YouTube warns creators not to delete videos
YouTube advised creators and marketers against deleting videos from the platform. Additionally, the app strongly suggested avoiding making videos private.
The Google-owned site explained that removing content from the app or restricting access could disrupt your channel’s connection to people who have watched that video and negatively impact ranking.
What YouTube is saying. YouTube Product Lead Todd Beaupre said on X:
- “YouTubers: Don’t delete videos unless you have a very, very good reason. When you delete a video, you delete your channel’s connection to the audience that watched that video.”
- “If you want to maximize your growth, keep your videos public or unlist then if you must.”
What this means. In simpler terms, YouTube’s algorithm recommends videos within its search results by connecting the dots between each upload. When you take away one of those dots (aka video on your channel), it is a bit like taking away a jigsaw piece. This means deleting or hiding content could lower your overall channel ranking and limit reach because it disrupts the pattern of your content.
Why we care. It might be tempting to delete or hide content you’re not happy with, however, unless the video is really bad or harmful, it’s best to keep it on your channel. Otherwise, you could end up hurting your channel’s overall ranking.
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Deep dive. Read our guide on how the YouTube algorithm works for more information.
Google expands Product Studio to Australia and Canada
Google Product Studio is now available to merchants based in Australia and Canada.
Previously, the suite of free, AI-powered tools was only accessible in the U.S., however, Google has confirmed it is planning to roll out the feature to more markets throughout the year.
What is Product Studio? Product Studio is a tool you can use to create unique, high-quality product imagery across your marketing channels. Its tools can be used to generate scenes, increase image resolution and edit backgrounds.
Why we care. Creative can be a headache for many SMBs, but Product Studio’s free tools offer a potential solution.They enable quick testing of diverse creative strategies, saving valuable time and resource.
Getting started. You can access Product Studio’s tools in Merchant Center Next or in the Google and Youtube app on Shopify.
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
See terms.
Deep dive. Read Google’s announcement in full for more information.
Source link
How to Measure and Track Success
Backlinks are one of the most important factors search engines use to rank webpages. The more links your site gets from other trustworthy, niche-relevant websites, the more improvements you’re likely to see in your SEO.
The process of acquiring backlinks to your site is called “link building.” Link building metrics help you gauge how successful your backlink acquisition efforts are.
And some metrics will help you analyze the domains you’re selecting for outreach. So you know you’re targeting high-quality, trustworthy sources.
Let’s get started.
Key Link Building Metrics
Link building metrics are used to keep track of your backlink profile health, check the quality of websites you want to earn links from, and assess your outreach campaigns.
Let’s explore four metrics for evaluating your link building efforts.
Number of Referring Domains and Backlinks
The number of referring domains tells you how many unique websites link to yours at least once.
The number of backlinks shows you the number of links that point to your site, including multiple links from referring domains.
See both in the Backlink Analytics report.
Gaining backlinks from authoritative, trusted, and topically relevant websites will have a beneficial effect on the quality of your backlink profile. And your site’s performance.
When your link building efforts are successful, you’ll naturally see growth in both of these numbers.
But, if you focus on just one of them, it’s better to focus on referring domains. Getting one link each from 10 quality domains is more impactful than getting 10 links from a single quality domain.
That’s because Google sees each site that links to yours as a vote of confidence. And if 10 domains link to yours, that’s 10 votes compared to one.
Authority Score
Authority Score (AS) is Semrush’s metric that shows each domain’s or webpage’s quality and SEO performance, expressed on a scale from 0 to 100. When calculating AS, we take into account:
- Link Power: the number of backlinks and their quality
- Spam Factors: the ratio between potentially spammy and natural backlinks
- Organic Traffic: a monthly average organic traffic estimate
There’s no one-size-fits-all number that indicates a good or bad AS.
Using AS will help you check the quality of domains on which you might want to build links.
To see a domain’s AS, use Semrush’s Backlink Analytics tool.
Enter a domain name, and click “Analyze.”
You’ll see a dashboard and the “Authority Score” section.
You’ll see the score (in this case, 86), a note that further explains the authority of this website (e.g., “Industry leader”), and a graph showing the domain’s quality across all three key segments.
By hovering over the green “Industry leader” note, you’ll learn whether a link from this domain would benefit your site.
And by hovering over each segment, you’ll see an explanation of the calculation:
What about a website with a lower AS?
This site has a lower AS (40) than the one in the example above. From the graph, we learn this domain has a good backlink profile and a decent amount of organic traffic.
Hover over the “Good and niche relevant” note, and you’ll learn that a link from this domain could benefit your site. So don’t automatically discount a site because its AS is low.
Semrush also recognizes potentially harmful sites.
Have a look at the note for this website, which has an unnatural backlink profile. Semrush marks it as “Link farm.”
Link farms are groups of websites that link to each other to increase their rankings and visibility in search results. With the potential end goal of selling backlinks to other websites (which is against Google’s spam guidelines).
Hover over the “Link farm” note, and you’ll see a warning.
Obtaining links that violate spam guidelines could result in a penalty from Google. Which in severe cases could cause your website to almost or completely disappear from search results.
Your website can recover from a penalty. But it’s a tedious process. It can take a lot of time to reach the level of success you once had. Some websites never recover.
If you see a note like this one when checking a website’s Authority Score, it’s best to avoid building links on it.
And if your own website has this note, hop over to the “Toxicity Score” section to learn what to do about it.
Number of Links per Campaign or Link Building Tactic
To gain links to your site, you’ll likely be using multiple outreach campaigns and link building strategies.
By tracking the number of links you earn per campaign, you’ll understand what kinds of tactics and content assets earn the most links.
With that information, you can iterate your outreach and link building strategies.
If you want to gain insight into your top-performing content by the number of backlinks, use Backlink Analytics.
Scroll down to the “Top Pages” section. Click “View full report.”
You’ll see a list of pages, sorted by the number of referring domains. Usually, the first few results will be home pages and/or the most popular landing pages.
Explore this list to find a content asset that gets a lot of links. Exclude the home page, product landing pages, as well as navigational ones. Look for blog posts, infographics, industry reports, and similar.
A great example is Semrush’s study about ranking factors.
By looking at which pages get more links, you’ll learn more about what kind of content other publications are usually interested in, and be able to:
- Maximize outreach for that specific page by reaching out to more similar sources
- Brainstorm ideas for similar topics to cover
Toxicity Score
Toxicity Score is Semrush’s metric that shows you which links might be harmful to your site. And how harmful they potentially are. It’s expressed on a scale from 0 to 100.
Links with a toxicity score of 0-44 are considered non-toxic. Potentially toxic links are those with a score of 45-59, while toxic links are marked with a number between 60 and 100.
Toxic backlinks could negatively affect your search engine rankings, so you should investigate backlinks with a high toxicity rating.
As you do that, keep in mind that it’s normal for your website to get spammy backlinks, especially as your website grows. On top of that, search engines like Google have become really good at identifying which backlinks to simply ignore:
“Google works very hard to make sure that actions on third-party sites do not negatively affect a website,” according to Google’s documentation on disavowing links.
Typically, the only toxic backlinks that may require your action are the ones you acquired by violating Google’s guidelines (e.g., link schemes). Or those that have caused you to get a manual penalty from Google.
With that in mind, let’s explore the toxicity scores.
First, find toxic links with Semrush’s Backlink Audit tool.
Click “+ Create project.”
Enter your domain and project name. Click “Create project.”
