Archive for the ‘seo news’ Category
Monday, September 9th, 2024
Artificial intelligence (AI) is changing the game in many industries and content marketing is no different.
As we dive deeper into the digital age, AI’s influence on how we create, share and optimize content is only growing.
This article will examine some of the key trends shaping the future of AI in content marketing and expert predictions on how these technologies are set to transform the way brands connect with their audiences.
Marketing AI is already here
The future of content marketing is here, and it’s powered by AI.
Marketing AI is most prominent in a new technology known as content intelligence.
Content intelligence platforms use machine learning algorithms to:
- Analyze massive datasets of content.
- Provide insights that can be used to improve all aspects of content marketing.
This data-driven approach to content marketing helps businesses create more effective campaigns.
Here are some more ways that AI is now used in content marketing:
Generative AI for content marketing
Creating engaging and informative content is essential for any successful marketing strategy.
However, producing high-quality content consistently can be time-consuming and resource-intensive.
This is where generative AI tools like ChatGPT are revolutionizing the content creation process.
Marketers can use AI to generate:
- Blog posts.
- Social media updates.
- Website copy.
- Email marketing campaigns.
This allows marketing teams to scale their content production efforts and free up time to focus on more strategic initiatives.
Hyper-personalized marketing
Consumers today expect personalized experiences. They are more likely to engage with brands that offer content and offers relevant to their interests and needs.
AI can analyze vast amounts of customer data to identify patterns and preferences. This data can then be used to create highly personalized marketing campaigns that deliver the right message to the right person at the right time.
Amazon is a leading example of effective hyper-personalization. If you search for cat litter and click on a product, Amazon will automatically show a “Frequently Bought Together” section related to that search.
Predictive analytics for data-driven decisions
AI-driven predictive analytics lets you move beyond past data (e.g., website activity, purchase history and engagement) to predict outcomes, which is valuable for making informed decisions on inventory, marketing budgets and product development.
Again, Amazon is the perfect example of leveraging predictive analytics to help customers easily find what they’re looking for.
Enhanced customer experience
AI is allowing customers to experience brands in some cool ways.
Take AI-powered chatbots, for example. These smart assistants offer personalized and efficient customer support 24/7.
Whether you have a question at midnight or need help early in the morning, chatbots provide real-time answers tailored just for you.
Here’s how Dollar Shave Club uses AI to handle customer queries:
But it doesn’t stop there. AI is also shaking things up with interactive content. Imagine getting content that feels like it was made just for you – because it was!
AI can create dynamic, personalized experiences that keep you engaged and connected with the brand.
Plus, AI is super helpful in gathering feedback and insights. It can spot trends and determine what people want by analyzing customer interactions.
This means companies can keep improving their products and services, making sure they’re always meeting your needs.
In short, AI is making customer experiences more personal, efficient and engaging, helping brands build stronger relationships with their audiences.
Voice search optimization
With the rise of virtual assistants like Siri, Alexa and Google Assistant, more and more people are using their voices to search for information.
One of the main ways AI is helping is by analyzing voice search patterns. Unlike traditional text searches, voice searches are usually more conversational and natural-sounding.
AI tools analyze these patterns to show what questions people ask and the language they use. This lets you adjust your content to fit natural speech, improving your chances of appearing in voice search results.
AI is also great at helping with SEO for voice search. It can suggest long-tail keywords and phrases commonly used in voice queries and even help optimize website structure and metadata to be more voice-search friendly.
By using AI to fine-tune your content and SEO strategies, you can ensure content is easily discoverable by voice search users.
Augmented reality
With augmented reality (AR), we can deliver immersive experiences.
For example, customers can see how furniture looks in their homes or try on clothes virtually, helping them make confident decisions and boosting sales and satisfaction.
For example, the “#TakeATaste Now” campaign allowed consumers to grab a bottle of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar straight from digital screens via AR and claim the real soda at a nearby Tesco store.
Another great thing about AR is how it enhances storytelling and brand engagement. You can use AR to bring your brands to life in unique and memorable ways.
For instance:
- A cosmetics company might use AR to let customers try on different makeup looks virtually.
- Or a travel company might create an AR app that lets users explore destinations from their living rooms.
These interactive experiences capture attention and create a deeper connection between the brand and its audience.
7 expert predictions in marketing AI
What’s in store for the future of content marketing? Let me share with you seven predictions from the experts.
1. Media democratization
The barriers to entry for content creation have been steadily eroding for years.
Blogs challenged traditional media, self-publishing platforms disrupted the book industry, podcasts offered an alternative to radio and YouTube gave everyone a shot at video stardom.
This democratization of media empowers individuals and smaller organizations to compete with established players in the content marketing landscape.
This shift is driven by several factors, including:
- Lower production costs: Powerful yet affordable software and equipment have made high-quality content creation accessible to almost anyone.
- Direct audience access: Social media and other online platforms allow creators to reach their target audiences directly, bypassing traditional gatekeepers.
- Increased demand for niche content: As consumers grow tired of generic, mass-produced content, there’s a growing appetite for specialized and authentic voices.
This means embracing the power of user-generated content and influencer marketing and creating a strong brand voice across various platforms.
It’s about building communities and fostering engagement rather than simply broadcasting messages.
2. Raising the bar in content generation
The rapid evolution of generative AI tools has injected the content marketing world with a potent mix of excitement and anxiety.
While many marketers are understandably wary of AI’s disruptive potential, its transformative impact on content creation is undeniable.
As AI-powered content generators become increasingly sophisticated, they are poised to establish a new benchmark for quality.
