Optimise Your Blog with Google Search Console: A Treasure Trove of Traffic

By ProBlogger SEO Expert Jim Stewart of StewArt Media.

Google Webmaster Tools had outgrown its moniker and become such an invaluable tool for more than just webmasters – SEO professionals, business owners, app developers, web marketers, for example – that Google thought it apt to rename it to suit a more diverse user base. Hence in 2015 it was renamed Google Search Console.

So for those new to Google Search Console, what is it?

Google Search Console is a free service that allows you to monitor and maintain your website when analysing search results. I cannot stress how important it is to implement the use of Google Search Console on your blog, as I see far too many bloggers ambling along without it when it can add invaluable insight into how you should be optimising your blog’s performance.

Google Search Console offers in-depth knowledge about your website. Whereas Google Analytics tells you how your users reached your site, the Google Search Console tells you how the Googlebot sees your site. This includes all errors it encounters, how quickly pages load, who else is linking to your site as well the ability to submit sitemaps and what users type into Google to find your site.

So now you understand how imperative it is that you implement Google Search Console on your blog. It will help you understand how Google views your website so you can optimise its performance for better search results.

Adding Your Site in Google Search Console

If you’ve never used Google Search Console before, the first step is to add your site and verify it. Google needs to know that you are the site’s owner, webmaster, or authorised user. Once established, Google Search Console will give you all the insights into the inner workings of your site, and that’s not something you want an unauthorised user to have access to.

It’s a simple process to add your site to Search Console. Firstly, log in to your Search Console account with your Google account here and enter the URL of your selected site in the box next to “Add Property.” Once you’ve typed in the URL, simply click on the “Add Property” button and voila! Your site has now been added to your Search Console account.

You will then have to verify your site. If you are on WordPress, this is straightforward.

Verifying Via WordPress

If you are on WordPress using the Yoast plugin, verification is straightforward via the Webmaster Tools tab.

Go to your Search Console account; enter your site URL into the “Add a Site” box and click continue. You will then need the verification code. Use the HTML tag under the Alternative Method. Only copy the code that is in the parenthesis after “content.”

Then log into your WordPress site. On the left side of the dashboard is a menu. Click on “SEO.” On the drop-down, click on “General.”

Click on the “Webmaster Tools” tab and copy the code into the “Google Search Console” section. Click “Save Changes.”

Go back to your Google Search Console account and click on “Verify.” All things being equal you should now have connected and verified your site. You are now ready to submit a sitemap.

How to Submit a Sitemap

Sitemaps are files that give search engines and web crawlers important information about your site regarding how it is organised and the type of content your site contains. Other information is included, such as how often your site is updated, metadata, and information about videos and images.

Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console ensures Google is more efficient when crawling your site. You won’t be penalised for not submitting a sitemap, so don’t think it’s compulsory. It is beneficial to submit a sitemap, especially if your site is new, or you have a large site with many pages that aren’t well linked.

Go to your Search Console dashboard and select the site you wish to submit a map for. (You may have more than one in your account.) Select “Crawl” from the menu and “Sitemaps” under that. There is a button in the top right hand corner marked “Add/Test Sitemap.” Clicking on it will bring up a text box into which you can type the location of your sitemap. If you used Yoast to generate your sitemap it can be found at /sitemap_index.xml or /sitemap.xml.

Once you press “Submit Sitemap,” you have successfully submitted a sitemap!

Finding Site Errors

At some time or another, regardless of how fastidious you are, chances are high that your website will experience errors. Before you are notified of errors through your readership, you can use Google Search Console to notify you of problems. If you wish to check a site for errors, click on “Crawl” on the dashboard and then select “Crawl Errors.”

This will take you to the crawl errors page, which displays any site or URL errors found by Google’s bots whilst indexing the page. They are displayed in a graph with the errors listed at the foot of the page. Clicking on them will reveal a description and further details. You should make a habit of recording any site errors you’ve discovered. Capture screenshots if possible. Notify the person who is responsible for fixing said errors (if that isn’t you!) so the problems can be rectified.

There are so many more features in Google Search Console that I hope to cover in future articles, for now I hope you can now see how important it is to set up Google Search Console for your site. It truly is the command centre of your website, offering valuable visitor statistics, error identification and location, alongside the ability to use this information to optimise your site to streamline performance and increase your readership. This guide should make it easy to set up and verify Google Search Console, making it work for you.

Jim Stewart, CEO of StewArt Media, is a recognised digital marketing expert. Jim is ProBlogger’s SEO expert and will share his vast SEO knowledge to equip you with the systems and skills to optimise and monetise your blog using tried and tested techniques. What Jim doesn’t know

The post Optimise Your Blog with Google Search Console: A Treasure Trove of Traffic appeared first on ProBlogger.

