What Does SEO Cost in MN? + Other Search News

This month's newsletter intro contributed by SEO team member Jess Girardi.

Hi everyone!

Can you believe that it's almost October? So much has happened in the last month that we can barely fit it into our introduction. The main change? Our newest employee Cristiana is getting her SEO sea legs with the support of our SEO team - we can't wait for you to meet her.

Speaking of awesome women in SEO - The word of the last quarter is "inclusivity" and this has absolutely hit the SEO community, with groups like Women In Tech SEO coming front and center of this discussion. One of our favorite pieces of content from the past month was Kevin Indig's interview with Areej AbuAli who spoke about ways to make space for women and more representation in the tech field. It can be hard to believe that there is a problem until it's all laid out in front of you; Areej talks about noticing the lack of diversity when you look at speaker line ups, or lists of the best (blanks) in tech, or on company boards, or even in speaker/commenter round ups. Which is "CRAZY, right?"

In Areej's Women In Tech SEO group alone, there are over 2,000 members who are interested in tech SEO, who are women, there should be no reason for a lack of diversity in any space. The shift towards creating a more inclusive SEO environment isn't going to happen overnight, unfortunately. Creating meaningful and quality space for women and minorities is going to take deliberate action, planning, intentional outreach, and constant and consistent thought about the way we approach inclusivity every single day.

Now onto this month's marketing news.

 

 

What Does SEO Cost in MN? We Asked Local Agencies & Freelancers

by Uproer

The Story: We have a good pulse on the going rates for SEO services in Minnesota, but we wanted some hard data to compare against. So, we surveyed 29 local agencies & freelancers to learn how the market structures SEO engagements and what it charges.

Why it Matters: We were surprised to learn that nearly all SEO agencies in MN prefer the same pricing model - the monthly retainer - and there was strong consensus around what to charge. If you're price shopping for SEO locally, you're going to get a lot of proposals between $2,500 - $4,000/mo. Check out the post for more findings and data!

 

SEO ROI: How Much Revenue Does SEO Actually Produce?​

by DeepCrawl

The Story: The DeepCrawl team looks to answer a perennial question: how much does SEO actually contribute to the bottom line? Instead of hand waving and generalities, they break down the numbers and provide examples to help offer a better understanding of how SEO fits into the bigger picture of business growth.

Why it Matters: If SEO is an investment, that means it’s supposed to offer a return. But all too often, that return seems to be shrouded in mystery, at least in terms of revenue. Traffic and brand awareness are typically cited as the returns of investing in SEO, but those in and of themselves aren’t valuable.

In reality, SEO is uniquely suited to driving highly-relevant, high-converting traffic at a sustainable price. Using the tools at our disposal, we can connect the dots of disparate data points to form a clearer idea of how SEO is (or isn’t) contributing to the bottom line. If you’re investing in SEO, keep a close eye on your true return.

 

Why Google Ads and Google Analytics Conversions Don’t Align (And Why You Should Try The Attribution Beta)​

by PPC Hero

The Story: This article walks you through a few different scenarios to give you a sense of how -- and why -- Google Ads and Google Analytics attribute revenue differently across channels in the same time frame.

Why it Matters: When you’re running ads on Google, it’s important to make sure you have a clear source of truth that you stick to for reporting because revenue will look different in each platform. The distinction between “interaction time” and “conversion time” is the main reason that Google Analytics often shows higher revenue than Google Ads.

That doesn’t mean your ads are flopping. Instead, it just means that you need to consider how long it’s taking someone to convert after seeing your ads. And as the end of the quarter rolls around, it means that it might be worth asking yourself which model makes more sense for your client’s reports.

 

The Auteur Theory of Content Marketing: Why It Pays to Repeat Yourself​

by Animalz

The Story: Wes Anderson knows how to create a look, feel, and tone to his movies despite them all being unique and self-contained masterpieces. Animalz argues that the Wes Anderson approach be the way we create a content strategy. By using a handful of themes that repeatedly expose the reader to the core message of the blog, we overcome content marketing's biggest hurdle - one-time visitors.

Why it Matters: Sometimes we see repetition as a bad thing - and most of the time it's done poorly, so it is. But when executed correctly, you anchor your entire body of work to the strongest, most impactful messages for your business. That's why any good SEO will tell you it's about content quality, not quantity.

 

Why You Need a Strategy-First Approach to SEO​

by Re:signal

The Story: Kevin Gibbons of Re:signal shines a light on an all-too-common problem in SEO: starting with tactics, rather than strategy. In this article, we’re reminded of why it’s essential to build a strong strategic foundation before deciding on tactics and implementation.

Why it Matters: As an industry, we say it all the time: SEO should serve business goals. But what does that actually mean? It means that all SEOs, both in-house and at agencies, should take a strategy-first approach to SEO.

The benefits are several: for one, starting with a strategy based on business goals makes it more likely that you’ll actually end up where you want to go.

You’ll also be less distracted by new and shiny tactics because you’ll be able to quickly discern whether or not they fit into the overall strategy. If you have an overarching SEO strategy, revisit it often to see whether or not you’re on track.

 

Other Interesting Stories

• Internet Search Results Predict US COVID-19 Hotspots Weeks Later, Study Reveals​

  by ScienceAlert

• Amazon's Prime Day 2020 will take place Oct. 13-14

  by CNet

• Facebook Says it Will Stop Operating in Europe If Regulators Don’t Back Down

  by Vice

 

Free Tools of the Month: AlsoAsked

One of this month's free tools is a great way to find questions to answer in your content! Similar to Answer the Public, Also Asked pulls in the people also asked questions on SERPs to help you find what topic are related to the keyword you punch in!

 

 

Social Bearing

Social Bearing is a free analytics tool that lets you see the Twitter statistics for any account including tweet frequency, sentiment, word clouds, & links shared. This is a great way to gather insights on what's working for competitors (or your own brand) on Twitter and can provide you with new content ideas to go after. There are also paid options that provide advanced reporting.

 

 

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