Ginny Marvin says, “Searchmetrics has released a new study today showing the impact of the ever-changing user interface of the Google search results. The study says that now, Google is less likely to show 10 organic blue links. Instead, Google shows only 8.5 blue links on average but supplements those links with featured snippets, app packs, knowledge panels, images, videos and more. You can download the full report over here, but here are some highlights: Organic blue links drop from 10 to 8.5 per search query: Searchmetrics says you are less likely to see 10 links on a Google search results... [...]

Julian Connors says, “It has been quite a year for the Search Engine Results Page (SERP). We’ve seen numerous algorithm updates, including a final Penguin update and the introduction ofPossum. We also saw major changes to the way ads are displayed on desktop SERPs. Google continues to tweak how online consumers receive content through organic and paid listings. In order to meet the demands of today’s search landscape and connect with more qualified consumers, strategists need to create campaigns that treat SEO and PPC as a unified silo, as opposed to separate disciplines. Google’s... [...]

Mona Elesseily says, “When it comes to success with paid search, it’s not just about ad copy. You have to pay attention to your ad extensions and your landing pages as well. In this article, I’ll discuss the specific ad features and page elements that searchers/shoppers want when they’re shopping online. I’ll also cover ways to also incorporate the elements using PPC/paid search. At the beginning of every section, I’ve included the percentage of shoppers who want specific elements, so you can prioritize your element efforts. Note: Statistical data in this article is pulled... [...]

Ginny Marvin says, “Bing Ads is testing changes to device bidding in the wake of Google’s move to revert back to distinct device bidding (though the bid adjustment structure remains) for desktop, tablet and mobile introduced in 2013 with Enhanced Campaigns. Even through the Enhanced Campaigns period, Bing Ads had always offered more control with a tablet bid adjustment that could range from -20 percent to +300 percent from desktop. Now, tablets will be separated entirely from desktop. The top range for both tablet and mobile has been raised to 900 percent, up from 300 percent. Desktop... [...]

MOZ team says, “The dust is finally beginning to settle after the long-awaited rollout of Penguin 4.0. Now that our aquatic avian friend is a real-time part of the core Google algorithm, we’ve got some changes to get used to. In today’s Whiteboard Friday, Rand explains Penguin’s past, present, and future, offers his analysis of the rollout so far, and gives advice for going forward (hint: never link spam)”. Penguin 4.0: How the Real-Time Penguin-in-the-Core-Alg Model Changes SEO MOZ  [...]

Lydia Jorden says, “The ability to track digital efforts to in-store visits can be the single most difficult challenge a local business conquers. Since the beginning of time (local search time), marketers have been working to find opportunities to understand how digital efforts drive in-store visits. The challenge we marketers face is that if we are not paying for advertising, it is difficult to uncover ROI and make a case for investing in local search optimization. Proving value of local listing optimization efforts for a brick-and-mortar location is really limited to the boundaries that... [...]

Greg Sterling says, “Google released new “cross device” research that provides more evidence of what we already know: a substantial number of consumers browse the web and search on multiple devices throughout the day. However it also confirms that mobile is the dominant platform and that a meaningful percentage of users go mobile only. The findings are based on “behavioral measurement of a convenience sample of 11,964 opt-in Google users between January 1, 2016 and March 31, 2016.” The data were then “calibrated to reflect a U.S. demographic of 18 to 49-year-old cross-device users.” Users... [...]

Ronell Smith says, “Here I am, seated in a Manhattan, New York restaurant, staring at corned beef hash that looks and tastes like what I imagine dog food to look and taste like. I’m pissed for two reasons: It cost nearly $25 and was entirely inedible I should have known better given the visuals depicted after doing a Google image search to find the dish, which was offered at a nearby restaurant In retrospect, I should have checked A and B on my phone before ordering the $25 plate of Alpo. And though I didn’t do that, other would-be customers will, which means the business owner... [...]

Larry Kim says, “Do you care about your organic click-through rate (CTR)? You should. Why? For one thing, pages that have a higher-than-expected CTR tend to rank higher in search results. Every three-percent increase in CTR beyond the expected for a given organic position will improve your organic rankings, on average, by one position. For another, pages with higher CTRs tend to have higher conversion rates. If you get people excited enough to click on your search listing, that excitement tends to carry through all the way to a conversion, whether it’s capturing a ead or making a sale. Do... [...]

Larry Kim says, “Rand Fishkin posted another brilliant Whiteboard Friday last week on the topic of optimizing for RankBrain. In it, he explained how RankBrain helps Google select and prioritize signals it uses for ranking. One of the most important signals Google takes into account is user engagement. As Rand noted, engagement is a “very, very important signal.” Engagement is a huge but often ignored opportunity. That’s why I’ve been a bit obsessed with improving engagement metrics. My theory has been that RankBrain *and/or other machine learning elements within Google’s... [...]