This week at SEOPartner, we’re sharing: SEO updates that can deliver significant impact to your results, exciting changes to watch out for, good-to-know studies and information, and tips to try based on recent findings.
From hands-free, phone-free Google payments to mobile ads price extensions to new Google Maps features and more, here are some of the recent releases that are currently making the online marketing space abuzz.
What’s Hot
Google Makes Hands-Free Payments Possible
You can now shop without cash or credit card as long as you have an account with Google’s Hands Free App and the store you’re buying from accepts Hands-Free Payment. No need to bring out your phone, too.
What you need?
If you’re a shopper:
– Download the Hands Free App on your Android or IOS device.
– For first-time users, set up your profile with your complete name, photo and payment details.
– Confirm that the merchant’s point-of-sale system accepts Hands Free Payment.
– Inform the cashier that you’ll “pay with Google.”
– The cashier will process the transaction. In some cases, they will ask for further details (such as your initials) to further verify your account.
– Once your payment is complete, you’ll get a notification about your transaction.
If you’re a merchant:
– You need a Google Representative to set this up.
– You also need a very reliable Internet connection.
– Learn how the Hands Free API works.
What’s Cooking
Google to Show Price Extensions for Mobile Text Ads
Google will be rolling out a new feature called price extensions. As Search Engine Journal reported, the feature is already available to some advertisers while others can expect to use the feature any time soon.
Price extensions allow advertisers to show the prices of the products or services they advertise through mobile text ads. When a user taps on the rows, he or she will be redirected to a landing page for the product or service.
Google to Introduce AMP for Ads & Landing Pages
Advertisements on Accelerated Mobile Pages or AMP would soon load as quickly as the content on the page does. Google VP of Display, Video and Analytics Paul Muret announced this development at the recent DoubleClick Leadership Summit, reports Search Engine Journal.
Demonstrating live how an AMP page loads in just 1 second while an ad on the top of the page loads in 4 seconds, Muret pointed out how such a difference could hurt clickthrough rates for marketers since people may have already scrolled down the page before they could see the ad.
The quicker loading time is expected to create a better, faster end-to-end experience for web users. While no specific date is set yet for the rollout of AMP for ads and landing pages, Muret encourages everyone to visit the Washington Post’s website, one of the early adopters testing out the technology.
Good to Know
How The World Will Cease To Make Sense Without Local SEO
The “near me” search is now one of the most frequently used types of query. Search Engine Land details how this affects businesses, proving that it’s definitely going to be a sad, difficult world without local SEO.
– If business locations are not properly optimized, customers can get lost and become unable to carry out the potential purchase they intend to make.
– If customers can’t find you, they may complete the search-to-purchasing cycle with your competition that practices sound local SEO.
These dynamics show that local SEO has become more important than ever. Without local SEO, the most critical activities for survival – from searching for a job to accessing emergency healthcare to finding food sources and more – can become too demanding in terms of time, energy and money.
Comparing MailChimp, GetResponse & HubSpot
Email marketing, lead management, web forms, website management, workflow automation, and analytics are some of the typical functions or features of all-in-one marketing solutions or tools. SEO Chat recently compared the offers of the most popular all-in-one online marketing tools today:
HubSpot. A sophisticated all-in-one online marketing tool that’s mostly used by SMEs.
This tool allows you to:
– Create your own landing pages and call-to-action forms.
– Manage content and on-page SEO, making it easier to update your website content and optimize it for search engines.
– Add paid CRM and sales functions for more options.
GetResponse. Known as the world’s easiest email marketing platform, it’s the only all-in-one online marketing tool that includes webinars in their offerings.
This tool allows you to:
– Plan workflow automation and email campaigns.
– Create landing pages and call-to-action forms.
– Use new features that include tracking visitors in real-time and as well as traffic and cart abandonment recovery features.
MailChimp. Compared to HubSpot and GetResponse, MailChimp serves only as an email marketing platform.
Depending on the package you choose, this tool allows you to:
– Create, automate, manage and measure email campaigns.
– Use automation features for email marketing campaigns.
New, Easy Ways To Keep Your Google Maps Information Up-to-Date
Businesses, take note: Google Maps is rolling out new ways for users to help keep information about places, business and landmarks accurate and updated.
“Add a missing place” or “Suggest an edit.” Add your business or edit details through this feature.
Contribute information. Aside from basic information consisting of the name, address, and phone number, users can share more details about a place. This helps other users easily find the most relevant places related to their searches.
“Someone suggested new info.” This option is for users of Google Maps and mobile Google Search to help verify and approve edits suggested by others. Suggestions are published to the map if a sufficient number of people verify the accuracy of the information.
SUMMING IT ALL UP
Here are the top takeaways from this week’s SEO news roundup:
What’s Hot
Google makes hands-free payments possible. Google’s Hands Free App aims to provide simpler transactions for consumers and merchants.What’s Cooking
Google to roll out price extensions for mobile text ads. New mobile text ad feature will show prices of products & services.
Google to Introduce AMP for ads and landing pages. Businesses can look forward to quicker-loading ads as Google will soon launch AMP for ads & landing pages.Good to Know
How the world will cease to make sense without local SEO. Without local SEO, the general public will find it difficult to access even basic services such as healthcare.
Comparing MailChimp, GetResponse & HubSpot. Businesses wanting to maximize automation should know which of the 3 most popular all-in-one online marketing tools is right for them.
New, easy ways to keep your Google Maps information up-to-date. New features allow Google Maps users help keep information up-to-date and accurate.
