas fundamentales inspiradas por los comentarios que hemos recibido de nuestros usuarios en relación con las características importantes que debe tener una solución de pujas:

●         Optimización de pujas precisa que se adapte al contexto del usuario

●         Controles de rendimiento flexibles que tengan en cuenta tus objetivos empresariales únicos

●         Informes transparentes que ofrezcan datos claros sobre el rendimiento de tus pujas

Hemos desarrollado varias innovaciones a este respecto en AdWords que estarán disponibles próximamente. Consulta una visión general completa de AdWords Smart Bidding.

Nuevas señales de puja que ofrecen una visión más completa del contexto del usuario

AdWords Smart Bidding adapta las pujas a cada una de las subastas de las diferentes propiedades de Google, lo que se conoce como pujas “en el momento de la subasta”. Esto te permite registrar la amplia variedad de señales que componen el contexto de un usuario en una subasta concreta, entre las que se incluyen el dispositivo y la ubicación, que están disponibles como ajustes de puja, así como señales adicionales y combinaciones de señales exclusivas de AdWords como, por ejemplo, el navegador y el idioma. Buscamos constantemente nuevas señales que sean indicadores eficaces del rendimiento para añadirlas a nuestros modelos de pujas. Entre algunas de las señales que hemos añadido recientemente se incluyen la ubicación, la intención y otros atributos que son similares entre productos. También hemos añadido otras señales que estarán disponibles próximamente, como la estacionalidad y la competitividad de los precios. Más información

Establece objetivos de rendimiento del dispositivo con pujas de CPA objetivo

El dispositivo es una dimensión importante en la optimización de las campañas. El nuevo CPA objetivo con objetivos de rendimiento del dispositivo te permite establecer objetivos de CPA independientes según el dispositivo. Por ejemplo, si eres un anunciante de telecomunicaciones que obtiene oportunidades de venta de mejor calidad a partir de los dispositivos móviles porque las llamadas y visitas a la tienda generan unos mayores porcentajes de conversiones, ahora puedes establecer un CPA objetivo para dispositivos móviles que sea más alto en comparación con otros dispositivos que te permita tener en cuenta estos datos offline. Esta opción estará disponible para todos los anunciantes en las próximas semanas tanto en las campañas de la Red de Búsqueda como de Display.

Estados y alertas de las pujas en primer plano

Las funciones de informes transparentes disponibles en AdWords Smart Bidding te permiten saber con exactitud el rendimiento de tus estrategias de puja y te avisan de inmediato de los errores que requieran tu atención. Entre estas funciones, se incluyen nuevas alertas específicas para las pujas, que están ya disponibles, e informes de rendimiento detallados para las estrategias de puja configuradas en el nivel de campaña, que estamos lanzando actualmente. En las próximas semanas, también integraremos los estados de las estrategias de puja en las columnas de estado de los grupos de anuncios y las campañas principales. Más información sobre estas nuevas funciones de informes

Anunciantes como AliExpress, SurveyMonkey y Capterra ya utilizan AdWords Smart Bidding para obtener un mejor rendimiento.

AliExpress es una tienda de comercio electrónico con presencia mundial y una filial de Alibaba Group. En AliExpress, han utilizado experimentos y borradores de campañas para probar el CPA objetivo cara a cara con su solución de pujas actual. Jessy Sheng, directora de Marketing, explica: "Queríamos tener acceso a un mayor número de señales diferentes para hacer pujas más dinámicas e incrementar las ventas online en varios mercados". Después de solo un mes probando el CPA objetivo, las conversiones se incrementaron un 93% y el CPA se redujo un 46%. "Gracias a los borradores y a los experimentos, podemos probar fácilmente nuevas estrategias de puja de forma más rápida que nunca, lo que es importante para un negocio en el que el ritmo es tan frenético y dinámico como el nuestro. Smart Bidding con CPA objetivo ha producido resultados fantásticos y útiles. Estaremos encantados de utilizar Smart Bidding en más campañas.”

SurveyMonkey es líder en el sector de las encuestas basadas en la Web. Con una fuerte competencia por las palabras clave, SurveyMonkey considera prioritario contar con una administración de pujas de última generación que le permita maximizar el rendimiento de su presupuesto de marketing. "Estamos abiertos a probar cualquier función que nos proporcione más conversiones y nos ayude a alcanzar nuestro CPA objetivo", afirma Brittany Bingham, directora de Marketing Online, que añade: “Después de solo tres semanas probando AdWords Smart Bidding, hemos registrado un incremento de las conversiones del 44%, una cifra increíble. Esperamos utilizar Smart Bidding con CPA objetivo en más campañas".

