Let’s discuss the latest updates to digital marketing that occurred over April 2023.
Google Review Update
Google released an update to reviews on the 12th of April which completed rolling out by the 25th. This update didn’t specifically target product reviews, too. Rather, it went for all reviews including destinations, businesses, services, and media. Google now seems to be focusing on reviews in general rather than only on product ones. Google has high-quality review writing advice, feel free to read.
Google Shopping price overlays
Google has added price overlays to shopping results, making it easier for users to see the price before viewing the product. A grey pill box will overlay the price of each product for better usability and faster transactions.
Google’s Local Pack adds reservations
Now when looking at a business’s local pack you’ll be able to see your reservations. A new feature allows you to make a booking without leaving the search engine results page. This means it’s important to have an optimised and up-to-date Google Business Profile.
Google Ads verification badges
Google seems to be testing small blue and gold badges next to URLs which will indicate whether a page has become a verified advertiser or not. This will be important for increasing click-through rates and improving trust between advertisers and users. It isn’t clear yet how the badge will be granted but we will stay on top of this for all of our clients.
AI Google ads
Google aims to add AI features to Google Ads. The tool will create ads from a list of headlines, descriptions, and creatives you have input. This could be a much quicker way to create ads and start gaining more traffic to your site!
Meta Creators
Meta is looking to support creators with a new monetisation scheme for reels. Following their successful launch on Facebook and Instagram, Meta is looking to incentivise individual creators to upload more content. This move would allow users to make money from their reels. Currently, the best short-form video monetisation occurs on YouTube with revenue from views going into a large fund and being distributed between creators equivalent to their share of views.
Facebook AI stories
Meta have been looking into adding AI-generated stories for easier content creation. We’ll have to see where this one goes!
Instagram allows for 5 links in the bio
The age-old social media saying for Instagram has been linking in bio due to the inability to place a clickable link in captions. The caption has to send users to the profile to follow the correct link. Now, Instagram allows for multiple links in the bio which mitigates the need for Link Tree! Having links to your most important pages is a must for social and SEO as they meet at this intersection.
Twitter Blue spells big changes for Twitter
We’ve already discussed Twitter’s recent changes in detail in other blogs but the platform is changing daily. Legacy checkmarks were removed for major celebrities on Thursday the 20th, with Elon Musk paying for a select few individuals. However, only days later it seemed people with more than 1 million followers got their checkmark back. This took us full circle to the point of the checkmarks in the first place!
There have been changes to advertising rules too. Now, an account with a Blue Checkmark (received after paying for Twitter Blue) has the privilege of more reach and prominence in replies and the ability to run ads. Accounts already spending more than $100o have received a gold checkmark and can still advertise. Right now, we would advise not to place ads on Twitter and use that budget elsewhere. If you’d like to discuss a Twitter strategy our team would be more than happy to.
BrightonSEO April 2023
On the 20th and 21st of April, the team attended BrightonSEO. You can read our last blog to discover what we learnt and got up to!
Make sure to come back next month to see what happens in SEO and digital marketing during May 2023!
