MGWM

Searchlite: Are Core Web Vitals Worth the Effort? and Other Search News

Table of Contents

This month's Searchlite intro written by SEO Analyst, Cristiana Hawthorne

Mirroring the changing of seasons, Uproer is going through some ourselves! We are happy to share that we are growing our team (keep your eye out for their intros soon.) And that's not all - We've been fleshing out our content strategy & SEO copywriting service for some time, and are happy to share that it is in full swing.

We approach content from a data-driven perspective, rather than playing the content guessing game. The proof is in the numbers: With our SEO content strategy, an ecommerce client has seen +1,200% organic traffic Y/Y and +165% revenue Y/Y. If this sounds like something your team or someone you know could use in 2021, drop us a line.

 

And speaking of growth and process, Uproer has just committed to being a sustaining donor to the Brand Lab. If you're unfamiliar with their mission, they are improving diversity and inclusion in the marketing industry through mentorship and hiring programs, and workshops. The whole team is energized and excited to be working with a group that is making huge strides to a more equitable marketing and advertising industry.

Here's what else is going on in the search world.

Core Web Vitals Not Really Your Problem?

by Roger Montti, Search Engine Journal

Key Takeaways:

  • Google's Core Web Vital metrics (CWVs) are becoming a ranking factory in May. Many SEOs and website owners are struggling to improve them
  • The burden of improving these metrics is falling on website owners when it's the CMS's that aren't adopting CWV best practices (not that they need to, Google isn't their customer)
  • In time, the CMS development community may prioritize CWVs, but for now, users of these softwares are being pressured to "hack" together solutions to stay in Google's good graces

Why it Matters:
Core Web Vitals will be a ranking factor. To what degree? That is unknown. This scenario presents a challenge: How much do you invest in improving your CWVs when you don’t know the expected impact? This isn’t the first time that Google has used its massive PR power to cry “ranking factor!” Similar rollouts with mobile-friendliness and site security had minimal immediate impact on rankings. Our advice? Improving UX is never a bad thing, so do what's reasonable. But, content and links are going to remain far bigger ranking factors than Core Web Vitals. Don't pull all of your resources away from what really matters!

3 Benefits Of Using Google My Business With Paid Search

by John Smith, Uproer

Key Takeaways:

  •  For small businesses or businesses with a local target audience, Google My Business can unlock new conversion actions and ad placements within your Google Ads account.
  • This article goes over the benefits of linking the two platforms and walks you through the quick-and-easy way to level up your paid search presence with a single extension.

Why it Matters:
By leveraging location extensions through Google My Business, you can significantly improve your presence in local search and cut cost in the process. Additional conversion metrics, while not able to integrate with bid strategies, offer new insights into how customers in your locations are engaging with your business through Google Maps. If you care about calls and foot traffic to your business, location extensions through Google My Business are a surefire way to drive leads & store visits through search.

Content Refreshing: How to Win Traffic by Updating Old Content

by Jimmy Daly and Ryan Law, Animalz

Key Takeaways:

  • Content decays for a variety of reasons, including increased competition in the space, content "Freshness", quality of content, SERP changes, or even an algorithm update.
  • Identifying decaying content through Google Analytics is key in adding effort behind tactics that work.
  • You can refresh content by expanding it, modernizing it, ensuring little optimizations are up to scratch (page titles, meta data, etc), condensing it, promoting it, and retargeting the audience.

Why it Matters:

Updating decaying content is a normal part of the internet, but your content can be a traffic driver for longer if it is refreshed. However, the only way content gets updated on a regular basis is if it's built into a workflow that works for you. So be sure to mark those calendars for GA pulls and create a workflow that helps identify struggling content.

Up level your bidding practice with Enhanced Manual Bidding

by Piyush Naik, Lauren Tallody, and Dianna Wu, Microsoft Advertising Blog

Key Takeaways:

  • Bing has announced it will automatically transition all existing search, shopping, and Dynamic Search Ads campaigns without any automated bidding strategies in place to Enhanced CPC
  • This change will roll out between March 2021 and April 2021

Why it Matters:
eCPC has proven successful (and relatively popular) on Google, so we also expect these changes to bring positive results to Bing advertisers. It will also be interesting to watch how platform-wide performance shifts as the algorithms mature. This further shows that the future of PPC is -- and has been -- looking more and more automated. As we’ve said before, we’re losing granularity left and right. And there are good, privacy-focused reasons for it, but we still need to plan for changes like these before they happen. Otherwise, we’ll just be left griping about the search term reports of yesteryear and missing out on helping businesses grow.

#cf 11: a powerful (& under-used) tactic: product-led content marketing

by fio, content folks

 Key Takeaways: 

  • Publishing blog content that addresses pain points related to your product or service is an incredibly potent way to introduce your business to new people who didn’t know they needed you
  • With this type of content, you can effectively solve the user’s problem while subtly weaving your product into the solution
  • This kind of content requires extensive knowledge of both the product and the customers it serves. Because of that, it’s a difficult and under-used form of content marketing
  • However, it converts better than many types of content and is extremely valuable

Why It Matters:

Product-led content should be at the forefront of any content marketing strategy that aims to actually increase conversions. It effectively solves the problem of how to get in front of an audience who needs your product but doesn’t know it yet. Because it satisfies search intent, it can and does rank well for non-brand keywords. But unlike top-of-funnel content, the business impact of product-led content tends to be more immediate and measurable.

Free Tools of the Month:

  • Thruuu

    Samuel Schmitt has just released an updated version of his Thruuu tool, that gives a great top-level analysis of the SERP for any given keyword.

  • ​Reddico SERP Speed

    SERP Speed is a tool that helps you compare your page speed to your competitor's at a keyword level.

If you find Searchlite useful, please consider sharing it with a friend. And if you're not already a subscriber,  signup here!

 

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MGWM

Sr. Manager, SEO & Operations

Dave Sewich

dave sewich

Dave made an accidental foray into digital marketing after graduating from the University of Minnesota Duluth and hasn’t looked back. Having spent the first part of his marketing journey brand-side, he now works with the Uproer team to help clients realize their goals through the lens of search.

When not at work, you’ll find Dave staying active and living a healthy lifestyle, listening to podcasts, and enjoying live music. A Minnesotan born and raised, his favorite sport is hockey and he still finds time to skate once in a while.

Dave’s DiSC style is C. He enjoys getting things done deliberately and systematically without sacrificing speed and efficiency. When it comes to evaluating new ideas and plans, he prefers to take a logical approach, always sprinkling on a bit of healthy skepticism for good measure. At work, Dave’s happiest when he has a chance to dive deep into a single project for hours at a time. He loves contributing to Uproer and being a part of a supportive team but is most productive when working solo.

Founder & CEO

Griffin Roer

Griffin discovered SEO in 2012 during a self-taught web development course and hasn’t looked back. After years of working as an SEO consultant to some of the country’s largest retail and tech brands, Griffin pursued his entrepreneurial calling of starting an agency in May of 2017.

Outside of work, Griffin enjoys going to concerts and spending time with his wife, two kids, and four pets.

Griffin’s DiSC style is D. He’s driven to set and achieve goals quickly, which helps explain why he’s built his career in the fast-paced agency business. Griffin’s most valuable contributions to the workplace include his motivation to make progress, his tendency towards bold action, and his willingness to challenge assumptions.