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Whether you’re running an organic search or PPC campaign, it all starts with keyword research. Keyword research is usually the first step you undertake when planning how to bring in customers to your website – because the terms they’re searching for will determine the kind of content you will create and the way you will optimize it. Behind every search, however, is an intent – a need or want – whether it be for a product, service, solution, or simply more information. Intent is one of the most significant variables in marketing. All customer journeys, brand engagement, and sales funnels begin with intent. Brands that use data to uncover the context and motivation behind every search that lead users to their website will be able to deliver an experience that eventually translates to revenue for them. How, then, can you go about capturing customer intent, and influence the decisions that they make and the actions that they take? Match keywords with intent All marketers know about th...

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More than 500 engineers, designers, managers and other staff from across global Google offices have signed an open letter at Medium.com calling on the search engine to stop their Dragonfly project and for company leaders to “commit to transparency, clear communication, and real accountability.” As we reported last month … Google’s project Dragonfly first came to light in August via The Intercept and their reports surrounding leaked documents containing details about the project . In a nutshell, the project looked to be a fresh attempt by Google to re-enter the Chinese search market since having been blocked by the state back in 2010. Dragonfly was speculated to be taking the shape of a mobile search engine. This is unsurprising, as more than 97% of internet users in China go online via mobile devices (according to CNNIC) and it is in this vertical that the industry is seeing most disruption from companies such as Shenma, Sogou and Haosou. What was surprising were the subsequent ...

As SEO professionals, when we present our strategy and project ideas, we are often met with blank stares from business stakeholders. They are not able to connect the dots from SEO jargon to business goals. And my fellow SEO colleagues, we need to own this one. Every so often we forget to speak in simple language that is understood by all. We do tend to speak in acronyms and codes. In today’s digital world, we buy and sell online, we pay our bills and make our deposits online. When the first instinct of the users is to “Google” the products or services they want, the business needs to ensure they provide content that meets the user’s search intent. Search Engine Optimization plays a pivotal role in ensuring this content is optimized and available for search engines to display to the end users. Organic search contributes significantly to the website performance, as well as plays a critical role in the buyer journey, which could lead to a conversion or an engagement. Without proper SEO...

Sources from the ad industry have shone a light on how fast Amazon ad budgets are growing. Reports from various media agencies show that brands have been moving up to 50 percent of their previous Google search spend to Amazon ads . With shifting budget comes the need for more intentional Amazon SEO. A report by Jumpshot notes that what used to be Google’s share of product searches just three years ago is now Amazon’s and vice versa. The report says that by 2018, 54 percent of product searches began on Amazon compared to those that began on Google, at 46 percent. Granted, shoppers who found products through Amazon took relatively longer to make a purchase. Additionally, Google has a more diverse field for advertisers to play on — YouTube in particular. Nonetheless, Amazon is proving to be a serious contender in the Google-dominated space. To marketers, this means the work is only beginning when it comes to optimizing product copy for Amazon’s algorithm, Amazon A9. Amazon is being ...

The top listing in Google’s organic search results draws 33 percent of traffic while the second spot garners 18 percent, a study by online ad network Chitika confirms. After that, it’s a fight to see who secures enough traffic, and of course, in this sort of scenario you need all the help you can get. Being penalized by Google and experiencing a drop in SEO rankings is one of the worst things that can happen to a website. Now, fluctuations are par for the course, especially considering the rapidly evolving Google algorithms . When your search rankings take a huge tumble, you need to adopt a proactive approach before your site gets lost organic search obscurity. And this “approach” involves fixing the seven cardinal SEO mistakes listed below: Avoid keyword stuffing Use the same keywords repeatedly? You might want to stop! Of course, if it is necessary for your content to make sense, then you’ve got no other choice. But if you seek to optimize your copy in this manner, then y...

Content marketing is changing. Here’s how to make sure that your content marketing strategy is still relevant in 2019. Marketing is changing. Traditional promotional methods are not as successful as they used to be. How can you make sure that your content marketing strategy is not staying behind? It’s the perfect time to start thinking ahead to adjust your plans for the next 12 months. Here are seven tips to get you thinking of what you need to improve in 2019. 1. Get the basics right A good way to start the year is to review your existing strategy. Find the time to get together with your team to discuss all the things that worked well in 2018 and what needs to be improved in 2019. A closer look at your strategy can help you understand whether your plans are still relevant for the next 12 months. If you haven’t created a written content marketing strategy yet, then you can start drafting your plans to make it easier to communicate them across different teams. According to CMI’s ...