Tips Tuesday – Let’s Encrypt, Core Web Vitals, Mediavine Journey and Grow

Hello Happy Site Owners!

Tips this week include:

• Looker Studio Update
• WordPress 6.5 testing begins
• Updates with Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt
• Core Web Vitals workshop is this week
• The real reason for the new INP metric
• An update on Google’s big March Core Update
• 5 thing you need to know about the March Core Update
• Did John Mueller’s site really get deindexed?
• Mediavine launches Journey to run ads on smaller traffic sites
• The confusion around Grow and Grow.me
• The confusion around Hubbub and Grow
• Grow and Journey
• My take on putting ads on your site now
• Why not to monetize too early
• Where the real money is these days
• Why to do your own thing
• Brand deals on the Clara app
• The De{CODE} conference is this week

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BlogAid Happenings

Looker Studio Update

This past week I did a super deep dive into bringing in data from non-Google vendors into Looker Studio. Those include Shopify, Pinterest, Email, and more.

None of them have direct Connectors to Looker. So, I dived into how to use their APIs to automate bringing the analytics into Google Sheets, and then using the native Google Sheets Connector to Looker, as all of this is free.

But, free has a lot of dev, security, and data limitations.

So, I’m going to back off trying to do it that way.

There are several companies that offer paid Connectors and free templates for these 3rd party vendors. And that relieves all of the issues.

I’m checking with my beta testers now to see if they want to have these reports setup.

This week, I’m making quick check tutorials for ensuring that your GA4 and GSC setup is correct. Those checks will be required before we do the Looker setup to ensure that you are getting the correct data into Looker.

And then I’ll move on to making all of the rest of the tutorials for the membership that will cover how to easily glean all sorts of actionable data from Looker.

My hope is to get this new offer released to you this spring.

I’ll keep you posted.

WordPress Tips

WordPress 6.5 Testing Begins

I believe the final Release Candidate (RC) for WordPress 6.5 will roll out today.

So this week I’ll start my testing.

I’ll have a What’s New post for you around the time of the official release on March 27.

Security Tips

Cloudflare and Let’s Encrypt

You may have received an email from Cloudflare about the older version of the Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate expiring.

That’s a good thing.

The new Let’s Encrypt version is more secure.

FYI, our Let’s Encrypt SSL certificate at Iridium Hosting will be undergoing the same change.

So, don’t worry about that email. All is well.

SEO Tips

Core Web Vitals Workshop

In the DIY SEO course this week we’ll be reviewing the roll of Core Web Vitals and what Google is actually checking.

The Real Reason for the new INP Metric

Our workshop will include the new INP metric that went live this month.

And I emailed my site audit Hub clients about it too.

I believe I know why Google added this metric and why there is no way to use an online tester for it, and only one way to optimize for it too.

Google’s Big March Core Update

The huge algo update from Google is only about half way rolled out.

They let us know at the beginning that there would be high volatility with it as it will affect multiple ranking systems.

So, if your site has lost or gained from these changes already, hang on to your hat because the wild ride is not over yet and there may be more big swings yet to come.

We’ll have a bonus session on this in the DIY SEO course soon.

5 Things You Need to Know About Google’s March Core Update

Search Engine Land is calling Google’s March Core Update a “seismic shift in the SEO industry.”

I suggest you read their report on the sites that are getting completely de-indexed and/or receiving Manual Action Penalties.

John Mueller’s Site Deindexed

The mouthpiece of Google Search, John Mueller, just got his own site de-indexed!!!

Or so we thought.

In Google Search, an SEO typed in site:johnmu.com and it said there were no pages indexed..

It’s because of his robots.txt – and he blocks search engine crawlers on purpose.

The buzz about this finally reached him. Here’s his reply

By the next day Jon’s site had been reinstated to Google – look through all the comments in the post to see what happened.

Monetization Tips

Mediavine Launches Journey Ads for Sites with 10K Sessions

I believe the Sessions needed to apply for ads with Mediavine is normally 50k/mo.

For the last 2 years they have been teasing that they would have a lower threshold offer.

Now it’s here.

Journey is Mediavine’s new lower barrier to entry offering for sites that have at least 10k/mo in Sessions. 

They say you should install the Grow plugin and run it for a minimum of 30 days. Then they will evaluate your site to see if it qualifies for Journey.

The Confusion Around Grow and Grow.me

A few years ago, Mediavine acquired the Social Pug plugin. And they changed the name to Grow.

It was still a social follow and social like set of buttons at that time.

Then they started adding more to it and eventually they had a second version just for their publishers (site owners who run their ads) called Grow.me.

