Central Perk

marți, 3 iunie 2014

Announcing MozBar 3.0: the Free, Completely Redesigned SEO Toolbar

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 05:14 PM PDT

Today we are thrilled to announce version 3 of the MozBar browser extension. The SEO toolbar is now available for Chrome users. Expect the Firefox version to be available in a few weeks.

What is the MozBar?

The MozBar is a free browser extension that provides on-page access to Moz's link metrics and site analysis tools. Over the years it has gained a very popular following and saved a ton of time for SEO's and Inbound marketers alike. Whilst there are certain features that are only available to Pro subscribers, we try to keep as much as possible free. We think this is the TAGFEE thing to do, plus it really helps people as possible to get acquainted with our brand and our tools.

The MozBar, since its inception in 2008, solves three main problems for its users:

SERP analysis

Site/competitor research

Link profile analysis

Here's how those features work in version 3!

SERP analysis

As you search Google, Yahoo or Bing, the MozBar instantly shows you valuable statistics about each of the results you see. This new version of the MozBar makes deconstructing SERPs faster than ever.

Create search profiles for different engines and locations

If you are working in local search, the MozBar allows you to create search profiles for specific regions and cities. This allows you to easily switch between a search for "pizza" in Chicago and Seattle without changing your search query.

Export the SERP to a CSV

As you search, easily export into a CSV key data about each SERP including:

URL
Page Title
Description
Detailed link metrics

See Moz authority and search metrics next to each search result

You'll get an overview of the most important statistics for each result on a SERP without even having to click through to those results.

Site/competitor research

This is another area where we've added a significant number of improvements, from on-page analysis to new structured data and markup detection.

See Moz authority and link metrics

For every URL you visit, the MozBar instantly shows you the link metrics at the top of the page, including MozRank, Domain Authority, subdomain metrics and more.

Highlight followed, nofollowed, external, and internal links

Easily spot which links are followed or nofollowed without having to dig through source code.

See important page attributes and elements on the page

The page analysis tools make up some of the strongest features of the MozBar. They allow you to perform an instant on-page audit of any URL you visit. With just a couple of clicks, instantly see important on page factors like title tags, meta description, canonical tags, page load time, HTTP status and more.

Link profile analysis

Detailed information about a page's inbound links, including quick comparisons to the site's domain and subdomain, are available at a glance.

What's new in version 3?

Those of you familiar with the MozBar will notice that version 3 has a new look and design. The redesign is a result of a bunch of customer and design research and has been optimized around the tasks and use cases it is designed to solve. It is also much faster and more reliable. Some exciting new features for v3 include:

See social activity

No more hunting for that social sharing bar on pages you visit: MozBar now includes social statistics from Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ right on the page.

Validate and preview semantic markup

You'll get an at-a-glance look at any semantic markup present on a page. Want to make sure a Twitter card is properly set up? No need to send a test tweet; just preview it in the MozBar.

View keyword difficulty on the SERP

One of our most-requested features was the ability to make it easier to check keyword difficulty. Now you can get a keyword's difficulty on the fly for any search query with a click of the button, right from the search page.

Note: This feature is only available to Pro subscribers.

Pro tip: MozBar obscuring your page? Hit Shift+Ctrl+Alt+M to show / hide the bar!

Get version 3 now!

If you already have the MozBar installed, you don't need to do anything. The Chrome Store will update to the new version automatically. If you don't already have it, download it at the link above!

Or maybe you are feeling a bit nostalgic? Check out how the MozBar has evolved over the years! (And what better way to travel back in time than with a carousel and a cool gradient overlay?) :-)

‹ ›

Looking for the Firefox version?

We are still ironing out some last-minute issues in the Firefox version, and will launch it as soon as it's ready. For now, don't worry; you can still use version 2.65.

