Technology News and Industry Knowledge

Keyword research is a cornerstone of SEO success, but many SEOs do it incorrectly. Instead of focusing on keywords that drive revenue, they only chase traffic volume. Instead of focusing on keywords that generate revenue, they often prioritize traffic volume alone. This guide tackles a new approach to keyword research that boosts your online presence and directly contributes to your bottom line.  By the end, you’ll understand how to transform keywords into valuable assets that drive business growth and profitability. Why most keyword research is wrong Before writing this article, I searched for and read several keyword research guides. They all suffered from the same problem. They only talked about how to acquire traffic from Google and not about why. And the “why” is the most crucial part of keyword research. As such, this article is split into two parts. First, we’ll examine why we use keywords and how they lead to business success. Then, we’ll examine the process fo...

Google introduced a feature called “ optimized targeting ” for Google Display Network, or GDN, campaigns in 2021.  This feature promises to look beyond your campaigns’ manually selected audiences to seek out ones you may have missed.  Google touts that it can find new customers beyond your existing audience without increasing bids and still meet your goals. Sounds enticing, right? But while it might seem like this feature could scale your campaign and improve its performance, the reality is that it will place your ad on irrelevant websites and generate a high volume of invalid clicks, ultimately resulting in poor performance. Navigating this feature Optimized targeting is automatically enabled when you create a GDN campaign at the ad group level.  This means that unless you specifically disable it, your campaigns will be subject to this feature right from the outset. When testing this feature, several significant issues crop up: Google operates a black-box appr...

My first day working at my company was Cyber Monday. Everyone gave me a warm welcome, told me they were busy and let me watch. As I rolled my office chair from desk to desk and listened to calls, I learned about what Cyber Monday meant to ecommerce. I’m reminded of this experience as the 2024 holiday season approaches, and I think about the new marketers who will experience the Black Friday through Cyber Monday trial by fire. Whether it’s your first holiday season or your 20th, continue reading to learn how to achieve the best results for your business or clients. Let’s examine the holiday ecommerce season through three lenses:  The consumer. The publisher. The marketer.   The consumer Inflation has heavily influenced this year’s economic outlook.  U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell announced a half-percentage point cut in interest rates, the first since the COVID-19 pandemic, on Sept. 18. This rate cut is expected to lower interest rates for c...

Automated SEO audits from tools like Ahrefs or Semrush are a bane of the SEO industry. While an SEO audit may be useful, it won’t help build your SEO strategies, achieve your KPIs and grow your business. Your entire SEO strategy might become misdirected. Why most SEO audits are inherently flawed There are three big core flaws with SEO audits: 1. Limited value for decisionmakers An audit is filled with data that’s hard to understand for anyone without an SEO background. 2. It’s often detached from the overall marketing strategy Most automated suggestions are based on a quasi-scientific SEO score that may mean nothing for your business KPIs. This is in addition to the typical myopia in the management ranks (e.g., if graphs show growth, we’re doing well). Traffic growth doesn’t always benefit the business. For example, a B2B SaaS company could waste thousands on ranking pages with poor conversion potential. Sure, the company would have lots of organic visits, but this effo...

AI can significantly streamline SEO tasks, freeing time to focus on high-impact strategies. However, with new AI tools constantly emerging, it can be overwhelming to know which ones truly enhance productivity and which may complicate things.  From generating unique images to optimizing content, AI platforms like Grok, ChatGPT and Midjourney offer endless possibilities.  Below, I’ll share 15 AI tools I’ve used for SEO, each of which has delivered great results. While many alternatives are available, these tools are a strong starting point for exploring and refining your SEO approach. 15 AI tools you should use for SEO 1. Alli AI Alli AI works with any CMS, bypassing technical limitations to use AI to help automate on-page SEO for: Links missing titles. Missing image alt and title text. External link targets. Site speed optimization. Content recommendations. The tool analyzes your site and gives you a step-by-step guide that explains how to optimize it for be...