When Google launched their broad match modified match type some years ago, some marketers hailed the demise of phrase match as something of a foregone conclusion. Many, ourselves included, quickly shifted gears and rolled out new campaigns using a combination of broad match modified (BMM), exact match and negative match keywords. And others did not. Let’s consider why we did this. First — and this should be writ large wherever AdWords advertisers congregate — no one likes broad match. No one except, perhaps, Google. Using broad match is essentially lazy, the equivalent of holding out your hand with all your money it in and letting Google take what they want. They’re getting better — broad match is nowhere near as bad as it used to be — but it still allows Google a freedom you wouldn’t want your car mechanic or your electrician to have. As a result, many advertisers instead opted for phrase match and exact match for their keywords, often having to develop hundreds of phrase match keywords to cover a multitude of possible search terms. For example, if we were trying to promote our blue widgets, we might start with “blue widgets” as a search term but soon have to add “widgets in blue,” “blue color widgets,” and so on. With the introduction of BMM, advertisers were suddenly able to cover hundreds of possible search terms by simply using +blue +widgets. In our agency, we then monitor the Search Query Performance reports, pull out those search terms that deserve special attention and move them directly into exact match status, thus making the intermediate phrase match version redundant. This streamlines the process and, with new build campaigns, seems to be the simplest way to get campaigns live and generating real data. We can then crunch this data faster to get to the kernels of optimization that will drive ongoing success. Phrase match is still holding its ownWe reached out to other marketers to discover how phrase match fits into their account management approach and found that reports of phrase match’s demise may be a little premature. As Mark Kennedy from SEOM Interactive comments:
Kennedy’s comments about historical value are particularly significant. Google loves historical data — especially when it comes to Quality Score, for example, and it could take a new BMM keyword some time to achieve a high QS already enjoyed by a long-term phrase match keyword that has consistently performed well. While others echo these sentiments, Julie Friedman Bacchini of Neptune Moon feels that keyword matching is becoming increasingly fuzzier. She cites the changes in the keyword planner where match types are no longer segmented as an indication of the way Google sees match types. Coupled with the ending of the close variant opt out, the battle lines between marketers and the search engines are blurring. Interestingly, she concludes:
James Svoboda, partner at WebRanking, also agrees that the close variant rollout last year essentially made phrase match and Broad Match Modified the same with one significant exception: word order. He explains:
As a result, they have effectively removed phrase match from their arsenal and are looking forward to the day when both Google and Bing follow suit. Whether that day will ever come is debatable. There are, perhaps, too many accounts that have been built and optimized over the years around a solid core of well-performing phrase match keywords. And, since phrase match isn’t broken, there may be no reason to try to fix it. And for some of us, like Gil Hong from Seer, phrase match may simply be a habit that is hard to shake:
The consensus, therefore, seems to be that there is some life in phrase match after all. Where a well-performing phrase match keyword with great historical data and a good Quality Score is present, it could take some time for a Broad Match Modified keyword to catch up — and indeed, it would be hard to imagine the performance ever quite being matched. But where there are well-performing phrase match keywords, there are Exact Match versions willing and eager to usurp them. So poor phrase match is getting pressure from both sides, and while it might be able to hold its own for the time being based on past glories, going forward, its days are still probably numbered. But then, we said that a couple of years ago! The post Phrase match is dead. Long live phrase match! appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger Phrase match is dead. Long live phrase match!
0 Comments
Summer 2016 seems like a lifetime ago, doesn’t it? Barack Obama was president, the Chicago Cubs were carrying on their 108-year losing streak and swimmer Ryan Lochte was busy fabricating a story about getting robbed at gunpoint while representing the US at the Rio Olympic Games. One of the biggest digital stories to come out of last year was the meteoric rise of Pokémon Go. The mobile game brought augmented reality (AR) to the masses and effectively demonstrated the technology’s potential as a new platform for customer engagement. Pokémon Go disappeared from the limelight almost as quickly as it appeared, solidifying its place as a pop culture curiosity that will almost certainly be covered in an “I Love the ’80s”-esque retrospective 20 years from now. Pokémon Go’s story may be over for most, but what about its underlying technology? How has that fared over the past 12 months? Well, augmented reality isn’t just for gamers anymore. It can be a major asset for brands and their local marketing initiatives. Tech giants pick up the AR torchIn many ways, Pokémon Go served as a proof of concept for AR’s potential as a marketing tool. Imagine billboards and advertisements that exist purely in the virtual world and offer exclusive deals and promotions to AR users. It’s a whole new ballgame, and some of the biggest names in tech are racing to cash in on that awesome potential. Apple, for instance, is making a concerted push into this space, with hopes of building its forthcoming iOS 11 operating system into the world’s premiere AR platform. The tech giant recently ramped up its hiring efforts to bring in dozens of professionals with skills like “geospatial information services” to support AR software projects. Meanwhile, Facebook demonstrated its growing interest in this technology, releasing a closed beta for its own AR mobile platform earlier this year. Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg confirmed the company’s commitment to AR at the recent Facebook F8 conference: “Over time, I think [augmented reality] will be a really important technology that changes how we use our phones and all our technology,” Zuckerberg said. “This is the type of technology we love to build.” Where does AR fit in for local marketers?It’s encouraging to hear that the big boys are throwing their full support behind AR, but what does the technology mean for digital marketers within the local space today? Over the past year, companies have made strides in the AR field, developing new use cases for marketing applications. For example, Blippar has worked with a number of widely recognized brands to create AR-based banner ads that don’t require an app to view. When mobile users click on the ad, AR functionality is enabled, and they can interact with both their physical and virtual environments in new and innovative ways. By pointing their cameras at particular objects, users can receive suggestions on similar or complementary products. A couple at a restaurant for dinner, for instance, could get wine pairing recommendations just by opening their camera apps. Marketing teams could take advantage of this capability by providing information on local promotions. So, if users direct their phone’s camera to a bottle of Pepsi, the AR platform can show them where to find it on sale in their area. Bridge the divide between digital and in-store experiencesWe’ve all been spoiled rotten by digital platforms. Thanks to the ubiquity of the internet and connected devices, consumers expect to have an enormous amount of information about any given product at their fingertips at any time. In this environment, comparing product labels in a brick-and-mortar store seems pretty quaint. Companies like watch retailer Jura have developed AR applications that allow shoppers to find out more information about products as they walk through store aisles and compare different brands in far more detail. In Jura’s case, customers can virtually try on different watches and see which styles suit them best without getting near the display case. It works the other way too. AR can enhance the digital shopping experience by putting products into consumers’ homes before they make a purchase. IKEA, for instance, has experimented with an AR functionality that would allow shoppers to view how, say, a dresser would look in their bedroom. More recently, the company announced a deal with Apple to develop an app for iOS 11. With AR, the line between purely digital and physical shopping experiences starts to blur, creating untold possibilities for customer engagement. “This technology makes it easier to make buying decisions in your own home, get inspired and try many different products, styles and colors in real-life settings with the swipe of your finger,” said Michael Valdsgaard, the leader of digital transformation at Inter IKEA Systems, in a press release. “I think that augmented reality and virtual reality will be a total game changer for retail in the same way as the internet. Only this time, it will be much faster, and accessible to billions of customers.” As companies continue investing in this technology, new marketing applications will arise. Now that tech giants like Apple and Facebook have committed to AR, it’s safe to say this is more than a flash-in-the-pan fad. The future of AR is filled with incredible potential. Be sure you’re ready to take advantage of AR when it truly comes into its own. The post Augmented Reality: Where are we now, and what does it mean for marketers? appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger Augmented Reality: Where are we now, and what does it mean for marketers? I recently came to an astounding observation. There’s this small but profound mindset shift that has turned our industry upside down. Don’t worry — it’s great news. Competition is no longer something that inspires fear. In fact, marketers are now emboldened by their competitors. Having other players in your space validates that there’s a market for what you offer. It means that there are methods out there that work. You can emulate and improve on these strategies to elevate your business. It’s a beautiful thing, and I’m thrilled that we’ve arrived at this stage. I’ve been championing the use of competitor analysis for a long time now. But there is one thing that you need to know. Stalking your competitors isn’t a guaranteed ticket to success. It’s one piece of a complex puzzle. With that said, it can be the single greatest strategy you ever use. So no matter how competitive of a landscape you operate in, do not be discouraged. Spying on your competitors can strengthen your position in the marketplace. But not without having three crucial factors in play:
