2015 is here! To celebrate the end of a great 2014 and the beginning of an even better 2015, we took a look at how UMSL students are meeting the demand for the hottest job skills. LinkedIn recently published their list of the 25 hottest job skills of 2014 on their blog. Continue reading “UMSL Digital Students Mastering the Hottest Skills Reported by LinkedIn”
AdWords Will Require All Campaigns To Use Close Variants
The SEM/PPC world is about to experience a big change thanks to Google. Recently, Google announced that by the end of September a big AdWords change will take place. Moving forward AdWords will no longer allow advertisers to de-select close variants that they could previously opt-out of. Continue reading “AdWords Will Require All Campaigns To Use Close Variants”
Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: HTTPS as a ranking signal
It is not often that you get an SEO tip directly from Google. But, last week Google officially announced that they are now including whether sites use secure, encrypted connections as a signal in their search ranking algorithms. However, Google says that this update will not have a large effect on search results: Continue reading “Official Google Webmaster Central Blog: HTTPS as a ranking signal”
Status of the SEM Industry
September 4, 1998 – Things Changed. Google was launched. On that fateful day new careers were born while others would soon find out that they would need to forever change the way they do business or perish. Since that day in the late 90’s we have come a long way in the world of Search Engine Marketing. Gone are the days where we would buy links or change a few keywords and rankings would double. Those days were simpler, easier times. Welcome to the dawn of the new era of SEM – where content rules. Continue reading “Status of the SEM Industry”
Inside AdWords: Introducing Dynamic Sitelinks
Last week, AdWords introduced dynamic site links and announced that they would be rolling out globally. On their blog they define dynamic site links as:
Automatically generated sitelinks that appear below your ad text, connecting potential customers to relevant pages on your website more easily.
So what does this mean for you?
Well the good news is that dynamic sitelinks are free to use (for now)! But, you will still be charged for clicks on the headline of your ad or on any other ad extensions.
Should I continue to optimize sitelinks like normal?
Yes keep adding and optimizing sitelinks like normal. In the blog Google AdWords states the following:
It’s important to continue adding and optimizing sitelinks because impression share for dynamic sitelinks will be low. In fact, the sitelinks you set up will always show, except for the few instances when the dynamic sitelink might perform better.
But I like my AdWords ads the way they are!
No need to fret, advertisers have the option to this disable this feature if they would like to. However, Google predicts that these links are likely to boost the performance of an ad.
If you would like to disable dynamic sitelinks just click here to fill out a request form.
Check out the official blog post from Google AdWords to learn more: Inside AdWords: Introducing Dynamic Sitelinks.
New App-Based Search Engine Startup Relcy Tries to Reset SEO – SEW
When we think SEO we automatically think of the search engine giant Google. But, what if SEO didn’t include Google? Hard to imagine, but just think about it. Actually, check out this article on Search Engine Watch by Dan Cristo about a new app-based search engine that may truly change the SEO game: “New App-Based Search Engine Startup Relcy Tries to Reset SEO – SEW“.