Capterra ofrece una forma inteligente de encontrar el software empresarial adecuado. Para ello, proporciona a los compradores opiniones de usuarios completas, puntuaciones de productos e infografías detalladas. Su equipo de publicidad, con una estructura de campaña compleja y de grandes dimensiones que incluye más de un millón de palabras clave, 400 categorías de software y orientada a más de 30 países, quería dejar atrás las pujas manuales para poder centrarse en otras oportunidades de crecimiento. Zachary Rippstein, director de Publicidad de Capterra, comenta: "Gracias a AdWords Smart Bidding, hemos ganado mucha eficiencia. Y lo que es más importante, hemos registrado una importante mejora en el rendimiento y el crecimiento de los beneficios. Al utilizar el CPA objetivo, hemos podido generar beneficios un 121% más altos durante el período de prueba en comparación con el período de control".

Para obtener más información sobre AdWords Smart Bidding, accede al Centro de Ayuda y consulta las prácticas recomendadas para maximizar los buenos resultados que obtienes con las pujas automáticas. Si eres anunciante de DoubleClick o quieres administrar tu campaña o tus pujas en varios motores de búsqueda, obtén información sobre DoubleClick Search Smart Bidding.

Anthony Chavez, director de Gestión de Productos, anuncios de la Red de Búsqueda, Google

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Google's Future is in the Cards

Posted by Dr-Pete

Google is constantly testing new design elements, but over the past few months they've been testing a change that, while it might seem small on the surface, represents a major philosophical shift. The screenshots in this post were all captured on live SERPs but appear to be tests and have not rolled out permanently. Here's an example of the basic change:

Notice how each result (ads and organic) is wrapped in a container and visually separated on a gray background. These containers are called "cards" in Google's vernacular, and they're important, but we'll get to that. Why should we care about a few borders and a background?

Shift #1: Mobile-first design

We've known for over two years that Google was shifting to a mobile-first design philosophy. Earlier this year, Google removed ads from the right-hand column. While this change was partially due to performance, I believe that a big part of it was standardizing the ad environment across platforms (mobile, tablet, desktop, etc.). What's not obvious from the test above is that this card-based design is more than just boxes and backgrounds. Google is testing a serious move toward single-column SERPs. The removal of ads from the right-hand column was only the beginning.

Here's a SERP screenshot for "polar bear" in Google's current desktop design:

Below is the test design, captured back in May. The Knowledge Panel has been moved to the top-left, and the right-hand column is gone. This is not a Knowledge Card of the sort we typically see on the top-left. It is the traditionally right-hand desktop entity, moved and collapsed (with a "More about Polar bear" arrow):

Here's the same search on an Android phone. Notice the card-based format and Knowledge Panel at the top. Obviously, nothing is in the right-hand column, because mobile only has one column:

There are still display differences between mobile and the desktop test, of course, but you can clearly start to see the convergence between the test and the current mobile design.

How will it all fit on the left?

Getting everything on current desktop SERPs into one column poses significant challenges, and Google is experimenting with a few variations. Here's a SERP that has both a Knowledge Panel and a Knowledge Card, for example:

In this case, the Knowledge Card showing the support phone number appears above the Knowledge Panel, and both are above the first organic result. You'll notice some design differences on this example, which was captured in July. Here's another example, with a different, more interesting layout:

This SERP has a local 3-pack, which is at the top (like on current designs), followed by an organic result, and then followed by the Knowledge Panel. This pushes the Knowledge Panel down the page quite a bit, and the #2 organic result down well below the fold. In another example, we saw a Knowledge Panel below four ads and four organic results. So, the traditional top placement may become more flexible.

Here's an example with a Featured Video, followed by a Knowledge Panel, and then the first organic:

The bottom of this same SERP has another interesting feature: a set of three different related searches, each with their own card. On the current design, these live at the bottom of the Knowledge Panel, but here they've been split off from the panel and expanded:

Keep in mind that these are only variations in testing, and that this testing has been ongoing over a period of months. We can piece together Google's intent from looking at multiple tests, but we can't pin down what the final design will look like or when (or even if) it will launch.

