AdWords Editor 9.5 Is Released, An On-Page CTR Study Yields Interesting Results, & More

Google AdWords Editor 9.5 Is Open For Business

Version 9.5 of Google AdWords Editor has been released and includes an easier-to-use interface, more control over experiments, and location extension support. Other accounts can also be downloaded while you perform a separate task. Google also provides a detailed run-down of the biggest and smallest changes to the AdWords Editor.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Subdomains Are Considered Internal Links In Webmaster Tools

Google recently announced that Webmaster Tools will now count links from any subdomain as internal links. Previously, links from example.com/kittens to www.example.com/kittens were considered external links. Google remained ambiguous about how the link algorithm treats these links, and how these subdomains will be treated in the Google SERPs.

Source: Search Engine Land

Study: Lower Ranking Sites In Google Have Higher On-Site Ad Click-Through Rates

According to a study from Chitika, sites that rank lower in Google SERPs typically have higher click-through rates on ads displayed on the site. A possible explanation for this trend is that users that click on lower ranking sites may not be as focused on a given task. Therefore, they are more likely to visit a site and click on an ad to leave.

Source: Search Engine Watch

All Mobile AdWords Phone Numbers Can Now Be Clicked

By default, any phone number that shows up in paid search links for mobile devices will be clickable. This has a decent amount of advantages, including the elimination of a manual extension setup, more experimentation possibilities, and greater control over the number’s location in the ad.

Source: Search Engine Watch

One Third Of Facebook Page Referrals Come From Search Engines

Roughly 34% of external Facebook page referrals come from the three major search engines, according to a PageLever study that used the Facebook API to extract raw dara on external-driven traffic. Although that 34% seems fairly high for external traffic referrals, those only account for 9.5% of Facebook’s total traffic numbers.

Source: Search Engine Watch

AT&T Merger With T-Mobile Blocked By U.S. Dept. Of Justice

The U.S. Department of Justice has sued AT&T, effectively blocking its acquisition of the country’s fourth largest wireless provider T-Mobile. The DOJ said the merger would violate anti-trust laws and “lessen competition,” and it’s highly likely AT&T will fight the suit. There may be extra incentive for AT&T to dispute the charges in court, as a cancellation of the merger would require them to pay a $7 billion breakup fee.

Source: Bloomberg

Tweet Buttons On Websites Increase Social Mentions

According to a report from BrightEdge, an SEO company, there’s a strong relationship between social buttons and sharing on websites. The Tweet button garners an increase of 7% in social shares, and 53.6% of sites have a social widget on their homepage.

Source: Search Engine Land

ComScore Gets Sued For Privacy Issues

Two Chicago-area plaintiffs have sued comScore on the grounds that they took private data (Social Security numbers, credit card numbers, and passwords) without approval, maneuvered around firewalls without approval, and the comScore software embeds itself into a computer’s applications.

Source: Search Engine Watch

Google Trusted Stores Will Soon Open For Business

“Google Trusted Stores” is a new feature on Google that allows customers to discover the shopping quality of any given online store. Google already includes merchant reviews when determining rankings for online stores, and it’s still unclear if this feature exclusively applies to ads or organic rankings (or both).

Source: Search Engine Land

State Of The SEO Industry

The 2011 Local SEO Industry Survey was recently published, and provides valuable insight into the current (and future) state of the SEO industry. Among the findings:

• 31% of SEOs turned over less than $30,000 over the past year. Just 4% of Local Agencies were included in that bracket.
• 31% of respondents entered the SEO world over the past year.
• 46% of SEOs don’t actively seek out new business, and over 50% of SEOs claim a 70%-100% success rate in leads converting to customers.
• 82% of SEOs expect to see business growth over the next year.

Analysis By: Myles Anderson, Search Engine Land

Here’s A Very Comprehensive Guide To Link Bait And Infographics

If ever there were a complete guide to the tips and tricks for creating effective link bait, Distilled has is for you after a short click-through.

Analysis By: Ed Fry, Distilled

Message And Design Effects On CRO (Infographic!)

Small changes to a landing page can make a big difference in conversion rates. This infographic breaks down some of the most notable, common message and design changes that generally lead to a higher conversion rate.

Analysis By: Oli Gardner, Unbounce

Proper LinkedIn Use Can Help Your Organic Visibility

LinkedIn is great for networking online with potential customers, business partners, or employees. It can also be an effective tool for increasing your website’s organic search presence. George Aspland runs down a list of easy-to-implement strategies to fully utilize LinkedIn’s potential.

Analysis By: George Aspland, Search Engine Land

Seven Steve Jobs-ian Lessons For Life And Business

Mark Ivey compiled a list of seven things Steve Jobs taught us about success in life and business. Read these as if they were end-of-episode talks coming from Mike Brady.

Analysis By: Mark Ivey, Social Media Explorer

The Internet Impact On Accessibility Vs. Access

Values has frequently been associated with scarcity over the course of history, but the digital age we live in has blurred that correlation significantly. Information about nearly anything is within the reach of a few keystrokes, and it has changed our access to previously “rare” entities.

Analysis By: Maria Popova, Nieman Journalism Lab

SEO And Star Wars Lightsabers: Together At Last!

Much like the lightsaber colors in Star Wars, the color of your SEO hat shows where you stand ethically in the industry. Some of the Star Wars topics discussed span beyond the movies, so let all your inner nerd hang out when you read this!

Analysis By: Angie Schottmuller, Search Engine Watch

Standing Desks Are A Trending Topic In The Tech World

Consider this story a follow-up to a previous piece of analysis exploring the benefits of standing while working. A few companies, notably Facebook, have seen a rise in requests for these desks from their employees. We’re still waiting for the first Rocket Clicker to file their desk transfer paperwork…

Analysis By: Jim Carlton, Wall Street Journal

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