Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 10, 2013

A quick tip for news publishers on using Google+ embedded posts. When embedding a Google+ post in a news article, be sure to include enough original editorial text to meet the 80 word minimum for Google News indexation. For the technical details on Google+ embedded posts check out the support content on Google Developer.

Embedding 151

Embedding News Google Tips 151

Adam Sherk

MARCH 8, 2012

For most publishers social media has earned itself a prominent seat at the audience development table. To provide a strategic overview and set a framework for the discussion I came up with a list of questions that summarizes the types of issues we frequently encounter in helping publishers with social media.

Publishing 215

Publishing Questions Social Media Activities 215

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 17, 2013

So as I stumble across the finish line, here are my top posts of 2013 by pageviews: The Most Common Google News Errors and How to Avoid Them. Google+ Engagement for News Sites: Top Performers and One-Year Growth Rates. Top Link Building Tactics for Publishers. The Google News Standout Tag: Does it Work? Publishing'

SEO 129

SEO Publishing Social Media Sports 129

Adam Sherk

JUNE 5, 2009

While it’s good news that Google is continuing to improve its ability to deal with JavaScript, this change also impacts the way that many publishers display sponsored links on their sites. Is Google going to run out and start penalizing sites with sponsored links in JavaScript? Google News Wants Title Tags to Match Headlines?

Publishing 100

Publishing Google NoFollow Guidelines 100

Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 24, 2012

The Google News news_keywords meta tag is now available to all publishers that are approved for inclusion. It is nice that Google News is trying to accommodate publishers and allow for more witty, print-style headlines. But it is fair to say that Google News has always been a strange beast.

News 162

News Google SEO Publishing 162

Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 3, 2009

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Google News Optimization Tips by Adam Sherk on September 3, 2009 This week Google put out a video to give publishers more information on how Google News works and how best to optimize for it. This is data driven and not an “arbitrary decision.”

News 158

News Google Tips Press Release 158

Adam Sherk

NOVEMBER 21, 2011

While any photo-rich site can benefit from Pinterest, at least at this stage in its evolution there are particularly strong opportunities for lifestyle publishers and brands. I am primarily covering publishers in this post but there are also solid opportunities for retailers. Should Publishers Add “Pin It” Buttons?

Publishing 130

Publishing NoFollow Brands Real Estate 130

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 15, 2010

I asked Christian to provide some tips for publishers looking to expand their presence in international markets. To reach an overseas readership online publishers must ensure that they properly localize their content. If your budget is limited you could use an online translation service like Google Translate. – Adam.

Publishing 124

Publishing Tips Syndication Resources 124

Adam Sherk

AUGUST 22, 2011

User reactions have been mixed so far (some find them overwhelming or borderline obnoxious) but Google is touting the user benefits and the expanded sitelinks appear to be here to stay. Do Google’s Expanded Domain Results Apply to News and Video Listings? Rich Snippets: Increase Google Visibility for Reviews through Microformats.

Google 215

Google URL Sites Issues 215

Adam Sherk

AUGUST 14, 2012

As Pinterest continues to grow in popularity and usage it is becoming not only an important source of traffic and engagement for publishers but also a good source of links. I spend a lot of time auditing websites which means I am regularly in the Google Webmaster Tools profiles for a variety of sites. But What About Nofollow?

Survey 166

Survey Sites Publishing NoFollow 166

Adam Sherk

JUNE 27, 2012

Now that the Hot Searches list on Google Trends has been stripped down publishers are moving to other sources for monitoring search trends. Specific to lifestyle publishers the Google data was never all that useful anyway since it was dominated by topics like breaking news, sports and entertainment. — Yahoo!

Yahoo 116

Yahoo Trends Publishing Data 116

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 21, 2011

Google Expanded Sitelinks: Optimize Opening Text in META Description Tag. Is Using Facebook Comments Good for Publishers? The post on Facebook analytics tools did well considering I just published it last week. In checking out Google Analytics one thing I like about my top 10 is there were multiple paths to success.

SEO 119

SEO Publishing Press Release Social Media 119

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 3, 2013

Whenever I do a presentation on Google+ for publishers I mention that quite a few news and content brands are among the most followed pages. The point being that Google+ does indeed offer good opportunities for audience development, engagement and content promotion. The Most Followed News and Content Sites on Google+.

