A Google help document has been released, defining exactly what counts as impressions, positions, and clicks in the Search Analytics report of Google Search Console.
The post Google Defines What Counts as Impressions, Positions, and Clicks by @SouthernSEJ appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Posted by ronell-smith
Topic Trends, the latest feature added to Moz Content, allows marketers to quickly access a snapshot of the most popular and the most relevant content in any vertical.
By accessing the content in the Content Search index, Topic Trends highlights the topics that were written about most frequently in the previous five days.
Since the presidential election is the hottest thing going at the moment, it's little surprise that election news is dominant:
Topic Trends displaying the most current, most popular topics
This feature is based on the Sharing Trends Graph, which highlights the number of articles matching your search in the Moz Content index, in addition to factoring in the median number of shares per article.
By typing "Featured Snippets" into the search field, for example, you get a two-line graph that's rich in details that can instantly inform your content strategy:
“We're using the graph as a rough indicator of audience interest in the topic,” says Jay Leary, Moz's senior product manager for Moz Content and one of the lead architects behind the product. “It's sort of like a Google Trends, but instead of searches for a topic, we're looking at the sharing of articles about the topic."
Below the graph you'll find a list of results along with their content metrics, including Reach, Links, Discovery Date and a host of other metrics, including those associated with social shares:
Ever since Matthew J. Brown announced the Beta version of Moz Content at MozCon 2015, we've been focused on designing, creating and delivering a tool that will make it easier for marketers to create the types of content that'll resonate with their audiences.
The Tracked Audits feature is ideal for brands who already have an audience, but if you're just getting started, the focus is usually on research. That's where Content Search comes in.
The Tracked Audits feature, for example, provides marketers with all of the information a normal content audit would, but has the added dimension of an extended and customizable timeline.
Instead of spending hours manually (which I've done numerous times; it's no fun) you can simply have updates emailed to you detailing everything you need to know to track content performance.
Also, thanks to Content Search, you can find the most popular pieces of content from across the web via a simple topic search:
Results returned for the query "content marketing"
Not only will this allow you to be better informed about the content types and content topics you should create, but it also alerts you to who your main competitors are for content you desire to create, as well.
If you haven't tried Moz Content yet, now is as good a time as any to give it a whirl: https://moz.com/content
If you've already been using the product, try out the newest feature and let us know what you think.
Either way, we'd love to hear from users of the product. We're always looking for ways to improve it and welcome your input.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below.
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!
Online reviews can in some cases make or break a business, so it's no surprise that many businesses take their online reviews very, very seriously.
But some take their concern over what customers are saying about them online too far, and try to silence customer criticism with legal threats.
Others have incorporated legalese such as non-disparagement clauses into contracts that seeks to prevent them from posting negative reviews in the first place.
The issue has caught the attention of lawmakers. One bill, the Consumer Review Fairness Act, would allow states and the Federal Trade Commission to go after businesses that use these clauses to gag their customers.
But while the Consumer Review Fairness Act works its way through the legislative process, Yelp just gave businesses a good reason to think twice about threatening customers who post negative reviews.
The popular online reviews service has added a new Consumer Alert that warns users about businesses that use “questionable legal threats” to try to silence unhappy customers.
According to Yelp's Senior VP of Corporate Communications & Public Affaris, Vince Sollitto, “Consumers don't necessarily know that these threats are sometimes empty or meritless (and often both!), so the threat of legal action is enough to scare them into silence. We don't think that's right.”
The new Consumer Alert aims to make sure that Yelpers are aware of their rights, and it could dent the online reputation of businesses that Yelp believes are violating those rights.
For instance, Prestigious Pets, a pet sitting business located in Dallas, has 59 reviews on Yelp, and an enviable 4.5 star rating.
But prospective customers who visit its Yelp page are greeted with the new Consumer Alert, which they must acknowledge before being able to read the business' reviews. Needless to say, the alert might give potential customers of Prestigious Pets pause.
The good news for businesses is that bad reviews, while obviously undesirable, need not be feared.
Most reviews are positive, and even the not-so-positive ones help build authenticity and are better than no reviews. What's more: negative reviews can be a gift.
Not only are they are a source of valuable feedback that enable businesses to improve the quality of their products and services, they can provide businesses with an opportunity to identify customers who had an unsatisfactory experience so they can attempt to rectify the situation and save the customer relationship.
The benefits of negative reviews, coupled with the steeper price Yelp is making overly aggressive and litigious businesses pay for intimidating unhappy customers, mean that businesses have no reason not to try making lemonade when online reviews hand them lemons.