Select a campaign scope from these options:
- Root domain: Analyze all links coming to your root domain, including subdomains (e.g., shop.yoursite.com), as well as both the www and non-www versions
- www and non-www versions: Analyze all links coming to your website’s www and non-www versions, without analyzing subdomains (e.g., and )
- www version: Analyzes all links coming to your site’s www version, without analyzing subdomains (e.g., )
- non-www version: Analyzes all links coming to your site’s non-www version, without analyzing subdomains (e.g., )
Click “Start Backlink Audit.”
Once the tool checks your site’s links, you’ll get a detailed report.
In the “Overall Toxicity Score” section, you’ll see how many toxic, potentially toxic, and non-toxic links your site has. Along with a toxicity score note (Low, Medium, or High).
Click on the red number (74.3K in this example) to explore links the tool marked toxic.
You’ll see a list of referring domains whose links might be harming your site.
The “TS” column shows the site’s toxicity score. By clicking on the numbers in this column, you’ll find out which toxic markers these domains trigger. And how dangerous they are
For example, this website triggers six markers. One of them listed under “Dangerous” is “Non-indexed domain.” Which could indicate this website was penalized by Google and removed from search results.
How to Manage Toxic Links
First, keep your audit clean by creating a whitelist of domains you know are safe and natural, and domains that have low toxicity scores.
Then, click the “Whitelist button” in the row of the site you think isn’t harmful.
Choose whether you want to mark the entire domain or a single URL as non-toxic.
Click the whitelist button, then click “Move to Whitelist.”
After you create a whitelist, you’ll have a smaller list of domains to take action on.
To manage harmful links, you have two options:
- Remove: Reach out to website owners and ask them to remove the links to your site
- Disavow: Use Google’s Disavow Tool (found in Google Search Console) to let them know not to take into account these links to your site
Google advises disavowing links ONLY in two cases:
- Your website has already received a manual link-related penalty. Read our detailed Google penalty guide to learn how to find out whether you have one and how to fix it.
- Your website has a “considerable” number of potentially harmful links that’s likely to cause a manual penalty
However, keep in mind that even if you do have a “considerable” number of potentially toxic links, it’s better to begin your cleaning process by trying to remove as many links as possible without using the Disavow Tool.
Use Semrush to manage the entire link removal process. Here’s how.
Click on the remove button in the row of the link you want to remove. Click “Move to Remove.”
Go to the “Remove” tab to see a list of links you selected for removal. Then click the “Send” button. When you do that, an email interface within Semrush will open up. To send an email to the owner of a site you want to remove a link from.
You’ll need to connect your mailbox to send out an email. But the tool will do the rest for you by sourcing email addresses you could reach out to. And providing you with a customizable email template.
The template is a starting point you can edit based on the tone you want to use in your email. Use the drag and drop placeholders to create those templates.
For example, <sample backlinks> placeholder will include a list of pages where that website is linking to yours so the person you’re writing to can easily take action from your email.
Once you’re ready to reach out, click “Send and proceed to next.”
By doing this, you may be able to remove some of your links. But keep in mind that not every website owner will be able—or want—to accommodate you.
If you were unable to remove links you deem necessary to remove, the only option you have left is to disavow them.
Further reading: How to Disavow Links
Anchor Text
Anchor text refers to the clickable, visible text of a hyperlink. It is usually a different color and underlined. The text contains information about what kind of content the page you’re linking to has.
Using relevant, descriptive anchor text enhances user experience because readers gain insight into what they may expect to see after they click on a link. And helps search engines understand the relationships between webpages that are linking to each other.
There are several types of anchor text:
- Exact match keywords: Anchor text matches the primary keyword the page you’re linking to is targeting (e.g., explore our keyword research guide)
- Partial match keywords: Anchor text contains a primary keyword variation the page you’re linking to is targeting (e.g., read more about keyword research tips)
- Related keywords: Anchor text doesn’t include the actual primary keyword, but it is similar to the partial match keyword and helps you avoid overusing the term (e.g., explore our guide for identifying the right keywords to target)
- Naked URL: Anchor text is the URL (e.g.,
- Branded: Anchor text is the brand name (e.g., Semrush)
- Compound (Brand + Keyword): Anchor text contains the brand name and the primary keyword (e.g., Semrush’s keyword research guide)
- Empty: There’s no anchor text. The “empty” category also includes images that link out to other pages.
- Generic: Terms that don’t tell the user what the page is about (e.g., like read more, click here, find out more information, etc.)
A healthy backlink profile will usually contain a mix of the majority or all types of anchor text. And Backlink Audit can help you keep track of the anchor text distribution.
Go to the tool.
Scroll down to the “Backlinks by Anchor Type” and “Top 100 Anchors” sections.
In this report, you can review the anchor text distribution.
The “Money” mark refers to links where the anchor text is similar to the keywords the site wants to rank for.
While it’s normal to have backlinks with this type of anchor text, buying “Money” backlinks with overly optimized anchor text from websites that participate in link schemes or are part of a private blog network could get you a penalty from Google.
If you participated in this kind of activity, you may need to evaluate your “Money” backlinks and ask for their removal from the website owners.
What about when you have the power over what kind of anchor text will be pointing to your site?
In the majority of cases, especially as you start getting more organic backlinks, you won’t have power over what kind of anchor text your links have.
Occasionally, when you’re issuing something that may get reposted on other websites (e.g., a press release or a contributing article for another website), you can choose what type of anchor text you want.
In those cases, you can follow these best practices:
- Keep it brief. Five words or shorter is a good general length for anchor text.
- Make it relevant. The anchor text should be relevant to the page you’re linking to.
- Use keywords, but don’t overdo it. Use the primary, secondary, or other keyword variations, but don’t stuff the keywords. Make sure it sounds natural to the reader.
These tips are also relevant when you’re linking from your site to external sources and other pages on your website.
Start Tracking Your Link Building Metrics Today
After investing time into building a healthy backlink profile, tracking your link building results is the next logical step to take to make sure you’re earning quality links.
Ready to start measuring your link building efforts? Jump right in with:
- Backlink Analytics: To see the AS of sites linking to you, and the numbers of backlinks and referring domains
- Backlink Audit: To check for potentially toxic backlinks and remove them
Sign up for a free Semrush trial today and gain access to those and 55+ other tools:
Source link
Google Adds 3D Models Markup To Product Structured Data
Google has added new 3D models markup support to the product structured data documentation so that you can connect, associate or link your products to the appropriate 3D model.
You can see the 3Dmarkup code sample over here, it says, “This example shows how to link a 3D model to a product with the subjectOf property and the 3DModel type.”
Google explained that “sometimes 3D models appear on pages with multiple products and are not clearly connected with any of them. This markup lets site owners link a 3D model to a specific product.”
We covered the 3D models here a lot, but now you can link them to specific products so it is clearer which model Google should show on which products.
Forum discussion at LinkedIn.
Source link
What Does ‘Do What’s Best For Users’ Even Mean?
I don’t see ranking factors anymore. All I see is user satisfaction.
A series of tweets from Danny Sullivan, search liaison at Google, about doing things for Google vs. users set the SEO scene on fire. The main point: Focus on users, not Google.
Every polarizing point has two opposing camps. SEO is no exception.
Camp One believes that Google can measure, understand, and reward user satisfaction. All that matters is helping users to achieve their goals. Google is smart.
Camp Two believes content optimization, tech SEO, and link building are the keys to success in SEO. Machines follow algorithms, and algorithms follow equations. Google is lazy and stupid.
But there is a third camp: Both are true.