      

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via IFTTT

Optimise Your Blog with Google Search Console: A Treasure Trove of Traffic

By ProBlogger SEO Expert Jim Stewart of StewArt Media.

Google Webmaster Tools had outgrown its moniker and become such an invaluable tool for more than just webmasters – SEO professionals, business owners, app developers, web marketers, for example – that Google thought it apt to rename it to suit a more diverse user base. Hence in 2015 it was renamed Google Search Console.

So for those new to Google Search Console, what is it?

Google Search Console is a free service that allows you to monitor and maintain your website when analysing search results. I cannot stress how important it is to implement the use of Google Search Console on your blog, as I see far too many bloggers ambling along without it when it can add invaluable insight into how you should be optimising your blog’s performance.

Google Search Console offers in-depth knowledge about your website. Whereas Google Analytics tells you how your users reached your site, the Google Search Console tells you how the Googlebot sees your site. This includes all errors it encounters, how quickly pages load, who else is linking to your site as well the ability to submit sitemaps and what users type into Google to find your site.

So now you understand how imperative it is that you implement Google Search Console on your blog. It will help you understand how Google views your website so you can optimise its performance for better search results.

Adding Your Site in Google Search Console

If you’ve never used Google Search Console before, the first step is to add your site and verify it. Google needs to know that you are the site’s owner, webmaster, or authorised user. Once established, Google Search Console will give you all the insights into the inner workings of your site, and that’s not something you want an unauthorised user to have access to.

It’s a simple process to add your site to Search Console. Firstly, log in to your Search Console account with your Google account here and enter the URL of your selected site in the box next to “Add Property.” Once you’ve typed in the URL, simply click on the “Add Property” button and voila! Your site has now been added to your Search Console account.

You will then have to verify your site. If you are on WordPress, this is straightforward.

Verifying Via WordPress

If you are on WordPress using the Yoast plugin, verification is straightforward via the Webmaster Tools tab.

Go to your Search Console account; enter your site URL into the “Add a Site” box and click continue. You will then need the verification code. Use the HTML tag under the Alternative Method. Only copy the code that is in the parenthesis after “content.”

Then log into your WordPress site. On the left side of the dashboard is a menu. Click on “SEO.” On the drop-down, click on “General.”

Click on the “Webmaster Tools” tab and copy the code into the “Google Search Console” section. Click “Save Changes.”

Go back to your Google Search Console account and click on “Verify.” All things being equal you should now have connected and verified your site. You are now ready to submit a sitemap.

How to Submit a Sitemap

Sitemaps are files that give search engines and web crawlers important information about your site regarding how it is organised and the type of content your site contains. Other information is included, such as how often your site is updated, metadata, and information about videos and images.

Submitting a sitemap to Google Search Console ensures Google is more efficient when crawling your site. You won’t be penalised for not submitting a sitemap, so don’t think it’s compulsory. It is beneficial to submit a sitemap, especially if your site is new, or you have a large site with many pages that aren’t well linked.

Go to your Search Console dashboard and select the site you wish to submit a map for. (You may have more than one in your account.) Select “Crawl” from the menu and “Sitemaps” under that. There is a button in the top right hand corner marked “Add/Test Sitemap.” Clicking on it will bring up a text box into which you can type the location of your sitemap. If you used Yoast to generate your sitemap it can be found at /sitemap_index.xml or /sitemap.xml.

Once you press “Submit Sitemap,” you have successfully submitted a sitemap!

Finding Site Errors

At some time or another, regardless of how fastidious you are, chances are high that your website will experience errors. Before you are notified of errors through your readership, you can use Google Search Console to notify you of problems. If you wish to check a site for errors, click on “Crawl” on the dashboard and then select “Crawl Errors.”

This will take you to the crawl errors page, which displays any site or URL errors found by Google’s bots whilst indexing the page. They are displayed in a graph with the errors listed at the foot of the page. Clicking on them will reveal a description and further details. You should make a habit of recording any site errors you’ve discovered. Capture screenshots if possible. Notify the person who is responsible for fixing said errors (if that isn’t you!) so the problems can be rectified.

There are so many more features in Google Search Console that I hope to cover in future articles, for now I hope you can now see how important it is to set up Google Search Console for your site. It truly is the command centre of your website, offering valuable visitor statistics, error identification and location, alongside the ability to use this information to optimise your site to streamline performance and increase your readership. This guide should make it easy to set up and verify Google Search Console, making it work for you.

