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Google Slashes Quality Raters Hours; Will It Impact Search Quality?

The SEO industry is in a buzz around a story named The secret lives of Google raters from arstechnica.com but not because of their “secret lives” – because most of us know how they work – we’ve covered them like crazy here.

The big news is that their hours are now being slashed, cut in half. Many worked 40 hour work weeks and got paid well for their time. But “earlier this month, thousands of them received an e-mail that said their hours would be cut in half, partly due to changes in Google’s staffing policies,” the story said. Pay can be up to $17.40 an hour for “preferred agents” with excellent scores, while regular raters get $13.50 – all above the minimum wage.

On Monday, April 3,2017 thousands of US Leapforce raters (Google doesn’t employ them directly, they are outsourced) received an e-mail from “The Leapforce Team.”. The letter said:

Effective June 1, 2017, [Raters in the US] can work up to 26 hours in a calendar week (Sunday to Saturday). We understand and appreciate that this will have a significant impact on a percentage of our Rater community. That is why we are trying to provide you with as much time as possible about the upcoming change [sic].

Ars said that “roughly 20 percent of US raters who work full-time had just received a massive pay cut.”

Paul Haahr, Google’s senior rank lead, recently explained how these quality raters had a new job, to target fake news. He has been a huge fan of the quality raters and said they provide extreme value to the engineers in making the quality of the results better.

While quality raters cannot influence the search results directly – they do send invaluable information to the Google team to make the results better. Will Leapforce hire more people to make up for the time? Will the results suffer in the short term? All these questions are hard to answer at this point.

Forum discussion at WebmasterWorld.

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Author: barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)

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The 7 Things You Must Know about the Psychology of Calls to Action by @devesh

The most effective call-to-action techniques use basic psychology. You can use some of these psychology methods in your calls to action to turn visitors into repeat customers.

For example, let’s say you just read about an online tool that can make your business run faster and increase productivity. Who doesn’t want that?

So you go to the website and snoop around. Ten minutes later you’re clicking the PayPal button and checking your email for confirmation.

Do you know what persuaded you to go to that website and buy the product? It was an effective set of call-to-action methods that pushed you through the buying process.

Call these methods sneaky, but when done right, an effective call to action will guide your visitors through the buying process, thus getting you more clicks, more buys, and more sign ups.

How Compelling Is Your Call to Action?

Your website is competing with more than a billion other websites. Every one of those sites asks the user to do something, whether it be to buy, read more, or hand over their email address. You won’t compel anyone to hand over their money or personal information unless you give them a good reason.

Luckily, creating a click-worthy call to action isn’t hard. In fact, you don’t need to look any further than the nearest psychology book.

Here are seven ways you can use psychology to create a more compelling call to action.

1. Use Repetition

The human brain automatically scans material for themes and patterns that can help it process and understand information faster. Take advantage of the brain’s inclination to seek out repetition and use a recurring phrase to prime your user for the call to action.

For example, if you want more people to sign up to your newsletter, incorporate the phrase “save money” throughout the page. Use that phrase in the header, body, and final call-to-action button. By the time the user reaches the call-to-action button, his brain has already correlated the action of “clicking to subscribe” with saving money.

If you’re not sure which recurring phrase will be effective, use your targeted SEO keyword. This provides a seamless start-to-finish search experience for the user: He types the keyword into the search engine, then recognizes it in your ad copy or meta description, then sees it again once he clicks through to your page. By the time he reaches the call to action containing the same keyword, his brain has begun associating your page with the phrase he initially searched, and he won’t hesitate to click the button.

2. Create a Sense of Urgency

Ever notice that retailers make sales sound like an emergency? Or have you come across a deal with a time limit?

There’s a reason for this. Certain words and phrases, and the feeling of missing out prompt us to act faster.

This is why ads that tout “amazing limited-time offers” or bargains that only last “until supplies run out” are common. We’re more likely to buy now if we’re afraid that we can’t buy tomorrow.

You can improve conversions by creating the same sense of urgency. Also known as scarcity marketing, this technique uses phrases like “last chance,” “offer expires,” or “going fast.”

This method highlights the scarcity of your product, thereby prompting the user to click your call to action before the deal is gone. This is why so many calls to action include the word “now.”

