Marketing Day: Google updates AdSense, CTR hacks & conversion optimization

Here’s our recap of what happened in online marketing today, as reported on MarTech and other places across the web.

From Marketing Land:

• Infographic: 11 amazing hacks that will boost your organic click-through rates
  Oct 6, 2016 by Larry KimGot great content and rankings, but still not getting clicks from organic search? Columnist Larry Kim shares tips and a fantastic infographic on how to improve your organic CTR.

• Give Google a break: Tackling paid links is harder than you may think
  Oct 6, 2016 by Ian BowdenGoogle is often criticized for how it handles spammy links, but columnist Ian Bowden believes this criticism may be unfair. Here, he takes a look at the challenges Google might face in tackling the ongoing issue of paid links.

• Why 2016 is NOT the year of conversion optimization
  Oct 6, 2016 by Brian MasseyColumnist Brian Massey says it’s not yet time to declare this the year of conversion optimization, but with the bevy of tools and resources at our disposal, the industry is inching ever closer to it.

• How to see all the Facebook Live video that’s happening around the world
  Oct 6, 2016 by Tim PetersonFrom political stump speeches to local TV news to piracy to porn, there’s a lot of programming being broadcast through Facebook Live.

• So you want to build a #martech marketing stack?
  Oct 6, 2016 by Matt McGeeHow do you vet martech vendors? Should you invest more in people or technology? Those questions & more were answered in a Dreamforce 2016 session.

• Paid search vs. paid social: how to design the ideal marketing mix
  Oct 6, 2016 by AJ WilcoxDon’t focus exclusively on either social or search. Columnist AJ Wilcox explains why you need to understand what each brings to the table and integrate them both into your marketing efforts.

• How to find the email personalization sweet spot
  Oct 6, 2016 by Scott HeimesHow do you send personalized messages without getting too personal? Columnist Scott Heimes discusses ways marketers can engage their email subscribers without overstepping boundaries.

• AdSense tweaks the look for text ads again
  Oct 6, 2016 by Ginny MarvinThe new look is meant to emphasize the ad copy by reducing design elements.

• Here’s how marketing research is looking past consumers and connecting with their bodies
  Oct 5, 2016 by Barry LevineEye-tracking, brainwaves, facial expressions and other non-verbal responses are giving marketers inside tracks to your real feelings.

Recent Headlines From Search Engine Land, Our Sister Site Dedicated To Search News & Information:

• After 4 months & 125M+ pages indexed, where are we with AMP?
• Report: Number of Google organic blue links results drops from 10 to 8.5
• Why are payday loan ads still showing on Google after the ban?
• The 7 best ad and landing page elements to boost online conversions
• PPC + SEO = match made in marketing heaven
• Dynamic Ad Extensions: don’t let your sitelinks and callouts get out of date
• Buying Viv, Samsung makes its “me too” virtual assistant play

Online Marketing News From Around The Web:

Affiliate Marketing

• How To Get Your Deals Listed on Coupon Websites, Affiliate Marketing Blog

Analytics

• Uncovering Additional Insights with Custom Parameters, blog.affiliatewindow.com
• 5 tracking errors that mess up your analytics reports, Internet Retailer
• How B2B Marketers Find Value in Data & Analytics Tools, www.komarketingassociates.com

Business Issues

• Twitter will decide sale by October 27 Q3 earnings, Business Insider
• Rubicon Poaches Google Exec to Bring Header Bidding to Apps, Ad Age
• Salesforce Investors Question Marc Benioff’s Twitter Infatuation, www.cmswire.com

Content Marketing

• 5 Types of Visual Content That Get Shared The Most, www.semrush.com
• How to Keep Google From Penalizing Your Syndicated Content, Content Marketing Institute
• Start 2017 Budgeting For Content Marketing Now, CopyPress
• Why Dark Social Data Matters to the Content Marketer, simplymeasured.com

Conversion Optimization

• How Many Variations Can You Have in an A/B/n Test?, ConversionXL
• The Optimizer’s Guide to Proper Website Quality Assurance (QA), ConversionXL
• Why and How Should Enterprises Adopt a Culture of Optimization, vwo.com

Copywriting, Design & Usability

• Ditch the FAQs: Design for a Frictionless Experience, www.cmswire.com

Display & Contextual Advertising

• As Publishers Go Native, The New York Times’ Flex Ads Lead The Pack, Ad Exchanger

Domaining

• New ICANN Domain Transfer Policy Effective on December 1, DomainInvesting.com
• The silent evolution of domain names, TechCrunch

Ecommerce

• Amazon is driving 80% of ecommerce growth for publicly traded web retailers, Internet Retailer
• Wal-Mart doubling ecommerce warehouses, stake in JD.com, www.retaildive.com
• Ecommerce 2Q16 Benchmarks by Device Type, MarketingProfs

Email Marketing

• How Choice Paradox is killing your email click rates, myemma.com
• How To Use Heuristics To Ace Your Email Marketing, Usability Geek

MarTech

• Animoto Launches Marketing Video Builder to Create Professional Videos that Stand Out on Social Media, www.martechadvisor.com
• New ownerIQ Study Reveals Second-Party Data Era is Upon Us, PR Newswire
• Salesforce Unveils My Salesforce1 & SalesforceA: Apps for a Mobile World, www.cmswire.com

Social Media

• An Inside Look At Snapchat’s New, High-Tech Ads API, Ad Age
• How to Track the Return on Social Media Traffic, Social Media Examiner
• Instagram Stories has 100 million daily active users after just 2 months, TechCrunch
• LinkedIn will now let you quietly signal when you’re looking for a job, TechCrunch
• Photo vs. Video: How Publishers on Instagram Breakdown Strategy, www.newswhip.com
• Why You Should Be Turning Social Proof Into Sales, KISS Metrics

Video

• 10 Lessons We Learned From Our First Facebook Live, blogs.constantcontact.com
• The Facebook Video Metric Mess: Another Example Of Ad Tech’s Broken Telephone Problem, Ad Exchanger