This means content marketers will need to adapt their strategies to stand out in a landscape saturated with AI-generated content.
Simply churning out “good enough” content will no longer suffice. Instead, marketers must strive for excellence in every piece of content they produce.
Here’s how AI-generated content is raising the bar:
- Increased content volume: AI can generate vast amounts of content quickly and efficiently, flooding the digital landscape. This means marketers must produce exceptional content to capture their audience’s attention.
- Improved content quality: AI content generators constantly learn and improve, producing increasingly high-quality content often indistinguishable from human-written content. To compete, marketers need to create original, insightful and engaging content that provides real value to their target audience.
- More personalized content: AI-driven hyper-personalization will continue to become a game-changer, moving far beyond the generic “recommended for you” suggestions. Imagine receiving emails that address you by name, recommend products based on your past purchases, and even offer exclusive discounts tailored to your shopping habits. This level of personalization fosters a stronger emotional connection with customers, leading to increased engagement, brand loyalty and higher conversion rates.
3. Generative AI will take over some SEO traffic
One of the biggest impacts of generative AI on content marketing is its potential to reshape how people search for information online.
Instead of turning to a traditional search engine like Google and clicking through the SERP listing, users can get answers directly from AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini.
This shift in user behavior could lead to a decline in organic search traffic, impacting the effectiveness of traditional SEO strategies.
This change necessitates adapting content strategies for brands that rely heavily on organic search to drive traffic and leads.
Creating high-quality content optimized for specific keywords will have less impact if users don’t click through from search engine results pages.
However, this doesn’t mean that SEO is dead. Instead, it highlights the importance of a multi-faceted content marketing strategy that goes beyond simply targeting keywords.
Dig deeper: How AI will affect the future of search
4. AR/VR support in marketing
Tech-savvy millennials are driving the adoption of augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) technologies, revolutionizing customer experiences with immersive engagement that captivates.
- AR enhances the real world by layering digital elements onto it, often through smartphone cameras.
- In contrast, VR creates fully immersive, interactive digital environments accessed through headsets, blocking out the physical world.
This technology offers unprecedented opportunities for marketers to connect with their audience in new and exciting ways.
5. The rise of chatbots and social bots
AI-powered chatbots and social bots are transforming how brands connect with their audiences.
Automating and enhancing customer interactions boost engagement and streamline marketing efforts.
Chatbots provide 24/7 customer service, handling high volumes of queries with instant responses, issue resolution and personalized recommendations.
In social media marketing, social bots automate tasks like responding to comments, tracking brand mentions, and monitoring conversations.
This allows marketing teams to focus on strategy and creative content. These AI tools are essential for managing brand presence and improving customer interactions in the digital age.
6. Mobile content is king
As AI evolves, its ability to analyze user behavior on mobile devices will become even more sophisticated, allowing you to deliver hyper-personalized experiences in real time.
Imagine a world where a customer walking by a coffee shop receives a push notification for a discount on their favorite latte – all powered by AI analyzing their location data and past purchase behavior.
The future of marketing is mobile and AI is the key to unlocking its full potential.
7. Changing job roles in marketing
AI is going to shake up marketing jobs in some pretty interesting ways.
As AI takes over routine tasks like crunching data, generating basic content and sorting customer segments, marketers will have more time to focus on the fun stuff – strategy, creativity and building relationships.
Marketers will work with AI, using its data-driven insights to brainstorm ideas, fine-tune campaigns and personalize customer experiences. This partnership between AI and human creativity is set to make our marketing efforts more innovative and effective.
While AI will do much of the heavy lifting, it will also open up new opportunities for us to think strategically, get creative and lead with ethics in the marketing world.
Dig deeper: Why AI can’t replace authentic client relationships
Embracing the future of marketing With AI
An O’Reilly survey revealed that 67% of marketing teams actively use AI, and 26% plan to incorporate it soon. This signifies a major shift in the marketing landscape, with AI tools poised to reshape job roles across the industry.
While some marketers fear AI might replace them, the reality is far more nuanced.
AI is not here to eliminate jobs but to augment them, freeing marketers from repetitive tasks and empowering them to focus on strategic initiatives.
This evolution will require marketers to adapt and acquire new skills to thrive in an AI-driven environment.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Monday, September 9th, 2024
Brands today live in a multi-platform world.
In this article, you will learn:
- Why brands need to get ready for a multi-platform environment.
- How YouTube plays into this.
- How YouTube descriptions can be used to carry meaning and relevance.
- How to use the DESCRIBE framework to improve your description generation.
Welcome to a multi-platform environment
When Facebook launched, many expected the social media platform would compete with Google in search.
Since then, many other social media platforms and discussion boards have emerged – from Instagram to TikTok, from YouTube to Reddit, from Medium to Soundcloud or Pinterest.
All of them have a search box.
All of them might be platforms users use to search for information, people, brands and products.
Generative AI has been changing the landscape even more lately, introducing powerful generative AI into existing platforms and new tools: ChatGPT, Perplexity, Claude, Gemini, Copilot and Grok, to name a few.
Typical social media sites have their own data sets largely based on users’ content.
Generative AI models, however, leverage large language models (LLMs) that are trained using content from all over the web.
This is why it is critical for your marketing to stay on top of your brand’s presence across your audience’s major platforms.
Let me re-introduce you to YouTube
While everybody knows YouTube, many forget that it is one of the largest search engines and also among the top social media platforms worldwide.
If you think about how often you go directly to the video streaming platform to search for something in particular, you will undoubtedly understand its relevance as a tool for information retrieval.
