SEO
How To Dominate Google Merchant Center [Podcast]
So, you want to promote your products online. Are you ready?
Google Merchant Center is the future of ecommerce when it comes to both PPC AND SEO (including local). It is the first step to launching Shopping Ad campaigns for your products.
In this episode, Duane Brown joined me to talk about Merchant Center, its data, the importance of feeds, and the all-around Google Shopping experience for Google’s users.
Your shopping feed is the most important thing you could work on, and it sets you apart from your competition because most people are not going to work on it. Admittedly, it’s a bit tedious, but it’s a tedious, boring work that gets you ahead.–Duane Brown, 20:53
Google really wants to build an Amazon type of marketplace, and we all know that Amazon is all about the lowest price at the end of the day.–Duane Brown, 40:34
I believe that Merchant Center is a hybrid of organic and shopping that may be used in the future for organic results and shopping ads. So keep an eye on that. –Loren Baker, 24:43
[00:00] – A little about Duane.[03:07] – Does Duane do ads outside of Google Shopping?
[04:26] – What’s exciting in the Google ad scene right now?
[07:41] – Emerging ad platforms.
[11:38] – Why is Merchant Center important?
[13:51] – Should SEO be involved in the Merchant Center?
[17:33] – Tips for feed management.
[21:22] – How to be considered a Google Shopping ranking factor.
[22:58] – How important is shipping-time data?
[27:22] – Recommended apps for smaller ecommerce stores.
[29:10] – How important are tools?
[33:17] – Why are search engines going feed-based?
[35:26] – Merchant Center suggestion for a motorcycle dealership.
[38:38] – Additional tips & techniques for Google Merchant Center.
[41:58] – Can you sell services with Google Shopping?
Resources mentioned:
Google Merchant Center – https://www.google.com/retail/solutions/merchant-center/
Triple Whale – https://trytriplewhale.com/
Take Some Risk – https://www.takesomerisk.com
Suppose you’re going to run shopping ads. Whether it’s paid shopping ads or you want to be on the shopping tab, which is free, you definitely need a Merchant Center to have a place to store your data.–Duane Brown, 12:26
Retention is just becoming a bigger thing. Google realizes that if we want to have people with a better experience, we need to think about retention. –Duane Brown, 26:36
You build a business. It’s that second purchase, that third purchase, that fourth purchase –well, you turn them from a customer to a brand loyalist. That’s a goal. That’s the dream. –Loren Baker, 28:52
For more content like this, subscribe to our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/searchenginejournal
Connect with Duane Brown:
Duane is a global citizen with 14 years of experience working across digital marketing and branding for clients, including ASOS, Walmart, Jack Wills, WooCommerce, RockerBox, and Wea.
Duane’s story is one of hard work, dedication, and success. So far, his globetrotting has taken him places like Australia, where he worked at Telstra; London, the UK, working on brands such Mopp & Grant Thornton. He left London after ten weeks to go to Asia, then back home in Canada, where he landed a job at Unbounce.
With this opportunity came more opportunities that led him down the path toward running an advertising agency that helps ecommerce, DTC, and SaaS brands scale PPC and paid-to-advertise.
When Duane is not working, he travels somewhere new, checks out a restaurant on his bicycle, or delves into a book that caught his eye.
Connect with Duane on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/duanebrown/
Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/duanebrown
Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal:
Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker
Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker
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SEO
Executive Director Of WordPress Resigns
Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of the WordPress Project, officially announced her resignation, ending a nine-year tenure. This comes just two weeks after Matt Mullenweg launched a controversial campaign against a managed WordPress host, which responded by filing a federal lawsuit against him and Automattic.
She posted an upbeat notice on her personal blog, reaffirming her belief in the open source community as positive economic force as well as the importance of strong opinions that are “loosely held.”
She wrote:
“This week marks my last as the Executive Director of the WordPress project. My time with WordPress has transformed me, both as a leader and an advocate. There’s still more to do in our shared quest to secure a self-sustaining future of the open source project that we all love, and my belief in our global community of contributors remains unchanged.
