Two skeletons in a room with pink fairy lights in the background. Skeletons looking at each other, one has mouth open in surprise.

5 SEO Nightmares To Avoid This Halloween

Colder nights, crunchy leaves, and copious amounts of pumpkin-picking posts can only mean one thing: spooky season is well and truly upon us. 

Sidestepping any office decorations or pumpkin carving parties of our own, our team at Mackerel Media decided to mark the occasion with a round of scary stories: SEO edition.  

From content catches to dev debacles, we share five of the most hair-raising SEO setbacks that we’d glady drive a stake through this Halloween.  

1. Comment Spam  

Comment spam is still happening in 2022? Frightening, we know. 

Comment spam involves placing comments on reputable blogs and online articles filled with keywords and links in an attempt to improve the backlink profile of a website. It’s spammy, outdated and a downright no from all credible SEO specialists. Don’t do it.

2. URL Parameters

While a necessary and useful tool for tracking, searching and filtering content, URL parameters can cause some serious SEO issues if they’re not kept under control. 

With the ability to inadvertently generate hundreds of thousands or even millions of extra pages, excessive URL parameters not only present an issue for duplicate content, but impede Google’s ability to effectively crawl and index your site (sometimes they find so many URLs they simply stop!). 

This kind of site bloat can be detrimental to your overall SEO health, undoing any great work you’ve done in terms of content and ranking. While it can take some time to rein them in, getting on top of URL parameters will do you many SEO favours in the long run. 

There are a few different techniques available to combat URL parameters – this article by Search Engine Journal gives a great overview. 

3. Keyword Density 

Another SEO discussion we thought (or perhaps hoped) would be long since forgotten: keyword density. 

Now, keywords are, of course, a crucially important component of SEO. Content needs to be aligned to search demand in order to rank and perform well, and ensuring keywords are included in Meta Tags, Page Titles and internal links can help make this happen. 

But, when it comes to the content itself, prioritising ‘keyword density’, or trying to weave in a certain number of keywords to meet a target quota, detracts from the true aim: creating high quality content that is genuinely relevant and valuable for the reader. 

This is something that Google continues to emphasise, particularly through the release of its helpful content updates, which prioritise the quality and relevance of content over the writer’s ability to strategically place keywords. 

Top ranking positions are achieved by content which is written for people, not search engines. If achieving #1 is your aim, killing ‘keyword density’ as a metric is a great first step. 

4. “I’ve cracked the algorithm!” 

Anyone with a Twitter account and an interest in SEO will have undoubtedly come across these four words before: “I’ve unpicked Google’s algorithm!”

It’s a statement which has graced our inboxes and social media feeds many times over the years, so let’s clear this up nice and simply: they haven’t. 

Nobody has ever cracked Google’s algorithm, and nobody ever will. Even if there is just one (which is highly unlikely), it’s infinitely complicated and constantly changing – even Google’s own engineers can’t unpick it. 

Sure, someone may have found a way to improve the ranking performance of their own content, or seen the intersection of various well-established SEO techniques come together at the perfect time, but have they been able to outwit the skill and decades of work by thousands of the world’s best software engineers? Absolutely not.  

5. The Myth of Organic Traffic Loss Following Site Migration

Businesses migrate their websites for many reasons. Perhaps a brand refresh, an investment in UX or a need for better accessibility and cybersecurity features. Either way, a site migration should be a positive and exciting time for brands, paving the way for better customer experience and improved site conversions as a result. 

Despite this, time and time again we hear of experienced web developers and agencies warning clients of a 20-30% drop in organic traffic following a site migration… 

…truly horrific

Our take – unless you have made a strategic decision to remove content that drives your existing level of organic traffic, there’s absolutely no reason you should see any drop-offs at all.

Proper, detailed, strategic SEO research and planning, delivered well should ideally mean the opposite happens, that your organic traffic starts to rise following the migration to your new website. Surely the point of investing all that money in the new website was to make it better, more visible and more effective for you…wasn’t it?