In this article, I’ll give you the first two elements. If you want a leaner, more efficient, and proven way of doing business, stay with me. As you know, there are several categories of competitor analysis. I’ll focus on the most impactful areas and the best tools for each of these categories. More specifically, we’ll explore how you can get an inside look at your competitors on each of the following fronts:
That’s a comprehensive list. If you were to take all this up on your own, you’d go through hundreds (possibly thousands) of Google searches. They would all give you conflicting advice on what tools you should use. I know because I went through the same process. It gets time-consuming and overwhelming quickly. Well, you don’t have to go through any of that. I’ve already done the legwork for you. Shall we jump right in? Let’s start with keyword research on your competitors. 1. Rank SignalsWe all know how important backlinks are for a solid SEO strategy. Rank Signals is a great tool to determine how your competitors fare in that regard. Best of all, it’s free. If you want a foundation for a link building strategy that gets you ranked, I recommend this tool. Enter your competitor’s URL and click “Explore Links.” You can get an overview of your competitor’s link profile. But what’s really insightful are the detailed data like referring pages, URLs, and anchor text. If you notice above, one of the links has been removed. Why is this significant? You can target these sites to get backlinks to your content. If these sites link to your competitors, chances are good that you’ll have a fair chance of landing yourself some trusted links. 2. MajesticOne tool is never enough to give you a holistic view of your competitor’s SEO landscape. We’re still on backlinks here, and Majestic is an excellent option for taking your analysis a step further. I like to use this tool for analyzing the backlink profile of individual pieces of content. Let’s say that you want to create an ultimate guide on content marketing. The goal is to ensure that your post outranks others like it by getting more quality links to point to that content page. First, conduct a Google search to pick a post that ranks at the top of search engine results pages (SERPs) for your keyword. Incidentally, my guide, “The Advanced Guide to Content Marketing,” is at the top of search results in this instance. Plug the URL of this web page in Majestic’s search bar. It gives a good indication of the number of backlinks that a piece of content has received. This way, you’ll know how competitive it will be to rank for. There’s more data that you will need a paid subscription for, but it’s not necessary. The free option gives you the overview that you need. If you want a more detailed analysis, the next tool on the list is your best bet. 3. AhrefsAhrefs is by far one of the most useful tools for SEO.If you don’t use any other tool, this is the one I recommend. It can be utilized for all aspects of your competitor analysis. If you know anything about SEO, you know it can get complicated quickly. So, if you’re looking for one tool with utility in every aspect of SEO, Ahrefs is the best bet. However, its strength is in analyzing backlinks and selecting link targets. Yes, it’s a premium tool, but you can sign up for a free trial. Here’s the information that you can find on your competitors using Ahrefs:
I like to pay attention to the number of new referring domains and where these links are coming from. Why? It’s important to know how quickly your competitors are gaining new links. If they’re acquiring hundreds of links a day, you may want to set a more achievable goal. If you have the resources to turn your SEO strategy up several notches, go for it. Either way, this is crucial data. 4. SEMrushWant to conquer SEO competitor research? SEMrush is the tool to help you do that. Like Ahrefs, it is extremely versatile and comprehensive. You can use it for tracking multiple aspects of your competitors’ SEO strategies. First, type in a URL of choice. You’ll get a domain overview with some general data. Scroll down through the length of the page and you’ll get data like:
That’s a lot of data! The best part is that it’s all free. There’s a paid option, too, but the free version gives you all this information. 5. SimilarWebTraffic analysis is essential for getting a solid gauge on a competitor’s overall web performance.You can find out their monthly traffic, which channels bring the most visitors, and specifically where these visitors come from. The best tool for this is SimilarWeb. Type in a website of choice. Here’s some of the data you will receive. You’ll get an overview of their traffic. Be sure to check out the traffic sources. It’ll let you know which channel is the most impactful. In the chart below, it’s clearly organic search. You can also get a breakdown of each of these traffic sources. Here’s what referral traffic looks like: You can also compare traffic for several competitors. 6. Google Keyword Planner I know what you may be thinking. This tool is basic, right? Everyone uses it, so what’s new? That’s true to an extent, but Google Keyword Planner is one of the best places to begin keyword research. If you know how to navigate the features, you can get some very insightful data on your competitors. In fact, some other prominent keyword tools pull data from here. A great place to start is to plug your competitor’s URL into the field that says “Your landing page.” Here’s some of the information that you can get:
I recommend that you pay particular attention to “Ad group ideas.” You can find some hidden gems when it comes to long-tail keywords. Click on an individual ad group and you’ll find a plethora of long-tail keywords all based on the URL that you search for. The interesting thing is that your competitors may not be targeting these keywords intentionally. Just because a keyword is featured in a piece of content doesn’t mean that it was specifically targeted. There may be an opportunity for you to compete for these keywords and win. The best (and only) way to find out is to plug your keywords into another tool to determine how they rank. This brings us to Pro Rank Tracker. 7. Pro Rank TrackerHere’s the deal.You can manually check how keywords rank using Google. If you’ve got hundreds of hours to spare, it’s not the worst idea. But what’s point in that? You can take the more efficient route and use Pro Rank Tracker. It’s a tool that allows you to type in your competitor’s URL and a group of keywords to see how they rank. Be mindful that the free version has a limit of 20 terms and two URLs. Create your account, and get started. First, add your competitor’s URL. Decide which search engine you’d like to track these keywords on. Stick with Google since it’s the largest. You can also decide to localize your search if that’s part of your SEO strategy. Add all the keywords that you got earlier from Google’s Keyword Planner. Save this data, and it will be added to your dashboard. You’ll then get some metrics on how your keywords rank. Ideally, you want to target keywords that are already ranking pretty high up but have room for you to take advantage of. If you want to get the utmost out of this tool and advance your search, I recommend going for one of the paid plans. Now let’s look at some tools for keyword monitoring. 8. Social MentionThere’s no better way to go Sherlock on your competitors than listening in on their social media activity. This is where the majority of businesses put their time and resources nowadays. A great place to start your analysis is Social Mention. It simply tracks brand mentions. What’s the implication of that? If you know what’s being said about your competitors and the people who are mentioning them, you can get in on that action. When you conduct your search in Social Mention, you’ll get a sidebar with information about the strength, sentiment, passion, and reach of the domain. You’ll also get to see how often a competitor is being mentioned. Pay attention to this general data first. Then you can check the individual mentions and their sources. What use is any of this? You can target these sources to drive traffic to your website and generate quality backlinks. 9. HootsuiteI’ll go right out and say it. Hootsuite is by far one of the best tools (if not the best) for tracking social media analytics. The tool integrates with more than 35 social media networks. This means that you can set up several social media streams and monitor these from your dashboard. Can you begin to see how this can be used for competitor analysis? Simply note who your competitors are and set up streams in Hootsuite to follow their activity. You can also keep track of specific keywords and hashtags. It’s truly a gem for staying on top of the key players in your niche. 10. Fanpage KarmaWant to know how your competitors’ social media pages fare? Fanpage Karma is one of the best tools to do so. But can’t you just search for your competitors’ pages on the networks themselves? That’s an option. However, you won’t get nearly as detailed of an analysis as you would by using this tool. You can get a KPI overview with information like:
And that’s just the surface. Here are my results when I search for Nike’s Facebook fan page. You can get data like content, posting times and frequency, influencers, ad value, and more. Be mindful that you shouldn’t disregard a business just because it doesn’t fare well on one social media channel. It could just be that this particular channel isn’t a central part of their social media strategy. The easy solution? Check out multiple pages for each competitor. 11. Simply MeasuredThis is a tool that allows you to monitor several channels. It will give you comprehensive insights on your competitor’s social media performance. Here are some of the data you can get:
The catch? It’s not cheap. If you’ve got a sizeable budget, this is a prime option, and it’s all you’ll need. If you don’t, the first three tools in this section are all free options. But what about tools for PPC and ad intelligence? 12. iSpionageThere’s nothing more competitive than paid campaigns. You’re competing on price. You’re competing on the creative elements. It can be tough to make headway. This is where a tool like iSpionage comes into play. You can use it to do two key things.