…I still believe that open source is an idea that can transform generations. I believe in the power of a good-hearted group of people. I believe in the importance of strong opinions, loosely held. And I believe the world will always need the more equitable opportunities that well-maintained open source can provide: access to knowledge and learning, easy-to-join peer and business networks, the amplification of unheard voices, and a chance to tap into economic opportunity for those who weren’t born into it.”
Turmoil At WordPress
The resignation comes amidst the backdrop of a conflict between WordPress co-founder Matt Mullenweg and the managed WordPress web host WP Engine, which has brought unprecedented turmoil within the WordPress community, including a federal lawsuit filed by WP Engine accusing Mullenweg of attempted extortion.
Resignation News Was Leaked
The news about the resignation was leaked on October 2nd by the founder of the WordPress news site WP Tavern (now owned by Matt Mullenweg), who tweeted that he had spoken with Josepha that evening, who announced her resignation.
He posted:
“I spoke with Josepha tonight. I can confirm that she’s no longer at Automattic.
She’s working on a statement for the community. She’s in good spirits despite the turmoil.”
Screenshot Of Deleted Tweet
Josepha tweeted the following response the next day:
“Ok, this is not how I expected that news to come to y’all. I apologize that this is the first many of you heard of it. Please don’t speculate about anything.”
Rocky Period For WordPress
While her resignation was somewhat of an open secret it’s still a significant event because of recent events at WordPress, including the resignations of 8.4% of Automattic employees as a result of an offer of a generous severance package to all employees who no longer wished to work there.
Read the official announcement:
Featured Image by Shutterstock/Wirestock Creators
SEO
8% Of Automattic Employees Choose To Resign
WordPress co-founder and Automattic CEO announced today that he offered Automattic employees the chance to resign with a severance pay and a total of 8.4 percent. Mullenweg offered $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever one is higher, with a total of 159 people taking his offer.
Reactions Of Automattic Employees
Given the recent controversies created by Mullenweg, one might be tempted to view the walkout as a vote of no-confidence in Mullenweg. But that would be a mistake because some of the employees announcing their resignations either praised Mullenweg or simply announced their resignation while many others tweeted how happy they are to stay at Automattic.
One former employee tweeted that he was sad about recent developments but also praised Mullenweg and Automattic as an employer.
He shared:
“Today was my last day at Automattic. I spent the last 2 years building large scale ML and generative AI infra and products, and a lot of time on robotics at night and on weekends.
I’m going to spend the next month taking a break, getting married, and visiting family in Australia.
I have some really fun ideas of things to build that I’ve been storing up for a while. Now I get to build them. Get in touch if you’d like to build AI products together.”
Another former employee, Naoko Takano, is a 14 year employee, an organizer of WordCamp conferences in Asia, a full-time WordPress contributor and Open Source Project Manager at Automattic announced on X (formerly Twitter) that today was her last day at Automattic with no additional comment.
She tweeted:
“Today was my last day at Automattic.
I’m actively exploring new career opportunities. If you know of any positions that align with my skills and experience!”
Naoko’s role at at WordPress was working with the global WordPress community to improve contributor experiences through the Five for the Future and Mentorship programs. Five for the Future is an important WordPress program that encourages organizations to donate 5% of their resources back into WordPress. Five for the Future is one of the issues Mullenweg had against WP Engine, asserting that they didn’t donate enough back into the community.
Mullenweg himself was bittersweet to see those employees go, writing in a blog post:
“It was an emotional roller coaster of a week. The day you hire someone you aren’t expecting them to resign or be fired, you’re hoping for a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Every resignation stings a bit.
However now, I feel much lighter. I’m grateful and thankful for all the people who took the offer, and even more excited to work with those who turned down $126M to stay. As the kids say, LFG!”
Read the entire announcement on Mullenweg’s blog:
Featured Image by Shutterstock/sdx15
SEO
YouTube Extends Shorts To 3 Minutes, Adds New Features
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