If you’re new to website planning, don’t overlook the importance of the site’s architecture, which refers to how the pages and categories are organized. I like to think of a disorganized website like a grocery store that’s been restocked by someone who has never been in one before. If I venture into the dairy section and find milk, butter, and cookies, I might be delighted about the ext...
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Creating a user-friendly URL that’s well structured and keyword optimized can bolster your online presence and lead users and search engines to your web page. A URL (Uniform Resource Locator) appears in the address bar at the top of every web page in a browser window, and should include the ‘meat and potatoes’ of what the page is about. A URL that’s easy to read (user-friendly) allows humans and s...
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Decoding users’ search intent by paying attention to what people type into the search bar can help your content stand out and drive traffic to your site. Simply including keywords on your website won’t do you any favors if the content isn’t written with the users in mind. Google is quick to notice poor content that has little value for users, so the terms and content you offer must be appropriate ...
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Last month, I listened in on a fantastic webinar presented by SEMRush, entitled “Unveiling AI Trends in Content Marketing.” You can listen to the whole thing here, and I recommend you do, whether you feel like an expert in AI for content, or you aren’t even using it (yet). While the webinar specifically addressed AI content for small businesses, the insights shared by guests, Andy Crestodina ...
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Hiring a content marketing agency to help improve your brand’s visibility is a great first step to success, as long as you choose the right partner. We understand that outsourcing part of your business can be a big decision, so let us help you decide. While it would be easy to say Eight Oh Two is the best and leave it at that, the truth is, not every marketing team is a good fit for every business...
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While linked anchor text may seem insignificant, these words and phrases make a big impact on your website’s rankings and the user experience. I’m happy to say that the days of generic ‘click here’ prompts are over, and Google’s published update on linking best practices settles the conversation once and for all. This new update confirms that Google is looking for anchor text—and not just an...
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Swapping secondary keywords into landing page content to boost traffic to it isn’t unlike sneaking vegetables into mac ’n’ cheese to give it more substance. Though cooking and search engine optimization (SEO) are two entirely different undertakings, each can benefit from hearty additions, and both can suffer from meaningless fillers. If you’ve been focusing only on primary keywords, it’s time...
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Virtual assistants and smart speakers are here to stay, so if you haven’t implemented voice search optimization for your website, you’re missing out on leads. Google suggests that nearly 30% of queries are completed by voice, and as artificial intelligence and recognition software in our watches, speakers, and infotainment systems grow more sophisticated, users will come to rely on the convenience...
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The differences between a landing page and a home page may not seem inconsequential, but each has a distinct function to factor into your search engine optimization (SEO) strategy. Whether you’re jump-starting an e-commerce strategy or you want to boost traffic to your website, understanding the roles a home page versus a landing page and a product page plays can help you organize and optimize you...
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Keeping your website ahead of the competition requires staying on top of the latest search engine optimization (SEO) techniques and trends. If this sounds daunting, you might be overthinking it. Whether you’re just getting started with SEO or you’re an experienced marketer, there are loads of easy ways to gather intel on the current optimization trends and those pesky Google algorithm updates.&nbs...
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Overhauling your website is a big undertaking that shouldn’t be completed without an SEO checklist to help steady your long-earned rankings during the move. I’ve seen the damage to a website’s rankings that can result from domain changes, platform updates, and structure changes when search engines are left out of the process. Disregarding Google during a site migration only leads to ranking p...
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When we perform an SEO audit, we evaluate how well the website’s on-page, off-page, and technical SEO are working and provide insights for site improvements. Whether the audit report helps you feel empowered or overwhelmed, the list of to-dos shouldn’t squander your momentum (whichever camp you’re in). You won’t—and shouldn’t—have to handle making SEO updates on your own. Consult this list of next...
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Google Trends has been around since 2006 and SEOs have been using it to gather context on keywords for just as long. If you’ve never used Trends, it’s a tool that charts the popularity of search terms over time and can be both fun and enlightening when it serves up unexpected data. For this reason, it’s probably used more for general interest than for any business use like search engine optimizati...