And YouTube keeps growing:
Audience-platform research across different industries suggests YouTube is one of the most important platforms people use.
As a result, a brand’s reputation heavily depends on the content hosted on the platform:
- A bad product review video might show up when somebody searches for your product
- A video comparison between your course and a competitor’s program could drive people to alternative products.
- A poorly performing video on your own channel might get your prospects to reconsider whether they want to do business with you.
But before you now think of recording more and better videos, let’s discuss a very often component of YouTube that’s often overlooked:
The descriptions.
YouTube descriptions: Those little texts that nobody reads?
Countless times, you can come across YouTube channels with tens of thousands, sometimes even millions of subscribers.
Many of them have one thing in common…
They pay little or no attention to their video descriptions.
While affiliates are used to populate their descriptions with affiliate links of their equipment, tools or suppliers, many businesses just fill the description box with a one-line summary or a link to their website.
But how could your YouTube descriptions support your brand in a generative AI world?
The value of YouTube descriptions to help train LLMs, at least at first glance, might be questionable, given the fact that it is clearly against YouTube’s Terms of Service to scrape content from the platform, making it impossible for third-party platforms to train their models on YouTube’s data:
However, we know that OpenAI is often reported to have most likely been scraping YouTube to train its model, “Sora.”
If the Google leak has taught us one thing, it is that big tech giants might ignore the rules and use all the data they can (hello, Chrome clickstream data).
YouTube descriptions might also be valuable for AI training, and at least help Google produce better AI Overviews about your brand.
In addition, optimizing video descriptions on the streaming platform will help your videos to get more views.
But how do you write descriptions that set your videos and brand up for success?
The DESCRIBE framework for better descriptions
I’m a big fan of frameworks to structure repeatable processes.
For YouTube, we have developed the DESCRIBE framework, which can help you create YouTube descriptions that will set your videos up for success and support your brand’s online reputation.
Here is an actionable list of elements regarding each part of DESCRIBE:
- Detailed content summary.
- Engage with calls to action.
- Search engine optimization.
- Consistent branding.
- Relevant links.
- Interactive elements.
- Build trust with transparency.
- Evaluate and adapt.
Detailed content summary
- Provide a clear, concise and context-rich summary of the video content. ChatGPT or Claude might help you achieve this by removing the fluff of a video transcription and shorten it to the minimum.
- Consider listing key takeaways.
Engage with calls to action
- Include questions or prompts to foster interaction.
- Direct viewers to additional resources or related content.
- Encourage viewers to like, share, comment and subscribe.
Search engine optimization
- Use relevant keywords naturally throughout the description.
- Confirm your title also contains at least 1-2 context-relevant keywords.
- Incorporate hashtags to increase discoverability and connect your video with broader topics.
Consistent branding
- Maintain a consistent brand voice and messaging.
- Include branded elements like your brand name and a tagline you usually use.
- Ensure descriptions align with the overall brand strategy.
Relevant links
- Add links to related videos, your website and social media profiles.
- Add a link to the personal brand website of your speaker(s).
- Link to playlists to keep viewers engaged on your channel.
Interactive elements
- Use timestamps to create an interactive viewing experience.
- Encourage viewers to engage with polls or comments.
Build trust with transparency
- Disclose any sponsorships or affiliate links.
- Credit sources and collaborators.
Evaluate and adapt
- Monitor performance using YouTube Analytics.
- Track metrics like click-through rates, watch time and viewer retention.
- Regularly update descriptions based on performance data and audience feedback.
A handy template
To make this more actionable, here is a template that you or your team can copy and paste:
Video Summary
[Video Title]
[Provide a clear, concise summary of the video content in 2-3 sentences]
00:00 – Introduction [List key sections with timestamps]
Timestamps
XX:XX – Conclusion
Key Takeaways
- [Bullet point 1]
- [Bullet point 2]
- [Bullet point 3]
Relevant Links
- Related video: [Link]
- Our website: [Link]
- Speaker’s website: [Link]
- [Your Brand Name] playlist: [Link]
Join the Conversation
What did you think about [specific topic from the video]? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
Stay Connected
Don’t forget to like, share and subscribe to stay updated on our latest content!
Follow us on social media:
- Instagram: [@YourHandle]
- Twitter: [@YourHandle]
- Facebook: [Your Page]
[Optional] Poll
[Include an engaging poll question related to the video content]
Transparency
[If applicable] This video contains sponsored content. [Specific disclosure]
Sources and collaborators:
- [List any sources or collaborators]
#[Hashtag1] #[Hashtag2] #[Hashtag3]
[Your Brand Name] | [Your Tagline]
Applying the DESCRIBE framework
In a multiplatform environment, as a brand, you need to optimize each platform your audience might be using to discover your products.
YouTube has been growing as a social network and search engine for years.
By applying the suggested DESCRIBE framework, your videos will be found more often, and both engines and users will find helpful data points around your brand.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Monday, September 9th, 2024
Too many brands and content creators focus on driving audience growth and lose sight of maintaining engagement.
Capturing attention is one thing, but retaining attention and building engagement are greater challenges. Ultimately, it costs more to acquire a customer than to keep one.
Let’s examine proven strategies and techniques for boosting audience engagement and exploring methods for building a community around your brand.
Ensure a quality customer experience
First and foremost, we must ensure that customers have a quality experience from the start.
This is founded on building trust early, then reinforced through exceptional customer service and a seamless onboarding process.
Next, ensure you are checking in on customers outside of billing cycles. Gather feedback and resolve issues quickly.