Jim Stewart, CEO of StewArt Media, is a recognised digital marketing expert. Jim is ProBlogger’s SEO expert and will share his vast SEO knowledge to equip you with the systems and skills to optimise and monetise your blog using tried and tested techniques. What Jim doesn’t know

The post Optimise Your Blog with Google Search Console: A Treasure Trove of Traffic appeared first on ProBlogger.

      

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9 Useful Facebook Messenger Chatbots: Marketing Examples to Learn From

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.

• Here’s how to add a chatbot
• Here’s how to create one
  

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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.

(More about this chatbot)

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.

(More about this chatbot)

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.

(More about this chatbot)

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.

(More about this chatbot)

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.

(More about this chatbot)

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?

(More about this chatbot)

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.

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Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing

Author: Nick Westergaard

Digital marketing isn’t going anywhere. However, new technologies bring about constant shifts, making it hard to keep up without the right strategy.

Recently, I hosted a webinar with Marketo on how to create a smarter digital marketing strategy that allows you to optimize your campaigns, even with a tight budget or resource constraints. In this blog, I’ll answer the top seven questions that I received from our attendees:

1. What does it mean to be scrappy?

Scrappy means a lot of things to different people, but to me, scrappy comes down to doing more with less. It’s an alternative to checklist marketing, which consists of just checking things off a list instead of doing what makes the most sense.

Scrappy marketing means:

• Putting brains before budget
• Being both efficient and effective
• Seeing ideas everywhere

When I was talking to the team at Schwinn Bicycles about the scrappy concept, marketing manager Samantha Hersil said, “You know what, we could all use a few people and a few dollars more.” That’s the bottom line. No one has unlimited resources these days. As marketing continues to change, we have to come up with smarter systems for getting the work done.

2. How do the scrappy strategies apply to B2B marketers with longer sales cycle? 

For all marketers, strategy is a critical first step. But the longer the sales cycle, the more you have to do with less to continue to keep your buyers engaged over time. Marketers with longer sales cycle, which include B2B marketers and consumer marketers selling considered purchase products, need to focus their scrappy strategy on what they’re trying to do, who they’re trying to reach, and when they’re trying to reach them. Strategy first. Always.

3. For a company that markets to both businesses and consumers, how do you differentiate between multiple audiences?

Once again, differentiate with strategy. Sketch out a scrappy strategy that answers the following questions for each audience:

• Why are we doing this?
• What are we doing?
• When does this happen?
• Where does this happen?
• Who does this involve?
• How do we get it done?

You may find areas of overlap, but you also might find areas where you can focus your efforts even further. 

4. How do you recommend looking at other brands in your industry to see what’s working best?

Seeing ideas everywhere is one of the key concepts in the scrappy mindset that I outline in my book. In this day and age, we rely a little too heavily on case studies. We wait to see what a company like ours, with a CEO the same height as ours, is doing. Instead, we need to get better at looking at other marketers in other industries. What’s working for them? Could you drop that into your industry? 

5. Using people power requires a change in the work culture. How do you go about getting management’s buy-in to change the culture?

Too often, we spend too much time talking about people problems and not people power. People are one of your biggest assets, and culture is one of the single most important factors in marketing success. To change your work culture, you have to start with buy-in from the top and work your way through management and finally to individual team members. 

It’s important to remind management and HR that talent isn’t about finding “unicorns.” Especially for social media, engagement and people skills are sometimes more important than technical skills, which can easily be taught. Getting buy-in isn’t easy, but the impact can be potent. Back to strategy—make sure you start this process by sharing your strategy both up and down your org chart. Your people can only help you if they know what it is you’re trying to do. 

6. For a lean team or smaller company, what should be the top priorities to get started in digital marketing?

Think about business objectives that you can ground in your strategy with (e.g. branding, community building, public relations, market research, customer services, leads and sales). I know I sound like a broken record here, but a small team has to focus on strategy. You can’t afford to do anything that you don’t have the resources for. Who are you trying to reach? What action do you want them to take? Work on answering these simple questions and you’ll be on your way to creating scrappy marketing. 

7. What are your best social media tips, specifically for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest?

For all social media platforms, remember that whether you’re marketing to consumers or businesses, they are still people. They can still be reached with emotional appeals.

Take advantage of the visual platforms of Instagram and Pinterest. For consumer marketers, they are valuable platforms for them to connect with their audience on. However, these sites are just as critical for B2B marketers, who may struggle with trying to market rather technical subjects. Images and videos allow your audience to easily digest your content.

Facebook is the 800-lb gorilla in the social media marketing conversation. Both B2B and consumer marketers need a robust plan for all aspects of this platform—both organic and increasingly paid, due to Facebook’s constantly changing algorithms. We have to look for ways to focus what we’re doing and simplify our marketing for the long haul.