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Search engine optimization (SEO) for a new website is a challenge: Poor page ranks, inbound links, and mobile response are a few of the possible shortcomings. All of these tasks may seem overwhelming, even for seasoned marketers like us, but remember that SEO is about making incremental changes. I like to explain SEO like it’s a team sport. The team (your brand) has an end goal—winning (aka c...
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Applying the best optimization strategies to brand-spanking-new product copy from the get-go gives your product pages an edge over the competition. If you’re just launching your ecommerce business, or it already exists but you haven’t spent much time yet developing your product description pages, here is your golden opportunity to optimize them from the beginning (and in a perfect world, you’ll do...
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Using the right search engine optimization (SEO) strategies in product copy can drive traffic to your ecommerce business’ product pages and entice buyers to convert. But how do you make your brand’s shiny swag stand out in a digital space crowded with it? You do it by effectively optimizing your product description pages—not only to drive traffic to your website, but also to improve conversion rat...
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If SEO aims to help the reader, long-form content guides are the best way to explain complex topics, or topics that require extra details. Not every topic requires a long-form guide, but as you break out information for a theme, you may realize some are perfectly suited for a longer article. What Is a Long-Form Content Guide?Hubspot and Search Engine Land each suggest long-form content is a b...
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Eight Oh Two, a proven leader in search engine and performance marketing, is proud to announce the promotion of Robert Langenback to President of the specialty agency. Previously the Chief Operations Officer, Langenback has been with the company for more than 12 years and has helped shepherd Eight Oh Two into the modern, omni-channel era of paid search, search engine optimization, and content mark...
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A meta description is an HTML element that provides a brief summary of a web page to search engines and users. It is meant to give them an idea of what the content page is, and how it relates to a specific search query. The goal of providing a specified meta description to search engines is for them to display your desired meta description in the search engine results page (SERP) rather than ...
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Quality Score is an old metric. It isn’t instantly visible in the Ads interface anymore. It isn’t the first thing agencies recommend improving when auditing accounts. Does it still matter; is it still relevant? The answer is a definitive “yes.” When it comes to running successful Google Ads campaigns, Quality Score is a critical metric that can make or break your advertising efforts.Quality Score ...
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Remember boring, old Google? If you’ve been using search engines for more than eight years, you probably do. But today, Google’s Search Engine Results Pages (SERPs) are full of what are collectively known as SERP Features: Rich snippets, knowledge panels, video carousels, image packs, and more. These eye-catching blocks of text and images are designed to help searchers locate what they want more e...
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On the surface, all AI content is the same. With low-quality inputs or “prompts,” the content AI generates will most likely be bland and lack any qualities to set it apart from competing content. To make best-in-class AI content, you need to use best-in-class prompts so the chatbot will generate content that reflects the voice you want and includes useful information that also engages the reader. ...
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Maybe you’re launching your first blog for your ecomm site or perhaps you’ve been blogging for a long time — no matter where you are in your content journey, you may realize your content isn’t pulling its SEO weight. Fortunately, making even minor tweaks can set your content down the path towards boosting its SEO. And with additional scrutiny, you’ll find even a properly optimized post can perform...
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Know when to optimize for organic traffic and when to pay for search results by learning the advantages and outcomes of each tactic. All website owners want to improve their rankings on search engine results pages (SERPs), but not everyone should go about this the same way. Let’s take a look at the benefits of organic search engine optimization (SEO) and paid search so you can get the most out of ...
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TBA Worldwide, a rapidly growing network of data-driven advertising agencies and specialty marketing firms, including Eight Oh Two, is pleased to announce its acquisition of Joybyte. Joybyte is an integrated social growth service designed and built for eCommerce clients in the TikTok era. Its client roster includes Duluth Trading Company, Whamo, Frooze Balls, Jordan Craig, Vessel Golf and mor...
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Backlinks are hyperlinks from one domain to another, most often used to direct readers to original sources of information or related content. They essentially create the “web” in World Wide Web, and you’ve likely already seen dozens of backlinks in your web browsing, just today. Through analytics software like SEMRush and Moz, you can see backlinks that exist on other websites, directed to your ow...
