Author: Nancy McCord

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GMail and the Promotion Tab – What to Do and Know About It

If you are not a GMail user, you may be out of the loop when it comes to what happens to the nice e-newsletter you just sent out to your clients. With the new GMail inbox, your newsletter is now automatically sent to a tab in the inbox of users called the “Promotion” tab. For some website owners, this means that your carefully crafted message has just gone into “no man’s land”.

Although the promotion tab is not a junk mail folder, it is a place of less consequence and based on how heavily a user is entrenched with GMail, it may mean that your message is one of hundreds that may simply never be seen.

So what are website owner’s to do when it comes to getting your email message read by users of GMail?

1. Make sure your e-newsletter is interesting and provides value. Whether that be a special promotion or discount, to tips of real value to a reader, remember the following…

“Gmail’s filtering is smart, so once your subscribers engage with your email, the more likely they are to appear in the coveted “Primary” tab. Also, if your email subscribers are into doing a little up-front work, they’ll never miss one of your emails again. All they have to do is click and drag your emails to the correct tab, and choose to always filter those messages in that folder. ” Make sure to read this full article on this GMail issue as it is a good one.

2. Encourage your users to click in, and interact with your emails. You can even go a step farther and instruct users on how to move your mailings by drag and drop within the GMail interface to encourage them to put your e-newsletter in the “Primary” tab.

3. Make sure to use social media to point to e-newsletters you have done and archive them back on your website. This gives GMail users who may have missed your message alternative ways to find out about your news.

If you need help with your own e-newsletter program, we offer excellent writing services to make the articles and information you send out interesting and shareable. Find out more about how we can help you today.

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How to Opt Out of Google’s Shared Endorsements

I am not sure why we have to go down this path again, but we do. However this time it is not Facebook or Twitter that is using your name and face to sell services, but Google!

Plastered all over the home page of Google.com is a blue bar letting you know that in November Google will be starting to use any Google+ user’s information on +1’s, reviews, and comments in advertising around the Web to other people in your circle. Google calls this new brand of advertising Shared Endorsements.

For now, this really only impacts users who are on Google+, but I would not be surprised if eventually this will impact all users of Google. If you don’t want to share what you do and like in this way with others, you can opt out of this new program, and here’s how:

1. Visit this Google Page: https://plus.google.com/settings/endorsements?hl=en&partnerid=gplp0 you will need to login to your Google account.

2. Go to the bottom of the page where it says “Based upon my activity, Google may show my name and profile photo in shared endorsements that appear in ads.” and remove the check mark from the box. If there was no check mark you are fine.

3. Make sure to click save. Google will pull up a comment asking you “are you sure you want to do this?” click “yes” and you are good to go.

Facebook took a huge black eye months ago when it rolled out it’s own version of Endorsement Ads when it revealed what people had bought in ads embarrassing users who maybe did not want others to know that they had bought certain items. Why Google has decided to go down this same path, one can only guess.

I for one have already removed my name and I encourage you to do so too. We already share so much online I don’t want my name and image to hawk products to others I may know.

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Google Partners is Replacing AdWords Certified Partners

Announced on October 2nd in a YouTube livestream, Google announced that it is retiring its Google AdWords Certified Partner and Certified Individual program. Replacing these important programs is a new program called Google Partners.

Google AdWords Certified Partners will not be automatically grandfathered into the new Google Partner program. They will need to reapply for acceptance. But passing exams now is not the only hurdle to becoming a Google Partner. The prospective applicant firm must now prove competency in the AdWords accounts that it manages with Google rating performance on use of new strategies, frequency of account updates, value of the manager’s capability in changes enacted that will benefit an account, and customer service. Additionally Google Partners have a minimum ad management spend requirement.

We welcome these changes as Google tightens up on qualifications and helps consumers to understand the real value a Partner account manager brings to a professionally managed account. My firm is in the last stages of the approval process and I expect to have our Partner badge in the next two weeks.

With the previous Google AdWords Certified Partner program and badge expiring by mid November, make sure your account manager is staying abreast of these important changes that validate their skill level.

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Google’s Hummingbird Algorithm Explained

Affecting over 92% of all searches the new Google algorithm called Hummingbird was released about two weeks ago. Some website saw no change in placement and the placement of other websites was significantly impacted.

What does the Hummingbird update really impact?

First, this is a large change to how Google ranks websites. No longer is there a focus on the keywords on the page or keyword density but rather a refocus on “understanding” what a search query means and delivering the best page that addresses the intention of the searcher.

This is a huge technology shift in how Google delivers search results. With many of the technology changes Google has made this last year, Google now is able to measure user intent in each search query. By checking device, location, and search query history, Google now understands better what a user wants to see in the search results.

How does this impact website owners?

First and foremost website owners need to understand that Google is not looking for keyword density or to be spoon-fed keyword phrases. Google now understand a concept on your website page based on the phrases used and the meaning. Additionally by reviewing signals of co-citation and social media sharing Google understands which website pages and websites have the best content for the user’s unique query based on their intent and location.

The bottom line is that the ability to control Google to show your website or page in the search results in a higher position has become nearly impossible. The focus for website owners instead should be to create the most relevant website for their own audience with a strong focus on location specificity.

For national selling firms this means that location should be mentioned and not masked, but that this new geo-location bias will continue to have a negative impact on their performance; driving new advertisers into Google AdWords.

For additional information on how unique the Google Hummingbird algorithm is for Google, I recommend a careful review of this very interesting article called “Google’s Hummingbird Takes Flight: SEOs Give Insight On Google’s New Algorithm” from Search Engine Land.