Frans Riemersma

Shitification of Google Henk van Ess recently used this term, which is the perfect definition of what happens with Google search. I'll cry a duet with Henk. In just the last 5 years Google has killed almost everything useful that was available to the user. In case you haven't noticed, for example, on 1 February links to cached pages disappeared from searches, and on 24 September Google Cache was finally killed. Reverse image search, gosh, how great it was! In its place is now Google Lens, a cheesy software that can identify a watch brand but is completely useless for verifying the validity of a photo. A crutch in the form of the half-closed Image Context Search — while useful, it's a poor substitute. 300 results in the search. Not more, or even less, even for those queries for which there are thousands and tens of thousands of pages on the Internet. I'm not talking about the geo-algorithm, which will give you three different results for the same query made from Kazakhstan, Montenegro or Germany. And you are lucky if the results will not contradict each other. And this is not only about Google, but more or less about all major search engines and in general products of techno-giants. Looks like everyone has adopted Zuckerberg's main principle, which he has been following since 2018 at least: ‘How else can we make your life harder?’. On the one hand, as a trainer, I can't complain, my Advanced Search course has become twice as popular (and three times as detailed). But on the other hand, I'm a practitioner, and the number of moves I need to make to find what I really need has multiplied. And it's going to get worse. So keep your eyes on the alternatives, and archive anything that might be useful, or you won't find it the day after tomorrow. *The picture shows the Shitification of Google according to the chatGPT.

7

𝗟𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹 𝗨𝗽 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗖𝗵𝗮𝘁𝗚𝗣𝗧 𝗖𝗵𝗲𝗮𝘁𝘀𝗵𝗲𝗲𝘁𝘀 ! Whether you're a designer, salesperson, marketer, or tech whiz, this ChatGPT cheat sheet has something for you: 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀 : •Make interfaces people love! •Bring your ideas to life. •Design stunning apps and responsive websites. 𝗚𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰 𝗗𝗲𝘀𝗶𝗴𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀: •Manage risk and finances for successful projects. •Use financial models to create powerful visuals. •Track design trends and adapt your style. 𝗦𝗮𝗹𝗲𝘀: •Master consultative selling for happy clients. •Nurture relationships that last. •Uncover hidden sales potential. 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿: •Run winning campaigns and build your brand. •Track your progress and prove your ROI. •Stay on top of the latest trends and strategies. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗸𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: •Optimize your content for top search results. •Stay organized with a content calendar. •Craft engaging posts that people love. 𝗜𝗧 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿: •Navigate the world of agile project management. •Set expectations for smooth execution. •Identify and manage potential problems. 𝗦𝗼𝗳𝘁𝘄𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿: •Optimize your code for performance. •Deliver faster and better software. •Build apps that are safe and secure. 𝗖𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁: •Analyze threats and take proactive measures. •Respond to security incidents with precision. •Monitor for suspicious activity. 𝗡𝗲𝘁𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗘𝗻𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗲𝗲𝗿: •Design infrastructure for optimal performance. •Master the protocols that keep data flowing. •Set up seamless Wi-Fi connections. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁: •Use visualization techniques to tell stories with data. •Write efficient SQL queries to find the information you need. •Apply statistical methods to uncover hidden patterns. 𝗗𝗮𝘁𝗮 𝗦𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘁: •Build models that forecast what's to come. •Use powerful algorithms to analyze data. •Get your data ready for analysis. 𝗛𝗥 𝗠𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗴𝗲𝗿: •Foster engagement and motivation. •Attract and hire top performers. •Build an inclusive workplace culture. 𝗧𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁: •Diagnose and fix IT issues. •Make every interaction a positive experience. •Provide top-notch remote support. 𝗨𝗻𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗸 𝗠𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗔𝗜 𝗚𝗼𝗼𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀! If this content helps, repost this ♻️ to your network and follow Dirk Zee. - - - - -  📌 Want a high-res PDF of this Cheat Sheet? ♻️ Repost and like this post & subscribe to my free newsletter: https://lnkd.in/eWZNBP6m You'll get this cheat sheet sent to you + 50 more + my ebook for free.