Shift #2: Google Now

There's another reason I think the card-based design is potentially interesting. Google Now, Google's predictive search product, was built on the "card" concept. Here's an Android screenshot:

Google Now mixes and matches results of personal interest. On this screen, I've got a Knowledge Graph-style card with an upcoming game time, another KG-style card with a recent box score, and a carousel of news results, all under a topical "Chicago Cubs" section header. Here's another Google Now screen:

Here, I've got another news carousel (note its similarity to mobile search news carousels), and then an individual news story with its own card. Google Now shows that you can create a result using virtually no traditional organic results and mix multiple Knowledge Graphs, news, and other entities in a single, fluid experience.

What does it all mean?

Cards are much more than just a design philosophy. We're used to seeing SERPs in clusters: a column of organic results, a Knowledge Panel, a box of news results, a box of local results, etc. Prior to individually-labelled ads, even AdWords ads came in visually-delineated chunks. With cards, we have to start thinking of each individual information unit as a stand-alone result, and every SERP is a mix of the most relevant results across a wide variety of sources and types.

Viewing SERPs as collection of search information units (SIUs?) also allows Google to easily adapt across a wide range of displays, from desktop all the way down to wearables, which might only have screen space for a single card. Even voice search can be adapted to cards. Currently, if you run a voice search on Android that returns a Featured Snippet, for example, your mobile device will read that snippet back to you. Voice search is returning one card, a single unit of search information.

Cards give Google a great deal of flexibility, and will begin to break traditional design barriers and result groupings. We may see ads leaving top and bottom blocks and being dispersed between other results. We may see a mix of shopping results, say a single product card and a multi-product carousel on the same page. Similarly, we may see multiple news results or carousels across a single page. We may see multiple Knowledge Cards or personalized results, if a search merits that kind of personalization.

The era of cards is the final nail in the coffin of ten blue links. Ultimately, our definition of search engine optimization is going to have to expand beyond traditional results and into any information unit that can drive traffic.

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Adiós a los "Clics convertidos" con la simplificación de la métrica de conversiones

En 2001 se introdujo el seguimiento de conversiones en AdWords para medir lo que ocurría cuando se hacía clic en tu anuncio. Saber si la gente completaba la acción esperada en tu sitio web significaba que podías determinar qué palabras clave, anuncios y campañas funcionaban mejor. La métrica de conversión original era muy sencilla: solamente informaba de si un clic en un anuncio conducía o no a un tipo de acción concreta en tu sitio web. En AdWords esa métrica obsoleta se denomina hoy "Clics convertidos". 

En los 15 años que han pasado desde que se introdujo el seguimiento de conversiones, se han realizado varias mejoras para medir y atribuir conversiones. Concretamente, ahora la familia de columnas "Conversiones" ofrece una idea precisa del número de conversiones generadas para tu empresa gracias a AdWords. Para facilitarlo aún más, pronto se eliminarán los "Clics convertidos", y las "Conversiones" serán la opción predeterminada para medir las acciones valiosas para tu empresa.

La manera ideal de medir esas acciones valiosas son las "Conversiones"; de hecho, la mayoría de los anunciantes ya las utilizan como métrica principal de pujas y de informes.  Las "Conversiones" pueden medir el comportamiento a lo largo de varios eventos de conversión o de varios clics. Por ejemplo, las "Conversiones" pueden aprovechar los modelos de atribución que no son de último clic y las distintas opciones de recuento.  Además, pueden medir acciones importantes centradas en los dispositivos móviles como las conversiones multidispositivo y las visitas a la tienda. Sin embargo, los "Clics convertidos" no pueden hacer nada de eso. Por estas y otras razones, a partir de septiembre de 2016 no se admitirán los "Clics convertidos".

Si ya estás utilizando "Conversiones" para informes y pujas, no tienes que hacer nada. Sin embargo, si utilizas CPA objetivo o CPC mejorado y tu métrica principal de puja es "Clics convertidos", deberías actualizar a "Conversiones" antes del 21 de septiembre. Por si automatizas tus pujas basándote en "Clics convertidos", enviaremos por correo electrónico a todas las cuentas afectadas una sencilla herramienta de migración que hemos diseñado. También puedes actualizar la configuración manualmente.

