Fixing your results, Wikipedia stories… and Online Marketing

If you're concerned about your search results, the ramifications of the May Google core update continue to be calculated.?Core update winners and losers. ?Scrollable right panels .?

I hosted a webinar on Wikipedia for Communicators yesterday.?Two things stood out.?

• Leadpages, which we use for signups, went down yesterday.?In reaction, I emailed a decent number of people so that they didn't miss it.?The signup rate for those people, emailed on the day of the webinar, was extremely high, relative to marketing in the two weeks beforehand.?We'll likely try more "same day" marketing in the future.
• There are usually several questions along the lines of "My company/client wants to make a couple tweaks to the page, should I just go ahead and do it?"?I find that answering this with a metaphor/story helps people process their options, and will sometimes discuss the my high school job at a gas station.?I was hired,?not for my lack of?mechanical ability, but?due to my availability and ability to run a cash register.?However, while hanging around, the mechanics?taught me how to fix punctured tires.?So one Sunday, I was working solo and a customer pulled up in a sports car.?I was excited, I was going to be a hero and fix their tire.?I reassured them, pulled the car onto the lift?and while doing so, stripped?the entire covering of the undercarriage off.?Could this experience have gone well??Possibly. Can you change your own tire/edit your own Wikipedia page??Sure - some people do it.?But, if doesn't work out, look out.?Fortunately, my coworker Chuck happened to drive by, banished me to the back room, dealt with the irate customer, fixed the situation, and was the actual hero.?Figuring out if you're our clueless "hero" in this story?or Chuck, is really important before you decide how to fix your car/Wikipedia page.

Speaking of DIY, we've been keeping you updated on how launching a version of this newsletter has gone on LinkedIn.?Given an almost universal agreement that spam on LinkedIn is increasing, we've seen:

• About half of the subscribers (currently 750) seem to read the email
• LinkedIn's stats on newsletter are far less useful than even a free email newsletter management software
• We're getting about 20 new subscribers a week, almost evenly divided between new subscribers with job titles that I'd expect (VP Communications, etc.) and job titles like "Administrative Assistant at Factory outlet sales" and "Gestionnaire Communications externes et RSE"

Current conclusion: the 15 minutes or so to publish on LinkedIn is about the right amount of time investment :)

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Congrats to Michelle from The Mather Group who presented last week at the PRSA Public Affairs and Government section on online reputation management.

Stay safe,?

- Josh?

P.S. If you know anyone who would enjoy this newsletter, please forward it along, or make an?intro and I'm happy to get them signed up.??

P.P.S. Let me know if you'd like a copy of our?June edition of the?Wikipedia Chaos Level Report .

A New Search Engine Is Announced!

Insane in the membrane

Insane in the brain

Insane in the membrane

Insane in the brain

Insane in the membrane

Crazy insane, got no brain

Insane in the membrane

Insane in the brain

The Brain Has a ‘Low-Power Mode’ That Blunts Our Senses

So I found myself in the sun, oh yeah

A hell of a place to end a run, oh yeah

California, I'm fine

Somebody check my brain

California's all right

Somebody check my brain

Check my brain

5 Websites That Got Hit by the May 2022 Core Algorithm Update

And if the dam breaks open many years too soon

And if there is no room upon the hill

And if your head explodes with dark forebodings too

I'll see you on the dark side of the moon

Here's What It Might Be Like To Travel On A?Double Decker Airplane Seat

There is no pain you are receding

A distant ship smoke on the horizon

You are only coming through in waves

Your lips move but I can't hear what you're saying

When I was a child I had a fever

My hands felt just like two balloons

Now I've got that feeling once again

I can't explain you would not understand

This is not how I am

I have become comfortably numb

?Russia Issued A Court Order Demanding Wikipedia Take Down Entries About The Ukraine War, But The Website Is Refusing

I could while away the hours

Conferrin' with the flowers,

Consulting with the rain;

And my head I'd be a scratchin'

While my thoughts are busy hatchin'

If I only had a brain.