News 161

News Sites Google Content 161

Adam Sherk

AUGUST 20, 2009

Google employee “Inbal” later provided a more specific time window, indicating “the rate at which we recrawl may vary, but we try to go back and check for changes in article content within the first 12 hours after we first find it.” I went looking for an updated story in Google News today and was able to find an example.

News 101

News Google Syndication Press Release 101

Adam Sherk

JULY 10, 2012

The demographics of Google+ are typically described as predominantly male and young. But that is not always the case; sites that are geared towards women are drawing a Google+ audience that is largely female. For example, take a look at the +1 Audience Report from the Google Webmaster Tools profile of a major fashion site.

Google 119

Google Fashion Sites Report 119

Adam Sherk

AUGUST 24, 2010

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Do Google’s Expanded Domain Results Apply to News and Video Listings? This gives publishers the opportunity for greater exposure to users looking for content from their specific site (and who may not be familiar with the “site:” search operator).

News 113

News List Google Embedding 113

Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 1, 2011

News publishers are all too familiar with the fact that Google News doesn’t always do such a great job of favoring original sources in its story clusters. Today I noticed an example that is worth pointing out because you’d think Google News would be able to handle it properly. Doesn’t seem right, does it?

News 121

News Google Syndication Aggregator 121

Adam Sherk

APRIL 30, 2009

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Publishers: Solve Tracking Code, Duplicate Content Issues with the Canonical URL Tag by Adam Sherk on April 30, 2009 Really you shouldn’t need it. What you should be doing is avoiding duplicate content altogether.

Issues 100

Issues Publishing URL Syndication 100

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 14, 2010

I saw Malcolm Coles’ post on Google’s reading level scores for UK newspapers and thought it would be fun to do the same thing for US news sites. Last week Google released a new search filter that allows users to refine search results by reading level. So what reading level does Google assign to major news sites in the US?

Sites 232

Sites News Google Yahoo 232

Adam Sherk

MAY 13, 2009

Initially Google is supporting data on reviews and people. Initially Google is supporting data on reviews and people. Reviews in particular offer a good opportunity for publishers as many content sites produce multiple types of reviews on a regular basis. But now is a good time to begin experimenting with it.

Review 100

Review Google Embedding Press Release 100

Adam Sherk

APRIL 3, 2013

Sponsored content in various forms is growing in popularity as publishers seek additional sources of revenue. Done well it can be a good fit for both publishers and advertisers, and dare I say even add value for users. How do publishers ensure that sponsored content complies with Google’s guidelines?

Guidelines 260

Guidelines SEO NoFollow Module 260

Adam Sherk

FEBRUARY 17, 2010

Sharing and discussing content is a key component of Google Buzz, so it’s a natural fit for article promotion and audience development. To what degree that happens depends on how well Google does at improving the interface and functionality. Related posts: Google Social Search: Are You in Your Target Audiences’ Social Circles?

Sites 118

Sites News Google Facebook 118

Adam Sherk

MAY 22, 2009

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Google News Wants Title Tags to Match Headlines? The headline/title tag tip is also included in their Help for Publishers guidelines on article titles ). But linking with the article headline is something that publishers should do when possible.

News 100

News Google Syndication Press Release 100

Adam Sherk

NOVEMBER 23, 2009

Google saga today, as the Financial Times reports that discussions have taken place between News Corp and Microsoft on an exclusive deal with Bing that would lead to News Corp blocking its news sites (such as The Wall Street Journal ) from Google. Google-less? – If You de-Index Will They Still Come?

News 101

News Google Hitwise Press Release 101

Adam Sherk

OCTOBER 29, 2009

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Google Social Search: Are You in Your Target Audiences’ Social Circles? So if you link to your Twitter account on your Google profile the people you’re following on Twitter become part of your social circle. If not how do we get there?

Google 109

Google Google Reader Press Release Survey 109

Adam Sherk

AUGUST 11, 2009

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Pro PR Tips: 100 PR Tips from Rafe Needleman Published as a Book by Adam Sherk on August 11, 2009 Yesterday I received a copy of Rafe Needleman ’s Pro PR Tips in the mail from ITDatabase. What are some of your favorites?