The Grow.me version featured a way for site visitors to “register” their email address, which was basically just giving permission to use their first-party cookie tracking info to show them personalized ads.

So many complaints came in from Mediavine’s publishers that this email optin was in direct competition with their own optins, and it confused visitors to think they were signing up for the site’s newsletter. And they complained that Mediavine was collecting email addresses that they were not sharing with the publisher too.

So, Mediavine eventually changed Grow.me into what it should have been all along – a dual optin for personalized ads and to the site’s newsletter.

The Confusion Around Hubbub and Grow

Mediavine sold the Grow plugin to NerdPress in Dec 2023. 

It is now called Hubbub.

And it is still a free plugin with social share/follow buttons and such.

The name Grow, and its associated plugin, are now what Grow.me used to be – a proprietary plugin for publishers with Mediavine.

Grow and Journey

With the launch of Journey, Mediavine wants you to first register at https://publishers.grow.me/register 

You’ll be given access to the Grow plugin.

This plugin allows Mediavine to track your site traffic to evaluate it for inclusion in Journey.

During that evaluation period, you can “utilize Grow features to expand your business.”

I’m guessing that includes the social share/follow buttons. But perhaps it stops short of collecting emails. I don’t know for sure as I haven’t seen it.

Could They Make it Anymore Confusing?

The confusion around all of this is rampant.

I’ve already seen publishers saying that they installed Grow years ago and don’t understand how Mediavine is tracking them.

What those site owners installed was the free Grow plugin, formerly Social Pug, and now Hubbub.

It has nothing to do with what is now Grow (formerly Grow.me), which is only available after you register.

I’m sure Mediavine had their reasons to keep the word Grow through all of this.

But considering how much that free plugin has been written about online, they will need to do a LOT of PR about it to get the word out with all of these changes.

If you see confusion about it in your blogger groups or such, send them to this post for clarification.

My Take with Putting Ads on Your Site Now

If your site is approved for Journey, then Mediavine will add a full complement of ads for 90 days during their “get to know you” period. This is standard for all ad agencies.

And they clearly state in their documentation (the last time I saw it) that you may lose traffic during this period.

Why?

Because with all those ads, your site’s UX (User Experience) goes to shit.

Every ad agency I know also encourages you to create longer posts with longer images so you can run more ads, as they have to meet a certain content-to-ad ratio.

Too many site owners just add fluff content to meet that criteria. It’s junk content.

In the current climate of Google popping sites for poor UX, and less than useful content, can you really afford to put ads on your site this way?

Don’t Monetize Too Early

In my opinion, most freshman site owners try to monetize too quickly and that just throttles their ability to grow a loyal audience.

Plus, blogging for ads is THE slowest and hardest way to make money online.

The mommy blogger craze made it seem attractive as a side hustle.

Those days are over, in my opinion. 

It takes a LOT more work than you were led to believe to be successful with your site now.

Where the REAL Money is These Days

If you build a loyal audience of repeat visitors, plus attract new visitors, you can open yourself to 5 types of non-ad income:

• Affiliate marketing other people’s products
• Your courses
• Your Digital Products (or even physical products)
• Your Services
• Brand deals

In fact, if you have a loyal audience, brands will fall all over themselves to work with you.

And those deals go for anywhere between $300-$10,000 a pop.

A warm, target audience of a creator with a high trust factor is WAY more lucrative to a brand than running ads that may or may not be seen to a generic audience based on limited 1st-party cookie cohort tracking.

I have clients who took the time to grow their audience and now they are nearly exhausted trying to get to all the lucrative brand deals being laid on their table.

I also know digital shop owners who have quit blogging altogether and leverage the audience they grew from it to pitch their shop products.

And they are still gaining new audience too!

Do Your Own Thing

If you are a blogger for ad revenue, consider how you can leverage your authority on topic to offer your own products.

It could start with a simple trip-wire on your current optin. Then you can move into digital downloads, and eventually a shop.

Or, a drip email course is a great way to get started down that path.

The point is to stop giving away the store for free and to and leverage the audience you have acquired all this time for direct pay.

Brand Deals on the Clara App

I heard about the Clara app where creators can compare notes about brand deals.

But all they have on the home page of their site is a registration form. There is no About opage or other info.

They have a social media presence all over. Here’s the Clara app YouTube channel. You can Google for others.

If you look into it, let us know what you think about them.

AI Tips

De{CODE} 2024 Conference 

This week I’m looking forward to the De{CODE} virtual developer’s conference, sponsored by WPEngine, is all about AI in WordPress.

It runs March 19-21 and registration is free.

Tips Tuesday Plus subscribers will get a report from me on the conference. Subscribe now.