Today's post is less about educating, and more about being a digital marketing public service announcement. You need to log in to your Google Places account and make sure everything is up do date and submitted to Google. In case you haven't heard about this yet, here's the reason why it's vitally important:

Google has been sending out emails with the following subject line: “Action Required: You have 3 weeks to save your Google Places Listing.” 

This is what the body of the email has to say:

Hello,
Due to changes in Google Maps, we’d like to inform you that unless you review and confirm the information in your Google Places account, we will no longer be able to keep and show it to Google users after February 21, 2014.

If you wish to keep your listing active, follow these three easy steps:

1.        Log in to your Google Places account
2.        Review and update your information
3.        Click the “Submit” button

Sincerely,
The Google Places Team

The Google Business Community Manager—Jade Wang—has confirmed that this is an official Google email and not some kind of elaborate hoax. Google want to update its places listing, and that means they need business owners to review and confirm key details. Even if you haven't seen this email, you would be wise to double check your Google Places listing, as we've all missed important emails in the past and it's conceivable you didn't notice this one or it got filtered. Either way, it's not worth gambling your places page over.

To check your account, log into your  Places for Business account and review all of your information. Once you are sure everything is up to date, submit and save and you should be all set.

If for some reason you miss the deadline, you'll have to reclaim your page with the mail in pin and phone call all over again. A process so unreliable that you're better off just double checking now and avoiding the whole problem.

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Tim Martell.

Google is always changing, we say that darn near every day on this blog. The thing is, usually those changes are so small, or so buried on the backend of the whole shebang that the world at large doesn’t notice. It’s not often they bust out the big, forward facing guns (the carousel being the last example I can think of offhand) but when they do, it’s usually pretty interesting to digital marketers who bother to pay attention (IE good marketers).

This week, Google rolled out their new super huge video results. That’s probably not the technical name for what they are, but it gets the point across as well as anything else. Basically, the update involves delivering page dominating sized videos as the top result when Google thinks you’re looking for a video. It’s not ubiquitous yet, but you can find the big video results showing up for most searches for music videos. As an example, I searched one of the best (and strangest) videos I have ever seen, and was given this as the result:

As you can see, Google is not messing around. The video takes up what would be the first 3 results in a typical search. Also, when these big video results are delivered, you often times won’t see any paid results.

So what does this tell us?

Google is valuing video more than ever, especially when queries are clearly looking for a video answer. If you want to capitalize on this trend, there are a couple things you need to do.

The first is identify what searches are relevant to your business  return mainly video results. Depending on your particular niche, these may be plentiful or few and far between, but you should be able to find at least a few. The second thing you need to do is create a video that exactly answers the query. Of course, this has been best practice for a long time now, but with the advent of the big video result, it’s more important than ever before.

Of course, that still leaves the small problem of creating an excellent video, but I have complete faith that you’ll be able to pull that off. But hey, if you need a little help, you can always contact us here at Wikimotive!

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Tim Martell.

When I was a younger man I used to dismiss statistics in the marketing world. It’s easy to have an arrogance when you are young, isn’t it? I would find myself resenting the experts and thinking that I knew best, even when I had very little to base that off of. As I grew older and more experienced in the industry, I found myself shaking my head at my young confidence. A true expert is never done learning and can always stand to take in a little more wisdom. It’s true what they say, after all. The more you know you know you don’t know sh*t.

Anyway, that was my long winded way of introducing the infographic I have for you today. It’s 20 Captivating Marketing Statistics that will drive 2014. It contains industry trends and hard facts even an arrogant youth would find hard to ignore (not that they won’t try). Some of it is old news but a lot of it is actually pretty interesting. Especially the “What to Consider for Your Digital Audience” section. I know I’m going to make a few tweaks based off of those numbers.

Check out the infographic below and let me know what you think. And, as always, if you have any questions, don’t hesitate to ask!

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Tim Martell.

A lot of people wonder how long it takes to get a new site indexed and ranked, but people do not often consider the flip side. Namely, how do you keep an old site fresh in Google's eyes. Of course, lots of old sites rank just fine. In fact, some old sites are low quality and still rank well through sheer number of backlinks pointed at them. However, some old sites are watching in agony as brand new sites come along and usurp their decades long ranking throne in just a few short months. How do you keep this from happening to your old site that's been around the block a few times? Matt Cutts answers the question in this week's Google Webmaster Tools video.

Essentially, the answer is not to coast or rest on your laurels, however nice and cushy they may be. This is especially true if you are in an industry that is always evolving (like search engine optimization for example) or even an industry that overhauls itself every few years. If you are number one in the rankings but you don't add to your lead, new sites will come along, churning out page after page of content, and before you know it, they have you beat. To keep up, you should NEVER STOP PRODUCING NEW CONTENT, no matter how comfortable your lead is.

