Here’s our rundown of last month’s major technical updates in the digital marketing world:
Instagram recently upgraded its website to allow people to upload photos through it when accessed on a mobile device. The digital photography platform touted the change as a move toward a “fuller experience on Instagram no matter what device or network they are on.” Although the site does not, at the moment, allow uploads from desk- or laptop devices.
The lightweight web version of the app is a response to slow networks and expensive data. Previous versions of the site allowed users to receive notifications, and like, follow, and search for users and content. The uploading function was previously restricted to their mobile app. Now, not only can digital marketers monitor on the mobile browser but they can cut back on data by uploading photos for those times when the internet speed is not on your side.
Facebook just added a new feature called “Latest Conversations.” Appearing as a section in the search results, Latest Conversations provides a reverse chronological list of posts related to the topic, as well as a live count of how many people are talking about it.
Latest Conversations are free from the algorithms that govern most Facebook content: they include results from all public posts around the world, even those not in your native languages. This non-contextualized approach might make it useful for seeing what a wider audience thinks about a subject, but may be more difficult to approach than other search result sections. Since this is still only available mobile, digital marketers can see the network’s most talked-about topics firsthand, even when on the go.
Some would argue that this is a copycat of Instagram’s Trending Page but there once you’ve clicked through to see the full stream, it doesn’t update with new posts, the way Facebook does.
Brand accounts in Pinterests can now easily pull up the number of impressions, views, and close-ups, clicks, and the number of times a specific pin was saved. This change was brought by brands wanting a solid measurement transparency from Pinterest.
These metrics will help marketers understand what kind of content resonates with their audience and how to adjust their visuals and copy to match. Pinterest also aims for post longevity so the longer your pin is on pinterest, the data goes nowhere but up. This is update is Pinterest’s shifting focus from offline sales and targeting statistic to to digital data measurement.
Fred, the latest Google algorithm update, has been a big name in the SEO world since last month—with most marketers blaming it for 90% of losses in keyword rank—but only recently did it become clear that Fred targeted sites that were low on content and heavy on ads.
If your anchor text is all keywords, Fred will probably think it's part of a link scheme. Make sure your backlinks are related to your website and trustworthy. In the end, Google wants digital marketers to focus on satisfying users, rather than an algorithm. Keep up with the best practices for SEO tracking and you’ll see which content performs best—improve the rest of your content to match what works.
Now that you’re updated in the technical sense, is your social media strategy up-to-date as well? Check out our social media marketing packages to see how we can support you.