Tips 102

Tips Publishing Press Release Syndication 102

Adam Sherk

OCTOBER 14, 2015

So I put together a round-up of current SEO and digital marketing trends that offer good opportunities for publishers. As a user I like the new hosted and mobile-specific article formats, be that Facebook Instant Articles , Apple News Format or Google’s AMP project. App Indexing for both Google and Apple is another growing trend.

SEO 100

SEO Syndication Marketing NoFollow 100

Adam Sherk

OCTOBER 7, 2014

Google AdWords: Keyword Planner. Google’s Keyword Planner has become a hassle for new users to set up since it now requires having an AdWords account. Google Trends. Editorial teams like using Google Trends because there is no sign-up or login required. Google Webmaster Tools: Search Queries. Search Trends.

Analysis 241

Analysis Research Trends Tools 241

Adam Sherk

MAY 15, 2012

And Google+. And what the heck is Google+? Then a bunch of other sites will take your article, barely change it and then publish it on their own sites. –So will you publish the story today? We get a lot of releases. –But mine is really important. I sent it to you on Twitter. And Facebook. –Please.

Press Release 269

Press Release Vocus Video Embedding 269

Adam Sherk

OCTOBER 18, 2011

I hadn’t published this previously because there already a number of other good resources out there. Todd Defren published a useful checklist back in 2008 and Lee Odden, probably the strongest advocate, has written multiple posts such as Essential Press Release Optimization Tips. Google News Optimization Tips. Title/headline.

Press Release 206

Press Release Tips Adwords Yahoo 206

Adam Sherk

DECEMBER 18, 2012

News Organizations on Google+: Which Pages Get the Most Engagement? 8 Social Media Questions Publishers Should Be Asking Themselves. SEO Metrics for Publishers: How are You Tracking and Measuring Success? SEO Metrics for Publishers: How are You Tracking and Measuring Success? 5 Ways that Social Media Impacts SEO.

Press Release 119

Press Release SEO Digg Sports 119

Adam Sherk

APRIL 30, 2013

For publishers it typically involves identifying users that are sharing, discussing and linking to content from your brands and their competitors, and about specific topics. Google+ Tools. And since social media and Google+ in particular have an impact on SEO there are also secondary benefits to locating influencers there.

Blogger 196

Blogger BuzzStream Influencer Tools 196

Adam Sherk

JULY 9, 2013

Mining keyword research, analytics and competitive data to identify new evergreen content opportunities does not always get the attention it deserves from busy editorial teams, despite this being an area with considerable upside for publishers. Google Trends. Site Analytics (Omniture SiteCatalyst, Google Analytics, etc.).

Research 183

Research Content Hitwise Adwords 183

Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 13, 2010

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Pew Research News Survey: Findings on Search Engines, Social Networks and Twitter by Adam Sherk on September 13, 2010 The Pew Research Center for the People and the Press has published the results of its latest survey on news consumption and related topics.

Survey 140

Survey Social Networking Engineering Research 140

Adam Sherk

JANUARY 23, 2013

For confidentially reasons I am not able to reveal the specific titles, but they are all well-known brands from major publishers. One thing that is important to point out is that some publishers participate in StumbleUpon Paid Discovery which has an impact on their traffic figures. What Types of Sites Get the Most Links?

StumbleUpon 172

StumbleUpon Sites Content Survey 172

Adam Sherk

SEPTEMBER 10, 2010

Home About Contact PR Publishing SEO Social Media Subscribe Adam Sherk Why the News Business Isn’t Profitable by Guest on September 10, 2010 This is a guest post from Aaron Goldman , author of Everything I Know about Marketing I Learned from Google. You just Google it, right? came over from Google.

News 121

News Press Release Survey SEO 121

Adam Sherk

OCTOBER 1, 2009

A tactic that some news and content sites employ is monitoring Google’s Hot Trends list in an effort to identify hot topics and then quickly produce matching content around them. I personally found that Google Trends tends to be a little more sensationalistic than the others. Does this work?

Trends 146

Trends Tools Embedding Digg 146