Google has this week announced the addition of educational videos to its Webmaster Tools product. Currently, anyone can post webmaster and SEO questions on its forum or via the Webmaster Central blog, but Google themselves had not been addressing common concerns beyond their FAQ. Now, users can subscribe to their YouTube channel for a video series called “SEO Snippets,” where they will pull questions from their forum to offer instructional videos as a starter guide on topics ranging from 404 errors, how and when crawling works, URL structures, duplicate content, and more.
In App news, Apple has revised its App Store restrictions to now allow users to list Apps created using templates and third-party services, which had been banned earlier this year in an attempt to reduce the number of low-quality Apps on the market. This update means that businesses can create Apps using a third-party, but will have to submit and launch the App themselves. Reportedly, this revision to the rules comes in response to the wider market that was affected by the ban, causing some businesses to shut down and several others to pull their Apps from the market.
Facebook is also in the news this week, having announced details around updates to their algorithm. Engagement bait posts, or posts which solicit likes, shares and comments in order to improve page ranking will now be penalized, as will ultimately the pages themselves which regularly post such content.
In tech hardware news, the FCC has approved the first wireless charger that works on a device from up to three feet away, developed by San Jose-based startup Energous. This innovation could change the game for many tech hardware products and provide a range of additional product categories for both e-commerce store owners and potentially affiliate sites in years to come. Energous will be showing the WattUp Mid Field transmitter at CES 2018, January 9-12 in Las Vegas, if you plan to attend.
New in SaaS business listings we have a $650K recruitment and employment resources software business, with patented and proprietary technology, a strong client base of c.615 B2B customers, a scalable cost structure and an authoritative brand in a lucrative and growing niche. Also listed this week is a $29K home and event decor SaaS business, boasting a sticky product with low customer churn of c.2.9%, a robust feature base, an authoritative brand with years of operational history and lean and simple cost structure.
New in content business listings this week we have a $165K display advertising business in the motivational quotes space, with rankings for c.175K keywords, diversified revenues across multiple sources, c.15 million monthly visitors / c.20 million pageviews in the past 12 months and low owner involvement. If you are interested in any of the above businesses, follow the links to request a Prospectus.
In event news, the FE team will be hitting the ground running in 2018 at Affiliate Summit West in Las Vegas on January 7-9, where founder Thomas Smale will be meeting with industry experts. Shoot us a reply if you are attending or in the local area and would like to meet up!
Continue reading below for more on Google’s new webmaster video series, Apple’s revision of App Store acceptable Apps, Facebook’s new initiative for cleaner newsfeeds and Energous’ new wireless charging product.
Deal Highlights
New:
Digital Service – Recruitment & Employment Resources – $67K gross/mo
- Patented and proprietary hiring technology
- Authoritative and well-known brand in the lucrative recruitment niche
- Diverse customer base, serving c.615 clients in the past year
- High gross margins averaging c.60% over the trailing 12 months
- Low owner involvement with a full team in place
Yearly net profit: $189,000
Asking price: $650,000
Display Advertising – Lifestyle & Motivational Quotes – $5K net/mo
- Revenues diversified across multiple sales channels, reducing concentration risk
- Strong traffic profile with over 15 million monthly visitors and 20 million page views in the last 12 months
- Notable SERP presence with the site ranking for c.175K keywords
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $63,000
Asking price: $165,000
SaaS – Home & Event Décor – $1.7K MRR
- Sticky product with a low customer churn of c.2.9% over the trailing 12 months
- Robust feature base with dozens of customers
- Authoritative brand with years of operational experience
- Lean and simple cost structure allowing for highly scalable operations
- Low owner involvement
Yearly net profit: $12,100
Asking price: $29,000
In the News…
Google to Teach Tricks of the Trade
Google Webmasters has launched their video series to help teach solutions to the most common SEO problems site managers experience.
This will be a series of short videos with the aim of answering some of the webmaster and SEO questions they regularly find on their Webmaster Central Help Forum. The new video series, called “Web Snippets,” launched on YouTube and is the latest in their series of help tools. Complementing the videos is their already existing array of resources, including: the Webmaster Central Blog, the Help Center, the Webmaster Forum, and the SEO starter guide. The videos will help with short and to the point answers to specific questions, like 404 errors, how and when crawling works, a site’s URL structure, and duplicate content.
The videos will include links to more helpful webmaster resources, and users can ask questions on the forum in addition to subscribing on YouTube.
Apple Loosens their App Store Rules
Apple announced that they will now allow apps created through templates and other app generation services to be listed on the App Store.
Earlier this year, Apple had amended their app store guidelines to say: “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected.” The intention was to reduce the number of low-quality apps and spam on the market, but the move ended up affecting a much wider market. Small businesses, organizations and nonprofits who did not have the in-house expertise or resources to build custom apps from scratch were left unable to list their apps on the App Store. The new rule, which states: “Apps created from a commercialized template or app generation service will be rejected unless they are submitted directly by the provider of the app’s content. These services should not submit apps on behalf of their clients and should offer tools that let their clients create customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences.” The idea is that while it’s acceptable for these businesses to use a third party to create the apps, it should not be the third-party services publishing the apps to the App Store. This revision will likely be a welcome change for many small business owners, as several have reportedly had to shut down their business as a result of these changes, according to TechCrunch.
Online business owners, app developers and entrepreneurs who plan to launch an app using a template (or who already have one) will be able to list their app on the App Store so long as they develop new tools to provide clients with “customized, innovative apps that provide unique customer experiences.”
Facebook Ups the Integrity Ante
In a rather more nuanced move to improve their algorithm, Facebook has announced that they will demote people and pages whose posts ask for likes, comments, and shares.
This practice is extremely common in pages that ask people to engage with their post in order to increase their ranking in the Facebook algorithm. Earlier this year, Facebook attempted to instill this practice through positive reinforcement by identifying pages that enacted clickbait practices, and rewarding pages that did not. However, the results were underwhelming and Facebook will now penalize “engagement bait” posts. Ultimately, the initiative will downgrade pages who repeatedly post content of this nature, so business owners will want to ensure their social media strategy does not include clickbait posts. Of the update, Facebook’s newsfeed integrity specialist Henry Silverman and engineer Lin Huang wrote in a company blog post published Monday, “Publishers and other businesses that use engagement bait tactics in their posts should expect their reach on these posts to decrease. Meanwhile, Pages that repeatedly share engagement bait posts will see more significant drops in reach.”
Facebook page managers can take this as a call to ensure they post quality, valuable content to readers.
FCC Approves First At-a-Distance Charger
This week, the FCC granted the first certification to an at-a-distance charging device developed by San Jose-based startup Energous.
Energous has developed their WattUp Mid Field transmitter, which converts electricity into radio frequencies, and then beams the energy to nearby devices with a corresponding receiver. The certification granted to the startup is the first of its kind, and could mean a lot of new products for e-commerce businesses and affiliate sites in years to come. This innovation differs from the resonant induction method that the Pi wireless charging system relies upon, and charges from a greater distance than the Belkin and Mophie chargers, which require physical contact with the device. The WattUp transmitter can charge multiple devices simultaneously and can be used for a range of devices, from phones to keyboards to tablets. It also works regardless of manufacturer, so can be used for multiple brands of products.
The startup doesn’t have any retail devices ready yet, but will be showcasing the charger at CES 2018 in January.