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About admin

Weston Riesche is the Marketing Manager at SEO Solutions Inc. Weston is a Graduate of Roosevelt University and holds two Bachelors in Integrated Marketing Communications and Economics. He has been an integral part of the SEO Solutions management team, developing insights into the world of Search Engine Optimization. Social Media and Internet Marketing. Weston works closely with clients to engage their companies with unique, effective and exhaustive Internet Marketing campaigns that leads them to the top of the major search engines.

YOUTUBE LAUNCHES “BREAKING NEWS” SECTION TO KEEP ITS USERS UPDATED

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YouTube, has introduced a Breaking News section on its homepage, it shows a collection of videos pertaining worldwide news and events. The feature appears on both mobile, as well as desktop devices.

The Barcelona attack being the very recent major incident happened across the world, the Breaking News section was showing videos related to it. The section shows region-specific videos displayed in horizontal scrollable format, the section includes options like ‘Recommended’, ‘Watch It Again’, and ‘Recently Uploaded’.

If users do not wish to see the Breaking News section, they can remove it from their homepage, by clicking on ‘X’ if using a desktop or ‘Not Interested’ if using mobile.

Still, it is not clear if the ‘Breaking News’ will appear daily or only when some major incident occurs. The feature is live on live on the iOS and Android YouTube apps, as well as the desktop site.

You Can Now Add Videos To Local Listings In Google Maps

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You can now add videos to local listings in the Google Maps using any Android device. Google is rolling it out slowly, so you might or might not see it right away. This feature is not only good for the business owners but the users as well. Because pictures tell an altogether different story while video remains close to reality. “Close” because of all those filters available for the videos.

Meanwhile, if you are a local guide and willing to earn some extra points, while helping the folks out here, start uploading videos of the business and local places. It is available only for local guides and Android users but can be seen and searched by anyone. You can take a 10-second video from the Google Maps app or can upload a 30-second video.

You can add videos to local listings in Google Maps:

From a place’s page
From “your contributions”
Via Google photos and Gallery app

How to upload a video to your local listing on Google Maps:

Search and select a place on Google Maps
Scroll down and tap “Add a photo”
Tap “Folder” and select a video. Only the first 30 seconds of a video can be added.

Visit the Google Help Center to learn more about sharing videos.

Google’s Q&A for Local Search Could Be The Next Big Thing

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Google started rolling out Questions and Answers (Q&A) feature for local search in the
beginning of August. As with all the testing, it was initially available, exclusively for
Android users via the Google Maps App, but eventually, they made it available to
everyone searching from a mobile device using either Safari or Chrome browsers.

Google’s Q&A could be a very useful tool for local businesses to help save time and trouble by providing simple answers to common questions.

The main motto behind introducing the Q&A into local search is to get the most
updated and relevant data about businesses and places. Q&A is always been one of the
best sources to get fresh content. Amazon has already tested it and employing it the
way it should be.

Here’s what Google Questions & Answers looks like on a mobile device.

However, the fear of spamming is real! The competitors, or even just a single angry employee
can ruin the entire Q&A section. Also, if a business has the authority to edit it, then it’s going to
be as genuine and real as the “testimonials and reviews” that they put on their own website.

Here’s what Google says:

“To make sure “Questions & answers” contains the most accurate and useful local info
possible, business owners can add frequently asked questions and answers as well. In
addition, when you (a customer) ask a question about a place, we notify the business
owner and other in-the-know users to see if they have knowledgeable answers to
contribute. When your question is answered, we notify you too.”

Let’s see how Google is going to tackle these issues. Meanwhile, you might want to start writing
content for the Q&A section. Reason being, Google has just launched it and is hungry for
content (data), they will hardly filter it out and will most likely accept just about anything you
post. You can actually benefit from the desperation of Google and ignorance of your
competitors.

Remember, the early bird gets the worm!

Now You Can Add Quick Links To Local Listings

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You can now add quick links to your local results, thanks to Google My Business’s latest update!
They have recently announced that local business owners will now be able to add quick links
to their local listings. Currently, it is visible only to select categories of businesses

But those who will be able to enjoy it can add the quick links using their Google My Business
account. It may prove to be beneficial to those who directly serve the customers. From the limited categories that will be able to avail this new feature, businesses like restaurants will reap the maximum benefits from it, since they can add direct links to online ordering menu, reviews and much more.

