This week, as every week, our experts researched and analyzed trends, updates, new tools, and new features in the world of digital marketing. What are the key takeaways from last week’s news? Index deciphers them for you here.

SEO NEWS

Does Google Use Analytics Data to Discover New URLs for Crawling?

This article looks at a test done to see if Google takes Analytics data into account to discover new pages for crawling. The answer is no! This test confirms that a page must have a link (internal or external) pointing to it in order to be crawled and indexed by Google:

https://www.stonetemple.com/google-analytics-study   

The Science of Increasing Customer Loyalty

The key to success is keeping information simple and flowing to attract a customer!

1. Think about the investment it will take for you to convert a prospect into a customer
2. Decrease customer effort: make things easy for them and they will reward you!
3. Don’t hold back in repeating information several times so that your brand enters the daily lives of your customers
4. Consider using gamification to make things fun so customers will see your brand as friendly 😉
5. Invest your time in the customer experience
6. Develop your company’s values to build customer loyalty

https://conversionxl.com/blog/customer-loyalty/

The Importance of Google My Business

In this article, SEO expert Davis Mihm explains various techniques that will allow you to rank better locally within the Google My Business tool. These tips are useful and accessible to everyone. So, take a peek walk here: https://yoast.com/ranking-your-local-business-part-8-behavioral-signals/

Good News: Google Analytics Is Your Friend!

Google Analytics is a data measurement and analysis tool that helps you get to know and understand your customers. The experience that customers have with your brand, your website, and your app can be measured. Understanding people (not just sessions or users) allows you to get closer to your customers and make your data more meaningful, accessible, and practical: https://www.lovesdata.com/blog/google-analytics-user-id  

Distance Learning for SEO, Can it Be Done?

Yes! Olivier Andrieu is setting up a platform for distance learning on the subject of SEO called “FormaSEO.” Here, you will find tutorial videos in French as well as MCQs (multiple choice questionnaires, for those of you who were wondering) for self-evaluation. Tested and approved by the writers of this blog!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnjkJxVfauc

What May Be Slowing Your Site Down (And How to Fix It)

Killing me softly with your site … A slow site = a bad brand image. In 2012, a study revealed that it takes less than 3 seconds for people to decide if your site is worth browsing or not. User expectations are higher than ever. If you don’t meet their expectations, your customers will not hesitate to go visit your competitors. But, don’t panic, your site is not doomed! Here are the three most common reasons why websites slow down and, fortunately, all these problems have solutions:

1. You have a bad web host
2. You have problems on your local network
3. Loaded content is too heavy

https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/09/13/what-may-be-slowing-your-site-down-and-how-to-fix-it/

Do You Know How to Develop Your Marketing Strategy with Guest Blogging?

Guest blogging is a technique where blog editors invite experts to contribute to their blogs. For blog owner or editor, guest blogging is a free source of content that can generate traffic and backlinks, essential for SEO. For invited experts, guest blogging brings them visibility and builds their reputations as authorities on their subjects. It can increase traffic to the guest site because the article often includes a backlink, that indispensable element of organic SEO. The following article gives more details on this essential strategy in digital marketing.

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/09/integrate-guest-blogging-strategy/

WEB & TECH NEWS

Apple Search Ads, Apple’s Latest Innovation?

Recently released on the market, Apple Search Ads HQ is an app that analyzes Apple’s search ads. This platform allows you to create, optimize, and publish ads on Apple Search. For example, it enables mobile developers to optimize the conversion rates of their App Store and Google Play pages. This article is a tutorial that explains how to install Apple Search Ad, as well as how to create and analyze campaigns and then keywords in order to get a good strategy.

https://searchadshq.com/apple-search-ads-guide/  

How to Protect Customer Data and Protect Your Company at the Same Time

Data has become very valuable, even sometimes compared to “black gold.” Data helps you to better know your customers and to acquire new ones. To protect this treasure that all businesses have, here is a non-exhaustive list of questions to ask, according to the Content Marketing Institute website:

• What information do we collect from our customers? Where do we keep it? How do we secure it?
• Who wants the data (marketing, product development, etc.)? What are they doing with it? Would other members of our company who use the same information to increase benefits accept the risk?
• What information do we really need to collect from our customers and why do we need it?
• How does each data point increase or support our business model?

http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2017/09/digital-integrity-matters/

What Is Google Stamp?

The main platform should work in a very similar way to Snapchat Discover. Users will be able to drag between different content elements and there will be a mix of video, images, and text to keep people engaged. Of course, the Google ecosystem is very different from the social networks it is trying to compete with in this niche.

https://searchenginewatch.com/2017/09/12/what-is-google-stamp-and-what-will-it-mean-for-marketers/

Stay connected for next week’s digital marketing hot topics!