Configuración de la métrica de la puja de conversión en AdWords

Si para tomar decisiones relacionadas con pujas y presupuestos utilizas la columna "Clics convertidos" de los informes, también deberás pasar a utilizar la columna "Conversiones". Esta columna puede configurarse para que proporcione informes con números similares a los de la columna "Clics convertidos", aunque debes revisar dicha configuración para asegurarte de que estás contabilizando las acciones que más afectan a tu empresa. Las "Conversiones" ofrecen lo mismo que "Clics convertidos" y mucho más.

Si tienes que actualizar, debes tener en cuenta lo siguiente durante el cambio:

●         Escoge qué acciones de conversión de las que mides deben incluirse en la columna "Conversiones". En "Todas las conversiones" se pueden medir otras acciones.

●         Decide si vas a contabilizar varias instancias de una conversión después de un clic o solamente una.

●         Personaliza tus ventanas y valores de conversión (si es necesario).

●         Revisa los números de tu conversión multidispositivo, que se incluirán en la columna "Conversiones" a partir de septiembre.

●         Descarga las estadísticas de los informes pasados de "Clics convertidos" que desees guardar.

Puedes modificar la configuración de cada una de tus acciones de conversión en AdWords

Es importante llevar un recuento de conversiones adecuado, y es fundamental llevarlo correctamente a medida que se desarrolla el comportamiento online. Para obtener más información acerca de este futuro cambio, consulta nuestro Centro de Ayuda.

Publicado por Tal Akabas y Frederik Kemner, responsables de Producto, Conversiones de AdWords

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Making Sense of Google's Updates in Local Search

Posted by George-Freitag

Last week, Casey Meraz did a great breakdown on the state of local, showing where you should be heading with your strategy and answering some tough questions about the future of local search. Today, let’s look at all the recent changes that Google itself has been making to its own local product and examine how that will help you understand where they’re heading.

This has been a big year for local search, with Google launching a ton of changes related to local, including several changes directly to their local platform, Google My Business. Marketers and brands are naturally scrambling to respond to each of these changes individually, as they should, but what about the larger implications of changes like these?

The running theme with all these changes seems to be the following three things: Google is taking local seriously, Google is wants to get more local data through its crawler, and Google really, really wants more reviews. But let’s not jump ahead of ourselves. First, let’s review some of the major changes that have occurred over the last few months.

What’s changed?

1. No more descriptions for Google My Business

The most recent change to Google My Business occurred on August 3rd when Google My Business stopped accepting edits to the description. The description will still be editable through Google+, but with the way the rest of the company has been distancing itself from its social platform, that’s likely not to stick around for long.

2. Additional categories no longer supported

Additionally, though it got lost in the shuffle a bit, when they removed the descriptions they also removed the following sections from their bulk upload form:

• Ad Icon URL
• Ad Landing Page URL
• Alt Phone. Alt phone is now "Additional phones."
• Categories. This field has been replaced by "Primary category" and “Additional categories.”
• City. City is now "Locality."
• Description
• Email
• Fax
• Payment Types
• State. State is now "Administrative area."

3. Google+ metrics removed, additional Google My Business Insights

In a separate announcement, Google also removed Google+ metrics from their dashboard, instead providing more detailed metrics around the source of views to your GMB profile. Google My Business now shows whether customers found a business via search or Google Maps and breaks down actions customers are taking by website visits, driving direction requests, phone calls, or photos.

4. Greater support of reviews for local businesses

And in yet another announcement this month, Google released the ability for all websites to have “Critic Reviews” published directly in Google search results, next to the local businesses results. Days later, Google backed up this announcement by promoting the detailed Schema Markup needed to apply for critic reviews.

For reviews on Google My Business itself, they added the ability to respond to reviews on Google directly through the latest version of its API.

Overview of changes

And this is just within the last couple of months! So, what do all of these changes imply? Well, first off, it means that Google is making some serious changes towards local. And it should. Based on data released in May of 2016, over 50% of its traffic is now mobile and within that, nearly 30% of those searches are local!

Secondly, it means that Google is getting more confident in its own crawl data. Google wouldn’t take away a chance to get information from you if it didn’t have a good way of getting that same information by itself. We already saw this when Google removed support of Authorship and, years earlier, removed support of the Meta Keywords tag. By further distancing its local product from its social product, Google+, it implies that the data gathered from those sources wasn’t valuable. It also means that Google likely hasn’t been paying attention to any of this stuff for some time now.