This commitment to a seamless and superior customer experience is the foundation of boosting engagement and retaining customers.
Personalized approach to rewarding customers
Once a customer is acquired, it’s essential to understand and quantify that customer’s lifetime value. This can then be used to reward customers and build relationships based on segmentation.
Dividing an audience into distinct groups allows a business to tailor content, incentives and products and services that best suit their needs, interests and behaviors.
Implementing reward systems
We all love to earn badges and get that gold star.
Gamification is a powerful tool to boost audience engagement to increase your audience’s time and effort investment.
Playing on our need for achievement, earning badges, points, stickers or even monetary bonuses can drive engagement.
- Earn badges: The navigation app Waze creates a hierarchy of users based on points.
- Earn points for purchases: Starbucks’ app rewards customers with points for purchases, which can later be redeemed for products.
- Advocacy and referral bonuses: Create compelling referral bonuses for customers to.
- Access exclusive content: Access exclusive content, giveaways, discounts or coupons.
Creating challenges and competitions
Challenges and competitions add an element of excitement and friendly rivalry to user experiences.
Think Peloton’s leaderboard or even Duolingo’s language learning challenges. These challenges and competitions create a sense of competition and community.
Using progress tracking
Use progress bars to motivate your audience to stay engaged.
An example is LinkedIn’s profile strength indicator or their new weekly sharing tracker. The weekly sharing tracker motivates users to post, comment and contribute to articles.
These gamification techniques can improve audience engagement and foster loyalty. Also, just because you don’t have an app doesn’t mean you can’t implement a gamification element.
These could be earning badges as users in an online community, a loyalty program where you earn points or discounts or earn rewards based on desired behaviors, such as the All-State Safe Driver Discount.
Interactive content strategies
Live polls and surveys
These are powerful tools to boost audience engagement. They appeal to the innate human desire to communicate and connect, turning passive viewers into active participants.
Live polls can drive immediate interaction and have been shown to increase engagements by up to 40% compared to traditional surveys.
Polls are also great resources for engaging content.
- Create an editorial calendar of polls to engage your audience.
- Use interactive elements in video conferencing or virtual event platforms.
- Keep polls clear, concise and relevant to the audience’s interests.
Quizzes and contests
Quizzes and contests are excellent tools to captivate audiences and reinforce learning.
They serve as powerful lead magnets but also to increase engagement and opportunities for existing customers.
Up to 91% of posts received more than 1,000 comments were Instagram contests, per a Tailwind study. Additionally, contests held with partners generated 79% more engagement than solo contests.
Contests can also be a good opportunity to increase user-generated content (UGC) and help boost SEO.
Dig deeper: 5 behavioral strategies to make your content more engaging
Building a community around your brand
Building a brand community is a powerful strategy for fostering loyalty, reducing marketing costs and generating innovative ideas directly from customers.
A brand community goes beyond customers who simply purchase its products to communities of fans who interact and share experiences that increase their affinity for the brand.
Creating online communities
Online forums provide an excellent platform for larger communities to discuss shared interests related to the brand.
For instance, Spotify’s community forum allows users to talk about music they love, share new artists and discuss playlists centered around their music streaming platform.
Communities and forums can also improve your search engine results, as users often seek content from these discussion boards.
Dig deeper: SEO for user activation, retention and community
Hosting virtual events
Virtual events and webinars have become a trusted way for creators and brands to connect with members, share content and build a strong, resilient community.
These events offer several advantages:
- Reduced costs compared to in-person events.
- Greater flexibility for attendees.
- Improved accessibility for all participants.
Popular virtual event formats include webinars, summits, conferences and product launches.
For example, some brands host quarterly social events for entrepreneurs and founders to connect and learn from each other, extending the impact through content capture.
Encouraging user discussions
Brands can encourage user discussions by:
- Responding promptly to questions and creating discussion posts.
- Using social media platforms to interact with the community.
- Creating exclusive groups on platforms like Facebook or LinkedIn.
With these strategies, brands can create vibrant communities that drive loyalty, advocacy and long-term success.
Using video for engagement
Video is an incredibly powerful medium for human connection.
Videos can be used throughout the customer lifecycle, from serving as longtail awareness to tutorials and education to driving loyalty.
To get started, understand your audience and create different variations of your content. Then, measure audience engagement, learn and iterate.
From attention to retention: Proven ways to boost audience engagement
Remember, engagement is an ongoing effort that requires creativity, consistency and a deep understanding of your audience’s needs and behaviors.
When done right, these efforts will lead to sustained growth, stronger customer relationships and long-term success for your brand.
Customer retention and engagement are not one-time events but continuous journeys that require intentional and consistent care and nurturing of your customers.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Saturday, September 7th, 2024
Google Ads will phase out the option to use enhanced cost-per-click (eCPC) for new Search and Display campaigns starting in October.
Key dates:
- October: eCPC option removed for new campaigns.
- March 2025: All remaining eCPC campaigns transitioned to Manual CPC.
Why we care. ECPC is the most light touch of automated bid strategies, so it allowed you to dip your toe into automated bidding without giving Google full control by just working toward a conversion target. Google is taking that away. If you haven’t started testing which fully automated bid strategies work for your campaigns, now is the time. This change will impact how you manage your Search and Display campaigns.
Options. Google introduced enhanced CPC in 2010 as a Smart Bidding strategy to optimize bids based on conversion likelihood. However, newer machine learning options like Maximize conversions (with optional target CPA) and Maximize conversion value (with optional target ROAS) offer more automated tools to improve performance.