You can get other data, too, but our focus in on the PPC element. This data is crucial for keeping your conversion rates high and costs low. First, type in your competitor’s URL. You can get an overview of PPC performance as well as some key data points. Pay particular attention to the PPC keyword list and the metrics next to those. You can also check out the ad copy and the keywords that triggered the ads. Keep an eye out for the top-performing ads. Go to the destination URL and analyze the ad creative. Why bother? The creative elements of ads are often formulaic. If it works for your competitors, it will likely work for you too. Of course, you don’t want to swipe someone’s entire ad. What you can do is adopt patterns and formulas to optimize your own paid campaigns. 13. MoatMoat Ad Search is the largest digital-ad search engine. It’s a great tool for analyzing your competitors’ ad creative. Simply type in a brand and review the ads that they’ve used in the past. Here are the results when I search for “Coca-Cola.” Hover over an individual ad and you can find out the dimensions as well as the dates during which the ad was active. If an ad is currently running, chances are good that it’s performing well. You can also follow your competitors and create alerts every time they create a new ad. 14. SpyfuAs spy tools go, this is the ultimate opportunity. If you’re a beginner with PPC campaigns, this is the simplest and most effective option. Let’s see it in action. Enter your competitor’s website to get started. Review the top paid keywords, the cost per click, and the monthly cost. If you know where your competitors are spending their advertising dollars, you can decide what keywords are worth chasing. It also gives you an indication of what sort of resources you’ll need to compete and win. You should also look at their “Adwords History.” You’ll have to create a profile and log in to view all the data. Watch the video on how to use the ad history feature. This is the most insightful data that you’ll get. Why? With a brand’s ad history you can learn:
Now, let’s dive into the best tools for content analysis. 15. BuzzSumoIf you read this blog, you already know how I feel about BuzzSumo. There’s no better tool to find out what content is working for your competitors. The free option is limited, so I recommend you sign up for a trial. This way, you can spend some time analyzing all your competitor’s content. If you’re just starting out, you can create a solid content strategy using this tool alone. Enter the domain of choice and press “Go.” You’ll get all the top-performing posts for that domain. The goal is to select a few targets that make sense for your business and create something better. You can take it a step further and come up with a promotion strategy for your content. With a free trial, you can view the backlinks to a piece of content as well as the people who shared it. After you’ve created content more valuable than that of your competitors, you can reach out to these people to ask them to feature your post. They’ve got a history of sharing and linking to this type of content. Chances are, if you lead with the right message and value proposition, they’ll have no problem honoring your request. 16. Google search operatorsThere’s nothing better for content analysis than a good old Google search. But there is one problem. Google has way too much information. Even if you type in a relevant keyword, there’s no guarantee that what you get will match your search intent. Think for a second about how you search for information. You typically have to type in several keyword variations to get what you’re looking for, right? That’s where Google search operators provide a unique opportunity. It’s a means of creating more sophisticated and targeted Google searches. By using certain modifiers, known as search operators, you can get more relevant and precise search results. Here are the some of the key search operators for finding your competitor’s content. 1. “Search term” e.g. “Neil Patel” Use this operator to search for an exact phrase. It has to be within quotation marks. Otherwise, you’ll get every web page with one or all of your keywords. 2. Site:[site URL] [keyword] e.g. Site:backlinko.com link building This will give you results for a specific keyword within a given domain. 3. Link:[domain] e.g. Link:quicksprout.com Use this to get all the sites that link to a domain or specific webpage. 4. Info:[site URL] e.g. Info:copyblogger.com Use this operator for all the information about a particular domain. 5. Site:[website URL] filetype:pdf e.g. Site:problogger.net filetype:pdf You can use this to find PDF files that your competitors have hosted on their site. It’s great for finding content that isn’t available on a site’s navigation. You can vary the file type to find other content formats. 17. MozbarThis tool is a web browser extension that allows you to get on-page metrics for individual web pages. Head on over to Moz. The tool is free, so you can download it with no hassle. Install the Mozbar and ensure that it’s activated. You can then conduct your Google searches as normal. The tool will give you key SEO metrics within the search engine results page. Like this: When you search for competitors’ content, you’ll have all this information at hand. It will help you decide how difficult it would be to rank for a particular keyword. Now we have a bonus tool. BuiltWithYou know what? Sometimes your competitors get ahead because they use better tools. It sounds basic, but it’s true. Better tools translate to better automation and more robust systems. The result is a leaner and more efficient business. If you’ve ever wondered what technology your competitors use to build and sustain their website, you’ll love this tool. BuiltWith gives you a complete technology profile of a competitor’s website. Here’s what you can learn about your competitors.
