Last Week in Digital Marketing: Notable Changes in SEO and Paid Advertising

Google is widely known for constantly updating algorithms, but recently it has been under some scrutiny for these changes. Meanwhile, LinkedIn and Instagram have been working to improve their advertising platforms.

Recent Google Updates Have Ruffled Some Feathers

Over the past few weeks, there have been reports of significant fluctuations in Google’s keyword rankings and search engine results. Interestingly, the complaints don’t seem to be too wide-spread but a fair amount of them have come from the SEO community.

Many of those affected by the recent updates have seen a steep drop in search rankings and website traffic. Obviously, these changes have caused a considerable amount of confusion, frustration, and concern.

Takeaway: Take note of this new Google algorithm update and check out your analytics and your rankings for your website. Has it affected you?

LinkedIn Announces “Complete Overhaul” of Campaign Manager

Looking to make it easier for advertisers to create campaigns and measure their results, LinkedIn has completely redesigned its Campaign Manager. Users will select the objective that is most important to them to begin the process, using only the ad features and formats designed specifically for that objective.

The public beta of Campaign Manager will be available to everyone November 14th. It highlights easier navigation, a new forecasting panel, a redesigned targeting experience, a faster and more responsive interface, and live ad preview.

Takeaway: Advertising on LinkedIn just became more simple. These new features will make launching optimized ads on the platform easier and more efficient.

A Couple of Changes for Advertisers on Instagram

Instagram has begun testing a new analytics tool that expands tracking from new followers, Story exits, impressions and website clicks. These improvements will show audience overlaps with website visitors, retention rates, app downloads, and lifetime value.

Another change is that the social media platform will begin allowing advertisers to reach targeted audiences through a new ad format. “Promote for Stories” is similar to the “boost“ tool from Facebook which allows advertisers to pay for getting their posts into more feeds.

Takeaway: Better analytics will allow for better reporting and better understanding of what works and what doesn’t, so you can tweak and optimize your ads to their full potential. Advertisers on Instagram may want to consider adding the “Promote for Stories” ad type into their Instagram ad campaigns to get more eyes on their content.

Google Testing Out New Domain Properties

Google is testing a way for users of its Search Console to be able to add all data for a website’s subdomains, subpaths, and protocals. The search engine has created a new kind of web property called a Domain property to achieve this goal.

Takeaway: These new Domain properties are still being tested out and are only available to users who have been selected by Google. You will be contacted if you are selected, so keep an eye out!

Michael Childs is an Web Content Specialist on the the LeadBuilder® inbound marketing team. His interests include music, art, sports, and movies. He also loves animals. Connect with him on LinkedIn.

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