Digital Grog — Australia’s Tech, Gadgets & Digital Life Unfiltered

Digital Grog is Australia’s go‑to tech blog for sharp reviews, digital trends, AI tools, gadgets, cybersecurity updates, and practical how‑tos covering the latest in Aussie technology

Google

Google will help you out with your online business

by 2 Comments

Google has done it again!!

online yoga classes via webcam with google helpout

An amazing service for online business has launched a while ago, that many people know about. This service helps businesses or people looking to start a business for which they can deliver their work online via the internet. It’s called “google helpouts”. It enables people looking to start a business where they can provide a service via video camera or webcam.

For eg a cooking class , a computer repair or support via webcam, a yoga class, a piano teacher teaching student piano via webcam , a corporate training class providing sales training via webcam .

With this service google allows you to charge customers per hour or per lesson or even deliver your service or skills free to online customers who are seeking a skill or lesson.

 

Your online business Delivered via video or webcam and google helpouts

These are the different kind of opportunities for new and existing businesses to expand online. Google provide the business platform including payment processing and software and all you need is a google account , a webcam and a internet connection

Finally, there is a truly profitable way to cash in online with your skills or business acumen – with what you already know. So if you’re a consultant, working from home, or heck just admits it… you’re simply looking for Ways to share your knowledge and get paid…… Then this is your ticket!

gardening classes via video camera and internet

HOW TO APPLY FOR GOOGLE HELP OUTS ?

How to sign up with google helpouts and start teaching people or offering your service

You need a Google+ profile to create a Helpout and also an invitation code. You can request a invitation code for google helpouts. However entry into this service is very strict and limited. All applications are screened by google manually to keep out people that are not suited for this service or can be a risk or liability to this service. In fact there are many people who get rejected due to the strict entry screening for this service . Google also hold a a one on one interview to validate if it’s a genuine business looking to do business online and if that business fits in with the google helpouts criteria.

Luckily there is a service that helps you out with this process to increase your chances of making it through this admission process with a higher chance of you getting your business online with google helpouts to start making money. You can check out this service Here.

First, go to this page at the official Google Helpouts site. Then, underneath the box that says “Enter invitation code,” there’s a smaller button labeled “Request a code.”  Click on it. From there, you’ll be taken to a page that asks you what topic you’d like to teach. Select one from the drop down list and click Submit. [ i highly recommend you check out this service before your apply]

With google help-outs you can Instantly stream your in-studio classes either to a customer or a global audience live and give real-time feedback. This service is also like a teleconference or more like a video conference where you can give lessons to multiple people at a set time making it a multi-conference  teaching lesson. This also enables to multiply your earning potential or making money online.

For what google helpouts are useful

  • Corporate Classes via webcam
  • Cooking classes via webcam
  • Learning guitar via video
  • Learning or teaching ,speaking italian online via online classes
  • Self-computer or gadget repair via webcam
  • How to fix a household problem or issue via webcam
  • Yoga classes or language classes via webcam

This service enables you to Record your classes to create your own video library and subscription plans. It also helps grow your client base with live webcam classes and on-demand videos.

Helpouts is an extension of Hangouts that allow professionals, educators, or those who want to instruct on pretty much any topic to charge money for live training. Helpouts is new and one of the most exciting opportunities in a long time that’s going to help consultants, instructors, infopreneurs and even ordinary folks like YOU to make more money!

For years, people have always asked how they can make money online without:

· -Having their own product

· -Having a list

· -spending many hours setting up and maintaining a website

You don’t need any of the above to get started! Don’t get me wrong having a website with your google help outs account will definitely help , but it is not a necessity. For help with admission for google helpouts check out his video giving details of Google helpouts and go to this link if you want to speed up your admission process with success.

3 Adwords Mistakes Every Advertiser Makes

by 2 Comments

Adwords. A double-edged “advertising software” opening doors and frustrating DIY marketers with its endless updates, changes and idiosyncrasies. Business owners frequently abandon self-started online ventures for a myriad of reasons; time doesn’t run freely, and the attention Adwords demands from would-be success stories seems like an entire department in itself. The failure to run a thriving campaign is not a short-coming of the system, but a disconnect between business owners who underestimate nimble subtleties of Google’s answer to old-school billboards.