There’s a whole lot more, but these are the main ones. Amazing, right? ConclusionThere’s no escaping it. You operate in a competitive landscape. Analyzing your competitors’ strengths and weaknesses aren’t just an option. It should be a necessary part of your growth strategy. The only way to outcompete other players in your space is to get a holistic and thorough view of where they stand. Use the tools in this article and you’ll have a unique edge. But don’t just use one tool. Get multiple sets of data from different sources and connect the dots to view the big picture. It will be the single best thing you do for your business. One last bit of advice? Don’t get fixated on the data. Data are just numbers and letters unless they’re being put to use. Ensure that you have a plan to implement the valuable insights that you gain. It is only then that you’ll find yourself in a position of strength. What tools do you use to spy on your competitors that are not on this list? The post The 17 Best Tools For Spying On Your Competition appeared first on Neil Patel. via Blogger The 17 Best Tools For Spying On Your Competition A few weeks ago, Google revamped the look and feel of the AdWords Sitelinks to make them a carousel tappable format. But with that change, Google has also doubled the number of sitelinks you can show on your AdWords search ads from four to eight. The updated help documentation use to say that on mobile devices it would “show up to 4 links” and now it reads “it can show up to 8 links” on mobile devices. Avner Pinchover sent us screen shots of the before and after in the help documents. Before, it said 4 links: And now it says 8 links:
The post Google AdWords doubles the number of Sitelinks on search ads appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger Google AdWords doubles the number of Sitelinks on search ads In this week’s Search In Pictures, here are the latest images culled from the web, showing what people eat at the search engine companies, how they play, who they meet, where they speak, what toys they have and more. Google Dance Tokyo t-shirts:
The new Android Oreo statue at the Google campus:
Google razor scooters:
Google staircase:
Google indoor putting green:
The post Search in Pics: Android Oreo statue, Google Dance Tokyo & razor scooters appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger Search in Pics: Android Oreo statue, Google Dance Tokyo & razor scooters What do a pair of running shoes, an electric toothbrush, and a gift basket have in common? They’re all products that I needed last week that I ended up searching for on Google. Like most people, my first stop is Google when I need to buy something online. And like most shoppers, I don’t have the time or patience to look past the first one or two pages of the search results. If you aren’t showing up in potential buyers’ search results, they won’t even know that you exist — let alone that they’re visiting your online store. To get in front of more shoppers, you need to optimize your e-commerce website so that it ranks highly in search engine results. This will help you drive more organic traffic to your site. That brings us to SEO — three letters that make many people’s heads spin. The good news is, as search engine algorithms evolve, SEO is moving from a practice that’s dissociated from how people actually interact with content to prioritizing usability, trust, and relevance. Here’s how you can score SEO points and get in front of the right customers through organic search: 1. Keyword optimizationIf you want customers to find your store through organic search, you need to have the right keywords on your pages so you can rank highly in the search engine results pages (SERPs). Conduct keyword research The first step is to identify the keywords you want to rank for on your homepage, product pages, and blog posts. When you select keywords, consider relevancy, search volume, and ranking difficulty. To start, you should have a good understanding of your buyer’s persona to see what their interests or questions are in relation to your products. You can search niche forums to see what your potential buyers are talking about and how they talk about it. In addition, Reddit and Quora are good places to research trending discussions and questions in topics related to your products. The next step is to identify the exact keywords your ideal customers may use in their searches. You should look for a mix of “body” and “long-tail” keywords to rank for: Body keywords are 2- or 3-word phrases that get decent search volume. They are more specific than single-word keywords, which are insanely competitive, too broad, and don’t convert well. Long-tail keywords are long phrases (4+ words) that are usually quite specific. Each of these long-tail keywords doesn’t get a high search volume, but when added together, they make up the majority of online searches. If you enter a body keyword into Google and scroll to the bottom of the search results, you’ll see a list of “related searches” for that keyword. This is a great place to get ideas for long-tail keywords: After you’ve identified an initial set of keywords, you can validate and refine your list using Google Keyword Planner. Google Keyword Planner allows you to see keyword options, get search volume and trends, use multiple keyword lists to generate new keyword ideas, and determine the commercial intent of your keywords. Spy on your competitors If you want to outrank your competitors in search results, you have to know the keywords they are ranking for. You can look up your competitors’ Page Authority (PA) and Domain Authority (DA). If they’re significantly higher than yours, it means competing against them with the same keywords will be tough. In that case, go for an easier win by looking for other keywords you can rank highly for. Determine a keyword for each page After you’ve identified the keywords to rank for, the next step is to assign them to each of your website pages.Most online stores carry a large number of products, so you’re probably dealing with many product pages. It’s important to avoid having multiple pages on your site ranking for the same keywords because they’ll cannibalize each other in the SERPs. To get organized, list all your pages and keywords to make sure they don’t compete with each other. 2. On-page SEOOn-page SEO helps you get targeted and relevant traffic to ensure that visitors who come to your online store through search results are high-quality prospects.Here are some critical components for on-page SEO: Keywords You’ve done your homework and found the keywords you want to rank for, but now what? To improve your site’s SEO, you have to strategically incorporate these keywords in various locations:
Many people overlook page URLs, meta titles, and meta descriptions because they aren’t “visible” on a page. However, search engines refer to them to determine relevancy and ranking. They also show up in the SERPs, and shoppers will use this information to decide if they want to click through to your page: Site architecture A well-designed site architecture helps organize your pages for improved usability, ranking, and conversion. It’ll also help Google understand your site, especially if you have many product pages. In most cases, a “flat architecture” delivers better usability because it takes fewer clicks to go from the homepage to a product page. It maximizes the amount of “authority” that passes from your homepage to your product page via internal links. Remember to submit a sitemap to Google to ensure that all the pages are crawled and indexed. Internal links The right internal linking strategy improves SEO by showing Google the hierarchy and the most important pages on your website. By using a variety of anchor text choices, you can improve ranking for your top keywords: Not only can you create internal links for related items to upsell and cross-sell on product pages, but you can also add them to your blog posts. However, make sure you’re not overstuffing your pages with internal links as it’ll make Google suspicious of your website. Usability and engagement Google uses “dwell time” as a ranking signal because, the longer visitors stay on your site, the more likely that your content is relevant. By improving your website’s usability, your visitors are able to find what they want, and they’ll stay longer on your site to engage with your content. Besides a robust search function and a streamlined checkout, you can improve usability and increase dwell time with several features. Consider incorporating things like live chat or engaging content such as unique and well-written product descriptions, customer reviews, 360-degree product views, or product videos. Social media integration A recent study has found that a strong presence on social networks is correlated with better search engine rankings. A strong social presence will not only build brand awareness, but it will also increase inbound links and attract more repeating visitors who are likely to spend more time on your site. Besides sharing your links on social media, make it easy for your fans and followers to do so by adding social-share buttons to all your product pages, blog posts, and homepage. 3. Mobile optimizationIn 2016, mobile surpassed desktop as the most-used device to access websites: Google’s algorithm now gives higher ranking to mobile-friendly websites. If your online store isn’t optimized for a fast and seamless mobile user experience, not only will you be penalized by Google but you’ll also lose out on other factors that could boost SEO, such as long dwell times or low bounce rates. Optimizing an e-commerce site for mobile is no longer just a matter of squeezing all the content into a smaller screen. Here are a few things you need to know:Page speed Over half of mobile users will leave a website if it takes more than three seconds to load and 74% will leave a site after waiting for 5 seconds. If your pages load slowly, your visitors are less likely to stick around, and that will impact your search engine ranking. To improve page speed, you should minify code, leverage browser caching, optimize images, and reduce redirects. Site design Follow these design best practices to make your mobile site SEO-friendly. Google’s recent algorithm penalizes intrusive interstitials that affect usability on mobile devices. It’s therefore important to understand what kind of popup, overlay, or modal you can safely use on your site: Don’t use Flash, which is not available for mobile devices. Instead, use HTML5 for special effects. Design for large fingers to make it easy for users to click on the right links or fill out forms. 4. Current site improvementsYou don’t have to change everything on your e-commerce website to get better SEO. You can pluck some low-hanging fruit by fixing some current issues on your site: Page Load Speed Both Google and Bing use page-loading speed as one of the criteria for their rankings. In addition, users are more likely to leave your site if they have to wait an extra few seconds for your pages to load. This will reduce dwell time, increase bounce rate, and reduce the number of pages viewed — all of which are factors that will hurt your search engine ranking. You can increase your page load speed by:
Site Errors Broken links not only result in a poor user experience, but they also hurt your ranking because search engines consider them a sign of an old and neglected site. To minimize the chances that your visitors will run into a 404 error and leave your online store, you need to check all your links periodically. Besides 404, there are other site errors that can impact your SEO: 500 internal server error codes and 403 forbidden response codes indicate that search engines can’t crawl that page. If these errors persist, Google is likely to de-index the page entirely. Thankfully, you don’t have to comb through every single page on your site manually to find broken links or error codes. There are many tools and apps, such as Screaming Frog SEO Spider, to help ensure that all your links are current. Layout and formatting Google uses the time visitors spend on your website to gauge the relevance of your content. Proper formatting and user-friendly design make your content easy to digest so visitors will be more likely to stick around. Here are some ways to format your content to improve usability:
Homepage duplication issue You could be running multiple versions of your homepage at the same time without realizing it. Google will consider them duplicate content and your ranking will be impacted. Here’s how to find out if you have this issue: If you type “http://www.yourdomainname.com” and “http://yourdomainname.com” into a browser’s URL bar, but neither one gets “redirected” to a single URL, you essentially have two pages with the same content. You may even have other versions as well, such as “http://yourdomainname.com/index.php” or “http://yourdomainname.com/index.html.” Thankfully, there’s an easy fix for this: Use 301 redirects to point all of the possible variations to a single homepage URL. You can do so with Google Webmaster tool by going to the “preferred domain” section: Local business information If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you need to make sure that your name, address, and phone number (NAP) for all locations are showing on your website. Google blends local and organic search rankings, so by including location-specific information, you’ll have a better chance of ranking highly in searches for local businesses. Use the same NAP formatting across your entire website, include location-based keywords in your content (don’t forget meta descriptions), and submit your information to as many local business directories as possible. 5. Blog contentGoogle likes fresh content because it’s an indicator that your website is active and relevant. Publishing blog posts frequently helps you stay on search engines’ radars. It gives your customers more ways to find you and more reasons to return to your site. When your articles are useful to your visitors, they’ll spend more time on your site. This signals to search engines that your content is relevant. Blogging is also a great strategy for capturing search traffic with long-tail keywords, which account to 70% of all online searches. Long-tail keywords are very specific, and you may not be able to use every single one of them on your product pages. Blog articles allow you to focus on one topic at a time and make the most out of the specificity of long-tail keywords that you can’t address in your other site pages. Essentially, each blog post on your site gives you a search result to rank for. In addition, you can use your blog to share timely and seasonal content, such as a holiday gift guide, to drive more traffic. Not to mention, people are more likely to share blog articles on social media, and you’ll get more SEO juice from these social signals. When you publish blog posts for your online store, you should:
6. Link buildingLink building improves SEO by showing search engines that your content is relevant. You can have other websites link to your pages and link out to other sites. Inbound links When you have external pages linking to a page on your website, you’re building inbound links. Keep in mind that not all inbound links are created equal. The quality of inbound links will affect your SEO ranking. High-quality inbound links come from sites that have high authority, good SEO ranking, optimized pages, and relevant anchor text. Don’t be tempted to take a shortcut by putting a lot of links on low-quality sites. You won’t get the high-quality traffic you want, and you’ll risk getting penalized by Google. Link building does take some elbow grease, but it can be a very effective way to get in front of the right audience and get more SEO juice. Here are some ways to build quality inbound links:
Outbound links Links that go out to external websites have positive effects on SEO by giving Google contextual signals to determine the relevancy of your pages. They make your content more relevant by linking to helpful resources so your readers can get in-depth and useful information. If you link to sites related to the topic of your content and the nature of your products, then these outbound links are helpful for SEO. When you link to authority sites, you can let the site owners know. They’re likely to share your content with their followers and drive more traffic to your site. Not to mention, it will help you cultivate relationships that could lead to opportunities for guest posting or featuring your products or content on these sites. Just keep in mind that more is not necessarily better when it comes to outbound links. Too many can be distracting and increase the chances that readers will “wander” off your site. 7. Google shoppingWhen you type in a product name on Google search, you’ll see a series of images at the top of your search result — above the other paid ads. Listing your product directly with Google Shopping is the fastest way to get in front of potential customers who are already looking for the products that you sell. To list your products on Google Shopping, you need a free merchant account on the Google Merchant Center: From there, you can upload product data and put your website in front of millions of shoppers. In addition, you can take advantage of Google’s location-based technology to drive online shoppers to your brick-and-mortar store with features like “in-stock” availability checking. When you upload your product data, make sure to use high-quality images and follow Google’s image guidelines. You also want to optimize your product data feed by uploading as much information about your products as possible. Make sure the items listed are available for sale on your site when you publish the listing. To automate the process, you can set up a data feed to ensure that your listing is always up-to-date. ConclusionAs search engines evolve, SEO ranking is increasingly based on good usability. To optimize your search ranking and drive organic traffic, design your website and create content for your ideal customers. Optimizing your online store for organic traffic is an ongoing effort. You have to constantly respond to changes in the market landscape and search-engine algorithms. Make it a habit to validate your keywords periodically and keep a close eye on your metrics to fine-tune your SEO strategies. What’s your most effective strategy for attracting organic traffic to your e-commerce website? The post Top 7 Strategies to Optimize Your Online Store for Organic Search appeared first on Neil Patel. via Blogger Top 7 Strategies to Optimize Your Online Store for Organic Search Determining a marketing budget can be frustrating. Are you investing enough? Are your marketing dollars being applied in the most efficient way? How do you know if what you’re doing is working? Lou Covey, principal of Footwasher Media Agency, has decades of experience helping clients hit that marketing budget “sweet spot.” In this Agency Perspective from SharpSpring, he shares two simple equations that can take a lot of the guesswork out of the budgeting process. Get it now to learn:
Visit Digital Marketing Depot to download “The Secret Formula for a Marketing Budget.” The post The secret formula for determining a marketing budget appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger The secret formula for determining a marketing budget So… Snapchat’s been getting a bit of negative press lately. Okay, maybe more than a bit. A quick Google search reveals that faith in Snapchat is dwindling fast. It seems like every couple of days, people are claiming that Snapchat’s dead or dying. Frankly? I’m not buying it. Snapchat might be dealing with a few issues right now, but I’m not ready to give up on it just yet. Why? Because it’s still a powerful marketing tool — if you know what you’re doing. Plus, Snapchat has a history of being underestimated in the social media marketing industry. When Snapchat first launched back in 2011, it was hard for most business owners to see its potential as a marketing tool. And could you blame them? An app that lets you send pictures that disappear afterward? What the heck can you do with that? Six years later, it turns out that you can do quite a lot with Snapchat. In fact, I’d go as far as to say that if you’re a small business or startup that isn’t using Snapchat, you’re doing yourself a huge disservice. And not just because it’s a social media platform that has a massively active user base, according to the official Snapchat website. Ignoring Snapchat means missing a golden opportunity to get in on the future of B2C marketing and branding on social. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Snapchat’s success as a social media platform gives us a unique chance to analyze the way brands and consumers communicate. Which means that before we understand how to maximize Snapchat’s potential as a marketing tool, we need to clarify what it means for businesses to communicate with their customers. Before we get into all that fun stuff, here’s a list of what this article will cover:
