📦 - Google Confirms Data Leak Is Real

DTC 571 - Google Search Leak Learnings, Micro Holidays, and Pinterest’s Inclusion Fund Monday, June 3, 2024 Good morning, It’s been a crazy week for SEOs. After thousands of documents leaked and revealed Google’s algorithm secrets, there has been A LOT to unpack. If your head is still spinning with all this newfound information let’s dive a little deeper today and break it down so you are all caught up. 👇 Here’s what you’ll find in today’s DTC: 🤯 Here are some shocking findings the leaked Google doc reveals when it comes to ranking factors. 💰 Learn how running micro-holiday sales can help you create a stronger BFCM campaign. 💗 How Pinterest and Shopify are coming together to support SMBS from marginalized communities. You’re reading this newsletter along with new subscribers from: Blisstopia Retreats, Amble Outdoors, and Fruitezy. 👋 SEO LEARNINGS 🤯 Breaking Down Google’s Data Leak Insights Last week SEO expert Erfan Azimi leaked thousands of Google search documents revealing how the Google algorithm works. Why this is a big deal: Google's search algorithm has always been a mystery for SEOs, and the document details over 14,000 ranking factors, including a few that Google has said 'aren't important' in past interviews. So, Google has been gaslighting us? 😅 Exactly. In a video, Erfan Azimi states that businesses have been 'lied to for over a decade' about how the algorithm works and released this information to promote transparency about Google's ranking factors. Here are a few things Google has lied about in the past when asked about their search algorithm: - Google has said that it doesn't measure domain authority, but this document explicitly mentions that it uses a 'site authority' score, its own way of measuring domain authority. - What this means: Offering helpful content and cultivating quality relevant backlinks are important. - Google has said, "We don't use clicks for rankings," but the document outlines a system called NavBoost that is mentioned over 80 times and tracks several different types of clicks. The most interesting click type is the 'last longest clicks,' which also measures time spent on the page to determine a successful search session. - What this means: Clicks are important, but so is the amount of time a visitor spends on your site! - Google has said there is no sandbox for new sites, but the document refutes that claim. When it comes to rankings, new sites without any trust signals are segregated from more established sites. - What this means: New sites will take more time to rank if they don't emit any trust signals. Trust signals can be customer reviews and awards. - Google has said, "We don't use anything from Chrome for ranking," but the document claims that they use Chrome data to determine ranking and use these visits as a real-time ranking metric for your site. - What this means: If your traffic ebbs and flows throughout the week, so will your search rankings. The takeaways? These leaks show the importance of building brand authority in your industry. Increasing brand awareness has never been more important. Businesses should also build websites with helpful content to attract engagement and clicks. Remember that while this leak is a treasure trove of information, it doesn't indicate which ranking factors are most important or how they are weighted within their system, so use this information to continue testing and learning. SPOTLIGHT 📦 You’re Busy Enough, Stop Spending Time Worrying About Logistics… As a DTC company, you’re shipping. A lot. And all that shipping means countless orders to keep on top of. It’s overwhelming. The question is, why are you going at it alone? [Hook Logistics]( is the 3rd Party Logistics (3PL) company for growing DTC brands. Their world-class logistics management involves: - 🎁 Services: Ecommerce & retail fulfillment, custom kitting, freight forwarding, and trucking (LTL/FTL). - 🏗️ Warehouses: Located in Los Angeles and New Jersey for reduced shipping costs and fast delivery. - 😃 Customer Service: Direct communication with responsive warehouse managers and regular check-ins. - 💵 Pricing: Clear and affordable for companies of all sizes, and free from typical 3PL fees. DTC brands are making the switch to Hook Logistics… [Find Out Why]( Looking for comprehensive web, brand, and growth solutions? Check out their sister company, [Diamond Hook](. *Sponsored Q4 PLANNING ✍️ What To Test in Micro-Holiday Campaigns It might seem silly to have a sale on every small holiday throughout the year, however, leveraging micro-holidays that fit well with your niche is a great way to improve your BFCM sales. How? Because