The other aspect to consider is design. If your site is ten years old, it may look like its ten years old. Just like kids today scoff at the effects we thought were so cool in movies of the 80's, the average internet user instinctively can tell if a site was designed in the 90's or even in the early 2000's. Just like clothing styles evolve over time, so do websites. So if you want to stay competitive, you need to make sure your website keeps up with the times.

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Tim Martell.

Do you love search engine optimization? How about data? Maybe even surveys? If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you are in luck. This week, Moz has released the results of their 2014 SEO Industry Survey. The survey covers everything from search engine optimization and search engine marketing to social media and even average salaries. This year, it even has a special section that focuses on how people are dealing with the dreaded and much talked about keyword (not provided).

The data was compiled by Dr. Pete Meyers, who has put together several of these surveys in the past as well, back when Moz was known as SEO Moz. You can read the whole survey here, but we wanted to break down a couple interesting sections below as well.

TOP 5 ACTIVITIES

Here you can see the top 5 activities that SEOs and digital marketers spent their time on in 2013:

This list is pretty straightforward, with one major point of interest to me: keyword research. Of course, keyword research is vital to SEO, but it seems surprising to me that it rated so highly, above brand strategy and social media marketing. It makes sense that analytics is number one and content marketing number two (though I would switch them on my list) but I would have keyword research at number five, because if you’re researching effectively, you shouldn’t be spending that much of your day to day on it.

TOP FIVE METRICS

Here you can see the top 5 metrics that SEOs and digital marketers concentrated on in 2013:

This list is a little more to my liking. Conversions is number one. You can make a case for revenue over conversions, but I think conversions is the better goal. Of course, revenue is more important, but I think by focusing on conversions, you’ll drive more revenue in an effective way. It’s sort of like how Sabermetrics is used in baseball. Of course you want to win games, but you don’t buy wins, you buy runs, and the rest falls into place.

Again, click here to read the rest of the study, and let me know what you think.

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Daniel Hinds.

Sometimes it feels like Google is omnipotent, doesn’t it? With their huge percentage of the search engine share, they ARE omnipotent in a way. They scan the entire web, handing out rewards and brutal punishments alike, but they have always had a weakness: limited man power and an always imperfect algorithm. Sure, the algorithms get better every year, but the best algorithms in the world still can’t tell spam from quality content the same way as a human being…or can they?

Google has decided that they’d like to try to push their algorithms to the next level, and has acquired the artificial intelligence company DeepMind to help them accomplish that goal. Yesterday, they dropped over 400 million dollars on the London-centered AI company, and according to anonymous sources from within the company, DeepMind is going to be working on search. Here is what they had to say:

Or as search is known at Google today, the “Knowledge” group, so-called because it no longer just finds keywords on Web pages, but instead connects larger concepts. Knowledge is led by Google SVP Alan Eustace, but DeepMind will work closely with a team led by Jeff Dean, a near 15-year Google veteran, best known for his work on distributed systems.

Google was quiet about the deal, but Demis Hassabis, co-founder of DeepMind, had this to say:

“We’re really excited to be joining Google. This partnership will allow us to turbo-charge our mission to harness the power of machine learning tools to tackle some of society’s toughest problems, and help make our everyday lives more productive and enjoyable,” he said. “We’ve built a world-leading team here in the UK and we’re looking forward to accelerating the impact of our technology with Google.”

It is still unknown exactly what this deal will mean, but like I said at the beginning of this post, smart money is on taking the Google search algorithm to the next level.

Tremble with fear blackhat SEOs!

When you think social media genius, what’s the first brand that comes to mind? A lot of people praise Taco Bell for their snarky Twitter comments, others laud the versatility and lifestyle branding of the energy drink company Red Bull. Very few people, if any, think of the cleaning solution company Ajax when they think of social success, but that’s all about to change. Ajax just launched an awesome new social campaign, and it’s getting their name into new venues all across the web.

This week, Ajax launched a virtual offering called Ajax Social Wipes. Much like Ajax’s real products clean up your home (little buzz marketing there), the Ajax Social Wipes clean up your social networks. You simple install the apps onto your Facebook or Twitter account, and you are given a simple interface to manage (meaning obliterate completely) all those pesky fans, followers and likes you no longer need.

“Loving a brand doesn’t mean you love it forever popping up in your newsfeed,” a quote on the site says. “Ajax Social Wipes allow you to spring clean your newsfeed of all the brands that have built up over time….Your Twitter followers are not always what they seem. Ajax Social Wipes allows you to spring clean your timeline by detecting and removing spambots that have built up over time.”