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Simply having a Google Business listing isn’t always enough for your business to appear in Google Search and Map results: It may need optimizing. A study found that 49% of local businesses receive more than 1,000 Views on Search per month, but only 5% of these views result in a website click, call, or direction request.In our experience, there are two parts to achieving the most effective Google B...
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In this post, I’ll take you step-by-step through an example of how to use the best prompts—the specific instructions you give an artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot—to yield a framework you can actually use to help organize and compose a blog post. You could create this framework without leaning on AI, but significantly, the bot can help you do it in record time.First, a quick rewind: In my last ...
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A well-written introduction has significant implications for search performance, reader engagement, and the overall effectiveness of your digital marketing content. It should be clear, concise, and compelling enough to engage the reader. In spite of an intro’s importance, many writers will tell you it is the hardest bit of content to write, but taking a methodical approach can help. Follow our for...
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Eight Oh Two, a Google Premier Partner and proven leader in search engine and performance marketing, was recently named to the 21st annual list of the Vermont Business Growth Awards. This marks the company’s first year on the list with a five-year growth figure of 76.2%.With roots in Vermont, Eight Oh Two also has locations in Wilmington, North Carolina; Charleston, South Carolina; Charlotte, Nort...
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Search engines besides Google shouldn’t be ignored, especially since a few simple SEO updates can help your website rank on search engines across the board. Almost any business would agree that customers using Bing, DuckDuckGo, or Yahoo are just as valuable as those who prefer Google, so why cut your SEO strategy short? Read on to learn how to optimize your website for the top alternative search e...
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Did you know that in 2022, 87% of customers used Google to research and choose local businesses? When it comes to local search engine optimization (SEO), making sure you have a verified, optimized Google Business Profile is crucial to your online success. Whether you’re a local business just starting out or a well-established company looking to branch out online, creating a Google Business Profile...
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Drawing traffic to your site and attracting qualified leads takes a thoughtful e-commerce content strategy, but where—and how—do you begin? Creating meaningful, customer-focused content and delivering it at the right time to the right audience won’t happen by accident. You need a plan that’s repeatable and scalable. Read on to learn basic content strategy steps to get your marketing up to speed.Wh...
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The first step to any successful search engine optimization (SEO) effort is to research, compare, and choose the best keywords related to your topic, product, or service. Keywords are the heart of search marketing—they’re how users find your website, and how you alert search engines to surface your content in response to users’ queries. Keyword research has implications in both paid search and org...
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Including frequently asked questions (FAQs) in category copy or blog content is an effective strategy to improve search engine optimization (SEO) for your website. While Google recently stopped the practice of listing FAQs within expanded search engine results page (SERP) listings for most brands, you can still use targeted queries to increase the value of your content and improve your search perf...
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Tackling search engine optimization (SEO) without technology may seem daunting, but with our help, you can master the basics without using software. If you’re just starting out, or if you would like to take a more hands-on approach, there are several tech-free, common-sense methods to optimize your website for improved performance. Start with our guide to tech-free SEO basics, and get on the right...
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When it comes to paid search, it can often be difficult to justify higher-funnel, long-term brand-building investment budgets. The industry typically weights return on investment heavier than it does any other key performance indicator, especially when other tactics’ ROI can’t be as easily measured. While it’s important to hit your key business goals at the bottom of the funnel, it is also importa...
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When it comes to search engine optimization (SEO), using shortcuts and tools can enhance a strategy but should rarely be your sole approach. Even the most popular plug-ins can fall short of delivering desired results, especially when you use them exclusively instead of developing a strategy that addresses on-site, technical, and off-site SEO (or linking).SEO shortcuts can come in the form of plug-...
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Artificial intelligence, known colloquially as AI, will never replace humans because it is a machine and thus lacks the complexity of a human. Instead, it can and will make many human tasks less burdensome, and has answered that call for some time now. But in the same way hardwood floors show more depth of character than mass-produced laminate, or hand-stitched leather shoes wear better than facto...
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If your website’s blog posts are generating a decent volume of organic traffic, congratulations—you’re off to a great start! While this blog traffic gives your website optimization efforts innate value, it’s difficult to measure, and it can be extremely frustrating if that traffic isn’t driving additional leads and/or adding sales to your bottom line. Moreover, it can be challenging to convince bo...