Google posted the news about adding quick links to local results on their release notes page saying:

Add links to specific actions like online orders or reservations. Make it easier for customers to
take action directly from your listing.

This new update is to make it easier for the users to take actions. By cutting short the process
from Google —> Website —> Action to Google —> Action.

The help center article has been updated to explain the steps for businesses to take to add
these URLs. Some of the actions include:

booking an appointment
placing an order
reserving a table
searching for items
viewing the menu

Here is a screenshot:

Expand Your Reach with New Linked In Feature “What People Are Talking About”

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LinkedIn’s got a new extensive update to its feature-news feed. It now
allows users to expand their reach and influence on the platform. You can see a box
appearing on the right-hand side of your page that says “What People Are Talking About”
and some trending and breaking news stories.

The stories that appear here are, top professional news and conversations of the day.
These stories are selected by LinkedIn’s news editors, leveraging data on and off
LinkedIn. With the help of this new feature, you can increase your online presence.

Here is how you can use it for your benefit

Use it to Generate Sales Leads – If you see that the news feed has a topic or news that
interests your business or your expertise, you can join the discussion. Click on the story
and then share your views and perceptions on it as your status update. You can even add
a link to a video, or a blog post, or any other material in connection with the topic.

LinkedIn gives your status an appropriate hashtag and adds it to the other similar posts,
which are being shared or created. It is a great way to share your expertise and views on a
trending topic with people, to grab their attention and increase your presence.

Use it for 1-on-1 Personalized Marketing on LinkedIn – With this new update you can
directly interact with your target audience and showcase your thoughts and influence them
with the value and services you offer. You can even share your own content, a related
article or podcast, and by focusing on your specific niche, you can offer some value to the
platform.

Get New Business – This feature gives you the opportunity to build connections with
professionals in your industry. As people start noticing your industry expertise, they will look for your profile to find more about you. Make sure your profile is appealing enough.

Google’s New Local Search Filters

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Google’s New Local Search Filters Are Shaking Things Up! In a Good Way.

Google’s paramount goal is to provide its users with the best possible search experience and they leave no stone unturned to ensure that. In early 2017, Google introduced local search filters that allowed the users to sort results based on price, ratings and hours of operation. Taking this one step further, they are now automatically applying those filters.

It is user convenient for obvious reasons. They get the best possible relevant results for their search queries, on the go, THAT TOO without applying any filters.

However, it’s a big blow to business owners who have failed to maintain a good online
reputation. When Google automatically filters local businesses for those with 4-star ratings and higher, it places a lot of businesses at risk of losing online visibility. It’s quite common for users to search terms like “Best Plumber”, “Best Thai Restaurant” and “Best Roofing Contractor” when they are looking for a local business. Such businesses, if they do not have more than a 4-star rating, will find it extremely difficult to keep a measurable presence on local search.

Nonetheless, it’s a golden opportunity for the less popular businesses. By inviting reviews & keeping the information consistent and updated, one can share the spotlight with those who are already at the top.

The New Google Search Filters

The best of everything: Users can now filter the results automatically, by just adding “best” to the keyword. If you search “best plumber”, Google will show only 4-Star+ rated plumbers. This filter will drastically influence the way businesses are ranked. Check out below how the results differ.

Open now: A closed Truck Repair store is of no use to a user who wants to get his truck repaired ASAP. So when a user types “truck repair store open now”, Google will show only those stores that are currently open and can offer help on an immediate basis. Check out below.

Enjoy Fine dining: Want to go to an upscale restaurant for your first date? Just type “fancy
restaurant” & Google will show you the most expensive restaurants nearby. Or if you just want to fill your tummy without burning a hole in your pocket, type “cheap restaurants” or “budget restaurants” and you will get the list.

If you see the bigger picture here, you will realize that Google is heading towards providing a more advanced search experience where users will get results based on their actual intent. Local searches have grown to 46% of all searches on Google and will continue to rise. So, Google is doing everything it can to enhance the local search experience for its users.

What’s our take on this

Businesses that fail to manage their reputation and update their listings with the most accurate, detailed and consistent information now run the risk of not ranking in searches when they would have in the past.

