The 7 Best PPC Blogs that Every Search Marketer Should Read

As a search marketer, you find yourself in a constant cycle of discovering new ways to get the most traffic and visibility for your ads across all the major search engines. And, while PPC is an extremely effective way of doing so, it’s not as simple as throwing an ad together and waiting for results. Read on for the best PPC blogs to follow and learn from.

The Best PPC Blogs

Ranking algorithms and marketing tactics are always changing, and there’s always an improved way for you to be doing something. While trial-and-error can get you pretty far, the faster (and more cost effective) way to strengthen your search marketing efforts is by keeping up-to-date on the industry and reading about what other people are having success with.

Looking for a place to find good information? Try one of these blogs.

#1 PPC Hero

PPC Hero is definitely sought after as one of the best blogs out there on the subject. Operated by Hanapin marketing, this blog is the go-to source for just about everything you could want to learn about SEM. In addition to great blog posts, PPC Hero also plays host to countless webinars where you can get information from the top search marketing authorities.

PPC Hero Blog

In addition, you can find lots of risky experiments, interesting case studies, helpful tips and tricks, and valuable insights into the various strategies you can utilize as a search marketer. The materials are relevant to everyone, regardless of your expertise. And, their adventurous testing can help you avoid pitfalls with your own marketing money.

#2 Bing Ads Blog

You can’t keep pushing Bing aside as a non-worthy competitor. In fact, SEO Chat has announced that Bing now claims 21% share of the search engine market. In other words, it’s about time you came around to Bing if you haven’t already. Oftentimes, you can’t argue with the CPA and efficiency of a Bing campaign.

Bing Ads Blog

So, getting familiar with Bing will prove worthwhile. The Bing Ads Blog is a good place to go to start learning about what you can do to increase visibility and get better results with your Bing ads.

#3 AdWords Blog

The official AdWords blog gives you must-read info straight from the horse’s mouth. Google may not be the only frequently used search engine, but it is among the best out there, and that’s why you should keep a close eye on the information being published on the AdWords blog.

Google Adwords

Learn about new features and product news, but don’t expect to walk away with any in-depth information about running your individual campaigns. This is more of a top-level information site rather than one dedicated to the technical learning aspects. With that said, there are lots of blogs on this list that will teach you the latter and the AdWords blog still deserves a check-in every once in a while.

#4 Wordstream

Learn about PPC management and campaign strategies based on real-world data. The Wordstream blog covers a variety of different topics, including mobile advertising, content marketing, sales, search marketing, and affiliate marketing.

Wordstream Blog

Larry Kim, the sole author, is an absolute master when it comes to sharing content in an easy-to-digest way. From info graphics and white papers to guests posts and more. The posts you’ll find here are absolutely invaluable to your search marketing ventures. It also excels when it comes to giving advice specific to different industries, helping you target everything from hospitals to universities.

#5 iSpionage

Looking for unique insights? What about priceless strategies? iSpionage gives you all of that and more so that you can make the most of your PPC campaigns. Topics range from beginner-level guides to advanced digital marketing tactics that utilize dynamic number insertion. You’ll also get a balanced and fresh take on lots of common topics, making it a very useful blog to check out.

#6 Search Engine Watch, Land, and Journal

Search Engine Watch, Search Engine Land, and Search Engine Journal are three websites that you absolutely have to give the chance. They are ideal for filling up that free time you have on your commute or throughout your day, and they offer a healthy dose of information about SEM and PPC along with SEO and general news that relates to the digital space.

These three sites also rely heavily on guest blog posts, but don’t worry, they are of extremely high quality. This also means you get to enjoy a full scope of varying opinions on all sorts of subjects. Guest posters include Frederick Vallaeys (ex. AdWords guy), Larry Kim from Wordstream fame, and Ginny Marvin.

#7 CPC Strategy

The CPC Strategy blog is all about online retail optimization, touching on the Amazon Sales Acceleration Program, Google Shopping Management, and Paid Search Management. Here, you’ll discover an actionable game plan that you can use to help grow your brand, increase your revenue, and enjoy increased visibility.

Put Your Knowledge To Work! The best thing about learning something new is implementing it into your strategy so that you can see real results. Don’t just consume the knowledge offered by these blogs, put it into action. Follow the best PPC blogs to continue learning and stay current with the latest in the PPC world.

3 SEO Tips for Small Businesses

SEO Tips for Small Businesses

With every passing year, SEO, or search engine optimization, becomes increasingly complex topic, and one that small businesses are often afraid to start talking about. However, while it does have some complexities to it, SEO is essential to the success of any small business looking to start attracting customers online. This short guide will introduce you to three easy SEO tips for small businesses.

Whether you want to scale your audience outside of your geographical borders or even if you’re just trying to reach the local market, SEO should be considered your best friend and most powerful tool.

These three easy key concepts will help you get started.