First seen. Anthony Higman shared the email he received from Google about this update on X.
Zoom out. The shift to more advanced automated bidding strategies signals Google’s push toward greater reliance on machine learning and possible introduction of more automated bidding strategies.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Saturday, September 7th, 2024
YouTube rolled out a new “website visits” goal in YouTube Studio’s promotions feature. This goal allows creators to drive traffic directly to their websites while growing their channel’s audience and video views.
Why we care. This update makes it easier for you to turn video views into website visits, helping to promote products or services directly from your channel. By targeting specific countries and languages, you can streamline ads for optimal results.
The details:
- Creators can set up video promotions within YouTube Studio by choosing from three goals: audience growth, video views or website visits.
- Ads appear in formats like Shorts, in-feed, and skippable in-stream, labeled as “Sponsored.”
- It’s important to note that any engagement from these ads doesn’t contribute to YouTube Partner Program eligibility.
Bottom line: The new website visits goal gives creators an easy-to-use tool for expanding business footprint beyond YouTube.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Friday, September 6th, 2024
Google Ads will enforce stricter rules starting in November under its Circumventing Systems policy, specifically targeting advertisers in the Gambling and Games sector.
Advertisers with a Gambling and Games certification must undergo recertification if their business has significantly changed since their original certification.
Why we care. This update means that any significant changes to an advertiser’s product offerings, regulatory compliance, or licensing must be reported and could trigger the need for recertification. Failure to do so will be considered a serious violation, leading to immediate suspension of your Google Ads account.
The details. Material changes that require recertification include any alterations to products that don’t align with the original certifications, changes in compliance with regulations, or updates to licensing status.
However, changes to an advertiser’s address or payment methods are not considered material for this purpose.
Bottom line. Google is cracking down on compliance with its Gambling and Games policy. Advertisers in this sector must ensure their certifications are up-to-date to avoid severe penalties, including permanent account suspension.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Friday, September 6th, 2024
Product-focused, keyword-only campaigns are a common type of campaign used in Google Ads.
If you sell vintage T-shirts for women, you might set up standalone keyword campaigns based on the keyword “vintage T-shirts women.”
For many B2C retailers, this approach works well. But for others, product-based, keyword-focused campaigns aren’t necessarily your best strategy.
We inherited the Google Ads account of a new B2B client, for example and all of their campaigns were product-focused, keyword-only campaigns.
But after meeting with the client and analyzing their account, we decided to take a different approach – one that’s outperforming their previous strategy, hands down.
In this article, I’ll explain what we did – and use it to illustrate why you might want to move beyond keyword-only campaigns.
Start with the business goals
We started this client engagement by sitting down with the client to understand their business goals.
It’s an old-school marketing practice that seems basic but is too often overlooked.
When we talked to the client, we discovered a misalignment between their business goals and the structure of their Google Ads account.
The account was set up by region, and each ad group housed thousands of product-focused keywords. Brand and non-brand keywords were intermingled within the same campaigns (another strategy I really dislike).
Organizing the account by region might have made sense at one time. But the company had changed. It had expanded the regions it served to encompass most of the U.S., yet all of its advertising focused on its “old” territory.
Further, the company had expanded its product line beyond farming and agriculture equipment to include construction equipment – and growing its market share in the construction industry was an important business goal for them.
You can see the problem: the Google Ads account structure we inherited made supporting the company’s goals challenging because we couldn’t target and measure campaigns to those goals.
For example, we couldn’t compare important metrics, such as cost per lead, for farming versus construction keywords. We couldn’t even compare how brand versus non-brand keywords were performing for the same campaign easily. Everything was jumbled together.
I’m always a little surprised that more attention isn’t paid to Google Ads account structure in general.
Google Ads Help, for example, discusses the three layers of Google Ads and even provides guidance on how to structure your account to get the most out of AI.
However, the importance of aligning account structure with business goals is missing.
Dig deeper: 5 ways to align PPC campaigns with business objectives
Restructuring the account to support business goals
With these issues and the goals of the client in mind, we proceeded to restructure the account.
Instead of organizing campaigns by region, we organized them by product categories. We also separated brand and non-brand campaigns.
With this reorganization, we could clearly see how campaigns in each sector were performing and created specific strategies for each one.
We also measured and compared important metrics, such as cost per lead in the farming sector versus the construction sector. The cost per lead was higher in the construction sector, and that was OK.
The client understood the importance of launching (or relaunching) a new product category. It required investment and an unwavering focus on long-term goals (versus short-term wins). This wasn’t the time to take our foot off the gas.
Focusing on high-value keywords
In addition to restructuring the account, we also set about reducing the number of keywords in each ad group.
We eliminated thousands of keywords, narrowing them down to a handful of only the most high-value, top-converting ones. In this case, less was more.
With all of these account changes, we built a strong foundation from which we could not only launch and promote this new product category but also scale all product lines into the future.
Shifting to an audience-focused strategy
Our next step was to shift from product-focused, keyword-only campaigns to an audience-focused strategy.
A disclaimer: I don’t mean to imply that focusing on products and targeting them via relevant keywords is wrong. Sometimes, that strategy works just fine. However, in this case, I was confident we could do more for this client by shifting our approach.
Remarketing
How do you implement an audience-focused strategy? We started with remarketing.
The client’s prior agency had some remarketing campaigns in place, but the targeting was narrow. They used product-specific URLs in combination with dynamic remarketing.
As a result, the audiences were small and impressions were too low. It simply didn’t work.