To help you get more reviews for your business, we highly recommend our review widget. It’s a small piece of code which is placed on your website and helps you get positive reviews on Google, Yelp, and Facebook. In addition, it helps to filter out negative reviews too thus ensuring a positive experience to website users. Need more details? Please connect with our sales rep.

Top 3 Latest Facebook Updates 2017

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Facebook is continuously trying to bring new updates to its users for a better experience and
let advertisers gain more benefits from it. Recently, Facebook has rolled out some really
interesting and useful updates. Here are the top 3 latest Facebook updates for 2017.

Check them out below:

1. Facebook Has Come Up With Video-Format Cover Images

Facebook has brought an amazing update to help business to catch attention of users with
video-format cover images. The update has been rolled out world wide now.

Steps To Create Cover Video:

The cover video has to be not more than, 90 seconds and less than 20 seconds.
The crop size of the video has to be 820 pixels by 462 pixels.
It should auto-play and auto-loop.
It is simple to upload cover video same as you upload cover photos, group admin can
do it.

2. With Audience Optimization Control Who Can See Your Posts

Yes, you can optimize your viewer’s list by using the tool audience optimization. You can select
a preferred audience who can see your post and can also you audience restriction if, you don’t
want certain viewer’s view your post.

In this way you can reach out to your target audience, just select the interest and business and
industry that interests your post. The audience optimization automatically gets activated when,
your page crosses more than 5,000 likes but, if you have fewer likes you need to manually
activate the tool.

Follow This Steps To Activate The Tool

Go to “Settings” in the top at the right corner of the Facebook page and click on
“General”.
In the “General” tab you will see the option for “Audience Optimization for Post”
Click on “Edit” and check the box to activate the tool.
Now, save the changes by clicking on Save button.

3. Ask Questions To The New Entry In Your Facebook Group

There is some good news for the admins of Facebook groups, now the admin can equip up to
three questions, for the users to answer who are willing join the group. It will help the admin in
identifying potential members for the group and ensure they are not spammers and are
genuine and correct fit for the group.

Only, admin and the moderator can see the questions and answers and no answers will be
posted to the group.

It is a real help to the people who are managing a popular and reputed business group. With
this you will also get an opportunity to know the member’s interest and expectations, so you
can discuss on matters which they are interested in.

Pay Per Click Metrics That Matter – Why You Need To Look Beyond The Top Metrics

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Paid media platforms such as Google, Facebook & Bing offer an exceptional way to reach to
your targeted audience. Using those platforms, one can not only create brand awareness but
can also generate qualified leads and get conversions. Finding pay per click metrics that matter is a challenge, so read on to improve your PPC campaign and ultimately your business.

Usually, we look at the top metrics while analyzing the performance of our campaigns. Is the
cost per clicks low? How many conversions did we get? How many impressions did we
received, but if you look beyond the top metrics, there lies the original picture. Getting the
audience to click on your ad is one thing, but what we really get from the leads (sales, downloads, phone calls, etc.), in the longer run, should be our main objective.

When you start thinking about the long term, you actually start digging deep and often find
yourself where very few ever cared to reach. It’s one thing that you get a good return on your
investment from one campaign, but it’s entirely different thing to actually utilize those leads in
the longer run. In the other words, you should be focusing on the lifetime value of the leads
rather than temporary gains.

For example, you started a Facebook ad campaign which got your page more likes and
engagement than you expected. But if you are doing nothing to retain the attention your
page received, then all the efforts and money will go in vain.

Start focusing on the post-click experience

Your call to action determines which sales funnel would be better for the potential customers
because it’s never “one size fits all”. You have to set a specific line which your users can follow
and you have to test it out and ensure that it’s working well before you launch the campaign.

If you have chosen phone call as a call to action, make sure that you have enough
manpower to handle the calls. Also, you want to make sure that only the trained
professionals are answering the calls because if they will be unable to provide
information instantly, the customer will not take the next step. Also, the wait time should
be minimum and it should be human on the other end of the phone if you really want
that click to convert into an actual sale.
If the call to action is “Email”, then make sure that you have a proven and tested email
marketing strategy in place. Getting people to open a promotional or any sales related
mail is a tough task, but it can be done by employing a good strategy, using compelling
copies and engaging images.
If we are directly trying to get the sales, make sure that item is available. Also, if they
leave the site after adding the product to cart, reach out to them via email. It will
drastically increase your chances. Even if they make the initial purchase, stay in touch
with your customer via mail or social media.