The topic of Snapchat marketing is much more complex than a simple tactic or two. The better you understand this platform, the stronger your future marketing campaigns will be. Why Snapchat worksOkay, so first let’s address the elephant in the room. In a world with platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, why on earth am I recommending that startups use Snapchat as a marketing tool? Well, for starters, Snapchat has some pretty promising data that makes incorporating it into your social media marketing efforts an attractive idea. Just take a look at this infographic from Mediakix, where we can see that Snapchat’s user base is clearly built around a particular demographic. But that’s just the appetizer. The main course is that, at its core, Snapchat understands the way that their audience likes to consume and create content. At the center of this is, of course, the camera. While you and I might view Snapchat as a social media platform, Snap Inc. (Snapchat’s parent company) has stated that they are a “camera company”. According to their company profile, the idea here is that Snap Inc. believes that “the camera represents our greatest opportunity to improve the way people live and communicate.” And their data definitely seems to reflect that fact. Why does this matter to you and me? Because it lets us know what to expect. Yes, businesses and brands with a younger audience are typically going to get the most out of their Snapchat marketing. But it’s also important to note that if you want to engage with your target demographic on this platform, you’re going to need more than just a heavy emphasis on visual content. You’re going to have to understand what compelling, engaging content looks like to a younger demographic and how to communicate with your Snapchat community efficiently. Here’s a better look at what Snapchat looks like for brands appealing to that younger demographic, according to Mediakix. First order of business, cameras mean that purely text-based content is out. Are there clever ways to implement text into your visual content? Of course there are. Should you still be cross-promoting to your other social media channels? Absolutely.But if you’re trying to figure out how you can make your text-based content work on Snapchat, you’re asking the wrong questions. The focus on this platform is on visual content like pictures and videos. Any content that doesn’t fit into that category is going to suffer when it comes to engagement. One look at Snapchat’s ads section tells you there’s a clear focus on visual content here. If you’re not making visual content, you’ll just end up competing for second place. Adapt to your environment. Snapchat might be a strange deviation from what you usually expect from a social media platform, but that’s no reason to ignore it. That brings me to my next point. Snapchat isn’t really like other social media platforms. And while that’s part of its appeal, it’s worth understanding a few things before we continue.Right off the bat, I’ll say that if you could pick only one social media platform to connect with users and promote, I’d argue that Snapchat would rarely be the best choice. If you’ve got a powerful brand or such strong name recognition that people are likely to follow you no matter where you are, then sure. But unless your name is DJ Khaled, you’re better off steering people toward your other social media platforms. Why? Because there’s no true, dedicated hub for your content on Snapchat. People can follow you and see your snaps for the day, but they can’t see what you posted yesterday or interact with your other followers. Simply put, Snapchat is a great addition to a social media marketing strategy, but it’s rarely the only tool you’ll need. Heck, even DJ Khaled, despite his strong Snapchat following, has an Instagram account. At this point, some people reading are likely wondering why they should bother using Snapchat at all if it lacks such critical features. But those people are missing the point of this platform. When it comes to social media marketing, Snapchat was never intended to be a replacement to other platforms, but rather an addition to an already robust marketing strategy. Snapchat can add depth to your marketing strategy, but how do you balance the need to add character to your brand with the desire to increase conversions and create a marketing funnel? 1. Building a funnel versus building a brandLet me get this out of the way right now. If you go overboard in either of these categories, you’re going to miss out on some serious marketing potential. Believe it or not, building a marketing funnel on Snapchat isn’t particularly hard. Aside from the incredible value you can get out of Snap Ads (which we’ll be covering in detail below), there’s plenty of cross-promotion that you can do on your own via your content. Take a look at how Gary Vaynerchuk cross-promotes on social. But how do you cross-promote on Snapchat and drive traffic to other platforms? You need to get those interested prospects and give them a call-to-action (CTA) that offers both a clear value proposition and has steps that are easy to follow. There are a few straightforward ways that you can do this.
But right here is where plenty of businesses lose perspective. It’s important to keep in mind that while increasing conversions is incredibly important, it’s not the only reason we’re using Snapchat. Snapchat is, for better or worse, a place where storytelling is king. Here’s Casey Neistat with a snap that’s worth a thousand words. The story you’re telling doesn’t have to be particularly complex or nuanced. It just has to be compelling. Was your story entertaining? Did it make people laugh or brighten their day? Were your snaps educational? Did they teach your audience something or give them insight into your industry? If you want to tell stories on Snapchat, you’re going to want to find ways to offer content via visual media. Here’s BuzzFeed offering their unique spin on visual content: That leaves you with two options.
Each of these has their nuances, but generally speaking, you’re dealing with two styles of production value.
Despite the titles, don’t be fooled. A video with amateur production value can be just as impactful as a video with professional production value. Amateur production value doesn’t mean that the content is lacking in the storytelling department. It just means that you shot it on an iPhone instead of on a professional camera. And honestly? That’s okay here. Here’s a snap from Chance the Rapper that might offer amateur production value, but it loses none of its value to his audience. You get bonus points for creating a video with major production value for Snapchat, but some of the best brands on Snapchat produce most (if not all) of their content on their smartphones. The reasoning here is simple. Snapchat users value authenticity and compelling storytelling. All it takes is a few daily snaps where you give out free advice or share the wacky details of daily life at your business. It’s really that simple to start building your brand on Snapchat. Snapchat can help drive sales, and if you’re using it correctly, it should be increasing conversions. But treating Snapchat like it’s all about hard selling and posting self-promotional content undercuts the value of this app as a branding tool. Your ability to balance the CTAs with the content you’re putting out is going to determine how successful you are on this platform. If you’re looking to get the most out of an app like Snapchat, you’ll need to strengthen your brand by using content that reinforces your marketing funnel with cross-promotion and CTAs. 2. Break barriers with exclusive contentAt this point, we’ve established that building your brand is a crucial component of success on Snapchat. Which is great, except there’s just one problem. How the heck do you actually build that brand? We’ve touched on the importance of offering value before, but we didn’t really discuss what that looks like on Snapchat. Here’s an example of how Tesla tackles content creation on Snapchat: The reason daily posts on things like workplace culture are such powerful tools is that’s what people have come to expect from Snapchat. Above all else, it’s a chance to look behind the curtain and see your favorite brands and businesses in their natural habitat. Imagine for a second that you’re a startup that’s just launched. Like most businesses getting off the ground, daily life is going to be an interesting mix of productivity and chaos, no matter how well you’ve prepared for everything. Instead of letting all of this go unnoticed, produce content that allows you to share your culture and reach people on a human level. Even companies like Google don’t shy away from the less glamorous aspects of being a business. Promoting your products is great, and you should absolutely do that, but building a powerful brand becomes a lot easier when you can connect with your audience. In the words of Gary Vaynerchuk, “document, don’t create.” Doing a major speech in front of a massive audience? Take 10 seconds and show your followers what it’s like behind the scenes of one of those events. Headed to the gym? Take a few moments to share your thoughts of the day with your followers like Dwayne Johnson does. A member of your startup team just did something interesting? Post it. It’s a low-cost way to create engaging content for your audience. It’s much easier to share the inner workings of your company culture and the events of your daily life than it is to come up with several pieces of unique content daily. Aside from being a massive time saver, it helps your audience feel a sense of intimacy with your brand that they likely aren’t getting from your competitors. 3. Tap into the power of ads and influencersArguably two of the most important aspects of success on Snapchat, Snapchat Ads and influencers are easy ways to jumpstart your social media presence. And you’re going to want to use both. Let’s just say that organic growth on Snapchat can feel disappointing, to put it mildly. Snap Ads are full-screen vertical video ads that can run for up to 10 seconds. The versatility of these ads is one of their greatest strengths. They can be used to do everything from installing apps to visiting other websites. These ads will appear between a friend’s stories or Snapchat’s curated content, which helps address the organic growth issue we mentioned earlier. There are other types of ads on Snapchat, like Geofilters and Lenses, but those are a bit more complex to create, and these full-screen vertical ads are much easier to create. Using Snap Ads is a bit of a no-brainer, especially when you consider how powerful they can be. Forget about the sheer size of Snapchat’s active daily user base. Forget about the unique demographics that Snapchat can reach. What really makes Snapchat Ads such an appealing option is the fact that it actually seems to work. More than 60% of Snap Ads are played with the sound on, which is pretty impressive when you consider that most autoplay videos on social media end up being played without sound. Influencers are the second part of this equation, with social media influencers having the ability to massively impact your marketing efforts. How do influencers fit into all this? My favorite aspect of influencers is that they come with their own targeted audience. If you’re looking to reach out to a particular demographic, they can be extremely helpful. Kylie Jenner is a major influencer on Snapchat, where she plugs both her own products and other businesses she partners with. Working with influencers can present its fair share of challenges if you’re not used to it, but the process is actually pretty simple once you get the hang of it.