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

Put your user in the spotlight

Put your user in the spotlight

Posted: 03 Jun 2014 01:11 AM PDT

First, let's address why we should follow the premise of my bold headline statement. In PPC, the buck stops at the user. Fundamentally, the key to capturing that all-important conversion is to understand that user. To achieve this you need to place your users at the centre of your thinking, working outwards from them to achieve a user-orientated style of campaign structure and management.

Now, let's see how you can deliver this premise and put your users into the spotlight of your PPC campaigns:

Organisation & structure of ad groups

You want to capture your target audience at every stage of the buying cycle – interest/awareness, research/consideration and conversion/purchase. This is a psychological process, which highlights the importance of the user. Different keywords have different roles within the psychological buying cycle. Broad match keyword ad groups are more likely to capture users in the interest/awareness and research/consideration stages of the buying cycle. Exact match keywords ad groups are more likely to capture users in, or near to, the conversion/purchase phase. Thus, splitting your ad groups by Broad match and Exact match places the user at the center of the process.

Simultaneously, the tone of your ad copy should mirror these differences. Ads in the broad match ad groups should appeal to people who are interested in but unaware of your brand, and who are researching and considering your product offering. As such, the ad copy needs to be descriptive, valuable and informative. Ads in the Exact match ad groups should appeal to people who have done their research and are ready to convert. Therefore, the ad copy should contain price points and sharp call-to-action phrases.

Lastly, the landing pages should follow suit. Where the user ends up needs to be consistent with their needs and intentions following their search query. Ads in the broad match ad groups should send users to an informative landing page, presenting all of the information the customer needs to complete their research, with multiple options and inspiration. Ads in the Exact match ad groups should send users to a landing page presenting them with a clear and definite action to conversion. For example, a landing page incorporating a contact form, quote request or a booking/sign up form.

Insights through integration

Search and social channels have different roles in the conversion pathway, with search channels generating more direct conversions and social channels assisting conversions. According to a recent Marin study, 48% of search conversions are assisted by a click on a Facebook ad. Despite their different roles, they correlate and support one another, and also provide valuable insights that managing the two channels separately does not provide. The study also found that customers who click on search and social ads had an approximately two times greater conversion rate than users who clicked on the search ad only. Additionally, the study found that users who clicked on both a search and social ad contributed approximately two times more revenue per click than users who clicked on search ads only.

This moves us away from a channel-orientated to a user-orientated campaign management, integrating multiple channels and managing them alongside one another. Different channels can be used to capture users in different phases of the buying cycle, but integrating them allows for attribution modelling and allows us to determine and assign value in order to achieve the highest potential ROI.

Remarketing

Remarketing is all about targeting those who you have already collected some data about. Therefore, it's a prime opportunity to hold your user at the centre, hone in on them, and give them what they want, including what you failed to give them the last time they were presented with your ad.

Remarketing lists for search ads (RLSA) allow people who have visited your website but did not convert to be reached on the search results page. So, with this user information, you know they have shown an interest in your offering by visiting your website, but for one reason or another they did not convert when they visited. With this insight you can make inferences about the user's intentions. Maybe cost was a barrier to them converting previously. With this inference, present these users with a text ad reminding them who you are, what you can offer them this time that you didn't last time (perhaps a 10% discount?), and a really sharp call-to-action phrase. This means you're presenting the user with more reason to convert this time.

These three recommendations are just some way to achieving a user-orientation PPC campaign. We can spend hours optimising an account each month with the end goal of building more and more conversions, but ultimately it is the user that converts, which is why the user is the most pivotal part of the process.

There are my thoughts on what should be at the centre 'in the spotlight' of a PPC campaign. Do you agree with this user-centred approach? How do you go about achieving this? Please comment below or tweet me with your thoughts. And thanks for reading!

Image credit

The post Put your user in the spotlight appeared first on White.net.

Seth's Blog : More people saying less (and a few more people saying more)

More people saying less (and a few more people saying more)

"Ditto!"