1

1 commentaar

How being nosy got us 50 backlinks? Back in 2022, when we were promoting our E-Learning Statistics piece for Studocu | Studeersnel.nl, we kept noticing a stat being mentioned in almost every article we read: According to a study from The Research Institute of America, eLearning increases student retention from 25 to 60%. It was cited by all the major publishers. We tried to find the original source but kept failing. Something felt off. After going full detective mode, guess what? The Research Institute of America doesn’t exist… sort of. It exists, but it’s not a research institution publishing peer-reviewed research. It's a technology-based training and financial information vendor.  It gets worse: the study was not ‘recent’—it is at least 24 years old and predates e-learning as we know it today. The “study” was not a peer-reviewed academic research study. It was simply a white paper written by a group of investment analysts. The cherry on top? In the late 1990s, the RIA announced the release of their OnPoint System, a new CD-ROM-based program designed to assist those interested in tax information. They were likely pushing this stat to increase their CD-ROM-based program sales. This was a gold mine to us. Now, all that was left was to find the updated stat and pitch publishers to update it. But, this was trickier than we thought. There was no single eligible study out there that explicitly stated the e-learning retention rate for students. So, we had to be creative and come up with a solution. We analyzed over 20 individual e-learning retention rate case studies with a participation pool of over 250,000 participants. We found out that the average e-learning knowledge retention rate from those case studies was around 82%. Now, we had everything we needed. We wrote an email with our findings, reached out to websites citing the misleading information, and asked them to update it using our source. The links kept coming passively (and still do to this day). This is the magic of statistics link building. It allows you to be creative and come up with solutions to get amazing backlinks - all for free.

7

1 commentaar

From Downward Spiral 🌀 to $300M Exit! 🚀: Discover how a fresh approach turned a SharkTank's struggles into success. With $56M in backing and a team of 15, they were still stuck (!)—until a strategic breakthrough changed everything. Curious to see how the right integration made all the difference? Tap to read! #StartupJourney #SuccessStory #MarketingInnovation  #vc

4

1 commentaar

I asked our friend Bram to give his best tactic of using Catalog Ads - here is his response 🙌💃💪 We all know that the true power of running dynamic catalog ads is '𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞'. By embracing liquidity and targeting broader audiences, Meta may deliver relevant ads to audiences most likely to be interested and take action. This also means that Meta will dynamically retarget people that have expressed interest in specific items from your catalog. Let's build on this principle and take it one step further. On top of your existing Advantage+ Shopping campaigns, set up a dedicated retargeting funnel that attracts new (top-of-the-funnel) audiences and follows up with catalog ads that show highly relevant items from your catalog. 𝐇𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐭𝐮𝐩: Create a new 'Video Views' campaign containing video ads of people using/wearing specific products/clothes. Target these ads to a broad audience (at least 2 million people). Now create a video views custom audience where you isolate views of these specific video ads where people watched at least 50% of its duration. Now create a separate purchase-optimized Sales campaign where you exclusively target the retargeting segment of people who shown interest in your product video. Set up specific catalog ads that feature exactly the same products that were used/shown in your video. Let's say you created a video of someone wearing a specific outfit from your latest collection. Create a catalog segment containing all the exact products from that specific outfit and run these as catalog ads to your specific retargeting segment. People will remember seeing these products/clothes in a video and are now more likely to actually buy them. And as you are now using a video views campaign, you're building new audiences on-platform, expanding your reach towards new audiences. 𝐌𝐲 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬 (𝐀𝐧𝐝𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐬): I think Bram hits the nail on the head here (as he always does). Most advertisers are seeing powerful results with Catalog Ads in a broad campaign, but then don't do the extra work of using Catalog Ads in more specialized ways. Catalog Ads is the most powerful ad format we currently have on making people buy - so you should use it in more ways, to make sure people buy. Mix high quality content with Catalog Ads - like Bram advises here, by showing great videos and retargeting with the exact products afterwards. Or show the products below, in a Collection ad. Or show the products below your influencer post, with Meta's new Partnership ads. No matter what: Go follow Bram here on Linkedin - my personal best resource for new Meta updates and clever thoughts around paid ads 🙌

