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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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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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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