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Your landing page is the first thing a potential lead sees after clicking on your paid search ad. Creating a landing page that makes a good first impression isn’t just a best practice, it’s the key to driving more conversions and more return customers. Enter the dedicated landing page. Today we’ll cover when to use a dedicated landing page, and explain three best practices to follow in your own de...
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Just how big is Google Shopping? More than 75% of all google ads spend occurs on the Google Shopping network. That’s 168 billion spent on the shopping network just last year. Greater than 85% of all Google ads clicks come through the shopping network. If you’ve run ads for an ecommerce brand, then you know the value of this channel. Like many other aspects of digital marketing, the Google shopping...
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The most common meta tag SEO mistakes may seem minor but can make a major impact on your digital marketing strategy’s effectiveness. Meta descriptions and page titles are important elements that alert search engines and users to what they’ll find on your website. From keywords to character counts, many variables in these elements coalesce to yield effective meta tags. An error in any one element c...
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Thoughtfully composed and expertly targeted category copy is a key component of strategic search engine optimization (SEO) on ecommerce sites. Including optimized content on commercial pages increases value for the consumer and visibility in search engines. Using the right approach in optimizing category pages allows you to better compete in a crowded online retail space.Why Optimize Category Page...
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Google has made much ado about the relaunch of broad match in January of 2023. While there may be a whole new world of broad match adoption coming our way, we can’t forget about implementing a best-practice phrase and exact match keyword strategy. When you’re creating a new text campaign or adding additional keywords, we recommend using keyword match type parity for these two match types. This ens...
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In today's competitive digital landscape, it's more important than ever for businesses to find new ways to reach and engage their target audience. Blogging is a powerful tool for building brand awareness, establishing thought leadership, and driving traffic to your website. But did you know that featuring your blog content in PPC advertising can help you expand your customer base and increase sale...
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Recently, Google unveiled plans for big changes in the way they present search results and how they’ll incorporate AI for a more interactive experience. We have already begun to get questions from partners and colleagues about what it all means. For background, here are a few snippets from a recent story in the Wall Street Journal:“...the search giant is expected to debut new features th...
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If you’re familiar with Google Ads, you probably already know that the system runs as an instant auction every time someone searches. Google Ads can provide a huge return on investment, or lackluster results - depending on how you approach the auction. You wouldn’t go to a physical, high stakes auction without a plan in mind, right? In other words, you need a strategy. Fortunately for us, Google h...
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Recently, a client came to our team looking to grow their organic brand presence on YouTube. They wondered whether there was an ad format that might lead to an increased subscriber count or generate views across videos on their channel. While most YouTube ad formats lead users directly to a client’s website, In-Feed Video Ads for Consideration actually direct users back to an advertiser’s YouTube ...
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Performance marketing is all about maximizing return on investment by funding in the channels and tactics that yield the best results. But for advertisers with Shopping feeds and campaigns, the migration to Performance Max forced showing ads across Youtube, Display, Search, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. Performance Max places a strong focus on assets, with Google recommending high-quality imagery and...
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Every Google Ads account I’ve ever touched has come with specific objectives the company is trying to achieve in its campaigns. Sometimes they’re sales and revenue, other times leads, and in other instances they’re all about branding and awareness. But one thing that transcends all those goals is the need for tracking, to know what is and isn’t working. Over the last decade, Google has g...
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The essence of effective online copywriting is capturing users’ interest and engaging them in your narrative. It doesn’t matter whether your story is a 270-character Google search ad, a 400-word copy block on a product description page (PDP), or a 1,500-word blog post: It must be compelling and relatable; otherwise the user will click away, turning their attention to something else.But if you’re a...
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Whenever you find a way to save time managing your paid media accounts…that’s a win. Now what if the new way to save time also will help you improve performance? That’s a BONUS. This is exactly why whenever we’re creating new campaigns for clients, we like to research negative keywords to implement before the campaigns are ever launched. We do this for two reasons: Google Ads doesn’...
