From the return of Sharknado to Donald Trump leading the Republican polls, this has been one scary month! It’s hard to imagine the guy with the fireball-colored comb-over, who’s famous for his slogan “You’re fired,” leading the free world. Where’s Ashton popping out of the woodworks with his camera? We’re being “punked” right? Not to mention The Bachelorette chose Shawn… Oh, you don’t care? Alright, let’s move on…
Aside from everything going on in the world around us, it’s also been an exciting month for digital marketers. From Google+ canning their photo service and breaking up with YouTube, to Google revealing their buy button in beta, and Facebook changing the way advertisers are charged. And that’s just dusting the surface of what went on. At WordStream, we’re here to fill you in on all of the hottest stories. Let’s dive into the 10 top posts that caused the most buzz in July.
WordStream’s beloved Data Scientist Mark Irvine strikes again with this comprehensive study of the 97 countries represented in the map below, showing the highest to lowest cost per click compared to the U.S. average (which is between $1-$2 on the search network). The highest average CPC is $8 in the United Arab Emirates. The lowest? You’ll have to read on to find out.
Google+’s long coming death is almost becoming a joke, as they slowly kill off product features. First disconnecting from Gmail, then splitting into photos and streams, and now Google+ Photos is joining the party or should I say funeral. Larry has all the details, as Google+’s downfall is one of his favorite topics to blog about. Bye, bye Google+ Photos, we’ll stick with Google’s much preferred service, Google Photos for now.
Written by yours truly, I actually re-took the test to get a refresher course myself and see what has changed since I was first certified in 2013, and a lot has! There’s new supplemental tests that you can chose from to combine with the AdWords Fundamentals exam to get fully certified, there’s no longer a cost tied to the exam (wahoo!), and you now must sign in or sign up for Google Partners to take the test. If you’re pondering whether it is worth getting certified I’ve covered that as well, along with everything you need to know about the exam, from preparation tips, to passing scores, and what to do after you’ve gotten certified. It’s all here folks.
I always deem it a success when one of my late-in-the-month posts sneaks its way into the top 10, and this news was big enough to do just that. So, what went down? On Monday, July 27, Google revealed that the complete redesign of Dynamic Search Ads is now available to the public. We first heard about this in-the-works DSA update in the Google AdWords LiveStream back in May, but now these babies are live. More importantly, this signifies the possible coming death of the keyword. Could it be true? Read on to learn all about these new and improved DSA’s.
Larry never ceases to amaze me with his hacks, and apparently our readers agree. In this post, Larry reveals 10 non-obvious, but super useful tips to set your social media strategy apart from your competition. From audience targeting methods like custom audiences and Facebook remarketing, to “the flywheel effect,” read on to get the inside scoop on Larry’s hacks, which he originally revealed in his recent webinar with Hanapin Marketing’s Matt Umbro.
Anything tying together psychology with marketing tactics always strikes a chord with me, which is why I dove into how the study of the human brain can assist in crafting click-worthy ad copy. There is so much opportunity to stand out with one’s ad copy, but yet if you’ve visited the SERPs recently, you have probably noticed that the majority of marketers just mimic the ad copy next to them. Boooorrrrrringgggg… Try out these 5 manipulative, I mean psychological, tips to turn your ads from basic to beautiful.
Building a recognizable brand is not an easy task. Kleenex didn’t become the proprietary eponym for tissues overnight (if you’re not sure what that means, read the post!). Your brand will likely never become as big as Kleenex or Coca Cola, but there are things you can do to build higher levels of brand awareness. In this post, Megan Marrs provides 18 branding tips, with everything from social media contests to podcasts. These tips are bound to inspire you to turn your companies brand into a household name.
Watch out guys! This is the ad of all ads, taking over just about the entire right side of the SERP; it’s like Buddy the Elf in the North Pole. Check it out…
This ad might appear as the Will Farrell in a sea of dwarves, but it’s actually not just one brand, but several product listing (or shopping) ads in a knowledge graph type panel. The ad appears to have all sorts of information such as pricing comparisons, reviews, stores, etc. So what exactly does this mean for advertisers? It’s too soon to say, but read on to learn a bit more and prepare yourself for this new ad format.
Deep breaths, this is actually great news! Advertisers no longer need to pay for “likes,” which they really never should’ve been charged for anyhow. On July 8 Facebook announced that they will now only be charging for clicks to websites and apps, which is great since they previously charged for every action including comments, likes, shares, etc. But, what about advertisers that value ad engagement? Will advertisers actually save money or will clicks to websites cost more? Get all of your burning questions answered in this post.
MozCon is by far the most well-known SEO conference in the U.S., and I was lucky enough to fly out to Seattle for it. Before arriving I knew the quality of speakers would be high, with one-track, sold out year after year, and I wasn’t let down. In this post I covered 5 of the most inspiration lessons I learned from several quality speakers that are bound to inspire your next campaign. Try them out!
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