Granite 5 April Digital Roundup

A review of the key headlines from the world of digital in April that are impacting UK and global businesses.

Click on any of the titles in the list below to jump straight to that section of the article.

• Apple iOS 14.5 update
• Facebook advertising updates
• Google Core Web Vitals page experience update moved back to June
• New Page Experience report in Google Search Console
• Managing Google search ads during uncertain times
• WordPress version 5.7.1 released
• TikTok launches new lead generation ads to drive customer acquisition
• Gravity Forms 2.5 update

Apple iOS 14.5 update

The controversial Apple iOS 14.5 update has been on the horizon since June last year, with the much-debated new app data tracking prompts. These new prompts have sparked challenge from many app developers, most notably Facebook, as this new update may severely compromise their advertising capabilities.

Once installed, the new update prompts users to allow, or not to track their data.

Facebook advertising updates

In response to the new Apple iOS update, Facebook has launched new guidelines on how to combat the new update if you are advertising with Facebook. These guidelines offer useful advice such as verifying your domain with Facebook and configuring your 8 web conversion events in Facebook Events Manager.

Google Core Web Vitals page experience update moved back to June

The much-anticipated Google Core Web Vitals Page Experience update will now start rolling out from mid-June 2021. However, page experience won’t play its full role as part of the ranking systems until the end of August. For additional info, take a look at these resources on the Core Web Vitals and understanding page experience in Google Search.

To find out more about the Core Web Vitals Page Experience update, why not join our webinar on Tuesday 25th May at 11 am, hosted for Cambridge Network, where we will explore the update in more detail, and what you can do as a business to be ready!

New Page Experience report in Google Search Console

To support site owners and developers ahead of the new page experience update, Google has launched a new Page Experience report within Google Search Console that will provide insights on the user experience of visitors to your site.

The new Page Experience report offers valuable metrics, such as URLs with good page experience, mobile usability, and whether you have any security issues. See an example of the new report below.

Managing Google search ads during uncertain times

Google has released some useful guidance on managing your search campaigns during the pandemic.

Some of the tips include consider the tone of your language to be helpful, adapt your creative to communicate business changes, adapt ads and campaigns to your local market conditions, and deploy tools such as the Google Ads mobile app to stay in control of your campaigns wherever you are.

WordPress version 5.7.1 released

The WordPress 5.7.1 release is now available and features 26 bug fixes and 2 security fixes. As this is a security release, WordPress are advising site owners and developers to update your sites immediately by downloading from wordPress.org or visiting your dashboard.

TikTok launches new lead generation ads to drive customer acquisition

If you are using TikTok as part of your digital strategy, then this may be of interest to you. The platform has launched a new lead generation ad option which allows you to capture user data directly from in-stream ads.

Much of the response data in the ads can be auto-populated, making the process streamlined for users and therefore providing a greater chance of conversions. The data can then be downloaded, or integrated into your CRM.

Gravity Forms 2.5 update

We are excited to see a new update from Gravity Forms WordPress plugin, version 2.5 which started rolling out from the 27th April. This new update brings with it a whole host of new features to improve usability, including a restyled forms editor with improved functionality, and a new drag and drop feature making it much easier to manage form layouts.

We have covered Gravity Forms, including the new 2.5 update in our recent article – Transform your lead capturing to increase growth.