And that concludes the chilling SEO setbacks that continue to haunt the team at Mackerel Media. What nightmares would you add to the list? Let us know over on our socials

Mackerel Media Search & Digital Marketing News Roundup – #SearchOn22 Special

This week, Google hosted its third annual Search On event live from its HQ in San Francisco. Taglined ‘Search Outside The Box’, the event covered all of the latest updates across Google Search, Google Shopping and Google Maps which are elevating Google’s search capabilities over the coming year. 

Filled with new launches, upgrades and ideas, the event delivered all of the need-to-know updates we’d typically serve up in our Mackerel Media monthly round ups. That’s why we decided to dedicate this month’s edition exclusively to Search On 2022’s biggest takeaways. 

Let’s dive in. 

Search 

Multisearch

Initially launched back in April 2022, Google Multisearch allows users to conduct searches on their phones using a combination of image and text. Powered by Google Lens, users can upload a picture and add a word, phrase or question to get even more granular with their search request. For instance, they may upload a picture of their favourite dress and search for it in a different colour. Or perhaps share an image of their newest house plant, desperately seeking out the right care instructions… 

MultiSearch was designed to be a more intuitive way of searching, allowing people to ask questions based on what they see, more like we do in everyday life. 

Now expanding to over 70 languages, it will be interesting to see what this upgrade means for SEOs. We can imagine it will be difficult to track search demand in the same way, especially without the context of the images each individual has shared. Online retailers will have to pay greater attention to the way their products are being indexed in this format, discovering the best techniques to optimise as the tool develops. 

MultiSearch Near Me

Taking MultiSearch a step further, MultiSearch Near Me extends combined text and image searches to ‘near me’ queries. Helping to localise search results, users can snap a picture of their favourite dish, which Google will match with images from local restaurants. From there, users can browse and compare by reviews, price, distance, and all of the other Google My Business intel we’re used to relying on. 

If this catches on, smaller businesses would be wise to spend some time ensuring their Google My Business pages are populated with relevant images that will match the searches of prospective customers. It also continues to place importance on the impact of online reviews, which grow in strength when presented in this comparison style view. 

Shortcuts 

Again placing a focus on bringing new ‘dimensions’ to the way people search, shortcuts are designed to encourage users towards Google’s whole suite of search features, including voice search, translate with text and screenshots. 

In a further attempt to direct users away from traditional text search, it’s likely this will make it more difficult for webmasters to accurately measure search demand, placing more emphasis on image and voice commands. 

Search Refinements

On a similar vein, search refinements, or autosuggestions, will also be launched in Search over the coming months. Appearing automatically in the search bar as you type, these ‘tappable’ suggestions will direct users towards most popular searches, providing images, videos and facts to help people discover more on a certain topic. 

 

While this feature could be really useful in terms of keyword and intent research, we expect to see some changes in the way pages appear in the SERP. So far, it looks as though the autosuggestions direct users to Google’s own resources and tools, rather than to a more traditional SERP. We’ll be keeping close tabs on this one. 

Explore As You Scroll 

Another feature which aims to provide a more engaging experience for users is Google’s explore feature. Rather than losing people after the first four searches (if they even get that far), Google plans to introduce a more visual format, sharing content and information that is related to their search query.

We’re really interested to see how this affects the ranking of content. In light of Google’s recently launched helpful content update, we imagine that we’ll see an increase in ranking for really great content, which will gain traction not only for the specific topic it’s focused on, but related topics too. Owing to Google’s battle against lower quality and ‘spam’ content, we expect to see less relevant and low quality content drop off of the SERP completely. 

Shopping 

Over the course of this year, Google has consistently reinforced a key focus on expanding its ecommerce capabilities. So, somewhat unsurprisingly, Google Shopping features dominated this year’s event, with nine new features being announced. They included: 

Google Shop

By beginning any search with the word ‘shop’, users will be able to browse products from a variety of retailers and brands in a visual ‘grid’ format – much like they would on a retailer’s own website. 