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In order to attract customers, online retailers must optimize their product detail pages (PDPs) for SEO. When done properly, SEO enables improved web page visibility on the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) through higher rankings over time. Customers can’t buy online merchandise they can’t find. Make it easy for customers to find and buy your products.In addition to implementing technical SEO ele...
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Google’s migration to Performance Max campaigns was intended to simplify campaign management and improve overall performance, whether for shopping ads or local advertising. However, varying results in performance as a consequence of the change have made advertisers wary. With Google potentially ousting more campaign types in the future, here are 5 benefits of Performance Max campaigns and ways to ...
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If confirmation of a Google core algorithm update has you panicking while scrambling to change your best-practice SEO strategy, you’re taking the wrong approach. While Google algorithm updates can produce volatility in rankings, these updates are ultimately designed to reward quality content. By developing a rock-solid SEO strategy and avoiding questionable tactics, you’ll develop website content ...
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Working at an agency, one question I get from clients all the time is, should we be running branded keywords? Branded keywords (often run as part of a designated brand campaign) are keywords that include your brand’s name.We get it. It’s easy to think that running brand keywords is a waste of time, that it will only bring in paid traffic you would have gotten for free anyway through your organic l...
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Performance Max is the newest goal-based campaign that allows digital marketers to implement many campaign types within a single campaign. Google launched Performance Max (P-max for short) campaigns in November of 2021, intending to simplify campaign management and improve overall performance. You simply input different assets, including text, images, videos, and Google will optimize your campaign...
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North Carolina-based search marketing agency, Eight Oh Two Marketing has achieved 2023 Premier Partner status in the Google Partners program. This is the 6th year the agency has held Premier Partner status.Eight Oh Two’s team of experts provides paid search management for ecommerce retailers in a number of verticals including apparel, sports, home goods, sporting goods, pet and more. Explore the f...
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It seems obvious, but in an SEO world where content creators and copywriters are constantly bombarded with technical tips and grey hat copy hacks, it’s easy to lose sight of whom (not what) you’re writing for. Search engine algorithms are constantly being updated with a single end goal in mind: to deliver the most relevant search results to the user. That is, search engines want to show results a ...
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In the world of e-Commerce and online retail, structured data is old news by now. In 2011, Schema.org launched as a collaborative project between the “Big 3” search engines: Google, Bing, and Yahoo! (Russia’s largest search engine, Yandex, soon joined the effort.) The goal of this initiative was to create a standardized method for websites to provide metadata about their content, making it easier ...
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Blog posts are powerful engagement tools.They drive organic traffic to your website, demonstrate your expertise, and generate shares and leads. But to do all that, your posts must grab the attention of your target audience, sustain their interest, and fulfill their expectations. Read on for simple strategies to help you compose engaging blog posts that deliver a return on your investment. &nb...
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TBA Worldwide today announces it has acquired one of the leading search and performance firms, Eight Oh Two Marketing.Founded in 2009, Eight Oh Two is a PPC and SEO marketing agency for eCommerce retailers across the US offering specialized services including pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization and content marketing.The firm has an excellent reputation for helping clients to...
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How launching paid search advertising increased cross-channel performance for a retail manufacturerHistorically, Google search has been referred to as “pull” media – serving ads or organic listings to users who are already searching for your products. This stands in contrast to “push” media, such as display and video advertising (including traditional media such as television broadcasting) that’s ...
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There is no avoiding the tradeoff between these two goals for the simple reason that paid search auctions are very competitive. This is especially so in verticals with entrenched players. These advertisers have large budgets, an established customer base, and longstanding Google Ads account histories that allow them to deploy ad spend highly effectively.This isn’t to say a new company can’t p...
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Paid search ads are small but mighty. When written well, they inspire click-throughs to your landing page. When poorly written, searchers will bypass your ads, or—even worse—click through only to not find what they expected.The most effective paid search ad copywriting draws qualified searchers and drives qualified click-throughs. In other words, the copy attracts searchers truly in the market for...
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What should my ROAS target be?’ is a common question for advertisers new to paid search, but one that’s surprisingly difficult to answer. The difficulty lies in part in its subjectivity: There’s no right answer for all businesses; there’s no industry ‘best practice.’ Ultimately, the right ROAS target will depend on business priorities (growth versus profitability), as well as certain internal and ...