47

When I start working with new SEO clients, almost 100% of them are shocked (and sometimes frustrated) by the keywords Google ranks them for. 🤯 Most clients think Google will find them based on their brand name and a couple of expertise keywords—who they are and what they do. But, that's often not the case. 😬 🥹 Usually, the top 10 ranking keywords for new clients are completely unrelated to their actual services and how they help their clients. Why does this happen? Google picks keywords for site ranking by considering two key things (among others, but these are crucial and straightforward): 1. The keywords the site owner tells Google to rank the site for. 2. The keywords users Google and then engage with on the site. While we can't control what people search for, we have complete control over the keywords we tell Google to rank us for. 🎯 Here’s where you should place your keywords to ensure Google understands how you want to be ranked: 1. SEO Title - thanks to the leaked file, we know this can be longer than 60 characters - ✅ Example. SEO and Social Media - Increase Brand Awareness - Search Engine Optimization and Social Marketing - Clapping Dog Media 2. Page Title - Make this different than the SEO Title ✅ Example. Social Media SEO: How to Rank Higher on Social Media and Google 3. Headlines - Use headlines to make your content easy to skim and understand quickly. ✅ Example. How does Social Media affect SEO --------- 👏 Hi. I am Meg and I love to help clients understand what searches are driving the most traffic to their site and what they can do about it. If you want to know your most valuable keyword, drop your URL in the comments and I will let you know.

22

11 commentaren

#TIL: If your job is to provide 'actionable' consumer insights that drive brand sales, using ChatGPT4.0 and other LLMs to analyze your data is NOT very useful. Faster Insights: Yes Better Insights: Sometimes Actionable Insights: Not if you believe in behavioral science LLMs are not trained to apply behavioral science-based models and concepts to data analysis, so the insights and actionability you get out of GenerativeAI are mediocre at best... and misleading at worst. Natural Language Processing (NLP) models can be trained to apply behavioral science principles in data analysis, resulting in highly actionable insight and recommendations. Tomorrow I'll show you a comparison between the two.

27

4 commentaren

Calculating the ROI in AI 💹 You can't talk about the #AIEconomy without understanding how to calculate the ROI of your AI initiatives. Many marketers (myself included) have lost sleep trying to answer this question. Trust Insights Co-Founder and Chief Data Christopher Penn details the process for determining AI ROI in his article, "What's the ROI of AI?". Here are some key takeaways: 💹 Start with Your Current Initiatives Before you can figure out AI’s ROI, you need to know the ROI of your current initiatives. Christopher points out, "If you don’t know the ROI of what you’re doing today, you cannot calculate the ROI of AI’s impact on it." You must have a baseline to measure those "game-changing" AI initiatives you pitched to your executive leadership. 💹 Understand ROI 101 ROI is a straightforward financial calculation. Write this formula on a Post-It and put it where you can see it every day: ( earned - spent ) / spent = return on investment (ROI) Trust Christopher when he says, "To calculate the ROI of anything, you have to know what you earned, and you have to know what you spent. If you don’t have those numbers, you cannot calculate ROI. Period, end of story." 💹 Learn When to Calculate ROI According to Christopher, "ROI is best suited for low-resource environments, for when you have very limited resources and you need to make every dollar count. You use it to judge whether or not something is worth investing in." 💹 Determine what "Earned Money" looks like Marketers often struggle with determining earned money due to challenges in attribution analysis. It’s crucial to assess what each marketing activity results in, beyond just the spending aspect. Ask questions like “What’s the value of our brand?” and evaluate the impact of individual channels such as email marketing, social media, and SEO. 💹 Know What Spent Money Looks Like Spent money falls into two categories: hard money and soft money. Hard Money: Actual dollars, euros, or other currencies spent with vendors, like when buying ads. Soft Money: The opportunity cost of tasks performed by your team. Every hour spent on one task is an hour not spent on another, and this must be accounted for in the spending analysis. 💹 Choose Your AI ROI Use Cases Wisely One of the most compelling use cases for AI ROI is the opportunity to reevaluate and enhance all business processes. AI can bring significant efficiencies and innovations, but only if you have a clear ROI baseline to compare it to. Read the full article here: https://bit.ly/3LYnXW4 #AI #AIandROI Cloud Girls Women in AI Women in Cloud Women in Revenue Alliance of Channel Women Marketing AI Institute Craig Schlagbaum Scott Kinka Scott M Casson, MBA, PMP, SSBB Paul Constantine Patrick Chen Caroline H. Eric Krapf Mark Norton

