Quickly identify your bad landing pages with Google’s Landing Pages tool

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Source: CourseEnvy

No matter how good your marketing or advertisements are, you can’t succeed online without a great landing page. Whether you’re landing page is irrelevant to people’s interests or it is just too slow or cumbersome for mobile users, your potential customers are going to bounce back to the search results if they can’t get to what they need quickly.

Of course, no one intentionally sets up a bad landing page. Sometimes, you just can’t see what’s not working without an extra set of eyes to show you the problems you’ve overlooked. Thankfully, Google is helping give you exactly that, with a new Landing Pages tool designed to identify why specific landing pages need improvements.

The Landing Pages tool, which was announced earlier this year, is rolling out for advertisers over the next few weeks.

With this tool, you can quickly assess your landing pages based on the amount of engagement (clicks) each URL receives, as well as the “Mobile-Friendly Click Rate” (MFCR). The MFCR is a measure of the percent of mobile clicks coming to your landing page from smartphones or other mobile devices.

The new report allows you to identify exactly which landing pages need work. For example, pages that are not optimized for mobile but that receive a high MFCR should likely be improved and optimized to prevent high bounce rates.

Once it is completely rolled out, the Landing Pages tool will be able to provide data on landing pages for search, display, and video campaigns. However, currently, the MFCR data is only available for search campaigns.

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Learn exactly how people are finding your business with the latest AdWords feature

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Don’t you wish there was an easy way to find out exactly what terms people are using to find your business online? That way, you could refine your keywords to take advantage of where you’re already succeeding and put more work into areas that aren’t getting found without hours and hours of research and analytics.

Well, now you can do just that without any expensive software or tracking services, with AdWords’ new ‘Searches’ card. The new card shown in your AdWords dashboard highlights the most popular words and phrases people are using to find your business in one convenient space.

With this information, you can better target your ads and search keywords or create negative keywords from search terms that aren’t relevant for your business. This way, you can be sure that people who are interested in what you offer are finding you.

The AdWords Searches card can be found on your Overview page of your account and looks like this:

The card is only available in the new AdWords system which recently rolled out for most countries.

Of course, the new AdWords card isn’t as powerful as comprehensive keyword research or analytics. However, it provides a quick glimpse into where you are doing well and where you can do more to promote your goods and services online.

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Google ads get a makeover on mobile later this month

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Later this month, you can expect your Google ads to start looking quite a bit different, especially if you use sitelinks, callouts, or structured snippet ad extensions. The search giant has announced plans for a pretty big makeover, but only on mobile devices.

Here’s what you can expect to see changing:

Sitelinks

Google is changing sitelink extensions to a carousel format, allowing users to swipe through your different categories and pages of interest. According to Google’s data, the change makes searchers up to twice as likely to engage with your sitelinks.

“Going forward, we’re simplifying how mobile sitelinks will show by using both horizontal buttons and larger vertical links.”

Callouts and Snippets

Instead of being broken into a separate section of your ad, callouts and structured snippets will now be integrated with the ad copy. This also means they will appear in paragraph format. The upside is that this allows advertisers to include more callouts and snippets in their ads, and Google says users find the new format to be “more informative and engaging.”

Changes for Advertisers

While these changes can make your ads look quite a bit different when they are seen, there’s not much of anything changing on your end. Just keep running your campaigns as you have been, but keep in mind how they will look when the makeover rolls out later this month.

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You can finally start sharing Pinterest Video Ads starting today

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Pinterest has seemingly been testing autoplay video ads forever, but most advertisers haven’t been able to get in on the fun. The video ads were limited to just a small number of big advertising firms and massive brands, while local businesses or small brands made do with picture-based ad formats.

That all changed this morning when Pinterest announced its Promoted Video ads are now officially available to everyone. Anyone can sign up and start running their own autoplay video ads on both search results and within users’ feeds.

Unlike other platforms like Facebook or Twitter, Pinterest is avoiding providing analytics for the ads through their own measurement systems. Instead, they are aiming to avoid potential conflicts of interest by partnering with third-party metrics companies Moat and Nielson.

“One of the unique differentiations for video on Pinterest was that it’s not only about inspiration, but it also helps people do things,” Mike Bidgoli, product lead at Pinterest, told AdWeek. “Obviously the format moved to autoplay, which made it easier for advertisers to be able to buy and measure the same way that they are with everything else. The overarching point is that we wanted video to have third-party measurement from the get-go.”