Boost your skills with Growth Memo’s weekly expert insights. Subscribe for free!
The most simplistic model of SEO: Technical optimization, content optimization, and backlinks get you shot at the Top 10 results, but strong user signals get you in the Top 3 – granted you hit user intent.
This simplified model is correct in my experience, but it clashes with reality in five ways:
1. Google’s systems aren’t flawless. They don’t always reward the best content. Some spam tactics still work. Some commodity content still ranks. Long-tail answers are terrible.
Ranking Reddit results higher was a smart thought, but many answers are questionable. SEO is full of ifs and whens – the definition of algorithms.
2. User journeys are non-linear. I too often talk about the funnel, but the better model consists of intent, lots of touch points, and a purchase.
Customers expose themselves to purchase triggers through friends, social networks, ads, or serendipity: I see a cool shirt in a YouTube video and immediately want to buy one.
Then, they go through cycles of exploration and evaluation: I Google shirt articles, watch YouTube videos, and read reviews.
Eventually, they find an offer they like and pull the trigger: I go to site.com and buy the shirt. User journey complete.
Nonlinearity makes the impact of content harder to measure. A highly important piece might get lots of traffic but no conversions. Attributing revenue to that piece is very difficult.
3. Google has lied about using user signals in ranking. Is it also lying about other things?
4. Practically, I always see a positive impact when adding more “best practice” elements to the page.
One point in question on X (Twitter) was things like author bios, publish dates, or table of contents. Whether Google’s system actively looks for and rewards them or users prefer them, they have a positive impact.
5. My biggest struggle and criticism is the subjectivity and imprecision of statements like “helpful content,” “good for users,” or “user experience.”
What does that even mean? Taken ad absurdum, you can argue that almost everything is being good or bad for the user. It’s too subjective and simplistic.
A better approach to navigating the confusing state of SEO is a mix of SEO, conversion rate optimization (CRO), and good ‘ol market research.
CRO and SEO are connected at the hip and should have never been separate.
From here is how pros do conversion rate optimization:
Over the last two decades, the roles of SEO and CRO lived and grew in isolation. At the same time, we’re preaching to tear down silos in organizations. In engineering, we’re breaking monolithic applications apart into microservices. Most Growth and product organizations work in squads where members of different crafts come together to form a group pursuing the same goal. So, why are SEO and CRO still two different crafts?
Both start with user intent and end with removing friction:
Successful Conversion Rate Optimization rests on three core principles:
- Understand user intent, motivation, and friction
- Run experiments
- Focus on business impact
Understanding what users are trying to accomplish (intent, like buy, evaluate, seek inspiration, solve a problem), what motivates them (price, features, value, status), and where they encounter friction is key to developing unique ideas instead of blindly copying/pasting them from blog articles.
CRO playbooks paired with market research can answer “what’s best for users” much better than what many regard as “pure SEO.”
Market research can illuminate underserved topics independently from search volume.
Hotjar and Mouseflow are valuable tools, but often the only ones in a belt that can hold a lot more.
Talking to users, either directly or async, has to be back on the menu at a time when async video tools and AI make it simple, fast, and efficient to learn from users. Writing this sentence feels so basic, but we’re just not doing it because we’re stuck in old mindsets.
Old ways are powerful drugs because they prevent us from having to get uncomfortable and learn new things. But old ways also prevent us from adapting. Risky business.
Search volume is the best proxy for a market we have in marketing. But it’s as tricky as using productivity for economic growth.
From the inaccuracy and flaws of search volume:
In summary, search volume is:
- Not available for many keywords, especially transactional keywords
- Often inaccurate
- Averaged over the year, which means that seasonality is not reflected at all
- Backward looking
But selecting topics to create content for isn’t enough. We also need more user input for the essence of content.
Aggregators understand that principle much better than integrators because their approach is so product-driven, and SEO teams typically are housed under the product org.
It’s much less common for integrators to get qualitative user feedback on content or conduct expert interviews before writing. Some of the best integrator brands have in-house specialists, and it shows.
Tech SEO, which is mostly work done for Google, remains important no matter the camp you’re in.
Google has become allergic to unhealthy sites and commodity content as it hits the limits of its own resources. Just focusing on the user is simply not enough.
This site had a technical issue that caused many pages to be indexed. Organic traffic immediately tanked.
“Perhaps we need to speak more clearly that our systems are chasing what people like, so if you “chase the algorithm,” you’re behind. If you chase what people like, you’re ahead of the algorithm.”
One of my unpopular opinions is that you should chase the algorithm. Actually, you want to be just on point.
But since you need to periodically adjust as Google’s algorithm changes, you’re always slightly chasing.
Why wouldn’t you want to be ahead? Because you never know how far ahead of the algo you are and when it will catch up with you.
Google rewards what works. If being ahead of the algo was rewarded, people would adapt their playbooks.
It seems like the time is ripe, maybe overripe, for more CRO in SEO. But don’t forget to make the machine happy.
“You have to let it all go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.”
One more thing: I’m speaking at Digital Olympus Summit in Eindhoven on May 31st. Reply to get a free ticket. I have two. First come, first served.
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
Google On If A Small Business Should Start A Website & A Blog
Google’s Search Liaison, Danny Sullivan, was asked about if a business should always have a website and if so, should they also have a blog. Sullivan replied that he believes all businesses should have at least a basic website, but when it comes to a blog, that depends on what they have to say on that blog.
Danny Sullivan wrote this on X saying:
I’ve seen — and personally been to — businesses that didn’t have a site — much less a blog — that ranked in Google. I’d still recommend a business have at least a basic site just because, well, it’s 2024 and websites are a pretty common expectation.
On the topic of blogging, he said it depends. Sullivan wrote that if you have something unique and interesting to say and your customers will find it useful – then sure. Otherwise, maybe not. Sullivan wrote:
Blogging? If you have something unique and interesting to say, and you think your existing customers would find it useful, that it makes sense and you have time for all the other things a business typically does — sure, perhaps it might be good to do.
Here are those posts:
I’ve seen — and personally been to — businesses that didn’t have a site — much less a blog — that ranked in Google. I’d still recommend a business have at least a basic site just because, well, it’s 2024 and websites are a pretty common expectation. Blogging? If you have…
— Google SearchLiaison (@searchliaison) March 22, 2024
Hard to disagree? Well, I am sure some of you will disagree.
Forum discussion at X.
5 reasons why rankings are lying and how to fix them
Your “pretty good” rankings look pretty good.
Except they’re not. At least, not when you dig beneath the surface a bit.
You’ll quickly realize that the “pretty good” ranking is actually more of a mirage, an oasis in a sea of fierce competition that means you’ll unlikely, if ever, get to drink from the firehose of traffic you so desperately seek.
Here’s how to uncover whether your “pretty good” rankings will likely drive revenue soon, or whether you’ll need to fix some short-term pain to achieve the long-term ROI you deserve.
Problem 1: Top 10 isn’t good enough – top ~3-5 minimum should be
Pull up your current organic keyword rankings. And feast your eyes on all these “pretty good” rankings you’re picking up for the highly relevant keywords you seek.
Looking pretty good on the surface, right?
Picking up a couple of top 10 rankings and then more top 20 to 30 rankings should bode well for the future.
The keyword in the last sentence is “should.”
Let’s look again, expanding the list out and then try to focus on what you don’t see.
Give up?
No top five rankings!
But why is this bad?