Were these tips helpful? Check out the on-demand webinar Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small if you’re interested in learning more. And if you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

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Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing was posted at Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership. | http://blog.marketo.com

The post Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

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Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing

Author: Nick Westergaard

Digital marketing isn’t going anywhere. However, new technologies bring about constant shifts, making it hard to keep up without the right strategy.

Recently, I hosted a webinar with Marketo on how to create a smarter digital marketing strategy that allows you to optimize your campaigns, even with a tight budget or resource constraints. In this blog, I’ll answer the top seven questions that I received from our attendees:

1. What does it mean to be scrappy?

Scrappy means a lot of things to different people, but to me, scrappy comes down to doing more with less. It’s an alternative to checklist marketing, which consists of just checking things off a list instead of doing what makes the most sense.

Scrappy marketing means:

• Putting brains before budget
• Being both efficient and effective
• Seeing ideas everywhere

When I was talking to the team at Schwinn Bicycles about the scrappy concept, marketing manager Samantha Hersil said, “You know what, we could all use a few people and a few dollars more.” That’s the bottom line. No one has unlimited resources these days. As marketing continues to change, we have to come up with smarter systems for getting the work done.

2. How do the scrappy strategies apply to B2B marketers with longer sales cycle? 

For all marketers, strategy is a critical first step. But the longer the sales cycle, the more you have to do with less to continue to keep your buyers engaged over time. Marketers with longer sales cycle, which include B2B marketers and consumer marketers selling considered purchase products, need to focus their scrappy strategy on what they’re trying to do, who they’re trying to reach, and when they’re trying to reach them. Strategy first. Always.

3. For a company that markets to both businesses and consumers, how do you differentiate between multiple audiences?

Once again, differentiate with strategy. Sketch out a scrappy strategy that answers the following questions for each audience:

• Why are we doing this?
• What are we doing?
• When does this happen?
• Where does this happen?
• Who does this involve?
• How do we get it done?

You may find areas of overlap, but you also might find areas where you can focus your efforts even further. 

4. How do you recommend looking at other brands in your industry to see what’s working best?

Seeing ideas everywhere is one of the key concepts in the scrappy mindset that I outline in my book. In this day and age, we rely a little too heavily on case studies. We wait to see what a company like ours, with a CEO the same height as ours, is doing. Instead, we need to get better at looking at other marketers in other industries. What’s working for them? Could you drop that into your industry? 

5. Using people power requires a change in the work culture. How do you go about getting management’s buy-in to change the culture?

Too often, we spend too much time talking about people problems and not people power. People are one of your biggest assets, and culture is one of the single most important factors in marketing success. To change your work culture, you have to start with buy-in from the top and work your way through management and finally to individual team members. 

It’s important to remind management and HR that talent isn’t about finding “unicorns.” Especially for social media, engagement and people skills are sometimes more important than technical skills, which can easily be taught. Getting buy-in isn’t easy, but the impact can be potent. Back to strategy—make sure you start this process by sharing your strategy both up and down your org chart. Your people can only help you if they know what it is you’re trying to do. 

6. For a lean team or smaller company, what should be the top priorities to get started in digital marketing?

Think about business objectives that you can ground in your strategy with (e.g. branding, community building, public relations, market research, customer services, leads and sales). I know I sound like a broken record here, but a small team has to focus on strategy. You can’t afford to do anything that you don’t have the resources for. Who are you trying to reach? What action do you want them to take? Work on answering these simple questions and you’ll be on your way to creating scrappy marketing. 

7. What are your best social media tips, specifically for Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest?

For all social media platforms, remember that whether you’re marketing to consumers or businesses, they are still people. They can still be reached with emotional appeals.

Take advantage of the visual platforms of Instagram and Pinterest. For consumer marketers, they are valuable platforms for them to connect with their audience on. However, these sites are just as critical for B2B marketers, who may struggle with trying to market rather technical subjects. Images and videos allow your audience to easily digest your content.

Facebook is the 800-lb gorilla in the social media marketing conversation. Both B2B and consumer marketers need a robust plan for all aspects of this platform—both organic and increasingly paid, due to Facebook’s constantly changing algorithms. We have to look for ways to focus what we’re doing and simplify our marketing for the long haul.

Were these tips helpful? Check out the on-demand webinar Get Scrappy: Smarter Digital Marketing for Businesses Big and Small if you’re interested in learning more. And if you have any other questions, feel free to leave them in the comments below!

---

Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing was posted at Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership. | http://blog.marketo.com

The post Get Scrappy: 7 Tips for Smarter Digital Marketing appeared first on Marketo Marketing Blog - Best Practices and Thought Leadership.

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How to View & Measure Your Tweet Activity