by Mindy Weinstein, for Search Engine Journal
Key Takeaways:
- SEO today is more than optimizing keywords, it has to do with understanding the searcher.
- Search engines have become places to find quick answers. Instead of just focusing on keywords, we need to start creating content that directly answers those questions.
- Local SEO will become more prevalent as customers rely more on map results.
Why it Matters:
SEO is constantly evolving, which means that in order to create a relevant and effective SEO strategy, we have to keep up with the trends. From a glance, optimizing pages for keywords is important. But as time goes on, anticipating changes search engines make will help us continue to rank at the top of search.
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by Ross Simmonds, for Foundation
Key Takeaways:
- Customers are increasingly savvy at using online resources to evaluate SaaS products
- Comparison pages are an excellent way to meet these customers where they are
- By capturing this bottom-of-funnel traffic, SaaS companies can own the narrative and drive sales
Why it Matters:
If you’re a SaaS company, odds are you have competitors (if you don’t, congratulations - you have a monopoly!). Customers know that, for every SaaS product they’re considering, there are competitors that may offer a better/cheaper/stronger/faster version. It’s only natural that they’ll take to Google to find product comparisons that answer their questions.
Comparison pages are nothing new when it comes to landing pages for paid search. However, many companies ignore the opportunity to create organic landing pages (and even video content) that target these same keywords. By creating honest comparison and alternative pages, SaaS companies have the opportunity to capture highly motivated, bottom-of-funnel traffic. And because these landing pages are catering to brand vs. brand keywords, there’s no reason to worry about advertising for the competition; these users already know your competitors exist.
by John Smith, for Search Engine Land
Key Takeaways:
- Google makes up over 90% of the global search engine market, and that sheer size often leaves smaller, newer search engines to squabble for a mere 2-4% market share.
- As search marketers, our demand for ever-higher search volume makes us partly responsible for the lack of competition within the search engine space.
- If we want to see a search ecosystem with more competition and a wide range of engines to choose from, we should explore marketing on smaller search engines like Ecosia and Brave Search.
Why it Matters:
In this article, our very own Paid Media Analyst, John Smith outlines why we owe it to ourselves -- and our clients -- to do more than “look into” smaller search engines. By leaving these platforms on the margins as we chase the volume dragon on Google, we deny them the tools and resources they need to grow. And we keep ourselves beholden to Google.
Our big takeaway is: if we want a more diverse field of search engine options, search marketers need to help make that happen. We need to leave dedicated room in our budgets to test these platforms, knowing that volume might be lower, and it might be hard to scale. And we need to do our research, connect with reps from these companies, and explain their value to our clients to spread the word. Without that, Google stays at 90% market share, and we miss out on the chance to grow and understand that, contrary to popular belief, search is more than just Google.
by Kevin Indig, for kevin-indig.com
Key Takeaways:
Building a career in SEO will take you through several distinct phases marked by milestones, like:
- Early: LEARN! Especially by reverse-engineering the successes of competitors
- Mid: Decide if you want to be a manager or remain an SME
- Advanced: Develop your leadership skills
Why it Matters:
If you want a career path with consistent advancement and fulfillment, there’s nothing more important than setting goals for yourself. For these goals to work, they must stretch you but also be attainable given where you’re at in your career.
Kevin walks through the stages he’s experienced - Early, Mid and Advanced - with recommendations for what you should be focused on at each. If you’re feeling stuck in your career or just want to be sure that you’re moving in the right direction, we strongly suggest giving this article a read.
Other Interesting Stories:
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