As we started to better understand how buyers interacted with the client during their customer journey, we tested remarketing to people who had visited the website at different times. We tested people who had visited the website within:
- The last seven days.
- The last 14 days.
- The last 90 days.
- The last 365 days.
Note: You need to ensure these periods of time don’t overlap in order to draw comparisons. So, for example, if you want to determine if people who visited the site in the last 14 days converted better than those who visited the site in the last 90 days, you need to exclude the 14-day people from the 90-day group.
Customer lists
In addition to remarketing, we also introduced customer lists. This client had a goldmine of first-party data for all past farming and construction equipment purchases by product category.
This doesn’t happen all (or even most) of the time, so having this level of first-party data was a real bonus.
With this data, we could market to prior and existing customers in a budget-friendly and targeted way, going above and beyond what we could do with a standalone keyword campaign.
Dig deeper: How to combine Google Ads with other channels to retarget, nurture and convert
Obsess over your customers, not your products
By revising the account structure, focusing on remarketing and leveraging customer lists, we improved reach, conversions and revenue while staying within the client’s existing advertising budget.
We’re also helping the client future-proof their business by giving them new insights into performance and buyer behavior and enabling us to push and pull different levers to scale up the business when desired.
All of this is easier said than done. As hinted at above, you may not have enough volume for remarketing or access to first-party data. In that case, you may have no choice but to rely on keyword-only campaigns. There’s no shame in that.
But if you do have the option of shifting from keyword-only campaigns to an audience-focused strategy. It’s something to consider and test.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Friday, September 6th, 2024
Google Ads will automatically opt new accounts out of serving ads on parked domains, starting in October.
A parked domain is basically a placeholder web address. It’s been registered, but typically it has little or no content and sometimes shows ads.
Why we care. This update allows advertisers to avoid wasting budget on low-value ad placements, ensuring ads are shown on websites that better align with their target audience and brand messaging.
Key benefits.
- Save money: Avoid spending on ads that may not reach relevant users.
- Increase relevance: Ensure ads are displayed on sites that reflect your brand.
- More control: Gain flexibility by choosing specific ad placements.
What Google is saying. Google sent out a letter to advertisers yesterday, informing them of this new “Content Suitability” setting. Serge Nguele shared the letter he received on LinkedIn:
How to opt back in. Advertisers who want to serve ads on parked domains can opt in by navigating to Content Suitability settings in Google Ads.
Bottom line. This update gives advertisers more control and helps improve ad efficiency and relevance by managing where ads are placed.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Friday, September 6th, 2024
Read it again: there was no leak. The information was shared with industry veterans.
It certainly is a treasure map for SEOs. Solving this puzzle will require our collective insight, critical thinking and analysis – if that’s even possible.
Why the pessimism?
It’s like when a chef tells you the ingredients to the delicious dish you’ve just consumed. You hurry to note it all down as he turns away.
But when you try recreating the same recipe at home, it’s nowhere near what you experienced at the restaurant.
It’s the same with the Google document “leak.” My perspective is our industry was given the types of ingredients used to determine the top search results, but no one knows how it’s all put together.
Not even the brightest two among us who were given access to the documentation.
If you recall…
In May, thousands of internal documents, which appear to have come from Google’s internal Content API Warehouse, claimed to have been leaked (per publication headlines).
In reality, they were shared with prominent industry SEO veterans, including Rand Fishkin, SparkToro co-founder. Fishkin outright acknowledged in his article that the information was shared with him.
In turn, he shared the documentation with Mike King, owner of iPullRank. Together and separately, they both reviewed the documentation and provided their own respective POVs in their write-ups. Hence, my take on all of this is that it’s strategic information sharing.
That fact alone made me question the purpose of sharing the internal documentation.
It seems the goal was to give it to SEO experts so they could analyze it and help the broader industry understand what Google uses as signals for ranking and assessing content quality.
“You don’t pay a plumber to bang on the pipe, you pay them for knowing where to bang.”
There’s no leak. An anonymous source wanted the information to be more broadly available.
Going back to the restaurant metaphor, we can now see all the ingredients, but we don’t know what to use, how much, when and in what sequence (?!), which leaves us to continue speculating.
The reality is we shouldn’t know.
Google Search is a product that’s part of a business owned by its parent company, Alphabet.
Do you really think they would fully disclose documentation about the inner workings of their proprietary algorithms to the world? That’s business suicide.
This is a taste.
For established SEOs, the shared Google documentation that’s now public sheds light on some of the known ranking factors, which largely haven’t changed:
- Ranking features: 2,596 modules are represented in the API documentation with 14,014 attributes.
- Existence of weighting of the factors.
- Links matter.
- Successful clicks matter.
- Brand matters (build, be known).
- Entities matter.
Here’s where things get interesting because the existence of some aspects means Google can boost or demote search results:
- SiteAuthority – Google uses it but also denied having a website authority score
- King’s article has a section called “What are Twiddlers.” While he goes on to say there’s little information about them, they’re essentially re-ranking functions or calculations.
- King’s article “Google only uses the last 20 changes of a URL when analyzing links.” Again, this sheds some light on the idea that Google keeps all the changes they’ve ever seen for a page.
Both Fishkin and King’s articles are lengthy, as one might expect.
If you’re going to spend time reading through either articles or – tip of the cap to you – the documents themselves, may you be guided by this quote by Bruce Lee that inspired me:
“Absorb what is useful, discard what is not, add what is uniquely your own.”
Which is what I’ve done below.
My advice is to bookmark these articles because you’ll want to keep coming back to read through them.