Designed to be a more interactive experience for users, the pages will offer up a range of popular filters to narrow down results. The product grids will also be broken up by editorial content, to enhance the shopping experience and direct consumers to guides, lookbooks and inspiration.  

Combined with Google’s new search refinements, it’s likely that this tool will streamline search terms in the ecommerce space, as well as providing more opportunities for brands to get in front of customers with well optimised editorial content and SEO-savvy product descriptions. 

Shop The Look 

Taking further steps to bring some of the in-store experience online, Shop The Look allows users to browse products that match their initial search (i.e these white jeans to match the bomber jacket example above). This gives retailers more opportunities to rank – even if they don’t necessarily offer the original product searched for.

Buying Guides

Have we talked enough already about the importance of having great content? Well this rings true once again with the launch of Google’s Buying Guides

Appearing after the first layer of product results, this new feature includes key questions to refine your search as well as an overview of any product subcategories. All coming accompanied with a snapshot of the top ranking product description, this is definitely a reason for online retailers to review and refresh those product landing pages. 

Maps

Last but not least, Google released a variety of new updates on Google Maps. While not all of them are worth mentioning in the context of SEO and digital marketing, we wanted to share the one key upgrade that caught our attention. 

Live view

Combining visual search and augmented reality (AR), Google Live View allows users to overlay Google Maps on the real world by selecting the camera icon within their Maps app. Users will be able to pan around their location, viewing a snapshot of the key attractions, businesses and transport links around them in real time. 

In terms of SEO, we once again circle back to ensuring your Google My Business account is optimised and up to date. But, in the wider context of seeing AR gain traction in everyday tools, we’re really excited to try this one out for ourselves. 

 

And that’s our take on #SearchOn22! We’d love to hear your predictions on the SEO outcomes of these new updates. Come and chat to us over on our socials

Or, you can catch the full Google Search On 2022 event here

Mackerel Media August 2022 Search & Digital Marketing News Roundup

As the summer holidays come to an end and the constant stream of OOOs begins to ease, we’re reflecting on the biggest search and digital marketing trends of August 2022. 

Google launches helpful content update

As Google continues to improve the quality and relevance of its search results, the search engine has rolled out its latest helpful content update. This is designed to reward high-quality content which is genuinely helpful for readers, and target lower quality content which is written for search engines first. 

As copywriters and content teams have become wise to the tools and techniques used to increase the success of copy on search engines, it’s becoming easier to create content that ranks well purely because it was designed that way, regardless of the actual quality of the content or value for the reader. 

This challenge is only elevated by the increase in AI-generated writing tools. While cost-effective and time-saving for companies, Google’s John Mueller publicly referred to the AI-generated content as “spam” and advised against its use if good ranking is the goal.  

This update takes steps to combat the issue of high ranking but poor quality content,  prioritising content which is trustworthy and credible, created for a specific audience and successfully meets the wants and/or needs of the customer. A full list of guidance can be found here

As part of the announcement, Google was careful to specify that this update does not invalidate SEO best practices. SEO should be used to optimise people-first and high quality content, instead of trying to find loopholes to reach top ranking positions (if you need some help, let us know).

TikTok introduces new shopping features

As TikTok continues to expand its ecommerce capabilities, the fastest growing social media app in the world has introduced three new shopping features. These will be part of a newly-introduced ad suite called Shopping Ads. 

Designed to seamlessly integrate with the platform’s organically generated content, these features include Video Shopping Ads, Catalogue Listing Ads and LIVE Shopping Ads. 

Video Shopping Ads

Integrated within the app’s acclaimed For You Page (FYP), Video Shopping Ads allow brands to advertise their products within in-feed video ads. With in-post call to actions (CTAs), customers will be able to tap straight through to a customised landing page, to browse and purchase products within the TikTok app. 