Exclusivity is another powerful motivator. Nothing feels more exclusive than being one of the first to have the insider scoop, especially if you can give the user bragging rights.

So don’t just ask your user to just plain old “subscribe here,” prompt them to “become an insider” or “ask for an invitation” to your mailing list. Other motivators include “be the first to hear about it” or “get it before everyone else.” They’ll be more inclined to join your list if they think they’re gaining access to something that can elevate their status.

3. Focus on a Benefit

Think back to the last time you were on a website evaluating a service. What were you looking for?

While looking through the features of a service or product, I bet you were asking “what’s in it for me” the whole time.

Newbie marketers often make the mistake of talking up features rather than the benefits those features can provide. Higher conversions happen when you can clearly answer the question, “What’s in it for me?”

Psychologically, users aren’t interested in bells and whistles. They’re interested in how those bells and whistles help them solve problems. Think about how your product saves time, money, or hassle for the user, then incorporate that value into your call to action.

A call-to-action button that says “never be late again” is more impactful than one that says “get our time management app.” The same goes for a button that says “shave 10 hours off your work week” rather than “read our time-saving tips.”

Phrase your call to action to focus on results, and you’ll instantly see more clicks.

4. Minimize the Risk

Everyone loves high value and low risk. So why not do like smart marketers do and use money-back and no-obligation tactics to seal the deal? Minimizing risk alleviates your user’s fears and hesitations during the buying process and encourages them to buy or sign up.

Do your sales pages and calls to action make it clear that your free trial is “no-obligation”? Or, does your service include a “money-back guarantee”? Make sure you’re clearly stating them in your call to action or in the copy leading up to it.

While you’re at it, don’t overlook the power of the word “free.” It can be one of the most powerful and persuasive words in the English language, and it’ll help you get more clicks.

Remember, the less risk involved, the more likely your user is to click a call to action — and telling them something is free eliminates any financial risk in their mind.

5. Choose the Right Color

With the absence of physical space — meaning your product or service is fully online — the only senses you communicate through is visual (and audio if you use video). This is why using the right color is so important.

Colors automatically invoke emotion in humans and transmit information on a subconscious level. For example, black has long been associated with sleek sophistication while pink has been associated with femininity — and we all know that green means “go.”

Since you can only communicate through visuals (and sound), use a color that will get your users to “click.”

If you want to energize, choose a vibrant yellow or orange (think Kayak.com). If you want to come across as trustworthy, choose blue as the color of most financial institutions. Or opt for a rich purple if you want to convey a sense of opulence and luxury (think Jet.com).

You can place even more emphasis on your call to action by choosing a color that pops, a color different from the rest of your website. This is easily done by confining your landing page to a monochromatic color scheme and incorporating a contrasting color for your calls to action, whether it be keywords or action buttons.

Conversely, avoid the temptation to make the color design too simple. If your user can’t easily spot your call to action, they won’t be clicking on it. Avoid gray calls to action altogether — gray is the default color when a button or field is inactive; users will skip right over it.

6. Ask at the Right Time

So far we’ve talked about how to ask your visitor to bite at your call to action, but it’s just as important as when you ask them to do it.

If you’re seeking opt-ins for your course or email list, implement a welcome mat or design your opt-in above-the-fold like marketing leaders Darren Rowse and Brian Dean.

Welcome mats are full-page call to actions and above the fold is the first area you see when you visit a website.

Welcome mats and above-the-fold call to actions provide a less invasive user experience than traditional pop-up boxes. These eliminate the risk of a user leaving your site before seeing your call to action.

However, if your primary goal is to get your users to buy something, it’s best to follow steps 3 and 4 (focus on a benefit and minimize buyer risk) before asking them to sign up via a welcome mat. Users will rarely agree to buy without having some idea of what they’re getting for their money.

7. Keep It Simple

It’s good practice to follow up your primary call to action with a secondary one, such as following your company on social media after purchasing a product. However, it isn’t good practice when your primary call to action is followed by several more calls to action.

The more options you give the user, the less likely they are to choose one — and the more likely they are to bounce. This phenomenon is called decision paralysis, and preventing your visitors from it can help you get higher conversions.