Welcome to Majestic's Myth-busting blog. Here, we aim to (as honestly and coolly as possible) dispel some of the myths about our index and backlink checking tool. Many of these myths are simply honest untruths that have surfaced through Chinese whisper-like forums. Unfortunately, others are malicious rumours spread by the Devil himself and his bastard…
The post Majestic Mythbusters appeared first on Majestic Blog.
Who hasn't Googled themselves at least once or twice, but there are some who do it over and over again. If you're one of those people, Google has a solution for you.
The post Google Has a Solution for People Who Obsessively Google Themselves by @SouthernSEJ appeared first on Search Engine Journal.
Facebook has taken the next step in their attempt to become more business integrated and savvy. Their Messenger system is allowing companies to create bots letting users purchase products, request services, get information, and more. All from a personal message window on their Facebook dashboard.
These are the nine Facebook messenger bots you should check out especially if you are looking for ideas on how to make your own brand more social media friendly.
Spring
Shop socially! You put in details like size, color, product description, and price range. The bot will create a list of fitting products for you to peruse and, if you choose, purchase right from your Messenger window.
It is a great way to see what they have to offer, without having to go through their site and manually search their products. I find the bot to be a lot more useful and easy to navigate than their in-catalog browsing features.
Uber
Citizen run taxi service Uber has been facing a lot of criticism lately. Their prices, what they now pay their drivers, dangers posed to passengers due to lax background checks, and now competition Lyft gaining serious traction in the wake of various scandals.
They are now trying to add some extra perks to their service to get beyond these damaging setbacks, like their new messenger bot. You can now connect your account through messenger, and request a ride within Facebook, no matter where you are. Don't feel like taking up the extra space on your phone with their app? This is a good alternative.
Fify
Want your very own fashion consultant? This piece of AI learns your preferences and remembers them, helping to pick out items that you are more likely to want. The more you use it, the more attuned to your tastes it becomes. More than that, the AI acts as a person would.
They will contact you about trends you may be interested in, pick up details from your Facebook that might be relevant to your shopping needs, and gossip with you about current pop culture and entertainment/fashion news. Not everyone's cup of tea, but interesting if you are into that kind of interaction.
Yahoo Finance
Want easily digestible finance tools that will give you information you can actually understand? If you aren't a professional, this is an awesome tool to have. It will give you the latest stock information, charts, break down market trends, and let you easily search by stock or company name.
It is a small bot, but a solid one that I have so far really personally enjoyed. As someone without any financial knowledge, it makes a very complicated subject seems a whole lot simpler… which is a major plus.
NewsBytes
If you are sick of filtering through biased news networks for information that you can rely on, you may like this particular bot. It gives you quick, tiny bites of current events and news stories, without any political angle. They try and use the most well rounded, nonpartisan sources for the information.
CNN has their own bot, but it is nice to see third party alternatives providing measured and simple news bites without the agenda. Plus, they are super quick. Keeping up on the news is difficult at best, especially with how open our world has become. This is a great bot for picking and choosing, and getting a summary of what is happening in the world.
HealthTap
Get access to doctors from all over the world, ready to answer your health related questions. Not sure of the dosage of Tylenol to give your 12-year-old when they have a fever?
Worried about a spreading rash? Unsure on whether or not the flu has been going on long enough to warrant an appointment? If you have ever used the HealthTap website you know it can be a helpful service. This expands it beyond its original parameters, giving wider access and a faster way to get answers.
Burger King
Have you ever thought to yourself, “Gee, fast food would be a lot faster if I could just avoid the line altogether!” Probably not, but nevertheless, Burger King is trying to make that a possibility. You can order your food in from the messenger app, and they will prepare it for you.
You just head over and pick it up, without having to wait. It is a pretty good feature for being trying to avoid the lunch rush. Tim Hortons is also reportedly going to be offering this service, so Canadian coffee lovers will be able to grab a hot one any time. Having tried to grab a quick coffee from a Timmies in downtown Toronto first thing in the morning before a flight home, I know that a pickup service would be appreciated by many.
Pizza Hut
Pizza Hut is the first company to offer pizza delivery through a chat bot and that is a surprise. With how many are now jumping on the app and even gaming console order train, you'd have thought competition would be fierce to be the first to take advantage of this new way of selling.
There are sure to be a lot of late night weekend orders from people who are drunk ranting about their exes on their Timeline, that is for sure.
SalesForce
You can integrate their service with Facebook. Tie live chat in with their unique CRM, so you can better connect with your customer base. There aren't a lot of details on this one, yet, but it is exciting. Could this be the latest in customer service relations?
If you have a chat bot for messenger you think should be on this list, let us know in the comments.
The post 9 Useful Facebook Messenger Chatbots: Marketing Examples to Learn From appeared first on Internet Marketing Ninjas Blog.