Opening the doors for the masses to speak, giving everyone who cares to have one a microphone--it has led to an explosion in people speaking. And most people, most of the time, are saying virtually nothing. Nothing worth reading, nothing worth repeating, certainly nothing worth remembering.

They're speaking, not speaking up.

But a few people...

A few people, people who would never have been chosen by those in power, are saying more. Writing more deeply, connecting more viscerally, changing the things around them.

That's each of us, at our best.

There's a cost of speaking up, of course. The cost of being wrong, or rubbing someone the wrong way, or merely in living with the uncertainty of what will happen next.

There's a cost to being banal, though. That cost isn't as easily felt, but it's real. It's the cost of boring your audience, of dumping 'me too' on people who have something better to do with their time. And especially, the cost of living in hiding, giving in to our fear.

Every day we can wonder and worry about whether a blog post is worth it. Not whether or not the microphone is working, but whether it's worth using at all.

It's much easier to spend a lot of time making your microphone louder than it is working on making your message more compelling...

The path of chiming in is safe and easy and carries little apparent risk and less reward (for you and for your readers). Choosing to dig deep and say more, though, is where both risk and reward live.

• Email to a friend •

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SubmitStart · Trade Center · Kristian IV:s väg 3 · Halmstad 302 50 · Sweden

luni, 2 iunie 2014

Mish's Global Economic Trend Analysis

Sweden Central Bank Governor Proposes the Obvious: Mortgages Should be Paid Back in One's Lifetime
Ukrainian Warplanes Miss Targets, Hit Civilians
ISM Correction Heartburn
Over 40% of Nearly 2 Million Modified Loans Facing Resets are Underwater
Manufacturing ISM Expands 12th Month, But Less Than Forecast

Sweden Central Bank Governor Proposes the Obvious: Mortgages Should be Paid Back in One's Lifetime

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 11:22 PM PDT

The average mortgage obligation in Sweden will not be paid back until the borrower hits age 140. The Governor of the Bank of Sweden, Stefan Ingves, has a problem with that.

Via translation from La Tribune, please consider Will Swedes Continue to Borrow for so Long?

In Sweden, it is very common for mortgage repayment to occur at such a slow pace that the life expectancy of the borrower must be 140 years on average repay their mortgage. And household debt is expected to reach 177% of disposable income by 2015.

Stefan Ingves, the Governor of the Bank of Sweden proposes to reduce the duration of mortgage debt of Swedish households from beyond their life expectancy. Such a requirement is "considered obvious in many places in the world," Ingves stressed.

"In Sweden, approximately 40% of borrowers do not pay down mortgages at all. Among those who do, more than 40% do so in such a way that it will take 50 years or more to avoid being indebted," he said. "We know it is not uncommon for households to have debt ratios of 600% (annual disposable income)," Ingves added.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Ukrainian Warplanes Miss Targets, Hit Civilians

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 04:45 PM PDT

In response to Mish Reader Who Speaks Russian and Reads Ukrainian Updates the Situation in Ukraine, Reader Larry writes "Thank you for this vital news. Please encourage your friend Jacob to keep it coming."

Unfortunately, the news is not good. Jacob emailed today ...

At least one, possibly two Ukrainian warplanes attacked central Lugansk city this morning. The main target seemed to be the rebel-held regional government building (keep in mind, there are plenty of civilians working there, doing their regular jobs.) However, the rockets went flying all over the place. At least one hit a park near the government building (see below). At least one hit a road near the government building and a number of civilians were killed on a sidewalk just outside the building (photos of fatalities, further below.)

Jacob Dreizin

Questions of the Day

Is this really the solution?
If the separatists killed innocent civilians, would it be all over the news?

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

ISM Correction Heartburn

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 11:47 AM PDT

ISM twice revised its manufacturing numbers today, then issued this Correction Notice.