It’s a little cheesy, but that’s okay. The apps really work and while they may be simple, that’s the beauty of the whole thing. Ajax stepped out of their comfort zone and used a little wordplay to dig their toes into a whole new market. That’s not to say they are getting into the software game. They are just spreading their influence into social networks in an interesting way. After all, without a stunt like this, what reason would anyone ever have for following a cleaning product company?

Original post on Wikimotive by Zach Billings.

Guess who is already back in the headlines making waves in the social media marketing world? It’s Pinterest! (You don’t get any credit if you read the title, that’s cheating.) That’s right, the social pinboard site is expanding again, this time bringing three pretty interesting user experience offers to the table. Let’s take a look at what they are and what they mean for your social media marketing efforts.

1. Personalized Home Pages

This feature is slowly rolling out to everyone. Essentially, you’ll see a “personalized for you” link appear in the top navigation, that’s the bars at the top left of your screen. Some users are reporting not seeing this link but still seeing the change. If you have the updated homepage, what you’ll see if a collection of words and topics on pins that are essentially categories. The categories are all different sizes, relating to either how many pins are inside or how relevant that particular category is to you. As a marketer, this means you need to start paying attention to the categories your posts may fall into. Develop cohesive themes that cover all your products and stretch across multiple boards.

2. GIFs

Whether you take your G’s hard or soft, the gif is coming to pinterest. This feature is live now for all users. All you have to do is upload a gif the same way you would an image. Once uploaded, a little play button will appear on the bottom corner of your gif. Click that to get rolling!

3. Recipe Search

This is probably the coolest of all the new Pinterest features. Not only does it let you search directly for recipes (one of Pinterest’s most popular categories), it lets you filter recipes by dietary restrictions like vegan, vegetarian, gluten, paleo, and more. Just search for a particular dish or even kind of food, and then in the search results switch to the “All Recipe” view. Once there, you can filter by diet type!  This doesn’t mean a lot for businesses yet (unless you work directly with food!) but it does paint an interesting picture for the future. Say you’re a used car dealer. How long before Pinterest picks up on words like “used” or “lease”? Just something to think about for the future!

Facebook is on the bleeding edge, the hippest of the hip and the newest of the new, that's why this week they decided to officially roll out a new feature that has only been on Twitter for oh, about...forever? We are, of course, talking about the new trending function. Some of you may have seen this phase in and out over the past few months, if so, congratulations! You were test subjects! If you haven't seen a trending section and still don't know, just be patient. Facebook is officially rolling it out globally over the next few weeks. What will it mean for your digital marketing efforts? Not a lot right away, but lets take a look at how it functions so you can get ahead of the game!

Essentially, it works the same as Twitter's trending hashtags. As you can see in the image below, you'll see a list of topics and clicking those topics will bring you to pages of people talking about the news and the news itself. Not everyone's trending box will be the same though. Everyone will receive global news of importance, but you'll also be given news important to your specified interests and Likes.

As far as marketing goes, my money is on Facebook adding advertisements to the trending area. It's going to start with just news, and it'll stay just news long enough for everybody to expect there to only be news in the box, and then one day they'll pull the marketing switch and that's when you want to be invested. One day people are reading about the latest world news, the next day one of their headlines is "BREAKING: Doritos Contain Bold Flavors!"

It may not be especially elegant, but mark my words, that's exactly how it's going to play out.

Original post by Zach Billings on Wikimotive's blog.

Google is constantly battling back the tide of shoddy ads and outright scams being posted as ads on their network every hour of every day. According to Google itself, they pulled over 350 million bad ads from their service in 2013, a significant amount more than the 224 million they pulled down in 2012. Are more bad ads being uploaded? Probably, but the main cause of the increase of that number is Google getting better at spotting and separating the bad from the good.

In fact, there were actually less bad advertisers trying to get through this year. In 2012, they estimated 850,000 spam, counterfeit product sellers, and other bad advertisers tried to use their service. In 2013, that number dropped down to 270,000, which is a pretty significant drop.

Mike Hochberg, Director, Ads Engineering explains, “In part, we attribute this decline to scammers — counterfeiters, for example — being thwarted by our safety screens and searching for less-secure targets.”

If you’d like to know more about how Google focused on busting bad advertising practices in 2013, check out the infographic below. It’s made by Google and it covers what they cut, why they cut it, and should give the smart marketer some insight to make sure they never end up on the list.

Original post on Wikimotive's blog by Daniel Hinds