This is pretty in line with everything Google has worked towards with local information. User-generated information, while invaluable, is easily manipulated. Because of this, Google often prefers to use its own data, when available. This is why that irritatingly complicated Local Search Ecosystem is so irritatingly complicated. Google needs to be able to verify its data, verify it again somewhere else, and repeat however many times it needs to to be sure.

How does this affect me?

So what does this mean for marketers and brands? There are a couple of key takeaways. First, it means that Google is becoming increasingly confident in the data that it’s getting on its own. On top of that, Google is surfacing more information about an individual business than it ever has before. Information like business hours, reviews, driving directions, social links, and more are all available directly in the search results.

While providing all of this information is potentially great from a user perspective, this is also makes Google tremendously vulnerable from a trust perspective. Every new piece of information that Google surfaces in its search results is a new opportunity for them to get that information wrong, so they're putting themselves at a tremendous risk. They aren’t going to do this unless they can be absolutely sure and, as we know, the way they verify information is through their own crawls.

The second big takeaway is that Google is trying harder than ever to get more reviews into its platform. By distancing itself from Google+ they removed one of the biggest barriers for leaving reviews. By promoting Schema and opening up the ability for more people to have their reviews included in search results, Google is making sure that it has as much review data as possible. As demonstrated last year in another study by Casey Meraz, we know that reviews are a huge element in the click-through rate of local results.

What should I do?

Let’s talk tactics. Knowing that Google is putting more emphasis on crawl data and that it's looking for more ways to get reviews, your job as a marketer gets pretty clear. You need to get your local information and reviews in all the places Google might look and make it easy for Google to understand.

Learn to love Schema markup

One of the most telling things about Google’s updates, in general, is that they've been consistently and reliably promoting Schema usage every chance they get. This means they probably like it. And the great thing about Schema is that it’s easier than ever to implement! To facilitate their love affair with Schema, Google created an easy-to-use tool, the Structured Data Markup Helper, that lets you highlight contact information, reviews, and more, then generate the JSON-LD code you can paste right in the <head> of your page. Pair that with their other free tool for testing markup, the Structured Data Testing Tool, and you have everything you need to start using Schema right away.

Make your business listing information accurate

This may seem repetitive in the local space, but that’s just because it’s true. Even if you enter all the information exactly right in Google My Business, Google still doesn’t trust it unless it can verify it against other sources. Use the free Check Listing Tool or any of the other online tools to make sure you’re not only listed on all of the most important online sources, but that your information is accurate. And not just mostly accurate — so accurate that Google doesn’t have any choice other than to completely trust your data. The one thing that will prevent Google from ever showing your business in their giant local search result is conflicting information about your business on various online sources.

Get your review strategy together

You can’t just sit around and hope for reviews anymore. According to a study by BrightLocal, 92% of people look to online reviews when deciding to use a business. We also know that people click on them in Google. And we know that Google is trying to get as many of them as possible in their own search results.

1. Use Schema markup on your site for all the reviews you have on your own site. Even if Google isn’t using those now, they're certainly acting as though they want to start.
2. Monitor your reviews online and have a response strategy. With Google surfacing reviews even more in their results, you need to be sure you properly address negative reviews and take every opportunity to address the concern.
3. Give great customer service. The most frustrating part of an online review strategy is that the majority of it occurs offline. Be nice to your customers and thank them for their time.

Earn good links

There are tons of great resources for linkbuilding on the Moz Blog alone, so I won’t muddy the waters with more advice. I will say that, while the Google penalties of the previous few years have been rough on linkbuilding, there’s still no question it’s still one of the most influential ranking factors in SEO as a whole, let alone in local. The only difference is that it has to be good. The one thing the Google penalties proved that Google definitely knows the difference between a good links and a bad link. Good links are good because they mean people are actually interested in your content and are legitimately trying to share it. Of course Google would want to use that as a metric. That’s the content you need to make.

Is this all you can do? Of course not. But focusing on the things Google is paying attention to is one of the best ways to make sure you’re staying ahead of the curve to make your local strategy as future-proof as possible.

Any other big changes in local that I missed? Have your own tips to stay on Google’s good side in local? Share your own thoughts in the comments below!

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