With the right influencer promoting your brand, and the right Snap Ads running, your marketing campaign on this app can really start to take off. ConclusionListen, I get it. Snapchat looks like a strange creature at first glance. It doesn’t have a central hub for your community to gather around. It’s only built for one type of content. All of your content disappears within 24 hours. But despite all of these oddities, the people have spoken. Snapchat is one of the most dominant social media networks out today, and incorporating it into your social media marketing strategy is an absolute must. Fortunately, once you take a deep dive into this platform, you can see its potential as not just as a general marketing tool, but a powerful vehicle for branding. What kind of success have you had with Snap Ads? The post 3 Ways Snapchat Can Help You Launch Your New Startup appeared first on Neil Patel. via Blogger 3 Ways Snapchat Can Help You Launch Your New Startup Hiring a dedicated pay-per-click marketer is tough. Just about every two- and four-year university in North America offers a bachelor’s degree in marketing, and some even offer the opportunity to minor or specialize in digital marketing. But you can’t get a degree in the disciplines that correspond to an actual job — PPC, AdWords, Facebook Ads, online ad design, interactive ad copywriting and so on. So, when you’re looking for new talent, unless you want to do the training yourself, you need to find candidates with prior experience. A quick scroll through LinkedIn or AngelList shows a common thread of agencies and businesses seeking out a “number-driven, passionate, creative and analytical individual with 3+ years of experience managing accounts.” The problem is that any motivated would-be marketing hire will claim to possess these skills. So what makes a candidate stand out? 5 skills that differentiate you from the everyday PPC marketerTop-notch PPC (pay-per-click) marketers need a diverse set of skills to conquer new opportunities, roles and challenges working in digital. For me, a variety of capabilities and a willingness to learn new skills on the job are some of the most valued features in a potential candidate. I believe that there are five skills seemingly unrelated to PPC that truly make up the Full-Stack PPC Marketer. Note: I do not talk about Excel or Data Science, though these are important. Search Engine Land already has some great content on Excel (sexy charts, combo charts, mini-series for search) and Data Science (similarities between PPC and Data Science, testing ads like a data scientist). Skill 1: DesignWe’ve all grown tired of the overused phrase “visually engaging ads,” but there’s a reason why it’s repeated so often. Our content consumption behavior is becoming more visual than ever, so a deep understanding of design makes your ad creatives stand out above the rest. That said, you shouldn’t expect your Account Managers to come up with brilliant, engaging ads from thin air for each new client, campaign and product. You want someone who understands the guidelines of each platform and is resourceful enough to apply best practices around color, sizing and call-to-action (CTA) buttons. Frequently, a screen shot of a landing page with a CTA button overlay gets the job done, but this may require a deep knowledge base and the ability to work with a design tool. Must-have design knowledge for PPC marketers:
Skill 2: SalesGoogle’s internal sales training was one of the most valuable assets I gained from being a part of the AdWords team. I like to give account manager (AM) candidates an AdWords account and ask them to treat me like the client — explaining performance, immediate opportunities and potential for long-term growth. I expect account managers to be able to do these four things:
Sales must-haves:
Skill 3: HTML & CSSUnderstanding how websites work is a critical skill to becoming a full-stack PPC marketer. For everything from ad design to website troubleshooting to conversion-tracking implementation, a basic understanding of HTML & CSS will go a long way. HTML5 is a versatile markup language that is used to create a wide variety of ad formats. For example, HTML5 display ads are interactive and act as microsites within a page, opening up opportunities for higher conversions and experimental ad tactics. Another great application of HTML5 is in Gmail Ads. Once someone opens your Gmail ad, they get an expanded version where advertisers can follow Google’s kinda tricky guidelines to create some pretty cool experiences. Expanded Gmail ads let you embed forms, videos, images and interactive elements directly in your ad. Must-have web development skills:
Skill 4: JavaScriptThere are two levels of proficiency an AM can have with JavaScript. At the very least, candidates should understand what JavaScript is and apply that understanding to Facebook’s tracking Pixel, Google Tag Manager (GTM), Google Analytics (GA) and AdWords conversion tracking. The next level up is being able to create custom events in GA, GTM or Facebook that track the correct conversion event and ideally capture important metadata around how much the conversion is worth to you. This allows you to not only optimize your ads for conversions; it also allows you to optimize your ads to the most valuable conversions to the account. A bonus attribute would be the ability to apply free public AdWords scripts and even make minor manipulations to the script when it isn’t working properly. After getting comfortable with scripts, one of our employees modified an existing script to send a Slack notification whenever the CTR of an ad falls under a certain rate. Must-have JavaScript skills:
Skill 5: WritingAdWords only gives you 140 characters to catch your audience’s attention, convey value and entice a click. Candidates who can combine Hemingway’s succinct, impactful diction with the enthusiastic value propositions of an As-Seen-on-TV salesperson should be shoo-ins for the PPC job. The mark of a skillful writer is the ability to communicate your unique value proposition, implement advertising best practices (keywords and strong call to action) and add a dash of brand personality to the mix. The best way to sharpen writing skills is by writing more. Look for candidates with content marketing experience or an English or Journalism degree, or consider requiring a writing sample with the job posting. Writing must-haves:
Anything else?What other skills provide above-and-beyond value from your account managers? Share your insights with Search Engine Land on Twitter or Facebook. The post 5 non-traditional skills to look for in a PPC account manager appeared first on Search Engine Land. via Blogger 5 non-traditional skills to look for in a PPC account manager SEO just comes down to links, content, keywords, and a little mobile, right? At any given moment, one of those four things is being touted as the #1 SEO ranking factor. Maybe it’s right. Maybe it’s wrong. I do know that 70-80% of users are ignoring paid ads. So it’s never been more important to double down on your organic results. But the moral is that SEO is complicated. However, there is one underlying principle you should stick to. There is still one golden rule to follow, despite all of the algorithm changes and updates over the past decade. Get it right, and you’ll thrive no matter which tactics pop up or how SEO changes in the future. Get it wrong, and there might not be a way to recover. Google has one goal and one goal only. They want to give people the best results possible. That means these results need to give people exactly what they are looking for when they are looking for it. And today that’s called “Searcher Task Accomplishment.” It’s still the same principle that’s been around since Google popped up. But SEOs lost the way some years ago. We started chasing shortcuts and algorithms instead of sticking to the basic principles. It’s time to get back to the fundamentals. It’s time to return to what made us successful in the first place. Not doorway pages or link farms or keyword stuffing. Instead, figuring out what people want and doing our best to help them get it. I’m going to explain exactly how you can start doing this on your own site to spring ahead of the competition. But first, you need to understand what “Searcher Task Accomplishment” is and how it works.
It all starts with Google’s Knowledge GraphTo properly explain Searcher Task Accomplishment, I have to take you back in time to the year 2012. London was hosting the Olympics. We landed a rover on Mars. And Google released its Knowledge Graph — the largest attempted warehouse of knowledge in human history. When people search for any given question, keyword, or phrase, Google pulls from the Knowledge Graph to respond accordingly. So you typically see the results of that search in a little box on the right-hand side of a SERP.