Rand Fishkin’s insights
I found this part very interesting:
“After walking me through a handful of these API modules, the source explained their motivations (around transparency, holding Google to account, etc.) and their hope: that I would publish an article sharing this leak, revealing some of the many interesting pieces of data it contained and refuting some “lies” Googlers “had been spreading for years.”
The Google API Content Warehouse exists in GitHub as a repository and directory explaining various “API attributes and modules to help familiarize those working on a project with the data elements available.”
It’s a map of what exists, what was once used and is potentially currently being used.
Which ones and when is what remains open to speculation and interpretation.
Smoking gun
We should care about something like this that’s legitimate yet speculative because, as Fishkin puts it, it’s as close to a smoking gun as anything since Google’s execs testified in the DOJ trial last year.
Speaking of that testimony, much of it is corroborated and expanded on in the document leak, as King details in his post. 
But who has time to read through and dissect all that?
Fishkin and King, along with the rest of the SEO industry, will be mining this set of files for years to come. (Including local SEO expert Andrew Shotland.)
To start out, Fishkin focuses on five useful takeaways:
- NavBoost and the use of clicks, CTR, long vs. short clicks and user data.
- Use of Chrome browser clickstreams to power Google Search.
- Whitelists in travel, COVID-19 and politics.
- Employing quality rater feedback.
- Google uses click data to determine how to weight links in rankings.
Here’s what I found most interesting:
NavBoost is one of Google’s strongest ranking signals
Fishkin cites “Click Signals In NavBoost” in his article, which is where sharing proprietary information is helpful, a lot more of us now know we should be doing our homework on the NavBoost system. Thank you, Rand!
In case you weren’t aware, that’s coming from Google engineer Paul Haahr. One time, we were in the same conference room together. I feel like I got a tad smarter listening to him.
QRG feedback may be directly involved in Google’s search system
Seasoned SEOs know the QRG is a great source of tangible information for evaluating one’s own site against what Google is asking paid human beings to evaluate quality web results against. (It’s the OG SEO treasure map.)
What’s important about what we learned from this documentation is that quality raters’ feedback might play a direct role in Google’s search system, not just serve as surface-level training data.
This is another reason to carefully read and understand the documentation.
But seriously, high level it for me, Rand
Now, for the non-technical folks, Fishkin also provides an overview to marketers in a section titled “Big Picture Takeaways for Marketers who Care About Organic Search Traffic.” It’s great. It covers things that resonate, like:
- The importance of “building a notable, popular, well-recognized brand in your space, outside of Google search.”
Large, established and trusted brands are what Google likes to send traffic to, subsequently, in favor of smaller publishers. Who knows, maybe that landscape will shift with the latest August 2024 core update.
- He mentions that E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trust) exists, but there are no direct correlations in the documentation.
I don’t think that makes those aspects any less important because there are a fair bit of actionable steps a marketer can take to better reflect these quality/quantity signals.
Fishkin also points to his research on organic traffic distribution and his hypothesis that for most SMBs and small website publishers, SEO yields poor returns. “SEO is a big brand, popular domain’s game.”
The data doesn’t lie, but the broader context is in line with what former in-house enterprise SEO turned consultant Eli Schwartz says: SEO needs to have a product-market fit because, in my experience, it’s an awareness and acquisition channel, not one for demand creation.
Read Fishkin’s article if you’re a marketer looking to get a basic understanding of the shared documentation. King’s article is a lot lengthier and more nuanced for the more seasoned SEOs.
Mike King’s insights
For starters, I completely agree with King here:
“My advice to future Googlers speaking on these topics: Sometimes it’s better to simply say ‘we can’t talk about that.’ Your credibility matters and when leaks like this and testimony like the DOJ trial come out, it becomes impossible to trust your future statements.”
I realize Googlers don’t want to tip their hand by not saying something, but when leaks strategic sharing of information like this surface, people still draw their own conclusions.
It’s no secret that Google uses multiple ranking factors. This documentation pointed to 14,000 ranking features and more, to be exact. King notes this in his article:
King also cites a shared environment where “all the code is stored in one place, and any machine on the network can be a part of any of Google’s systems.”
Talk Matrix to me, Neo.
Truthfully, though, King’s thorough post is probably one of those forever-open Chrome tabs I’ll always have.
I did appreciate this high-level section titled “Key revelations that may impact how you do SEO.” This is what those of us skim readers came for.
King helps SEOs boil the ocean in this section by giving his main takeaways. My personal top takeaways from this section were this:
“The bottom line here is that you need to drive more successful clicks using a broader set of queries and earn more link diversity if you want to continue to rank. Conceptually, it makes sense because a very strong piece of content will do that. A focus on driving more qualified traffic to a better user experience will send signals to Google that your page deserves to rank.”
Then this:
“Google does explicitly store the author associated with a document as text.”
So, while E-E-A-T may be nebulous aspects of expertise and authority to score, they are still accounted for. That’s enough proof for me to continue advising for it and investing in it.
Lastly, this: (within the Demotions section)
“Anchor Mismatch – When the link does not match the target site it’s linking to, the link is demoted on the calculations. As I’ve said before, Google is looking for relevance on both sides of a link.”
Lightbulb moment. In the back of my head, I know the importance of anchor text. But it was good to be reminded of the specific way in which relevance is communicated.
Internal and external linking can seem like an innocuous technical SEO aspect, but they serve as a reminder of the care required when using links.
See, it is valuable to read other SEO veterans’ evaluations because you just might learn something new.
