Google Announces Crack Down on Intrusive Mobile Pop-Ups

September 1, 2016September 1, 2016

Last week Google announced a crack down on intrusive mobile pop-ups starting in January.

I heard about this through the HubSpot Marketing blog in this article about Google’s algorithm change.

They wrote “pages with mobile pop-ups — or what Google is calling “interstitials” — probably won’t be ranking as highly when these algorithmic changes take effect on January 10, 2017.”

What do this mean to you? We have a number of clients using Sumo Me’s List Builder, and we use it on our website (see example).

If you use this plugin you will want to login to Sumo Me, and in the List Builder settings go to Display Rules, and make sure there is a rule for “Don’t Show on Mobile Devices” (see below).

On our website, I am thinking of switching to Sumo Me’s Smart Bar or Scroll Box instead (see below).

Google’s main reason for the algorithm change is user experience, and let’s face it, pop ups that cover the page content are annoying. They are good tools for growing your list, but I think it’s time to switch to less obtrusive methods.

How to Create a Twitter Card using WordPress

December 10, 2014April 4, 2016

I’ve seen expanded tweets, where there’s a link to “view photo” and “view summary” in the bottom right of the post. I didn’t realize you could add this feature to your tweets using Twitter cards.

This article on Hubspot.com inspired me to try it: http://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-cards-basics.

Below are two examples of different types of Twitter cards. The first is a summary card, and the second a photo card.

I searched for a Wordpress plug-in to add Twitter Card metadata to a post, and I found this plug-in: http://wpdeveloper.net/free-plugin/twitter-cards-meta/.

To install it, go to your WordPress dashboard to Plugins > Add New, then do a search for “Twitter Cards Meta” and you’ll find the plugin. Install the plugin and activate it.

Go to Settings > Twitter Cards Meta and enter you settings there. I used the following:

Now, when you open your most recent post you’ll notice in the bottom right column a place to add a featured image, and also a box to check for your Twitter Card type. I selected Photo because I really like that one. Then, publish your post.

Then, you have to go to Twitter and ask to be approved: https://cards-dev.twitter.com/validator . Just paste the link of your website in the box, and then you’ll be directed to a page where you ask for your domain to be whitelisted. Once you’ve filled that out, you will get a response right away from Twitter telling you that you’ve been approved.

Once I got the email from Twitter, I went back to the Card Validator page and entered the url for my website, and this was the preview I was given (this is the featured image for my home page, and also the default image url I pasted into the plugin settings).

Then, to test my post twitter card, I copied the url of my new post into the card validator to make sure my featured image was showing.

Now, you are ready to tweet your first Photo Card on twitter. Go to twitter and paste the url of your new blog post into a tweet and your Twitter card will be there!

Here’s the tweet of my post, along with the expanded photo card.

Claiming your Google Map Listing

February 9, 2010November 10, 2014

If you haven’t done it yet, search for your business in Google Maps, and then follow the steps to “claim your business.”

1). Go to Google.com and click on “Maps” in the top left.

2). Search for your business, for example, Nevada City Chamber of Commerce, Nevada City, Ca. Then, click on your listings.

3). In your listing, you’ll see a link for “Edit.” Click “Edit”, and then you’ll see a link for “Are you the owner? Claim your business.” Click this link.

4). When you click “Edit” you will be prompted to sign in to your Google Local Business Center Account. If you don’t already have a Google account, set one up now (not to be confused with a gmail account, your Google account can be set up using your existing email address).

5). Once you’ve logged in you’ll have the option to “Edit my business information.” Then click “Continue” below “Validating your listing.” To validate your listing, Google will call the listed phone number for your business (right away) with an authorization code. Write down the code, and then enter it into the box in the Google Local Business Center screen. If you aren’t able to answer the phone right away, select the mail option, and the code will be mailed to you instead.

6). Once you’ve claimed your listing you can add photos, hours of operation, your web address, and services.

7). Finally, embed your Google maps listing on the Contact page of your website by clicking the “Link” option in the top right of your Google map listing. Then, below that, select “Customize and preview embedded map.”

6). Select the size map you want (I usually choose medium), choose map or satellite view, and then zoom in or out until you like the look of your map.

7). Copy the code and either paste it into the code on your website, or send it in a text document (not word, or it will add extra characters, choose Notepad or TextEdit) to your web designer.