First Thing Monday – May 15 2017

5? 50? 500? 1,000?

If you’ve got a top-ranking page on Google, how many search terms will it rank for?

Last week, someone with way too much time on their hands completed the analysis, looking at…wait for it…3 million search terms and all the pages shown in the top 10 search results for those queries.

Their results should get you thinking even more positively about the value of SEO.

And, attempting to fix something that wasn’t broken, last week Google’s AdWords Product Team tinkered with bid modifiers (again), asking that marketers have faith and simply trust their algorithms.

And even that other search engine got in on the action, releasing a free (and ad-free) site search solution that’s a readymade replacement for the Google one. You know, the one which now shows competitor ads on your website…

So how many keywords can you rank for with one page?

While SEOs usually focus on optimising a page for one primary search query, a page can rank in Google for many other relevant keywords. A new study by Ahrefs reveals that the average number one ranking page will also rank in the top 10 results for about 1,000 other relevant keywords.

Google Customer Reviews: get feedback; earn ratings

Not sure how, but we missed this one last month: Google has replaced its Trusted Stores programme with a new free Customer Reviews programme that’s also available for retailers here. But before you get started, you do need to have set up a Merchant Center account. Post-purchase, consumers opt in to provide feedback on their buying experience, and reviews go towards Seller Ratings (the stars shown in AdWords, Shopping ads and on merchant websites). Free, yes, but it’s not for everyone…

Bing Custom Search: a new ad-free site search solution

Bing has introduced a free commercial-grade site search tool called Custom Search. The name may be the same, but Bing’s Custom Search is different from Google — it doesn’t display ads.

Google removes bid cap for AdWords Enhanced CPC

Trust Google? Advertisers using AdWords’ Enhanced CPC bidding who’ve been prepared to pay more to get visitors more likely to convert, will need to. Google is alerting advertisers that it has removed the 30% above maximum bid cap but will try to keep average CPC below max CPC over time.

Windows 10 S forces you to use Edge and Bing

Old habits die hard. Windows 10 S, Microsoft’s newly-launched operating system that comes bundled with the Surface Laptop, won’t allow you to change the default web browser from Microsoft Edge or switch the default search engine from Bing.

What we’ve been reading this week

Facebook targets ‘insecure’ young people

Banks are trying to save their online reputations

Mitch Joel on Why Agencies Should Care About Conversion Rate Optimisation

Deep Work vs. Messy: How to Balance Productivity and Creativity

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