Make sure your primary call to action is immediately visible and understandable, then see if other elements on the page could distract visitors from that call to action. If you’re giving the visitor several other calls to action to click on, it’s probably too much.

Streamline your visitor’s experience and increase success rate by making sure you have a primary call to action and one secondary call to action. Any more than that and it will distract and deter people from staying on your website.

Final Thoughts

Attract more visitors and increase conversion rates by helping your visitors through the buying process using effective call-to-action techniques that have roots in basic psychology.

Implementing these steps today will make your content more appealing and will turn visitors into clients, and customers into repeat visitors.

Image Credits

Featured Image: DepositPhotos
In-post Photo: StockSnap
Screenshots by Dev Sharma. Taken March 2017.

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Author: Dev Sharma

For more SEO, PPC & online marketing news visit https://news.scott.services

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Google Testing Jobs Portal In Web Search

Dan Shure spotted late on Friday a Google search tests where Google was showing jobs, like Google’s own job search portal. Dan posted many many screen shots on Twitter and I immediately covered it on Search Engine Land.

Google then sent us this statement:

While we don’t have any news to announce at this time, we’re always looking for new ways to improve the Search experience for our users, whether they’re looking for movies to see, recipes to make, or job opportunities.

Google does have this Google Hire portal that is locked down. Is it related, maybe?

Let me share Dan’s screen shots:

Query: [jobs online]

It can go by industry as well:

Or by locale:

When you click in to view more you get a Google Local like interface:

I bet job search portals are a bit nervous right now…

Forum discussion at Twitter.

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Author: barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)

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Google Tests Reviews Tab On Local Knowledge Panel

Our friend Sergey Alakov spotted yet another Google local test, this one is Google testing a tab approach to showing reviews on local knowledge panel cards. He posted a screen shot on Twitter showing the tab. I personally cannot replicate it but I find it a useful user interface.

Here is a screen shot:

So instead of clicking on a reviews link and it taking you somewhere else, it will just tab between the reviews and the local business data.

This seems way useful. Here is a screencast of it in action:

.@mblumenthal @rustybrick @jenstar here is what it looks like in action: pic.twitter.com/YqFA5kmsZe

— Sergey Alakov (@sergey_alakov) April 30, 2017

Forum discussion at Twitter.

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Author: barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)

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Google Clotheslines Indoor Dryer

Here is another gem inside the Google Tel Aviv office where they have an indoor clotheslines drying line – well, at least it is there for design. This is probably part of the Kibutz room there.

Pazit Raviv Shapira shared this on Instagram and said “Yes, Google office TLV. A brilliant design.”

This post is part of our daily Search Photo of the Day column, where we find fun and interesting photos related to the search industry and share them with our readers.

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Author: barry@rustybrick.com (Barry Schwartz)

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6 Things You Must Do Before You Ever Accept Guest Posts by @seocompanymiami

Guest posting can be an incredibly valuable marketing tactic. For most, guest posting is all about publishing your content on other websites. However, there is also a big opportunity when you allow others to guest post on your website.

Accepting guest posts is a great way to grow your blog without having to do a ton of work. Guest posters will share their content when it’s published and will subsequently promote your blog. Free marketing! That free marketing can lead to more social media shares and, hopefully, links to your site.

But accepting guest posts isn’t easy in the beginning. You need to prepare.

Here are six things you must do before you ever accept guest posts.

1. Figure Out Your Goals

Publishing guest posts on your blog is almost guaranteed to bring in new visitors to your website. So what are your goals for these extra visitors?

• Do you want them to subscribe to your email list?
• Is your ultimate goal to increase your conversions or your click-through rate?
• Do you want more social media followers?

Whatever your endgame might be, it’s important to put some thought into it before you allow people to start guest posting. You can then prepare your website to best utilize the extra traffic to meet your specific goals. A big mistake companies make is running toward this strategy hoping to reap all the benefits, and oftentimes their website is unprepared and they end up actually missing opportunities.

If you want people to sign up for your email list, include a contact form and maybe even a sign-up incentive on the first page of your site so no one will miss it. If you want to increase conversions, consider running a sale or promotion around the same time you publish your first guest post. Set a goal (or a few), prepare your site, then let your guests do the marketing for you.