ISM ® has discovered an error in its software programming for calculating the May 2014 Manufacturing PMI ® that was released at 10 a.m. ET this morning. "We apologize for this error. We have recalculated and confirmed that the actual index indicates that the economy is accelerating ," said Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, chair of the Institute for Supply Management ® (ISM ® ) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "Our research team is analyzing our internal processes to ensure that this doesn't happen again," he added. "The May PMI ® registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from April's reading of 54.9 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the 12th consecutive month. The New Orders Index registered 56.9 percent, a n increase of 1.8 percentage points from the 55.1 percent reading in April, indicating growth in new orders for the 12th consecutive month. The Production Index registered 61.0 percent, 5.3 percentage point s above the April reading of 55.7 percent. Employment grew for the 11th consecutive month, registering 52.8 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points below April's reading of 5 4.7 percent. The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 53.2 percent, 2.7 percentage points below the April reading of 55.9 percent. Comments from the panel reflect generally steady growth, but note some areas of concern regarding raw materials pricing and supply tightness and shortages."

Correction Heartburn

CNN Money reported Oops! Heartburn in Stock Market After Data Mix-Up

Oops! Manufacturing index corrected: The Institute for Supply Management's initial manufacturing showed an unexpected dip to 53.2 in May from 54.9 in April. That meant the pace of manufacturing expansion slowed a bit. Investors had expected a spring pickup.

But then, according to multiple reports, ISM corrected itself by saying manufacturing activity actually improved to 56. That helped ease concerns about the economy, and the Dow Jones industrial average quickly climbed back into positive territory on the reports.

But then ISM corrected itself a second time, saying the correct reading is 55.4. ISM has not responded to several requests for comment from CNNMoney.

In spite of the upgrade, ISM still came in below consensus, but this was a better showing than originally posted.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Over 40% of Nearly 2 Million Modified Loans Facing Resets are Underwater

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 10:25 AM PDT

Black Knight's April Mortgage Monitor shows almost 2 million modifications face interest rate resets, and 40 percent of those resets are underwater.

Email News Release

"We have seen a continual reduction in the number of underwater borrowers at the national level for some time now, but modified loans show a different picture," said Kostya Gradushy, Black Knight's manager of Loan Data and Customer Analytics. "While the national negative equity rate as of April stands at 9.4 percent of active mortgages, the share of underwater modified loans facing interest rate resets is much higher -- over 40 percent. In addition, another 18 percent of modified borrowers have 9 percent equity or less in their homes. Given that the data has shown quite clearly that equity -- or the lack thereof -- is one of the primary drivers of mortgage defaults, these resets may indeed pose an increased risk in the years ahead.

"From a broader perspective, it's also important to note that more than one of every 10 borrowers is in a 'near negative equity' position, meaning the borrower has less than 10 percent equity in his or her home. This is particularly pronounced in New Mexico and Southern states. At a local level -- and we look at both mortgage performance and Home Price Index (HPI) data down to ZIP code granularity -- such slim margins in equity can have a significant effect on overall negative equity levels with even slight variations in HPI. So, while the overall situation for underwater borrowers has improved significantly, there are still areas in the country where borrowers are hovering at the edges."

Mortgage Monitor Charts

April 2014 Summary Data

Total Delinquencies

click on any chart for sharper image

New Originations

Loans Facing Reset

Percentage Underwater

Underwater loans facing reset is one major problem. A second problem is the declining volume of new originations and home sales. A chart of new single-family homes sold will highlight the second problem.

New Single-Family Home Sales

Housing is weakening in a number of ways.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

Manufacturing ISM Expands 12th Month, But Less Than Forecast

Posted: 02 Jun 2014 08:45 AM PDT

US Manufacturing as measured by the June 2013 Manufacturing ISM Report On Business® rose for the 12th month.