Catalogue Listing Ads

Launching in the U.S initially, Catalogue Listing Ads allow advertisers to promote their products across the entire app, through product selections called Catalogues. These will be shared with relevant users as “recommended” or “related products”, to expand the reach of the brand’s product offering and reach users which have shown interest in similar items. 

LIVE Shopping Ads

LIVE Shopping Ads are designed to attract users from their FYP to a brand’s live event, where they are able to browse and shop products alongside other shoppers. This feature is designed to be interactive, to allow brands a further avenue to engage and build communities with their audiences. 

Often dismissed as a platform due to its popularity with younger demographics, TikTok is an extremely powerful tool for D2C brands. The success of its shoppable features outshine other platforms and provide plenty of opportunities and incentives to encourage customers through to purchase. Add to that the platform’s growing reach with older demographics and this is not a channel to be forgotten. 

Twitter introduces podcasts to engage new listeners 

As the popularity of podcasts continues to soar, Twitter has introduced audio content to its recently created Spaces Tab. In this personalised hub, users can group together their favourite shows by themes such as News, Music and Sports as well as gaining access to the most popular podcasts from around the world. 

It’s hoped that this new integration will give Twitter users more opportunities to engage with other users and listeners, with the option to thumbs up or thumbs down the shows they like or dislike. 

With more platforms available to listen to podcasts, it will be interesting to see the impact this has on listener figures and, in turn, advertisement costs and formats. We look forward to seeing how this upgrade is received over the coming weeks and months.

Mackerel Media July 2022 Search & Digital Marketing News Roundup

This July brought strikes, heatwaves and several high profile resignations… but what it also brought was a whole host of new digital marketing updates for webmasters and marketers to sink their teeth into. From partnerships to product launches, explore our digital marketing highlights of July 2022. 

YouTube partners with Shopify to bring new shopping features and tools to the platform

Hot on the heels of competitor video-first platform, TikTok, YouTube has partnered with ecommerce giant Shopify to expand its shopping features. New tools will allow creators to manage how their products appear across their channels and enable users to make purchases without leaving the platform.

This is part of YouTube’s wider effort to expand its ecommerce integrations, and comes alongside new features in its Studio Shopping tab. Eligible creators will now have full access to live shopping features, such as the ability to tag products within a live stream from YouTube’s ‘Live Control Room’. 

 

 

Launching initially in the US, India and Brazil, the integration will also allow creators to link their Shopify account directly to their YouTube dashboard. Shopify will monitor inventory in real time to ensure stock levels are always up to date. 

With 40% of global shoppers reporting they have purchased products after discovering them on YouTube, these additional monetisation features are likely to be a game changer for the world’s largest video platform, capitalising on consumer interest in its peak and strengthening the ever-growing creator economy.  We’ll be watching the space on this one!

Google launches Ad Creative Studio 

After a year of testing in Beta, Google has launched its much-anticipated Ad Creative Studio

Blending “creativity and strategy”, the platform will make it easier for advertising teams to collaborate on video and display ads, and personalise content for a variety of audiences. 

 

Responding to growing demand for highly personalised ads, Creative Studio enables teams to create hundreds of versions of a single display or video ad. By setting certain parts of the ad (such as text or image) to ‘swappable’, the tool enables teams to customise creative for different audiences, locations, languages and contexts – at a fraction of the time it would take other platforms. 

The platform is already live for video content, and will be live for display creative soon. We look forward to delving into this tool and seeing just how much time can be saved. We’re also keen to hear from any creative agencies out there who have already welcomed Creative Studio into their workflows. 

Instagram puts local businesses on the map 

When travelling to a new city or browsing new haunts in our hometown, many of us are partial to a quick Instagram search. In an aesthetically pleasing, visual-first format, we can browse official business accounts, view tagged photos and assess popularity from content quality, follower count and reviews. 

In fact, 40% of 16-24 year olds are surpassing Google entirely, turning to visual platforms such as Instagram and TikTok to discover new businesses. 