Two reasons:
- This hints at a lack of topical authority. You could argue that many top 20–30 rankings do bode well for the future. However, without topical authority, you’ll always face an uphill battle to deliver on the long-term ROI you’ll need to justify all the time, effort and expense it’s realistically gonna take.
- The second issue comes down to organic click-through rates. On average, the top five positions get ~70-80% of all clicks. This means getting stuck ranking outside the top five might only net you a fraction of the clicks you’ll actually need to drive 7+-figure customer acquisition.
Ranking in the top 10 is a nice start.
But it’s not good enough because position 10 probably gets the same sliver of traffic that position 20, 30 or 100+ might – which is zero.
And that’s a bad sign – especially when combined with these next few problems.
Problem 2: Your ‘good’ content isn’t actually aligned with what searchers actually want.
Big brands catch all the breaks.
They can publish mediocre content on their giant site and typically do “pretty well.”
Everyone else? Can’t. Here’s why.
Let’s take another random SERP example.
Say your current page is an opinion article, a how-to or even a landing page.
Now, let’s look at the actual content types currently ranking:
Uh-oh! Your article might be written well by real subject experts. (None of that surface-level AI garbage).
It might be full of the technical babel-speak your ICPs adore.
But, it ain’t gonna rank as-is! Not likely and not anytime soon.
So, while it might be “good enough” for top 20 right now, that’s in no way a guarantee it’s ever gonna see the top coveted positions 3-5 that actually deliver 80%+ of results for this keyword.
Problem 3: Keyword cannibalization means on-page optimization is off, too
Analyzing underperforming content with a balanced scorecard will immediately make some of these problems more obvious.
Because when you lack topical authority (little-to-no top five rankings) and have search intent + content mismatch issues, you’ll often also see keyword cannibalization (or “pretty good” rankings for a relevant keyword that makes it seem like you’re on the right track, yet will almost always hold you back long-term).
This is a bad sign.
Because generally speaking:
- When you’re writing and optimizing a single piece of content for a specific keyword or topic.
- You (should) be covering semantically related subtopics, related questions and additional content types (images or video) specific to those keywords or topics.
So even if you have one piece of content picking up multiple “pretty good” keyword rankings, you’re highly unlikely to ever rank well enough (top five) for those additional keywords. (Unless you’re seeing lots of SERP overlap.)
The easiest way to spot this issue is when you see a good, in-depth article that’s optimized well for the primary keyword target and yet optimized poorly for the secondary or tertiary ones you’re now cannibalizing.
In other words, this:
Great content, on-page optimization and search intent alignment for one keyword.
Yet, double-checking on-page optimization for the secondary cannibalized keywords now makes this content ordinary by comparison.
There are lots of missing “top topics” or semantically related concepts that should be covered in this article.
And “average” optimization overall relative to the competitors who’re almost always likely to continue out-ranking you if this issue isn’t addressed.
These three problems covered so far are extremely common but focused almost exclusively on how well you’re doing keyword research + content strategy.
In other words, all factors are 100% in your control and are already on your own site.
And yet, we haven’t even touched on off-site strength issues!
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
Problem 4: Your competition is incredibly fierce
Keyword difficulty (KD) is a biased, incomplete metric at best – and a completely misleading or lying one at worst.
Look it up in nearly every keyword research tool. What you see is not a true measure of competitors’ content quality or domain strength but primarily the quantity of referring domains to each content page ranking in the top 10.
This is a giant problem because you’ll see false positives.
You’ll be seduced into selecting a keyword or topic because the “KD” says “easy” or “low” when it’s anything but that.
Take a gander at the screenshot below for one of these “lower KD” keywords, and now parse out the number of referring domains from the actual brand and domain strength of the current top 10:
Recapping the above screenshot illustrates:
- Crazy-strong domain-level strength.
- Strong page-level strength (dozens to hundreds of high-quality links to each content piece).
- Giant brand names (Gartner, HBR, BCG, McKinsey).
I mean, c’mon. It should be immediately obvious already.
Search is a zero-sum game. For you to win, others have to lose. That means you need to unseat these competitors. (See “Problem 1” above.)
And so what are the chances of doing just that, on this SERP, with these competitors? Especially if you’re not already a giant brand (household category leader + DR 90+)?
Slim to none. Or next to impossible.
Either way, it’s a terrible SERP to compete for most mortal brands.
And yet, we’re still not done unpacking this SERP competition angle just yet, either.
Problem 5: The quality and quantity of referring domains are out of your league
Now, let’s put all these problems together.
There’s usually not just one reason you’re not ranking in the top five. There’s lots of them playing out on the same keyword + content match you’re trying to improve.
And that all becomes a lot more challenging when facing an arms race in referring domains.
The SEO Catch-22 most don’t like to acknowledge is that the best-converting keywords on the web (i.e., the ones that generate the most revenue for your business) are also the most competitive and difficult to rank for (i.e., which means it’s going to require a bigger investment and take longer to show meaningful results).
Once again, let’s look at an example to visualize these issues:
The brands are big, domain ratings are high and the content is good and well-aligned with search.
Likewise, the quality and quantity of referring domains in the top five are also extremely strong.
This means that, in an ideal world, you’ll need:
All before ever writing a single word for this topic!
Otherwise, you’re just setting yourself up for failure (or at least, months-to-years of waiting and getting yelled at by bosses, investors, spouses and more).
Don’t settle for mediocre rankings
“Pretty good” rankings are just that. They’re a decent jumping-off point.
But they’re not always a good sign that:
- You’re on the right track.
- Your SEO + content strategy is going to work long-term.
- There’s still not a ton of distribution required to drive results anytime soon.
Pretty good rankings are like a mirage.
They seem nice on the surface. They could be a good sign.
Or, they could actually hint at deeper problems that will continue to sacrifice results for months and years to come if they’re not fixed ASAP.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
Source link
Definition + How to Set up Campaigns
What Are Paid Search Ads?
Paid search advertising is a digital marketing strategy where brands pay to display their ads on major search engines like Google, Yahoo, and Bing. Or social platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn.
On Google, they are known as pay-per-click (PPC) ads and can be text ads, display ads, or video ads.
Advertisers bid on keywords and phrases relevant to their business.
The goal?
To appear in the top paid spot of a search engine results page (SERP). For instance:
When people search on Google, text ads can appear above or below the search results. Only up to four ads are eligible to show above the search results.
On social platforms, advertisers target customers based on demographics and interests. When users search those words online, the action triggers a real-time auction with keywords that advertisers bid on.
Let’s say you bid on “organic coffee.” Your Google Ad might appear in the prime spot on a SERP for that search term.
And if you target people on social platforms who expressed an interest in organic coffee, your ad is more likely to appear in their feed.
Each platform uses its proprietary algorithm to determine which ads will appear first. However, there’s more to it than simply outbidding the competition.
Paid search ad platforms use a rating system to measure a campaign’s likely success—for instance, Google Ads has a Quality Score (more on this later).
This score factors in bid amount, ad quality, and landing page quality to determine your ad placement.
Well-crafted ads with relevant content will score higher. And have a better chance of securing a top position.
The main paid search ads platforms include:
- Google Ads
- Bing Ads
- Facebook Ads
- Instagram Ads
- X (Twitter) Ads
- LinkedIn Ads
- Pinterest Ads
- Amazon Ads
Why You Need Paid Search Ads
Using paid search as part of your marketing strategy can increase website visits through paid traffic and organic traffic.
Further reading: Organic vs. Paid Marketing: What Are the Differences?