5

What we often find during audits (even for 8 figure+ brands) might schock you! 🤯 𝗥𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝗴𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴: It's rarely optimized. Many brands overlook the importance of retargeting video viewers and specific page interactions. Instead, they focus solely on website visitors. This approach misses out on creating a comprehensive funnel that nurtures potential customers through different stages of their journey. 𝗖𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗶𝗴𝗻 𝗦𝘁𝗿𝘂𝗰𝘁𝘂𝗿𝗲: Often, we see campaign structures that are chaotic and inefficient. It's common to find 20+ campaigns all aimed at the same goal, with overlapping audiences. This not only wastes ad spend but also makes it difficult to measure what’s truly working. 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁: Content stagnation is a major issue. We sometimes encounter brands where the last content update was over 100 days ago (yes, you are reading that correctly). This lack of fresh, engaging content means that campaigns become less effective over time. These are just a few issues we encounter weekly. Each represents a missed opportunity for optimization and growth. What’s the biggest mistake you've come across during an audit?

2

Scaling with Confidence: Matthijs' Journey Through the Facebook Ads MBA Program Join Charley as he chats with Matthijs from the Netherlands about his successful journey in running a Google and Facebook Ads agency after completing the Facebook Ads MBA program. They discuss the importance of embracing broad targeting, the power of ecosystem ROAS, and the benefits of simplifying media buying tactics. Learn how Matthijs' transformation led to substantial client satisfaction, improved business transparency, and the freedom to enjoy vacations stress-free. If you're interested in boosting your media buying skills or want to know more about the Facebook Ads MBA program, this episode is a must-watch! ⭐Master Facebook Ads Now⭐ ****************************** Transform your digital marketing skills with the Facebook Ads MBA Program at Disrupter School. Enroll now to master advanced strategies and techniques that drive real business growth. Don't miss this opportunity to elevate your advertising game – join today! https://lnkd.in/gPbivGQC ABOUT ME: Professor Charley T ******************************** CEO and Founder of Disrupter School, Charley is a renowned expert in Facebook advertising, has helped brands and agencies skyrocket their growth, driving over $1B in revenue. As one of the top 100 Facebook Advertisers, he crafts industry-leading strategies and teaches these in his comprehensive Facebook Ads MBA Program. Join Charley to unlock the full potential of your Facebook campaigns through his proven 9-step process, achieving sustainable growth and scalability. FOLLOW ON SOCIAL: INSERT SOCIAL LINKS Facebook: https://lnkd.in/gRyQuJHs Instagram: https://lnkd.in/gnyMCeUH LinkedIn: https://lnkd.in/gXsGBEMg TikTok: https://lnkd.in/g38V-ZV6 00:00 Introduction and Welcome 00:05 Meet Mathiasen: Success Story from the Netherlands 01:25 Transitioning to Facebook Ads 03:47 Challenges and Solutions in Client Management 05:21 The Impact of the MBA Program 06:59 Client Communication and Reporting 14:23 Scaling Strategies and Client Success 22:24 The Value of the MBA Program 31:16 The Importance of Community in Media Buying 31:39 Risks of Hiring Inexperienced Agencies 33:17 Challenges of Multi-Agency Collaboration 34:32 Transparency and Client Relationships 45:22 Scaling with Confidence and Efficiency 47:13 Simplifying Facebook Ad Strategies 48:56 Broad Targeting and Retargeting Insights 58:45 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

8

1 commentaar

Hey PPC Pro. Ever had someone, or some𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 make changes to your Google Ads account without you knowing it? (auto-applied recs maybe?) Yep. We've all been there. That's why I am sharing one of my favorite scripts: 🚩 Google Ads Script for 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐀𝐥𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐔𝐑𝐋: (link in comments) 👉 𝐖𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬: The script checks all the entries in the Google Ads change history of your account, and if there is a change by a user outside of your list of 'recognized' users, you will get an alert via email. The alert mail contains the number of changes and a link to the Google Sheet that lists all changes by unrecognized users. 👉 𝐖𝐡𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞: It is all too often people outside your team make changes to the Google Ads accounts you manage. You want to make sure these changes are in line with your strategy ASAP. This script ensures you do. Happy scripting! #googleads #ppc #googleadsscript

122

17 commentaren

I wrote these words in April 2014. Over a decade has passed but I still stand by my philosophy towards data collection using Google Tag Manager. I’ve got 13 chapters to share. I may well edit them to make v2.0 valid and up to date. I may add extra chapters to cover new stuff like templates, and particularly server-side. If some chapters are cringe inducing awful, I’ll heavily rewrite or delete as appropriate. What follows is a series of articles that are “The Little Book of GTM v2.0” https://lnkd.in/eA2ym_Wx