How do you avoid falling into these same traps, as you traverse the shady world of “pay-per-click”, display and re-marketing? Learn from the following three mistakes, save a bucket load of stress and increase ROI.

google adwords quality score

Know Your Competition

Advertisers commonly rely on an underwhelming WOW factor or quick gimmicks to attract online customers. It’s easier to incentivise than run an on-going analysis of your competitors and while it isn’t politically correct to refer to your competitors as your enemy, the philosophies of Sun Tzu are relevant outside the lecture theatre. Draw up a database of top performing text ads refined to your top five keywords – what commonalities are leading them to trump you and replace your business in the 1,2,3 stakes? Don’t plagiarise, but draw inspiration from their tactics. Remember, landing pages form an integral part of a good formula. Keep it relevant.

Are You Irrelevant?

Click through rate; the bread and butter of the Adwords campaign and the most basic measure of relevancy health. A high CTR is symptomatic of a well targeted text ad; if your numbers are floundering, you need to review the conversation you’re trying to have with potential customers or clients. Make sure your ad includes top performing keywords within your niche, land visitors on targeted pages and don’t drown the ad in too many keywords – after all, you want to seduce audiences, not chase them away with money-grabbing.

The Mysteries of Ad-Writing

You’ll see a variety of styles and phraseologies on the internet, bribing, targeting or presenting as oblivious – a kind of just-the-facts gimmick that works for some verticals. Striking a balance between fresh, brief content and tried best practices to appease Google is fraught with difficulties. Again, your competitors serve as a reasonable indication as to what works and what doesn’t in a specific area of your vertical. Integrate the best ideas into a reviewed strategy and don’t forget to include a call to action beyond the typical Call Now. Instead, feature cheap or free shipping rates, a company guarantee or a specialist success rate. The goal of ad text is to draw people in and convert their interest into possible sales or contracts.

Of course, these are common mistakes of every advertiser. If you fail, accept that failure and move past those expectations; instead of shutting down your Adwords account, review current campaign setup and be honest about the conversion DNA of keywords, text ads, landing pages and site information. A little soul-searching will reveal a way forward or at least a route past your previous obstacles.

This post was written by Jessica Hannah, who is a member of the team at Search Factory, an online marketing agency based in Brisbane, Australia.

What Google’s been upto in seo ?

by Leave a Comment

I was surfing this website this week and was quite surprised to  see that this bread crumb link  , i clicked on  was actually an advertisement  by Google. I innocently though it was a that websites link to another internal page  and was quite pissed off to think someone fooled me  so easily  and then realised it “Google new breadcrumb link ads” “Wow”. Can they do that ? they can i suppose if its on a website !!

Google’s new Breadcrumb Link Advertisements

Well  the phrase “ can they do that” certainly rang true  earlier in the day, when i took  my daily trip back home  and saw  that girl next to me  gimme that “can he do that” look on the bus . what i w as doing was – happilyguzman gomez perth asian swiping my newly acquired  “Guzman gomez discount   card”  on the bus swiping thingy (instead of my transport bus swipe card)  with the girl behind me  probably muttering this guy must be nuts or he’s expecting a burrito to come out now ..lol. I soon realised my mistake grinned , apologised   and carried on red face out of the bus.

Well the answer to Google’s question  anyway is “yes we can” ( just like bob the builder – google can show us this ads  bread crumbs or arrows ) so here is a screen shot below of the bread crumb links ads ( and yes i like Indian tandoori chicken)

google new bread crumb links ads

Looks like webpro news already knew about this coming  to us . read here….

New arrow ads by google

Another “google ad” that has been appearing recently  as also noticed by pat flyn on his blog here  is “the  new arrow ads by google”

Adsense Arrow

Image from patflyn.com

These recent Adsense ads now display an arrow next to the ad and it almost looks like a nice little arrow button ready  and primed to be clicked in the direction that it is suggesting ( out of my/your site).

I know i haven’t  published much on SEO for a while now so i hope you like this post on something related to seo  as i have promised to publish about SEO  on my about page

Australia misses Out on Google Local ad Targeting

by Leave a Comment

Many of SEO’s and Businesses  use Google  location targeting to show your ads in specific geographic locations such as countries, regions, and cities to more precisely reach your potential customers.

Google is now  introducing new geographical targeting  advertising options and tweaking the options  to get more targeted advertising within AdWords and has also released postal code targeting for Canada.

google adwords location targeting options for your country

More here

With this new introduction to location targeting AdWords offers location targeting at the postal code, city, metro, or the region level, although targeting at certain levels isn’t available in some countries.