Relying solely on organic traffic to reach the top of SERPs can take years. Paid ads help you bypass the slow climb and gain more immediate visibility from potential customers. Especially in competitive markets.
And although paid ads don’t directly increase organic traffic in terms of search engine optimization (SEO) rankings, they can indirectly trigger it.
By growing brand visibility and awareness through paid ads at the top of SERPs, you’re more likely to see higher clicks on your organic listings as well.
Users who visit your site via paid ads might also return through organic search later. Because they recognize your brand from the ad they clicked on previously.
The Benefits of Paid Search Ads
Paid search ads offer many advantages that can significantly improve your digital marketing strategy results. Here’s an overview of some of the benefits:
Reach Your Target Audience
Paid search ads allow you to address your target audience based on relevant keywords—plus demographics like location, language and interests, and search behaviors.
For instance, Google Ads allows you to create various audience segments.
With this level of precision, your ads stand a better chance of reaching those most likely to engage with your brand. Resulting in more qualified website traffic—and improved conversion rates.
Further reading: Conversion Rate Optimization: 9 Tactics That Work
Cost-Effectiveness
One of the most significant advantages of paid search ads is that with PPC campaigns, you only pay when someone clicks on your ad.
This approach offers better advertising budget control. You decide how much to pay for each keyword. And set a maximum daily limit to keep your ad spend in check.
Paid search also increases the likelihood of your spending your marketing budget on customers who may be genuinely interested in your product. Instead of users who are outside your target audience.
Efficient and Immediate Results
Compared to mid-term marketing tactics like social media and long-term strategies like SEO content, paid search ads can bring in results faster.
As soon as your ad campaign goes live, your ads should appear in search results and drive instant traffic to your site. Which is especially critical for time-sensitive promotions or when testing new marketing strategies.
The best part is that every aspect of a paid search campaign is measurable—from the number of ad clicks and impressions to conversions and return on investment (ROI).
The data helps you understand what you’re getting from your investment. So you can make informed adjustments to your ad campaigns.
The Market Dictates the Ad Price
Market demand and the resulting competition for specific keywords are what determine the cost of paid search ads.
For example, if the search term “organic coffee” is highly competitive, you may want to bid on a similar phrase with lower competition. It will help keep your ad costs down while still attracting your target audience.
One way to find lower-cost keywords is by using a keyword research tool like Semrush’s Keyword Magic Tool.
Scroll down the Semrush dashboard menu and click “Keyword Magic Tool.”
Enter the main keyword or phrase you want to rank for. If you have an organic coffee roasting company, type in “organic coffee.” Select the target country for your ad.
Click “Search” and wait a few seconds for your results to load.
The results page defaults to “Broad Match.” Here, you can identify less competitive keywords than “Phrase Match” or “Exact Match.” (We explore keyword match types here.)
The list can include long-tail keywords—longer, more specific phrases.
You may want to refine your keyword search with semantically related keywords (words similar to your main keyword). They help search engines better understand the context of your ad so it has the potential to rank well beyond “organic coffee” searches.
Remember to bid on keywords with the best ratio of low cost per click (CPC) to high search volume if budget is a concern.
To find semantically related keywords for “organic coffee,” click “Related” in the menu bar at the top.
Filter your new list of related keywords from most expensive to least expensive or vice versa by clicking “CPC.” And find the right search terms for your campaign budget.
Paid Search Ads vs. SEO
Paid search ads and search engine optimization (SEO) are both critical parts of an effective digital marketing strategy.
While they both increase visibility and drive traffic to your website, they operate quite differently. Understanding these differences is essential to using each strategy effectively.
As we’ve discussed, one of the primary advantages of paid search ads is quick results.
Ads can appear at the top of SERPs as soon as your campaign begins. You have more opportunities to reach potential customers with hyper-specific demographic targeting. Plus, it’s much easier and faster to measure results from a paid ad than to track a blog post’s performance.
On the other hand, SEO focuses on growing and maintaining high rankings through organic search results. It’s a long-term, unpaid strategy that can provide sustained traffic over time.
SEO requires upfront investment, especially for content creation and site optimization. However, because it doesn’t incur costs per click, it can potentially offer better long-term ROI.
Combining both strategies can help maximize your visibility in paid and organic search results.
For instance, keyword data from search ads can provide insights to refine your SEO content strategies. And vice versa.
Let’s say “best organic coffee beans” and “fair trade organic coffee” are performing well and sending traffic to your website. Use this information to create content for your website.
Write blog posts focused on these topics and use these keywords where relevant on your website to attract free, organic traffic.
Or, say you have a blog post titled “How to Choose the Best Organic Coffee Beans” that gets high engagement. You may want to run a paid ad campaign centered around this long-tail keyword.
Paid Search Glossary
Below is a comprehensive list with short descriptions of common paid search-related terms.
Pay-per-click (PPC) |
A form of paid search advertising where you pay a fee each time someone clicks on your ad |
Cost per click (CPC) |
The amount you pay each time a user clicks on an ad |
Impressions |
The number of times an ad appears, regardless of whether users click on it |
Click-through rate (CTR) |
A ratio showing how often people who see your ad end up clicking it. Calculated by dividing the number of clicks by the number of impressions. |
Quality Score |
A metric used by paid search ad systems—like Google Ads and Bing Ads—to determine the relevance and quality of your paid ads and keywords |
A value Google bases on your bid amount and ad quality that determines your ad placement on a SERP or social platform |
|
Ad auction |
An automated process that occurs every time a user performs a search query to determine which ads will appear for that specific query, and in what order |
Landing page |
The webpage users are directed to after clicking on an ad |
Conversion rate |
The percentage of users who take a desired action after clicking on an ad, such as making a purchase or filling out a form |
Ad extensions |
Additional information included in your paid ad. Including your business phone number, more links to specific pages on your site, or your business’s location. |
Google Display Network |
Over 2 million websites, videos, and apps that reach more than 90% of internet users with relevant ads. Ads are based on the app or site users view content on or their past online behaviors. |
Retargeting ads |
Targeted ads brands display to users who have previously visited their site |
Geotargeting |
The delivery of different content or advertisements to a user based on their geographic location |
Bid management |
The process of adjusting the bid price for PPC keywords to optimize ROI |
How to Set up a Paid Search Campaign
Now that we’ve discussed what paid search ads are, the difference between paid search and SEO, and a glossary of terms, let’s help you properly set up a paid search campaign.
1. Select Your Location Settings
Setting your location is necessary to target your ads effectively. Start by identifying your potential customers’ location—which can be as broad as a country. Or as specific as a city or a radius around a location.
Tailor your location settings to match your business’s service area. If you operate a brick-and-mortar retail store, it makes sense to target potential customers in the same town.
If you also offer online shopping, create a second set of search ads that target your shipping regions.
2. Choose Your Target Keywords
The right target keywords and phrases are the foundation of a paid search campaign’s success. Conduct thorough keyword research to identify terms your target audience uses when searching for similar products or services.
Keyword research software like Keyword Magic Tool can help you find information on your keyword search volume and competition. Plus group your keywords into relevant themes for more effective targeting and easier management.
An example of grouping your keywords—also known as keyword clustering—might look like this:
The clustered keywords are variations of or topics related to “organic coffee,” our main keyword example. They represent different user intents and search queries, but all fall under the broader umbrella of “organic coffee.”
Clustering these keywords helps save time and optimize your paid search ads.
3. Determine the Correct Keyword Match Type
Keyword match types determine how closely a user’s search query needs to match your keyword. There are four match types we explore below.