As mentioned earlier, the top level metrics are just the tip of the iceberg. If you really want your
paid campaign to be successful, you must ensure that everything, from the start to beginning is
synchronized to perfection.

View our suite of PPC Management Services designed to get the clicks, conversions and develop long term customers.

Start Optimizing Your Website For Voice Search

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Voice search is picking up the pace quickly. Google reported that more than 20% of the
searches are already being performed via voice search. And due to the increasing number of
Internet of things, experts are predicting that the number might go up to 50% by 2020.

Well, the prediction might seem a bit exaggerated, the growing trend is indicating that it
might be possible. Amazon Echo and Google Home are not only creating buzz but are also getting a lot of positive reviews. The Amazon Echo was the best selling product during the 2016 holiday sales! Also, now every smartphone comes with a personal assistant, which further escalates the possibilities of voice search becoming a big hit!

While many people may argue that the “Experts” have been predicting such things for quite
some time, without any success. Now people are more tech savvy and they
prefer convenience, and that’s exactly what voice searches provide. For seniors,
it’s really hard to type a long sentence into the search box. And then there are those with big
fingers, they struggle a lot to type just a single sentence. Also, if you have your hands dirty or are super busy trying to multitask, voice search is very reliable.

Voice search makes it easy for everyone to ask questions, without struggling with the tiny keys.
Also, the fact that humans can barely type 40 words in a minute but can speak up to 150 words
pushes the possibilities even further. Google has reported that their Voice search is now 95
percent accurate, a 20 percent improvement when compared to 2013.

The voice search may have tasted the limelight long ago, but because the AI was not so
good at getting the context, people were turned off. Now many people don’t use it
because of the poor past experience. However, things might change because of the high level of
accuracy that voice search now provides. In the near future, the AI will become more sophisticated in understanding the actual context of the queries. They will provide results based on the context rather than going with the literal meaning. And this will compel everybody out there to use voice search, because who doesn’t love convenience?

NOW IS THE TIME TO START OPTIMIZING YOUR SITE FOR VOICE SEARCH

A recent study revealed that people are starting to use voice search in public, because in
the past, most of the users were quite hesitant, and only felt comfortable at home or in private
space. But as the technology is advancing, they are getting used to it.

As a business owner, it’s better to keep an eye on the changing trends and this is exactly what
we are asking you to do. Until now, optimizing your content for voice search was mainly for
the B2C business, but since it has the potential to go mainstream, it’s better that you start
optimizing your site for the voice search immediately. It will not only put you ahead of the competition, but will also affect your overall SEO efforts because it’s not a separate initiative, but just an expansion of the existing SEO practices.

Here’s how you can be prepared for the B2B voice search.

It’s a no brainier that voice search will be performed using mobile devices, so mobile
optimization is crucial. If you start optimizing your website for voice search now you will be able to ride the first wave that other people didn’t catch.

As compared to text search, voice searches will be longer. So research long tail
keywords and use them in your content. Also, you might want to start giving your
language a natural /conversational tone so that the search engines find your website
relevant for the search queries.

Optimize for local. Voice search will mostly target nearby locations. So, it is critical that
your business is listed and verified in top tier local directories such as Google My Business,
Bing, Facebook, Yelp, etc. Terms that people use most often when performing a voice search for a local business are “Near Me”, “Around Me” and “Close To Me”.

Targeting featured snippet will help you get the position zero (equivalent to the page
one ranking).

YOU CAN NOW SEE HISTORICAL QUALITY SCORE DATA IN GOOGLE ADWORDS

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When it comes to ads, relevance plays a vital role. Google has provided many tools that help advertisers ensure that they are targeting the right people. They just have to evaluate the quality score & it’s components. Recently Google has launched seven new quality score reporting columns.

The biggest highlight is that advertisers will now be able to access the historical quality score data. This data will be available via 4 new columns “Qual. Score (hist.),” “Landing Page Exper. (hist.),” “Ad Relevance (hist.)” and “Exp. CTR (hist.)

Keep in mind that they only reflect the last known score for the selected date range.

You can also segment data by day and the see how end of day quality score has changed over time. The new columns will display breakouts for:

Expected Click-through Rate
Ad Relevance
Landing Page Experience