ISM at a Glance

Series Data	May Index	Apr Index	Percentage Point Change	Direction	Rate of Change	Trend (Months)
PMI™	53.2	54.9	-1.7	Growing	Slower	12
New Orders	53.3	55.1	-1.8	Growing	Slower	12
Production	55.2	55.7	-0.5	Growing	Slower	3
Employment	51.9	54.7	-2.8	Growing	Slower	11
Supplier Deliveries	52.5	55.9	-3.4	Slowing	Slower	12
Inventories	53.0	53.0	+0.0	Growing	Same	4
Customers' Inventories	46.5	42.0	+4.5	Too Low	Slower	30
Prices	60.0	56.5	+3.5	Increasing	Faster	10
Backlog of Orders	52.5	55.5	-3.0	Growing	Slower	4
Exports	56.5	57.0	-0.5	Growing	Slower	18
Imports	54.5	58.0	-3.5	Growing	Slower	16

ISM vs. Consensus

Bloomberg reports ...

Highlights

Growth rates, in contrast to Markit's report released earlier this morning, slowed in ISM's manufacturing sample, to a composite 53.2 vs April's 54.9. Employment growth slowed noticeably, to 51.9 from April's 54.7. Growth in new orders also slowed noticeably, to 53.3 from 55.1, as did growth in backlog orders, to 52.5 vs 55.5.

Supplier deliveries improved which is another sign of deceleration in activity. Production also slowed, but only slightly to 55.2. Inventory readings on net look a little heavy compared to April. Prices paid, in contrast to other signs of slowing, show a little pressure, at 60.0 vs 56.5.

Today's results from the manufacturing sector are mixed, with Markit showing definite acceleration and ISM showing definite deceleration. Together they probably point to little change for the manufacturing sector relative to April. The Dow is moving to opening lows in immediate reaction to the ISM report.

Market Consensus Before Announcement

The composite index from the ISM manufacturing survey for April rose 1.2 points to a better-than-expected level of 54.9. Employment, which has been very soft in this report, bounced 3.6 points higher to a respectable 54.7. New orders were at a solid 55.1, unchanged from March, with new export orders up 1.5 points to a very strong 57.0. Backlog orders were solid at 55.5. Production was little changed from March at 55.7-a still notably positive reading.

This lukewarm report suggests the weather related bounce is over and slower manufacturing growth resumes.

Addendum:

ISM issued this Correction Notice on Manufacturing

ISM ® has discovered an error in its software programming for calculating the May 2014 Manufacturing PMI ® that was released at 10 a.m. ET this morning. "We apologize for this error. We have recalculated and confirmed that the actual index indicates that the economy is accelerating ," said Bradley J. Holcomb, CPSM, CPSD, chair of the Institute for Supply Management ® (ISM ® ) Manufacturing Business Survey Committee. "Our research team is analyzing our internal processes to ensure that this doesn't happen again," he added. "The May PMI ® registered 55.4 percent, an increase of 0.5 percentage point from April's reading of 54.9 percent, indicating expansion in manufacturing for the 12th consecutive month. The New Orders Index registered 56.9 percent, a n increase of 1.8 percentage points from the 55.1 percent reading in April, indicating growth in new orders for the 12th consecutive month. The Production Index registered 61.0 percent, 5.3 percentage point s above the April reading of 55.7 percent. Employment grew for the 11th consecutive month, registering 52.8 percent, a decrease of 1.9 percentage points below April's reading of 5 4.7 percent. The Supplier Deliveries Index registered 53.2 percent, 2.7 percentage points below the April reading of 55.9 percent. Comments from the panel reflect generally steady growth, but note some areas of concern regarding raw materials pricing and supply tightness and shortages."

In spite of the upgrade, ISM still came in below consensus, but this was a marginally better showing than originally posted.

Mike "Mish" Shedlock
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com

marți, 3 iunie 2014

Announcing MozBar 3.0: the Free, Completely Redesigned SEO Toolbar

Announcing MozBar 3.0: the Free, Completely Redesigned SEO Toolbar

What is the MozBar?

SERP analysis