Exact Match
An exact-match keyword offers the highest relevance but the lowest reach in paid search advertising. It targets searches exactly like your chosen keyword or a very close variation.
For example, if your exact match keyword is “organic whole bean coffee,” your ad will most likely appear when someone searches for “organic whole bean coffees.”
But it won’t show for “organic whole bean coffee medium roast” or “medium roast organic coffee.” Limiting its reach potential.
Broad Match
Broad match delivers the most comprehensive reach but the least relevance.
Your ad will appear in a Bing or Google Ads paid search that includes any or all words in your keyword, in any order, along with other terms.
If your keyword is “garden supplies,” your ad might appear for searches like “buy supplies for the garden,” “garden tools,” or even loosely related terms like “garden furniture.”
The principle of reaching a wider audience based on keyword relevance extends across various paid advertising platforms, not just Google Ads. Make sure you tailor your use of broad match to each platform.
Phrase Match
Phrase match triggers your ads for relevant searches that cover your keyword’s meaning. Helping you reach more queries than exact match but fewer than broad match.
If your phrase match keyword is “organic coffee beans,” your ad might show for “best organic coffee beans” or “organic coffee beans in bulk,” but not for “beans for organic coffee.”
Modified Broad
Modified broad is similar to broad match but with slightly more control over when and how it appears. It allows you to specify that certain words must be present in a search query to trigger your ad.
Say your modified broad match keyword is “waterproof backpack.” The search query must include both “waterproof” and “backpack,” but in any order and potentially with additional terms.
Your ad, then, might appear for “backpack waterproof for hiking” or “waterproof travel backpack.”
Choosing your keyword match type can therefore impact the effectiveness of your campaign (more on this below under the “Best Practices” section).
4. Create Your Ad
When it comes to your paid search campaigns, it’s in your best interest to put some time and effort into creating an ad that resonates with your target audience and meets search platforms’ requirements. Directly influencing user engagement and conversion rates as a result.
The team at Kadima Digital agrees. According to them,
The primary goal of ad creative is to engage your audience and communicate your brand’s message effectively. To achieve this, ad creative should be visually appealing, memorable, and relevant to your target audience. It should also reflect your brand’s personality and values, as well as the products or services you offer.
Below are a few essential details to consider when crafting your paid search ad:
- Know your target audience: Tailoring your message to address their needs, pain points, or desires can significantly increase your ad’s relevance and appeal
- Use visuals that stand out: Whether you create video ads or use still images for your display ads, make sure they stand out enough to catch users’ eyes and stop them from scrolling
- Include a compelling headline: It should be attention-grabbing, concise, and directly related to your target keyword
- Use clear and engaging ad copy: The body of your paid search ad copy should clearly communicate your product or service’s value proposition and benefits
- Include a strong call to action (CTA): Your CTA should be clear and action-oriented, like “buy now,” “click here,” or “learn more”
- Match your ad to your landing page: When users click your ad, your landing page should further communicate your ad’s messaging. This relevance improves user experience and positively impacts your Quality Score—which can lower your CPC and improve ad ranking.
- Stay within character limits: Each platform has its own set of rules and limits for different elements of an ad, such as headlines, descriptions, and extensions. Respect these limits to avoid penalization.
Here are some of the above ad creative tips in action:
5. Refine Your Bid Strategy
There are two types of bid strategies: manual and automated. Choose manual bidding to control how much you pay for each click. Or opt for automated bidding, where the search engine adjusts your bids to get the most clicks and best cost per conversion within your budget.
Most paid search ads platforms will give you a suggested amount to bid. Start with their suggestion or a lower amount that fits better with your budget.
However, remember that a lower-than-suggested bid may affect how well your ad performs. Because bid amount is one of the factors most ad platforms consider when evaluating ad rank. More on this later.
Before you commit to a bid strategy, you may want to research your competition. Here’s where a PPC tool can help you stay ahead of the game.
Use Semrush’s Advertising Research to identify keywords your competitors are bidding on, how much they are spending, which ads are performing well, and why.
Head to your Semrush dashboard menu and click “Advertising Research” from the “Advertising” dropdown.
Next, enter a competitor’s URL in the search bar. If you’re an organic coffee bean roaster, Starbucks might be a rival. Click the “Search” button and wait for the results to load.
From here, you’ll get an insider look into your business rival’s PPC strategy. Observing what your competitors are doing with their ads can help you figure out how to do it better.
If you scroll down the page, you’ll see which keywords and phrases your competitor currently ranks for, any recent position changes, search volume, CPC, landing page URLs, and traffic per keyword.
If you click through the navigation tabs across the top, you’ll get a more detailed picture of competing marketing campaigns.
For example, click “Ads Copies” to view current ads and associated landing pages.
You’ll discover what works well for your competitors and might for you, too. Or where they are potentially missing out on paid traffic.
Spotting these strengths and weaknesses can help you stand out in your market. Is a competitor missing out on a keyword opportunity? Or under-bidding on a keyword that you could outbid them on?
Once you’ve done your homework, design a cost-effective ad campaign with PPC Keyword Tool.
6. Include Ad Extensions
Ad extensions are generally associated with Google Ads. They are free to use and provide additional information and context for online searchers.
Some examples of paid search ad extensions include:
- A business phone number
- A map with your physical address
- Buy now, pay later option
- Images
- 10% off your first purchase
- Free shipping over $60
- Sitelink extensions (a link to another page on your website)
Google Ads reports that including ad assets to your content can increase your ad’s visibility and CTR. Ad extensions are such assets.
Google sometimes automatically includes an extension if it deems it will improve your ad performance. But typically, extensions require manual setup—allowing greater control over the message and information.
The manual setup process involves selecting the extension type within the Google Ads platform, filling out the necessary information (such as specific sitelink titles and URLs for sitelink extensions), and applying them to the appropriate campaigns or ad groups.
A Google search for “best organic coffee” resulted in this ad with multiple ad extensions:
This excellent paid search ad example includes sitelink extensions for a secret menu, a sample pack, coffee specials, and more.
Important: Choose ad extensions that are relevant to your business and helpful to searchers you want to target.
7. Launch Your Ad and Add Billing Information
Before you hit publish on your paid ad, quickly review your search ad campaign settings to ensure you haven’t overlooked anything that could make your ad stand out.
Did you include ad extensions where appropriate? And correctly enter your URL?
After launching, keep a close eye on your campaign performance metrics. Regularly monitor the CTR, conversion rate, and average CPC. It will help you make informed decisions on increasing bids, adjusting keywords, or tweaking copy for improved ad performance.
You’ll most likely need to enter your billing information at the same time you launch your campaign. Most platforms require a pre-paid balance or a linked credit card to charge when you reach a payment threshold.
Remember to track your ad spend so that it aligns with your marketing budget and ROI goals.
How Do Search Engines Establish Ad Ranking?
Search engines consider multiple factors when determining ad rankings. A successful PPC ad campaign hinges on understanding elements like bidding strategies and the best time to display your ad. We’ll go through the main ones below.
Bid Amount
The price you’re willing to pay per ad click plays a critical role in how you rank. A higher bid amount might help your ad appear higher up in paid search results.
However, it’s not the only ranking factor.
For example, if you bid $2 for the keyword “organic whole bean coffee,” your ad might appear above others who bid less for the same term. But if your Quality Score is below average, you may still get outranked.
Ad Extensions
Google Ad extensions enhance your ad with helpful surplus information. Additional product images or links to an end-of-season sale can increase your ad’s appeal.
And ads that get more clicks will often rank better and cost less.