Australia misses out on postal code and DMA Adwords Location targeting

Though Australia missed out on the postal code targeting, as you can see in the pic above,  Australia has location targeting by city and region, which is still good because if you are advertising a local business that is not online only for Sydney  then they can target only the Sydney city, and if a company is seeking local customers from the whole of WA region  they can target only the WA region in their ad words campaign

Canada has got more specific option for targeted advertising with Google introducing the ability to target by Canadian Postal Code FSAs(Forward Sortation Area), the first three digits of the postal code, which correspond to a certain geographic area.

AdWords will now have city and regional targeting capabilities in 9 new countries.

Areas where Google Adwords City and regional targeting is in effect now

Belgium (city)

Taiwan (city)

Vietnam (city)

Bulgaria (region & city)

Denmark (city)

India (city)

Ireland (city)

Romania (region & city)

Sweden (region & city)

AdWords Gets ZIP Code Targeting

ADVERTISERS can also show their nearest location and phone number along with a search ads in these 6 countries

Belgium

Denmark

Ireland

India

Sweden

Taiwan.

Be a part of Google maps with Google

by Leave a Comment

Google is Calling all Aussie Mappers!

Calling all Aussie Mappers in australia!

G’day mappers — at last it’s time to share the treasures of the Great Southern Land. Today, Google Map Maker opens its maps to Australia, so now you can also add your local knowledge to Google Maps for all the world to see.

google apps and maps

Hot it works

Help share Australia’s natural gems  and hidden trails with tourists and locals alike by drawing the hiking trails through the Eucalypt forests of Tasmania or adding all the campsites surrounding Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park.

Google Map Maker is now available in Australia

Once approved your contributions will appear on Google Maps, Google Earth and Google Maps for mobile, accurately reflecting your real-life neighbourhood. You can even join with other local mappers and use your local expertise to review one another’s contributions to the map

Google Map Maker warmly welcomes the people of Australia to the team of citizen cartographers from 200 countries and regions across the globe as they continue to build the world map

To see examples , you can watch mapping in real-time.

For more info go here

From Panda to penguin with Google link building algorithm

by 3 Comments

IF your stats are out of whack and you  have been linked to  to your website  with a majority of the same keywords ( or anchor text ) to the same home page  and those  words are quite popular ( or pricey) keywords too . Then you have probably been officially been demoted on the Google search by Google.

Tools for penguin algorithm update checking

And yes,  they can do it because they are the market leader in search. I do remember something similar happening with  Microsoft as well in a different aspect.

So how to get the Monkey ( penguin ) off your BACK

As you can see in the above pic   for eg

if you got a website with  a name  “Australian stock market” and  a majority of the links  are  mentioning  Australian stock market ( green  or brown in pie chart) and pointing to the  home page then its quite likely  you could be hit by the Google penguin.

seo penguin panda chart linking solution fix

The solution for linking properly and to show some love to the penguin

Here is what to do

Linking to be distributed in  4 different forms as below  including to home pages and internal; pages

digitalgrog.com.au

www.digitalkgrog.com.au

https://www.digitalgrog.com.au/

Http://digitalgrog.com.au

 

How to use anchor text

we will take the example of Digital grog Blog

Digital Grog Blog

DigitalGrogBlog

Digital grog blog

DGB

[Carefully notice the differences in linking above]

How to also use Mixed anchor text

Tech blog – digital grog

Australian Blog Digital Grog

Digital grog, a Australian tech blog

Common Anchor text is back in action

If your website is popular your are going to get genuine links like these( below)  to your website and Google knows this

“click here,”  “visit this website,” and “here.”

These links ( anchor text)  above which has  been regularly  used by  punters, now also help you escape the Google big hand  by diluting   your linking profile  so that they can see its genuine.

Delete or Dilute  your links ( anchor text) to fix them

so if you have been inadvertently been caught up in the big mad Google seo updates algorithm changes.  You will either need to dilute your links with more different  keywords  or gain more genuine links with different keywords or then change your already existing links ( if you can) and anchor text from links that  link to you.

Tools for penguin algorithm  update checking

Tools like  Majestic SEO or Open Site Explorer can help you find out your linking and anchor texts for your website