every micro-holiday sale is an opportunity to gather data for how to build stronger BFCM campaigns. Even if the micro-holiday sale provides small lifts to performance, the results you gather and apply to Q4 sales can be the difference between a 2x ROAS and a 4x ROAS. The greatest Q4 YOY growth happens from years' worth of data building up to that point. Don't miss out on a data-gathering opportunity. Here are some things to test during micro-holidays: - Discount Thresholds: Play around with the offer and see if you have the same rate of conversion on a lower offer; it could be an opportunity for higher profit margins. - Percent vs Dollar-off: Split test the same monetary offer but in different formats. The most common is percent off vs dollar off. Some audiences are more responsive to one over the other. - Free Shipping: With the rise of Amazon, free shipping is expected and a huge obstacle if it is not offered or if the threshold is higher. Try offering a free shipping code exclusive to the paid ads and see if the conversion rates outweigh the cost of offering it - Product SKUs: Test different product SKUs, whether that is the product type, colors, bundles, style, etc. Oftentimes the highest CTR comes from the products that stand out the most and stop the scroll. And these might not necessarily be the highest converting SKU. What gets the click and what people convert on the website, might be two different things - Evergreen Sale: For each holiday, add some broad evergreen sale messaging creatives. Allow them to get spend and engagement, turning them on and off during sale periods. This allows them to build momentum throughout the year, therefore creating a warmed-up ad that can quickly scale and you can trust with higher budgets during Q4. 💡 Here’s a [Pilothouse tip](: Don't try to test these all at once! Depending on your ad spend threshold, One micro-holiday should focus on a single split test and its findings. Build your learnings over multiple holidays and combine them for the ultimate BFCM offer with great conversion rates. Every micro-holiday is an opportunity for greater growth in Q4 so make it count! Stay tuned for Wednesday’s issue as we’ll share some micro-holidays you can leverage for the upcoming week 😉 🌐 IN THE SOCIAL SPHERE Pinterest partnered with the ecommerce platform Shopify this year to promote its Inclusion Fund. The program will help SMBs owned and operated by people from historically marginalized communities and connect them with resources to grow and run successful businesses. So far the program has launched in the U.S. and Canada and will enter new markets later this year. Scroll down to our News section for details on how to apply! Can't view the image? [Click here]( 💸 MERGERS & ACQUISITIONS - Faircado [raises $3.3 million for its AI-powered recommerce platform](. - AI music generator Suno [raises $125 million in funding](. - Scale AI [raises $1 billion in funding and is now evaluated at $13.8 billion dollars](. - AI startup Adept [explores sale and is talking to buyers including Meta](. - Groq, Nvidia competitor, [raises $300M at a potential $3 billion evaluation](. 📰 NEWS - Google [responds to public backlash about AI Overview’s inaccurate answers](. - AI startup Anthropic [hires former OpenAI researcher Jan Leike](. - Heinz's [‘You Can Already Taste It’ campaign promotes its new Pickle Ketchup](. - Pinterest [launched an Inclusion Fund in partnership with Shopify to help SMBs within the BIPOC, LGBTQIA+, disability and plus size community](. SPONSOR DTC 📥 Got a B2B Biz? Join dozens of B2B companies finding demand-gen success through our niche community of 160k brand leaders and founders this year. [Talk to our team to learn more](. Have you heard our latest podcasts? - 🏆 Van Oakes on [How To Boost Your Sales with Strategic Giveaways]( - 📺 [AKNF 407:]( YouTube Full Funnel Breakdown with Kari - 💎 How Anna Harman [Grew Studs To An 8 Figure Brand]( - 💣 [AKNF 405:]( Navigating Email Landmines + Bot Click Clarification - 📈 The Marketing Millennials on [Cracking the DTC Success Formula]( - 💰 [AKNF 403:]( Early Indicators of Amazon Success - 👕 How True Classic [Turned Customer Support Into a Profit Center]( Don’t forget to [rate the DTC Podcast]( on Apple (⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️) DTC Newsletter is written by [Rebecca Knight]( and [Frances Du](. Edited by [Eric Dyck](. Was this email forwarded to you? Sign up [here](. Please note that items in this newsletter marked with * contain sponsored content. [Direct To Consumer]( Pilothouse, 1011 Government St., Victoria, BC V8W 1X6, Canada [Advertise with DTC]( | [Work With Pilothouse]( [Unsubscribe](