Quality of Ads and Landing Pages (Quality Score)
Factors that affect Quality Score include your ad’s CTR, relevance to the search query, and the relevance of your landing page.
A high-quality ad with an informative landing page relating to it will score better—and typically rank higher and cost less per click.
From a consumer perspective, nothing is worse than clicking on an ad expecting one thing and landing on a completely unrelated page.
Say your ad promotes a 10% off coupon for your organic coffee blend. Then your landing page should mention the discount coupon and showcase that specific product. Don’t direct users to your homepage or any other page that doesn’t mention your ad’s key features and talking points.
Use and Frequency of Keywords
Ads containing keywords that more closely match relevant user queries tend to rank higher in paid SERP listings.
If your ad includes the phrase “vegan skincare products” and matches frequent user searches—e.g., for vegan skincare and vegan skin products—it’s more likely to rank well.
Keywords that Match Search Terms
The specific terms users search for can significantly affect ad rankings. Search engines prefer ads that exactly match or closely align with the searched terms.
For example, an ad containing “affordable yoga mats” is more likely to rank higher if users search for “affordable yoga mats” rather than just the exa “yoga mats.”
Time of Day
Certain ads may perform better at specific times or days of the week. For instance, ads for a breakfast restaurant are more relevant on a Saturday morning than on a Thursday afternoon.
Or this example from Google:
Location of Target Audience
Ads targeting specific locations can rank higher in those areas. If you own a flower delivery service in New York City, target people who live in or around the city if you want your ad to perform well.
All paid search ads platforms allow you to choose your target audience and location when setting up your ads.
Competing Ads/Other Search Results
Your paid search ad ranks relative to other advertisers targeting similar keywords or phrases.
If the competition for “biodegradable coffee pods” is high, your ad needs to be more optimized in bid, quality, and relevance than your competitors to rank well.
You may need to increase your keyword bid or look at ways to create a more appealing ad.
If that doesn’t work, build a new campaign around a similar, less competitive keyword like “environmentally friendly coffee pods.”
Device Type
Ads get ranked differently based on the device users view them on.
And an ad leading to a mobile-friendly landing page will likely rank more prominently in mobile search results than one that isn’t mobile-optimized.
Further reading: What Is Mobile Advertising? Types, Tips, and Examples
Paid Search Ads Best Practices
Paid search ad best practices can help you create efficient campaigns that align with your business goals and marketing budget.
Track and Optimize Return on Investment
Measuring ROI involves assessing the profitability of your ads relative to their cost.
Track metrics like CPC, cost per acquisition (CPA), and overall ad spend against the revenue generated from conversions. You can track some directly from the paid search platform you’re using.
If you run PPC ads on Google, use PPC Keyword Tool to track and optimize ROI.
Navigate to the tool from the “Advertising” drop-down on your Semrush dashboard.
If you haven’t already set up a project, you’ll need to do that next. Enter your domain name and click “Set up.”
Now, add your keywords manually, get a list of keywords to target from Semrush, or import from a file.
Next, enter the country, region, and city you want to track. Click “Start PPC Keyword Tool.”
If you manually import the keywords “organic coffee,” “best organic coffee,” and “coffee roaster,” you’ll end up with a dashboard like this:
It’s easy to keep your campaign organized and budget-friendly with PPC Keyword Tool.
It can reveal which keywords drive the most profitable traffic.
You can export all your Semrush plans and upload them directly to your Google Ads account. Similarly, you can import an existing Google Ads campaign to restructure it in one place.
The key to maximizing your return on investment is to continuously optimize your ad campaign based on your analysis. If you observe that specific keywords bring in high-value customers, consider increasing your bid on those keywords.
Never stop optimizing your ad campaign based on your analysis—it’ll maximize your ROI potential.
Don’t Run on All Broad Match Keywords
While broad match keywords can increase your reach, they often attract less targeted traffic. This can lead to lower conversion rates and wasted ad spend.
Instead, use a mix of match types, including exact and phrase matches. This strategy can help you reach a more targeted audience and balance reach and relevance.
Using a phrase match for “women’s running shoes” can attract more relevant clicks than a broad match, which could trigger your ad for any search containing “women,” “running,” or “shoes.”
Focus on Outcomes, Not Activities
Shift your focus from activities (like number of clicks or impressions) to outcomes (e.g., conversions and sales). Set clear goals for what you want to achieve with your PPC campaign—such as lead generation, sales, or brand awareness.
This approach helps you make more data-driven decisions.
If your goal is to increase online sales, concentrate on keywords and phrases that have historically led to higher sales. Even if they have fewer clicks.
Calculate the Conversion Rate Required
What is the necessary conversion rate to make your campaign profitable? The answer can help you justify ad costs—so you know when to pause or add funds to your campaigns.
First, clarify the type of conversion rate you’re after. Not all conversions are quantifiable in terms of profitability.
Say you run an ad for a webinar that leads to sales and may need some nurturing in between. ROI calculations will differ from an ad where you calculate direct clicks to a product page and measure sales.
Forecast Your Likely Results Before You Begin
Before launching a paid search campaign, forecast potential results based on historical data and industry benchmarks.
Forecasting helps you set realistic goals and budgets as you observe what has and hasn’t worked. And when.
For example, if historical data shows a 2% conversion rate for similar products or services, you can estimate how much traffic you need to meet your sales goals.
Semrush’s Ads History tool lets you view historical competitor ads to see how well a keyword has performed in paid searches.
Enter your target keyword and click “Search.”
Here, you can see which advertisers appeared in the top eight paid positions on Google’s SERPs over a 12-month period.
Optimize Your Paid Search Ads with Semrush
Remember, a successful paid search campaign is not just about outbidding competitors. It’s about crafting quality ads, targeting the right audience, and continuously refining your campaigns based on measurable outcomes.
Combine tools like Advertising Research and Keyword Magic Tool with a developed understanding of SEO, and you’ll end up with a robust search ad strategy to grow your reach and boost conversions.
Source link
Google Testing Places & Places Sites Search Bar Filter Tabs
Yesterday we reported Google is testing products and products sites in the search bar tab in the European regions. Today, Google is testing places and places sites in the search bar tab in the European regions.
Here is a screenshot of the search bar from Frank Standtmann on Mastodon who wrote, “Google seems to be testing another variant of its navigation bar today: “Places” and “Places sites”. “Places” offers an endless list of Google Business Panel results, while “Places sites” seems to offer a different set of organic web results (probably more focused on websites that aggregate information). Strange to see them testing such closely related and potentially confusing elements.”
Here is that screenshot:
Then when you click on “Places” you get a long list of local pack listings:
Whereas “Places sites” gives you more search results:
We first saw places sites in December 2023 and then a product sites box in the Google Search results when Google was testing its DMA changes to the search results for the EU. Note, there is structured data for it as well.
Forum discussion at Mastodon.
Source link
8 tips to leverage your SEO research skills
App store optimization (ASO) is a bit of a mystery for many SEOs. So, let’s start with the basics.
While SEO is geared toward improving website rankings on search engines like Google,
ASO focuses on optimizing mobile apps for stronger visibility and performance within the Apple App Store and Google Play Store.
But there’s a lot of research and strategy that SEOs can carry from organic search into ASO campaign research.
By understanding how some critical SEO research components translate into ASO planning – and implementing them effectively into your app strategy – you can improve your chances of achieving stronger app store visibility, stronger app visibility on Google and increased downloads.