2. Create Guest Posting Guidelines

Once you open your blog to guest posts you’re bound to get a lot of inquiries about your expectations for posts. You can save yourself some time and easily address these questions by posting a guidelines page (check out SEJ’s rules for guest contributors page as one example). This will also let visitors know that you’re open to guest posts and hopefully encourage them to contact you.

Consider including information about how long you want posts to be, some possible topics you’re interested in, your preferred style of writing, and any incentives you might be willing to offer.

For instance, SEJ’s Writer’s Program page lists a few nice perks to attract writers:

• Share your expertise with a whopping 1 million+ monthly viewers, over half of whom are internet marketers.
• Earn up to $75 in Amazon gift cards each month for top performing articles.
• First dibs on free conference press passes in exchange for covering it on SEJ.
• Access to exclusive SEJ programs and events including webinars, SEJ Summit, podcasts, and more.
• Access to an exclusive SEJ Writer’s Facebook Group where you can network with other SEJ writers.
• Monthly email from Jenise Henrikson, SEJ’s Executive Editor, with tons of article ideas. (These go fast!)
• The undying, eternal love of the entire SEJ team. <3

You can also optimize your guidelines page by including keywords like “guest post guidelines” or “write for us.”

3. Highlight Your Stats

Again, no one is going to write for you for free, so make sure you can explain why it’s worth it for them to choose you. You should have statistics readily available like how many monthly visits your site attracts, audience demographics, or how many people are signed up for your newsletter or email list.

They might want to know how many Twitter followers you have, or what your following looks like on LinkedIn or Facebook. While they have access to some of this information without your help, it will look good if you can immediately answer their questions with some hard stats.

If not all of your numbers are great (because whose are?), try to just focus on the best statistics — something that’s easier to do if you have control of the conversation.

4. Create a Plan for Promoting Guest Posts

Another thing that guest posters might be wondering about is how you plan on advertising their post after they’re done writing it. It’s just as important for your success to have a plan in mind as it is for theirs.

If social media is a big part of your marketing plan, then emphasize that. Share how often you usually tweet new posts, or how many shares you get when you post content on Facebook or LinkedIn. If you generally share your posts through a newsletter or email list then explain that to your guests.

You should promote guest posts exactly the same way you promote your own content; this is definitely not a time to slack off in that area. Remember, the more you promote the post, the more others will be motivated to do the same, and this will result in increased traffic for your website.

In addition, have an idea of where you’ll put their author bio. Guest posters should submit a nice photo and specific (but not too detailed) author bio, and they’ll want this information displayed prominently somewhere on your website. Knowing where you’ll put it ahead of time will send the message that you value their work and are proud to promote it.

5. Make Sure the Content on Your Home Page Is the Best You Have to Offer

This has more to do with you than with your guests, but it’s important nonetheless. Think about what message you want to send to all these new visitors.

What’s the first thing visitors going to see when they arrive on your page? Is it representative of your brand and your company? If not, it’s time for a revision.

Think specifically in terms of content — if a visitor reads one post and ends up on your site, they might be motivated to read more. You want to make sure the articles they see first are some of your best work, and it doesn’t hurt to feature a few with engaging headlines (as long as the content inside the article is valuable, which it always should be).

6. Give Your Social Media Presence a Boost

There’s nothing wrong with using the increased traffic generated from guest posting to give your social media presence a little “pick-me-up.” In fact, it’s encouraged!

You can do this by making sure your Facebook, Twitter, and any other social media sites you use have buttons visible on your website so people can easily access these websites.

Consider including your Twitter handle or LinkedIn web address in your contact form, which should also be displayed somewhere prominently on your site.

Conclusion

There are many benefits to allowing guest posts on your website:

• You have the chance to highlight a different voice or opinion on a topic.
• It’s free content for your blog.
• You’ll receive increased social media exposure.
• You’ll have free time to complete other tasks that would normally be neglected when you’re writing.

Just make sure you’re prepared to accept guest posts. Remember, there are plenty of other great blogs looking to attract guest writers. Following these six tips will help make sure your blog looks professional and stands out as one of the best in your industry.

Image Credits

Feature Image Credit: DepositPhotos

All screenshots taken by author March, 2017

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Author: Sergio Aicardi

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