11

Follow eCom Ads for more Google Ads Strategies

6

1 commentaar

We are on a mission to become the go-to Google Ads partner for ecom brands wanting to scale their sales from 30K/mo to multiple 6 figures a month. How, you ask? Besides top-notch service delivery and customer satisfaction, we’ll stick to our core values. Here they are: 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰𝐭𝐡 Growth is our number one priority. We want our clients to grow so fast it hurts. And we grow with them. We believe in creating a win-win. That means, if you’re just starting out with google ads and not spending that much, we won’t charge you a big fat retainer. Let’s get you some results and then we scale and grow together. 𝐓𝐫𝐮𝐬𝐭 We are spending your money on the ads that we create and we are all well aware of that. That’s why we take trust very seriously. We have a 24/7 slack channel where you get your responses as quickly as we can. We also send you weekly updates and meet frequently to catch-up and let you know exactly what we are working on and what our predictions are. 𝐏𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐳𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 I hate to say this but: there’s no one size fits all. We know our tech and our best practices, but it still comes down to creating a custom plan and running custom experiments to stand out from the competition. We believe in creating synergy between client and agency. 𝐅𝐮𝐧 Let’s try to also have a good time while we’re at it. Time flies, so if we can choose between being in a bad mood or being in a good mood (regardless of the weather), we will choose to be in a good mood and we hope you do too. Also, we’re having daily meetings with our 3-man media buying army to ensure client successes. Do you have any core values yourself? Let me know, I’m curious. – Btw: we’re having 2 more clients spots to onboard in July. DM me if you want a free audit to let us show you what we got. We’ll take it from there.

53

16 commentaren

The recap from week 25 is here! Last week we experienced: - A new spam update from Google - Survey data on AI overviews and industries - An update to 'organization structured data' You can find the full post in the comments.

7

1 commentaar

I was recently asked whether I would include singular and plural variations of a keyword. Here’s why I (sometimes) would… This useful page details exactly how Google prioritises keywords (and PMax search themes) when more than one of them within your account is eligible for a search: https://lnkd.in/ePHt74zb Google prioritises keywords that are ‘identical’ to a search term, before moving onto other factors to determine which keyword is used. …and in this process, while misspellings are considered identical, singular/plural variations are NOT. While we often omit singular/plural variations on the grounds that a keyword (of any match type) can easily pick up its plural counterpart… yes it CAN - but it isn’t bound to. That plural variation can migrate to one of your other keywords instead, and often does. So yes - I include both singular and plural versions - whenever I want to make sure a given search term is definitively tied to a specific keyword. #googleads #ppc

3

To bid on brand or not to bid on brand. Here’s my take: We’ve all seen Google agencies with extremely promising results: 10X or even 20X ROAS. I literally saw a Dutch agency last week promoting their 32X ROAS through an Instagram Ad - calling the prospects to action “if they’d like those results as well”. 🤮 Some brand owners might be very eager to work with those agencies. But here’s what’s wrong with that: Google Ads already targets the bottom of funnel traffic. Even with extreme high intent, a 20X ROAS is NOT realistic, definitely not at scale. So, what these brands are doing is unnecessary spending on your brand name. Unnecessary. The people that the branded campaigns convert, were already looking for your brand. You should spend as little as possible on your brand because with a little bit of SEO, the people will find you. So look, if you use a tool like iSearchFrom, and see that your competitors are bidding on your brand (in either shopping on search), you should probably counter that with a little branded campaign (try like 10% of your budget). And ALWAYS exclude your brand name from PMAX. And ALWAYS A/B test your strategy while looking at profits. The thing is, your Google Ads results won’t be inflated this way, and you’ll probably hit a more realistic ROAS like 4X or 5X. But…! If you’d look at your MER or at your bottom line profit, these metrics will be way better, and you will ACTUALLY enable your brand to grow. – So… If you want to have inflated Google Ads results and leak profits over a longer period of time, go for that agency promising the 10-15X on your campaigns. If you want to actually grow your business, go for an agency looking at more than ROAS, honestly trying to help you grow your brand. – Now, I’m curious: what’s your take on this?

46

8 commentaren