Google is always improving its algorithm to align searches with the intent of the searcher. Google makes 500-600 minor changes every year to improve the Knowledge Graph and about one major change every year or so. Each major change affects the way that Google indexes your content. For example, the newest Google algorithm update (rumored to be Fred) will put a heavy focus on mobile sites and mobile-friendly content. So if you really wanted to rank, you would make your site mobile friendly. But the ultimate reason you’re doing it — the reason Google is making the updates — is that the user is making changes to how they browse content. People start searching more frequently on mobile devices. Then Google updates the algorithm to favor mobile search. As a result, websites need to start updating to become mobile-friendly. And so on and so forth. If sites want to rank, they simply have to do what the algorithm wants them to do. Using keywords, making a site mobile-friendly, and populating it with content is just the beginning.The problem is quality. Or the lack of it in some cases. How do you know a site that’s ranked #1 is actually giving the best information? Searchers will get relevant content if you’re an SEO pro, sure. But at the end of the day, your content is designed to rank. Only the searcher actually knows if it’s useful or not. Take this quick Google search, for example: At a quick glance, the content is relevant. But who knows if it’s going to help me rank. Google is trying to build the world’s largest and best database, remember? Google doesn’t like SEO for SEO’s sake. And that’s where “Searcher Task Accomplishment” comes into this. How Google uses “Searcher Task Accomplishment” to rank sitesGoogle reads user behavior every time you search. They know how long you’ve stayed on a page, what pages you go to once you leave, what you click, and when you click it. The only thing they don’t really know is why you do any of those things. Why did you click away from a page that was seemingly relevant? That’s what Google is trying to figure out with Searcher Task Accomplishment. They’re trying to uncover the motivations behind why people do what they do. Why did you stay for ten minutes on a single page? Or why did you bounce, hitting the back button after only three seconds?Google is going to reward results that help give people exactly what they want. For example, here are three tips on what Google ideally wants to see from your site. Tip #1. Does your site help the searcher accomplish their task? If I searched for “how to change a tire,” I want to literally see exactly how I can change a tire. I don’t want an infographic, no matter how beautiful. It’s of no use to me when I’m stranded on the side of the road! (This is also one of the many reasons I don’t drive.) Google wants quick results, so they’re going to list the most relevant information first. Here’s a perfect example: But Google’s also going to favor content that addresses my needs. In this hypothetical scenario, I want step-by-step instructions. I want to know exactly what to do first, second, and third. I want to get back on the road ASAP. Tip #2. Does your site discover additional needs and fix them? Google prefers results that go above and beyond addressing the initial task. If I scroll down a bit from my initial “how to change a tire” search, I get related results: I start to see things like “how to change a flat tire.” Eventually, I see things like tire repair companies, too: Then, there are suggestions for figuring out whether my tire is actually flat or not: All of these results are giving me more information than I asked for originally. Google is thinking ahead for me. They’re determining all of the angles and pulling in related information to help solve my problem. They then reward results that replicate this experience for users.Tip #3. Does your site lead to more actions and engagement? Google will see which links I click onto pick up clues. For example, if I already know my tire is flat and avoid clicking on those results, Google will then know my tire is flat as well. They will evaluate my search habits from that point. And they will keep suggesting new content until the task is accomplished. How the Searcher Task Accomplishment path worksIn a video and accompanying article, Moz explains the Searcher Task Accomplishment path looks something like this:
So if you want to make sure that your content appears in the SERPs for searchers to consider, you can’t just perform all the basic SEO functions. You also have to make sure that your content solves the searcher’s need. Your content has to help people answer their questions. Let’s go back to my earlier example to show you how this works. I’m looking to change a tire. I might click on something like this video below: So far so good, right? It looks exactly like the kind of thing that can help me right now. Here’s what the video looks like after clicking: Perfect! A how-to video that shows me how to change a tire with simple steps. You can see that the production values aren’t necessarily amazing or fancy. This result is also from way back in 2007. However, it solves my problem the best. It gives me exactly what I need when stranded on the side of the road. So now I can fix that problem ASAP. How to create content to satisfy Google’s Searcher Task Accomplishment pathChances are, you’re already on the right path. You’re already creating amazing content. You just need to tweak it a little bit based on what’s happening here. You need to be aware of the greater context around a search so you can update your content to better reflect this new reality. Here are a few steps you can use to take advantage of the Searcher Task Accomplishment path: Step #1. Create long-form content with embedded YouTube videos. If your content solves a “how-to” question, you’re in luck. Google reports that YouTube’s “how-to” searches increase by 70% year over year. Traditional search results for “how-to” content are on the rise as well. YouTube is the second largest search engine next to Google for a reason. It’s often better to visually show someone how to do something. Think back to our tire-changing example. Text-only content isn’t ideal. A video that can show someone how to do it is infinitely more helpful. That’s why visually-stunning content is always the best addition. Your post should have all of the regular SEO stuff, of course:
But inserting videos can help answer someone’s question better. And keep them on the site longer, too. Step #2. Create a series of related posts. Google is always looking for content that will be more relevant to a search query. That’s especially true if a user doesn’t find what they’re looking for the first time. So if you’re going to create a post on one topic, be sure to plan out several follow-ups. These are often all long-tail keywords that are closely related to the first subject. For example, take a look at how closely related all of these topics are:
Each post targets different points of the same process. If someone’s looking for information on “how to create a blog,” they’re going to need follow-up posts that cover each additional step. Then you can easily use internal links to tie all of this content together. Internal links create a “web” of content around similar subjects on your site. But they also help give readers the additional relevant content when they need it. Step #3. Now start adding value for the searcher. Our goal isn’t to just get content to “rank well.” It’s not about keyword stuffing or running through your basic SEO checklist before hitting “Publish.” That’s the opposite of what this post is about. In the final step, you want to use SEO tools that deliver on the ultimate goal: answering a query. Let’s take the most basic query there is, “how to tie a shoe.” On the first SERP page, you have almost everything you need. There’s a Knowledge Graph display with a link to an illustrated article. There’s a link to a wikiHow page that explains the process step by step. There’s a link to a video that shows you how to do it. You have absolutely everything you need here. So here’s where the trick comes into play. Your content should try to loop all of this information in as well! You want to cover topics thoroughly, from different angles, to provide the best answer out of anyone else. Now let’s look at a less obvious query, “how to improve your credit score.”
I get similar results as far as appearance, but how relevant are they? The first link (Bankrate) leads me here: It’s a long-form article with sections relating to the Knowledge Graph display from the SERPs. But is it helpful? I don’t know. I have to read for a bit. I might click on a few other links on the site, like the one that leads to a rate calculator. The more I click around, the more relevant the content becomes. And the more Google sees that it’s meeting my needs. Sticking around on the page is a good sign. The more relevant links are in the content itself. The more value the content provides, the quicker my search query is resolved. The quicker it’s resolved, the more links clicked, the better the page ranks. It’s a mutually beneficial relationship. Here’s one last example to show you how this works. I just Googled “best project management software.” The result on top is an ad. The one on the bottom is the first organic result. Notice the subtle difference: The ad on top is a software company, Dapulse. They’re great! However, in this ad, they’re claiming themselves to be the “best project management software.” Now, compare that to the PCMag result. They’re giving the searcher a comparison, as opposed to any one single tool. Which one do you think does a better job of answering the original search query? If someone’s looking for “best project management software,” they’re looking for an evaluation of different options. That’s why the PCMag example is ranked #1. And that’s why Dapulse has to pay to show up on this page. If you want to rank, your content needs to provide real value, not just clickbait titles or SEO gimmicks. Focus on answering the primary question. Understand the intent behind the words people type. Answer the underlying question, and you have a much better shot at ranking near the top. ConclusionGoogle is getting a lot smarter when it comes to processing search results. This means you have to get smarter with your SEO strategies. That doesn’t mean just stuffing your site full of keywords. And it’s way more than making sure your site is mobile-friendly. Those things are important, to a point. However, they’re not the biggest issue at hand. Instead, think about the human user on the other end of the search bar. What do they want? What are they searching for? What will answer their questions? Then build your content around that. Create posts that anticipate motivations and actually, you know, help people. That’s the real key to ranking higher with Google. No matter how many algorithm updates pop up over the next decade. What techniques do you use to create content that better satisfies a searcher’s request? The post Why “Searcher Task Accomplishment” Is Your Next Best SEO Hack appeared first on Neil Patel. via Blogger Why “Searcher Task Accomplishment” Is Your Next Best SEO Hack |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. Archives
December 2017
Categories |