My top 5 takeaways for SEOs from the sharing of internal Google documents
You’ve heard from the best, now here are my recommendations to websites that want to benefit from sustainable, organic growth and revenue opportunities.
Always remember, online, your two primary “customers” of your website are:
- Search engine bots (i.e., Googlebot).
- Humans searching for solutions to their problems, challenges and needs.
Your website needs to be cognizant of both and focus on maintaining and improving these factors:
1. Discovery
Ensuring your site is crawlable by search engine bots so that it is in the online index.
2. Decipher
Make sure search engines and humans easily understand what each page on your site is about. Use appropriate headings and structure, relevant internal links etc.
Yes, I said each page because people can land on any page of your website from an online search. They don’t automatically start at the homepage.
3. User experience
UX matters, again, for bots and people.
This is a double-edged sword, meaning that the page needs to load quickly (think CWV) to be browsed and the overall user interface is designed to serve the human user’s needs, “What is their intent on that page?”
A good UX for a bot typically means the site is technically sound and receives clear signals.
4. Content
What are you known for? These are your keywords, the information you provide, the videos and the demonstrated experience and expertise (E-E-A-T) in your vertical.
5. Mobile-friendly
Let’s face it, Googlebot looks for the mobile version of your site first to crawl. “Mobilegeddon” has been a thing since 2015.
Why you should always test and learn
For example, the rankings of exact match domains continue to fluctuate constantly.
As someone with a background in local SEO search directories, I continue to evaluate whether exact-match domains improve or lose rankings because Google’s advancements in this area interest me.
“Exact Match Domains Demotion – In late 2012, Matt Cutts announced that exact match domains would not get as much value as they did historically. There is a specific feature for their demotion.”
Personally, in my research and observation working with small businesses for keywords with very, very specific and low (10 or less) search volume, I haven’t found this to be an absolute. I may have found an outlier. Ha, or an actual leak.
Here’s what I mean: every Saturday in May, a lot of people will want to be in Kentucky at Churchill Downs for the fastest two minutes in sports, the Kentucky Derby.
The rental homes and properties SERP is dominated by marketplace sites, from Airbnb to Kayak to VRBO and Realtor.com. But there’s one hanging on in this pack. In opposition 8, it’s an exact match domain.
Source: Ahrefs organic keywords report
Has it been demoted? Maybe.
It’s also, in its own way, an aggregator site, listing a handful of local rental properties.
So while it’s not a name brand aggregator site, it has hyper-local content and, therefore, may continue to weather the storm.
It could also be a core update away from being bounced onto page 2. Nothing to do but ride it until it bucks you.
Heck, the organic listing above it is ranking for the incorrect location “Derby, NY.”
So, is Google search perfectly ranking all query types? Neigh.
NavBoost highlights
For those who haven’t been paying close enough attention. Meet NavBoost.
The documentation mentioned NavBoost is a system that employs click-driven measures to boost, demote, or otherwise reinforce a ranking in Web Search.
Various sources have indicated that NavBoost is “already one of Google’s strongest ranking signals.”
The leaked shared documentation specifies “Navboost” by name 84 times, with five modules featuring Navboost in the title. That’s promising.
There is also evidence that they contemplate its scoring on the subdomain, root domain and URL level, which inherently indicates they treat different levels of a site differently.
It’s worth continuing to research and process Google’s patent and use of NavBoost.
Conclusion
It’s a gift to continue to have great minds in the SEO space like Fishkin and King, who can distill large amounts of documentation into actionable nuggets for us mortals.
None of us know how the data is used or weighted. But we now know a bit more about what’s collected and that it exists as part of the data set used for evaluation.
In my professional opinion, I’ve always taken statements from Google with a grain of salt because, in a way, I’m also intimately familiar with being a brand ambassador for a publicly traded company.
I don’t think any corporate representative is actively trying to be misleading. Sure, their responses can be cryptic at times, but they fundamentally can’t be explicit about any form of internal operating system because it’s core to the business’s success.
One reason why Google’s DOJ testimony is so compelling. But it can be difficult to comprehend. At the very least, Google’s own Search Central documentation is often more succinct.
The shared internal document is the best we’re going in terms of learning what’s actually included in Google’s “secret sauce.”
Because we’ll never fully know, my practical advice to practicing SEOs is to take this additional information we now have and to keep testing and learning from it.
After all, Google and all of its algorithms are, in parallel, doing the same along the path of being better than they were the day before.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
Wednesday, September 4th, 2024
Google will launch a new consolidated resource on Oct. 3, called “Masthead format requirements.” This new page will streamline all requirements for masthead ads across YouTube and Google TV, providing a centralized reference point for advertisers.
Why we care. While the specific requirements for YouTube masthead ads remain unchanged, this move to consolidate guidelines into one location simplifies the process for advertisers. Ensuring compliance with these requirements is crucial, as non-compliant ads will not be eligible to serve as masthead ads.
What’s happening.
- Launch date: The new help center page will go live on Oct. 3.
- Preview available: A preview of the Masthead format requirements is accessible, so you can familiarize yourself with the consolidated guidelines ahead of the official launch.
- Policy enforcement: The English version of this page will serve as the official language for policy enforcement, although translated versions will be available for reference.
Bottom line: You should review the Masthead format requirements to ensure their ads comply and remain eligible to serve on premium surfaces like YouTube and Google TV. With the official launch just weeks away, taking action now can prevent disruptions in campaign performance.
Courtesy of Search Engine Land: News & Info About SEO, PPC, SEM, Search Engines & Search Marketing
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