Some SEOs put organic search into two simple buckets: on- and off-page SEO. I’m going to do something similar and break down my SEO and ASO synergy tips into two different areas of opportunity:
- App landing pages: The page on your website dedicated to featuring your app.
- Store listing pages: Your Apple App Store and Google Play Store listings.
Discover ways to leverage your strategic SEO thinking and research skills for ASO below.
App landing pages
We’re all familiar with landing pages and their importance in organic search.
However, many brands underestimate the importance of dedicated landing pages for their app when it comes to ASO. They simply add Apple App Store and Google Play Store buttons to pages across their site. These brands miss out on the benefits of creating a dedicated app landing page.
Let’s look at four reasons why creating an app landing page is important and how to use your SEO skills to maximize your ASO success and learnings.
1. Highlight your value proposition
Even if you’re an app-based business, your website is an essential touch point in your customer’s journey. It’s an opportunity to have a dedicated place for website users to discover your app, learn about its features and value and easily download it.
Here are a few examples from Vrbo, KAYAK and SoFi where they highlight the benefits of using their apps:
Your website is also a great place to highlight some curated social proofing, such as app awards, reviews and testimonials. This is an essential strategy in today’s E-E-A-T-based search world.
Here’s an example from Bank of America, which has a well-executed app landing page:
Here’s another example from Priceline:
2. Test and learn
Leverage your app landing page to run tests and gather helpful data.
How?
Make feature descriptions clickable so you can track clicks or use heatmapping software like CrazyEgg or Hotjar to understand which features viewers are most interested in.
You can also A/B test landing page copy and layouts and use those text and creative insights to inform your app store metadata and app creative.
3. Own your branded SERP results
An app landing page gives you another owned asset that can take up valuable SERP real estate for branded queries.
For example, there’s a clear difference between SERP real estate for brands like Centr and Tone It Up (which do not have an app landing page) and Peloton (which does).
For the queries “Centr app” and “Tone It Up app,” Centr and Tone It Up currently only own organic positions 1-4 with their owned properties, whereas Peloton owns positions 1-5 for “Peloton app” with the fifth website ranking being their app landing page.
Why does this matter? If you open the fifth ranking result for the query “Centr app,” which is Reddit, one of the first things you see is a negative review:
Perhaps if Centr had a dedicated app landing page, they could outrank the negative press they’re getting on Reddit.
4. Internal linking
Internal linking is one of the most effective and under-appreciated SEO tactics. It’s low lift, easy to implement and we typically see great results from internal linking at our agency.
That’s why it’s also a tactic you should use to boost your ASO campaigns and app page authority.
If you want your app to build authority and visibility for competitive non-branded terms, internally linking to your app landing page is a great way to help build those signals.
Here’s an example of this on Western Union’s blog:
This strategy helps build topical authority for Western Union’s app within the competitive money transfer space.
Get the daily newsletter search marketers rely on.
App listing pages
App listing pages display each app’s features and other information as you browse the Apple App Store and Google Play Store. These pages are even more important to your ASO strategy than your app landing page, as their contents directly impact your app store rankings. They’re what a prospective customer will see before clicking to download your app.
They contain several key elements, like ratings and user reviews, previews of what your app looks like and your app’s metadata. Let’s look at four ways your SEO skills can maximize your app listing page’s performance.
5. Research and competitive analysis
Tools like Ubersuggest, Ahrefs and Semrush are useful for your ASO strategy, just like SEO. These platforms can help you check organic traffic, keywords in your Apple App Store listing pages and backlinks to your Google Play store listing.
For example, here are the overview stats from Ubersuggest for Western Union’s Apple App Store listing page:
Here are the same stats for a competitor, Wise, shown on Semrush:
Why is this information helpful?
It gives you the data you need to understand how your app listing pages are performing on Google vs. competing apps so you can adjust your strategy if necessary.
Whether you’re working on an SEO or ASO campaign, it’s always critical to keep an eye on competitors to understand how you’re stacking up, what advantages you have (and want to maintain) and where your opportunities lie.
6. Apple App Store hidden keywords
How people find your Apple App Store page via Google search can help inform how they find your app directly by searching in the store. An ASO manager who also knows how to tap into SEO research to inform iOS hidden keyword targeting is a much stronger asset to your campaign.
App downloads may come mostly from branded queries for several brands, but that doesn’t mean there’s a lack of opportunity to drive more app visibility and downloads from non-branded keywords.
Here’s a case study from our agency where we lifted non-branded keyword traffic and boosted installs by 57%:
The 57% increase our client saw for non-branded app downloads came from a strategy rooted in SEO principles. Most of the campaign’s ASO keyword ideas came from the client’s website, including their app landing page.
Focusing on basic information and strategies like keyword-level data and metadata restructuring enabled success in a highly competitive environment.
7. ASO meta optimization
Finding keywords where your competitors have stronger visibility also gives you a lot of consideration for optimizing your ASO metadata across the Apple App and Google Play stores.
For example, you see below that Remitly’s App Store listing is ranking number 1 on Google for “wire transfer app,” while Western Union is ranking number 10.
When looking at each of their listings, you can see Remitly uses “wire” in their App Store description, while Western Union does not.
Remitly:
Western Union:
Similar to traditional SEO, if you want your store listing page to rank well on Google for certain terms, you must understand what people are searching for and ensure the right keywords are integrated into your store listing metadata.
8. Backlinks
While backlinks aren’t a factor in the Apple App Store, they are in the Google Play Store.
Conducting competitive backlink research and finding ways to gain mentions across the web is a task you should be doing for SEO and ASO.
Here are a few tips to get you started with backlinking strategy.
Competitive conquesting
An effective competitive conquesting strategy starts by researching round-ups and listicle articles mentioning your industry’s apps.
Try to find articles where your app isn’t listed and pitch the author why they should include it and link to your app listings.
When you reach out, you’ll provide the same information for your app in the same format and with the same details as the other apps in the article.
For example, Centr’s fitness app isn’t listed in the Forbes roundup below. Reaching out to Forbes with information about the app’s cost, whether it offers live classes, whether it has heart rate monitoring, a list of its best features and its overall pros and cons (the five key pieces of information provided for the 10 apps featured) makes it easy for Forbes to add them in.
PR pitching
Taking the PR angle has the same result as competitive conquesting, except you’re not trying to get into existing articles.
Your goal with PR pitching is to provide the latest information about your app for a journalist to include in a new article.
Instead of targeting the best fitness apps, you could focus on different audiences or timely use cases, such as the best fitness apps for women or the best fitness apps for beginners. With this approach, you’re creating a reason why a journalist would want to write this story.
Be sure to include data on why the story is relevant now and pitch it a few months ahead of the theme. For example, you could pitch your app as one of the best fitness apps for women in March so a journalist has time to finalize their story before Women’s Health Month in May.
Forums and discussions
Answer consumer questions related to your app in forum communities like Quora and Reddit.
Link directly to where users can find your app in the app stores in your answers. This helps consumers with their direct questions and increases the app’s chance of ranking in the forums and discussions featured within Google SERPs.
Harness SEO basics to boost your app downloads
While ASO is quite a different practice than SEO, many principles apply to both disciplines. If you’re struggling to boost your app’s performance, taking things back to basics may be a good idea.
Approach your app store listing pages and landing page from an SEO perspective and improve their fundamental aspects like keyword optimization.
Couple this with your other sound ASO tactics and you may be surprised by your new download numbers.
Opinions expressed in this article are those of the guest author and not necessarily Search Engine Land. Staff authors are listed here.
Source link