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If content marketing is king, when done wisely, it creates a thriving kingdom. Content marketing is an exceptional way to deliver new leads from search engines and create brand awareness that increases engagement across all of your marketing channels: A consumer is more likely to open an email from your company if you’ve created familiarity. Beyond that, content marketing moves potential customers...
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Check Your Reports: What’s Hiding In Your Non-Brand PPC Campaigns?Our blog series, Check Your Reports, reveals a variety of common but valuable missed analyses and opportunities to improve marketing performance in e-commerce. Today, we will shed light on a surprisingly common SEM mistake that can negatively affect efficiency, and impact the way you invest.We often find brand search queries mixed i...
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5 Warning Signs Your Agency Doesn’t Have An Automation StrategySince its launch in 2016, Google’s Smart Bidding technology has proven its value. Companies of every size are using the machine learning tool to automate bids and maximize conversions—including within specific targets such as ROAS or CPA. But bid automation is not without risks. Optimizing the process depends on strategic account ...
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When customers reach the lower half of the marketing funnel, they’ve already done their research. At this point, they’re seriously considering spending money on your product or services. But they’re also considering spending money on the products or services of your competitors. Bottom of the funnel (BOFU) content—detailed, helpful, and engaging blog posts and articles—can make th...
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The best product page SEO strategies help both people and search engines discover your products. Effective product page content is far more nuanced and complex than simply tossing a few keywords into the copy. Read on to learn the essential elements of product page SEO to achieve content that generates traffic and boosts conversions. 1. Write for people, not search enginesYou must strategical...
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While industry news, marketing blogs, and social media have been flooded with the phrase “content marketing” in the past few years, it isn’t a new idea. In the early days of radio, brands created radio stations and produced their own content. For the past hundred years, advertorials were commonplace in magazines (remember those?) and paid content filled television segments. Even in the relatively ...
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Now, always, and forever. That’s not just a wedding vow. Updating content is as important as creating a new piece, and you should always be looking at ways to refresh and improve your blog posts, evergreen content, and visual media. As you’ll see, there are nearly endless reasons to update your content, and likely, many or most of them apply to your current pages.Common Reasons to Update Content:T...
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You’ve got questions, and we’ve got answers. Every Thursday at 1:00PM EST, we’ll host an open discussion that’s completely free of sales pressure or obligation. We’re happy to just hear where you’re struggling in search marketing and provide guidance in an informal setting.Come with any questions or challenges you’re facing:How can I assess a recent rankings drop in organic search?What do we do no...
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While Auction Insights reports are a critical tool for monitoring changes in competitor impression share, it’s also important to understand the many ways in which increased competition can express itself in account performance. We all know increased competition in Google Ads auctions negatively impacts performance by making clicks more expensive. And yet increased competition isn’t always expresse...
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The Surprisingly Common Mistakes That Drain Money From Text Ad CampaignsSetting up paid search text ads seems quite straightforward. You have an ecommerce page with products, and you’ve identified the keywords you want to target to drive qualified traffic. But in practice, mistakes are surprisingly common because running a robust campaign requires diligent oversight. Let’s take a look at examples ...
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Has your audience strategy kept pace with recent automation enhancements?With Black Friday only a few days away, we’re on the cusp of a period of heightened e-commerce activity that’s all the more critical given the challenges retailers face in 2020. During the crucial upcoming weeks, it is imperative that your audience strategy is tailored to and cohesive with the active bid strategies in your pa...
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With only a few weeks until Cyber Weekend, limited time remains for dialing in your bid automation strategy.Algorithmic bidding, while powerful, also has its limitations. One of those limitations—sub-optimal performance during periods of significant conversion rate volatility—is particularly pertinent to advertisers during the holiday season. Understanding this limitation, as well as strategies fo...
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Why Proper Attribution In Search Is More Complex Than Your Reports Tell You.In our interactions, we find that upwards of 80% of clients and prospects that come to us are reporting on paid search and organic search as two separate channels with siloed analysts or agency teams. To a certain degree, this makes sense — I spend X on PPC, I want to see 3X back on PPC. Same scenario for SEO — I want to u...
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