Recognising this growing demand, Meta has introduced a searchable Instagram map, helping users to search, browse and discover popular local businesses in one location.

 Announced by Mark Zuckerberg on Instagram Stories just last week, the feature will allow users to filter by categories (such as hotels or restaurants), view distance from their location, compare opening times and browse content under accompanying hashtags. 

With more and more consumers turning to Instagram and TikTok to find new businesses, Zuckerberg has tapped into a golden opportunity for discovery tools. It will be fascinating to see how Instagram ads will be incorporated into this feature, including hyper-local targeting based on location and behaviour within the map. 

Google delays plans to phase out cookies by 2023 

In 2019, Google announced its Privacy Sandbox initiative with the aim of providing digital businesses the tools and insights they need to thrive online, without compromising the privacy of users. Part of this initiative involved pledging to phase out third party cookies by July 2023 to reduce cross-site and cross-app tracking. 

Just this week, Google shared plans to delay this phasing activity until Q3 of 2024. This is to ensure the “privacy-preserving” alternatives offered by Privacy Sandbox are fully functional and effective before the switch is made. 

While this isn’t great news for the privacy-conscious users among us, it does give marketers and analysts a little more time to prepare for the shift. But, as more and more consumers choose to ‘opt out’ of online cookies and become more savvy to tracking tricks, it’s likely that Google’s latest initiative will provide a welcome alternative for both parties. 

Google releases latest product reviews update 

In our final snippet of Google news, online product reviews are in for an upgrade as the search giant announces its fourth product reviews update.  

To combat the sea of templated and standardised review content online, the updated algorithm will favour higher-quality content based on original research and insightful analysis, written by subject matter experts (SMEs).

To accompany the announcement, Google laid out comprehensive advice on how to achieve this higher quality content, such as including key decision making factors, demonstrating supporting evidence and adding links to multiple sellers. 

If your website includes product reviews, it’s worth keeping tabs on these pages over the coming 2-3 weeks to monitor ranking. To futureproof your pages for the update, or set new guidance for your content team, explore the full list of official advice here


Mackerel Media is a full-service digital marketing agency based in Edinburgh, Scotland. Providing a diverse range of digital marketing services, from organic SEO and consultancy to paid social and PPC, we can build targeted short and long term campaigns to take your business to the next level. Explore our success stories here.

Mackerel Media June 2022 Search & Digital Marketing News Round Up

The end of another month means another host of digital marketing updates and features to recap. This month’s round-up touches on everything from new reporting tools and insights to social media updates – there’s even a mention of the Metaverse in there.

Happy reading!

Google Search Console improves search visibility with updates to item classification 

Starting this month, Google is changing the way it classifies pages, items and issues in Search Console reports. This will not only help webmasters to better identify critical issues affecting visibility in search, but vastly improve the tracking and reporting of key goals and metrics. 

 

 

While Google will continue to test and roll out this feature over the remainder of the year, its broad aim is to group top-level items (such as rich level reports and page URLs) into a ‘valid’ or ‘invalid’ category, simplifying the process of identifying and fixing page errors for users of all levels.

Read more → 

Meta introduces monetisation tools for creators 

As the creator economy continues to take off, Meta is launching additional tools and features to further encourage monetisation on its platforms. 

Within a Facebook thread on 21st June, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg claimed the updates will ‘help creators build for the metaverse’, in his bid to encourage widespread adoption of Meta’s digital-first universe. 

 

 

These updates will include: 

Facebook Stars

Similar to TikTok’s gifting feature, Facebook Stars will allow eligible creators to earn additional income through Reels and Instagram Lives. Users purchase the stars for a set fee, which they can then award to creators to show appreciation for the content they have created. 

 

 

Monetising Reels

Supporting creators to make the most of their content, Meta will extend the reach of its Reels Bonus Play program, allowing more creators to be paid directly through the platform while easily sharing their content from Instagram Reels to Facebook. 

