Digital Recap: Covering All the Bases

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In this week’s Digital Recap, we’re covering all the bases – Facebook, Yelp, Bing, and Google SEO.

Facebook’s Global State of Small Business Report, Wave II 

Facebook recently released its findings from Wave II of the 2020 Future of Business Survey, an ongoing data collection project conducted by Facebook, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), and the World Bank. The survey was conducted June 24-30 and includes responses from more than 25,000 business owners, managers and employees in over 50 countries. The goal is to better understand the effect of COVID-19 on SMBs – business closures, revenue, employment, finances, needs and challenges. Here are a few findings from the report: 

• SMBs have started to re-open as lockdown measures ease worldwide. Closure rates fell from 26% (according to Wave I, conducted in May) to 18%. North America’s closure rate came in at 15%. 
• The majority (57%) of SMBs reported a year-on-year fall in sales. 
• 31% of respondents reported reductions in staff. 
• SMBs are experiencing a lack of demand and cash flow concerns. 

Read Facebook’s Global State of Small Business Report for more analysis. 

Yelp’s Revamped Request-a-Quote Feature 

The Request-a-Quote feature in Yelp has been upgraded into an end-to-end hiring experience for service–area businesses. In his article for Adweek, David Cohen outlines the new consumer experience. After requesting a quote, appointment or consultation, Yelp will ask tailored questions to help the consumer describe the project. Questionnaires currently live across 60 business categories with 40 more currently in the works. Read Cohen’s article for more detail on the upgrade: “Yelp Extends its Request-A-Quote Feature into an End-To-End Hiring Experience.” 

Free Product Listings in Bing! 

Following Google’s suit, Bing’s Shopping tab now has organic product listings for merchants in the U.S. George Nguyen covered the new release for Search Engine Land. All approved product offers in Microsoft Merchant Center are automatically opted-in, and business owners can opt out from the Settings page of the merchant store center. Read Nguyen’s article for more insight, “Bing Shopping opens up to free product listings.” 

SEO for Single Page Applications 

As more and more websites migrate to single-page apps, developers and SEO strategists must work together to resolve issues relating to SEO and behavior tracking. Location3’s Jack Barsch tackles the complexities involved and solutions to the problems. Collaboration is critical when it comes to effectively tracking behavior on websites and search engine optimizations. Read Barsch’s post, “SEO for Single Page Applications” for greater detail.