The company also says that carrying your existing video campaigns over to Pinterest is simple because they follow “the same creative standards as the rest of the industry.”

You can get started sharing your own video ads on Pinterest through their self-serve service, Pinterest Ads Manager.

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Twitter starts testing subscription-based advertising service

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Twitter advertising

Twitter’s ad platform is reportedly in dire need of revenue. Judging by its latest advertising program the company is testing out, it appears that might be the case. The company is definitely getting quite creative in their attempts to find more business, at least.

Twitter is testing the idea of launching a subscription-advertising program designed to let smaller businesses and advertisers pay $99 a month to have their advertising automated by the company. The service would automatically promote their tweets, as well as run Promoted Account ads for the associated account each month.

“Instead of creating and optimizing separate Twitter Ads campaigns yourself, this program will do the heavy lifting. You just need to continue using Twitter as you normally do — Tweeting updates, links, and media that you want a larger audience to see. Then, the promotion of your Tweets will be automated,” as Twitter says on their business site page explaining the new program.

For now, the Twitter Subscription Ads Beta Program is invite-only while Twitter tests the waters. Based on the information available, it looks set to be aimed primarily at smaller advertisers who are using the company’s self-serve ad tools.

While this might sound nice to businesses interested in advertising but unfamiliar with the tricks of the trade, it’s important to know the program has some pretty big downsides. The biggest would be the amount of control you’re giving up.

Unlike normal ad campaigns where you get to select exactly what you’re promoting, participants in the subscription service will have little to no control over what Tweets are turned into ads or whom they are shown to. The company also notes that “not every Tweet that is added to your Promoted Tweet campaign will serve an impression, and the extent each Tweet is promoted may vary based on performance.”

If you’re thinking you might be able to fold the subscription service into your existing advertising efforts, you’ll also be disappointed to learn that isn’t possible. Any account participating in the program will lose access to Twitter’s self-serve ad platform. “In order to participate in this private beta program your previous ads account will no longer be accessible,” says Twitter.

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Create vertical Snapchat Ads in minutes with Snap Publisher

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One of the biggest hurdles keeping advertisers has always been simply making ads for the platform. While you can use the same horizontally-oriented videos for YouTube, Facebook, Instagram, and more, Snapchat has always demanded that you use vertical videos only. Typically, that meant creating a video specifically for Snapchat from scratch.

That changes this week with the launch of Snap Publisher.

Snap Publisher is the new browser-based ad creation tool that promises to help you create a stylish Snapchat vertical video ad in just a few minutes – even if you don’t have a vertical video ready.

The tool is able to take any photo or video – including horizontal formats – and turn them into vertical video ads. Snap Publisher also allows you to import and use any photos or videos from your website, though it says you “may only import from sites in which you have the legal right to obtain media from.”

From there, you can either manually crop and edit the video or images or let Snap Publisher do it for you. The most practical use would be to chop longer videos or ads into shorter scenes fitting Snapchat’s three- to 10-second limits.

If you don’t have any videos or images that work as vertical ads, you can also choose from 13 templates Snap Publisher provides. The templates include a number of photos, videos, logos, and text you can use or customize to get the style and message you want.

With just a few minutes of tweaking, you can build a complete Snapchat video ad in just a few minutes, with or without any pre-existing footage or photos.

https://youtu.be/eVvEjzTKT3U

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AdWords introduces search ad remarketing for your YouTube viewers

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AdWords has launched a new feature allowing advertisers to remarket search ads to anyone who has watched their videos on YouTube, making it easier to funnel potential leads toward converting.

YouTube already lets advertisers remarket YouTube ads to people who have interacted with their channel, but the new change allows you to use the same list of people to show search ads to them as well.

Setting up your search ad retargeting can be done by logging into AdWords and navigating to Shared library > Audiences > New video remarketing list.

From there, you can select which type of interaction you want to use to decide who to retarget to, including anyone who has viewed any video, liked a video, or left a comment.

Thanks to this, you can show ads specifically to people already familiar with your brand and what you offer, letting you re-connect with them any time they search for a relevant keyword for your business or industry.