Creator Marketplace

Following TikTok’s lead once again, Meta is also working on developing a new area of the Instagram platform where brands can discover new creators, pay them for their content, and share new partnership opportunities. 

We look forward to seeing how these features are received and adopted by both brands and creators. While it’s clear that almost every other platform out there is after a slice of TikTok’s booming success, it does beg the question whether there’s any merit in setting yourself apart from the rest… 

Read more → 

LinkedIn provides the laughs 

While we are talking all things social media, no June 2022 round-up would be complete without a mention of LinkedIn’s newly-launched ‘laugh’ reaction. As Linkedin’s most highly-requested feature, the reaction graced users’ feeds on 17th June, as a way to “express humour and fun on LinkedIn”.

 

 

As LinkedIn continues to evolve into a platform which offers entertainment value to its users – where personal achievements are shared just as widely as professional ones – the new feature definitely holds a place alongside existing reactions, Like, Celebrate, Support, Love, Insightful and Curious. 

Suffice to say, the new reaction was nothing short of well-received.  


Mackerel Media is a full-service digital marketing agency, helping global clients to build their brands through an integrated mix of SEO, PPC, paid social, display ads, content optimisation and robust analytics. Contact us to find out more about how we can help you grow your brand in 2022.

May 2022 Search & Digital Marketing News Round Up

May 2022 was a busy month for Google. From algorithm changes to new ad features, we’ve pulled together all of the latest updates so that you don’t have to. 

Google rolls out May 2022 broad core update

In big SEO news this month, Google announced the release of its latest broad core update. The first release since November last year, this update will bring enhancements to overall ranking processes, making the relevance of search results as accurate as possible. 

Source: Twitter

While the full effects of the changes are yet to be determined, some sites may experience drops or gains in their page rankings as a result. Google commented: 

Core updates are changes we make to improve Search overall and keep pace with the changing nature of the web. While nothing in a core update is specific to any particular site, these updates may produce some noticeable changes to how sites perform, which we’ve noted in previous guidance on what site owners should know about core updates.

The update will take around 1-2 weeks to roll out fully, during which time we’ll be keeping a close eye on Analytics, Search Console and our other tools for any notable site changes.

Google Marketing Live event reveals wealth of new ad features 

On Tuesday 24th May, Google hosted its annual Marketing Live event, sharing the latest Google Ads and Commerce features to help businesses evolve how they advertise on the platform. 

Source: Google

The event revealed a whole host of new features, enhancing performance tracking for advertisers while providing a much more interactive experience for users. This year’s biggest updates included:

  • Additions to the Insights page – improving the personalisation of trend data to produce a clearer picture of consumer demand. Features included the introduction of Attribution, Budget and Audience insight reports. 

Source: Google

  • Introduction of video ads in Discover – creating more engaging and compelling ad experiences with branded video assets in Google feeds.

Source: Google

  • Mobile-first layouts for responsive display ads – enabling users to scroll through ads in a vertical format, magnifying ad salience for brands.

Source: Google

  • Updates to the Shopping Ad Format – bringing a swipe-able shopping experience to mobile for the first time.

Source: Google

With a greater focus on video content and vertical, swipe-able shopping experiences, we suspect Google is taking steps to simulate the immensely successful shoppable ad formats on TikTok and Instagram. It will be interesting to see how the ad features compare to these mobile-first giants – who hasn’t fallen victim to an Instagram purchase or two!

Google experiments with favicon display label

Looking ahead, Google has also been experimenting with a new Google Ads label display, introducing the brand’s site favicon alongside the ad domain and display URL and testing the words ‘advertisement’, ‘ad’, and ‘sponsored’. 

Source: Brodie Clark

Google has confirmed this is to test whether users can more easily identify the brand and will therefore be more engaged with the ad as a result – interesting for a search engine that has spent the best part of the last decade finding ways to embed ads into the SERP as subtly as possible! If rolled out widely, this could mean changes to click-through rates (CTR) on paid ads, and subsequent changes to organic listings too. Watch this space. 

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