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Snapchat makes it easier to link to your website in Snaps

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Snapchat has quickly become one of the most popular social image sharing platforms around, breaking out of its teen-centric image to reach a wide audience of users. With this growth, the platform has also made extensive changes to make it easier for brands to connect with users.

This week, the company released one such new feature with the launch of “Snapchat Paperclip”. The Paperclip feature lets anyone – including brands – to attach a link to any Snap before it is shared. Until now, the only way you could include a link in a Snap was through paid ads.

The launch of Paperclip puts Snapchat ahead of the other most prominent social image platform, Instagram, which only allows links within the bio section of profiles. The only exception to Instagram’s rules is for users with over 10,000 followers. These popular figures can also include links in Instagram Stories.

The ability to include links in individual Snaps may seem like a small change, but it could be a huge win for brands looking to build an organic following. Instead of paying for ads, you can now rely on high-quality content to get users engaged and interested in your site and products. It also allows you to reach more ad-averse audiences, such as tech-savvy users who tend to block or ignore ads.

The Paperclip feature already available around the world for both iOS and Android users and is easily accessible by tapping the paperclip icon within Snapchat’s toolkit.

Along with the launch of Paperclip, Snapchat has released two other new features more aimed at average users. Voice Filters give users the ability to modify the way their voice sounds even when no using a visual lens. The other feature, Backdrops, lets users swap out the background of images with custom designs or colors.

You can see all three new features in action in this video shared by Josh Constine:

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Compare your ad results against your competition with Bing Competitive Metrics

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Analytics is an essential way to measure the effectiveness of your ads, but traditionally your results are kept in isolation. The only thing you have to compare against is past results.

Bing is changing that, with a new way to compare the results of your ad campaigns against how your competitors are performing.

These new competitive metrics, also known as “share of voice” metrics, have been added to Bing’s in-line performance views, with details on your ads and similar campaigns in your industry. You still can’t hand-pick your local competitors and spy on their campaigns, but the new metrics will give you a better view of how you are doing within your market.

To get started, just log into your Bing Ads account and select either Accounts Summary, Campaigns, Ad Groups, or Keywords. Once you’re on any of these pages, click the Columns button. This will allow you to add any metrics from the Competitive (Share of Voice) section. Once you’ve applied your changes, these new metrics will appear in your reports.

Bing says the metrics are compatible with all other reporting features offered by the platform.

The announcement says this latest update is just “one of many” enhancements to Bing analytics the company will be releasing this year, though they are keeping those upcoming updates a secret for now.

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Facebook Fixes Instant Articles With… Ads?

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Facebook’s Instant Articles are touted as being the fastest way to deliver content on the web. They are even supposed to be faster than Google’s Accelerated Mobile Pages, which similarly streamline content to load as quickly as possible on mobile devices.

There’s just one problem: no one seems to be using them.

Even big publishers that initially led the charge to Instant Articles have slowly started dropping the service, opting instead to use regular content hosted on their website or relying solely on Google’s AMP platform.

This week, Facebook made strides to attract publishers back to Instant Articles by announcing new ways to implement ads and monetize content shared on their fast-loading pages.

The ads are designed to be minimally invasive, only appearing within the “Related Articles” section appearing below the full articles. The company has been testing these ads since March of this year, and say they provide an “incremental increase” in the amount of revenue generated by Instant Articles, according to a blog post shared on Thursday.

As you can see in the image above, the ads look similar to most advertisements across Facebook. They put the focus on a large image, with a small bit of descriptive text and a link. For now, videos aren’t allowed but that could potentially change in the future.

The main difference between these ads and standard Facebook News Feed ads is they now appear at the bottom of the page among links to other articles, instead of in your feed.

There is one catch, however. To include the new ads in the “Related Articles” section of Instant Articles, you must also be a part of Facebook’s Audience Network.

Interestingly, Facebook says the ads can be used for virtually anything – not just branded content. The only requirement is that the ads link directly to a landing page.

While the ads may bring publishers back to using Instant Articles, the advertisers themselves may be less happy about the new ad placement. Advertisers who opt-in to placing their ads in Instant Articles can’t control whether they are prominently placed above the ad or within the “Related Articles” section at the bottom. The good news is, they can choose to block specific publishers or types of content from including their ads. That means you can at least be sure your ads aren’t appearing alongside questionable or objectionable content that could hurt your image.

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