#1 Know Your Audience

Sounds simple, right? This is a piece of the puzzle that you have the least control over. And, if you want to drive traffic to your website, it’s a crucial component to figure out.

At the end of the day, Google doesn’t care about how many keywords you have stuffed into your articles. They want to know what your site is about so that they can send the right people over to it. Figure out who your audience is, and what they are looking for, so that you can write content tailored to them.

#2 Study the Competition

No matter who you are or what you’re doing, it’s always worthwhile to take a bit of time and look at what your competition is doing. What are they doing that’s getting them results? How can you implement those tactics in a sleeker and more effective way?

If you aren’t ranking well in a search engine, look at your competitors who rank for the keywords you are targeting. Take notes about their website, their content, their keyword density, and so on. They’ve already put in the effort to figure out what works, figure out how you can make those methods even better.

#3 Maintain A Blog

A blog is beneficial for multiple reasons. First and foremost, it gives you a place where you can post updates, announcements, and other important information that you want to share with your audience. Secondly, and probably more importantly, it’s crucial for improving your website’s rankings.

Blog posts are a fantastic source for high-quality keywords, and Google loves seeing websites with a blog that has a steady stream of new, relevant, and targeted content. Plus, blog posts can be made very shareable, which means social media can be used to get the word out about your blog and business.

Add a call-to-action to the end of each blog post and you’ll begin to build authority while also using your content as a subtle lead generation tool.

Here are some tried and tested examples that convert:

● Get newsletter signups: “If you liked these tips, don’t forget to subscribe to our newsletter for more!”

● Get leads calling in: “Want more advice? Call us today for a free consultation.”

● Get interested customers: “Looking for the best __________? Stop by our store or browse our inventory online to see what we have to offer.”

Get Going! Implement these SEO tips for small businesses. These SEO fundamentals aren’t that difficult to implement and they can make a substantial difference in your website’s rankings.

How to Create Bulk Google UTM URLs

Bulk Google UTM Generator in Excel

Add another level of amazing insight into your website traffic by tagging your website links with Google Analytics UTM parameters. This is a must for me when I send out newsletters and launch paid campaigns. Read more to learn how to easily create bulk Google UTM URLs and download my free bulk Google UTM generator in Excel.

What Does UTM Stand for?

UTM stands for Urchin Tracking Module. UTM parameters are tags that you add to your URL, so that Google Analytics can track when someone clicks on your link.

Without the UTM tags, you have no idea in Google Analytics that the visitor was driven to your site via an email campaign or paid social campaign or any other campaign you promoted on the web.

Manual Creation of Google UTM

In the past, I’d go to this campaign URL builder for Google Analytics. I’d paste in my URLs one-by-one and then paste the final Google UTM URL into my newsletter. Even for static links that never change such as my landing page, I’d continue to create the same UTM parameters over and over. Very manual!

This UTM generator site is great but very manual and slow. To save you and me some time, I created a spreadsheet that bulk creates the Google UTM URL. You can save this file and then just update as needed.

UTM Parameters in Google Analytics

The following UTM parameters are available at the link above and in the Excel download below. Campaign source is required, and the remaining field are optional but recommended depending on the type of campaign.

Campaign Source – The referrer (i.e. google, newsletter)
Campaign Medium – Marketing medium (i.e. cpc, email, banner ad)
Campaign Name – Product, slogan, etc. (i.e. July Sale)
Campaign Term – Identify the paid keywords in your campaign
Campaign Content – Use to differentiate ads

Google Analytics Campaign Tracking

I don’t know about you, but I love tracking the effectiveness of my email campaigns. For example, how many visitors, the average session duration, or even goal conversions can be tracked back to the UTM tagged URL.

To learn more about email campaign tracking, please see my post on how to track email campaigns with Google Analytics.

So please update your campaign links with the Google UTM codes and download the bulk Google UTM creator below. The insight is addicting!

Download

Discover Lead Magnet Ideas from Site Search Tracking in Google Analytics

Discover lead magnet ideas from Site Search Tracking in Google Analytics

A hidden but insightful tool within Google Analytics is Site Search Tracking. Sounds complicated but that’s just the search box or bar that you see on most websites to help you find content.

You can set up Google Analytics to track search usage on your website. More importantly, it provides the exact terms that users were searching for on your website. Wow, this is great insight into the mind of your readers or users.

For example, are users searching for a topic that you have not covered in your blog? Or is there a popular search team that could be become a great opt-in pop up box? Or is your site navigation a bit confusing that users have to search for content that you thought was obvious?

We recommend the free WordPress Plugin from Sumo.com to offer lead magnets and sign up boxes.

How to Set Up Site Search on your Website

FIRST

First, login to Google Analytics and navigate to the property that you’d like to set up. You’ll find this under View Settings in the View section of the Admin panel.

Navigate to Admin >> View >> View Settings

SECOND

After you have clicked on View Settings, scroll down to the Site Search Settings area. Turn on Site Search

Tracking.

Then enter the query parameter or word that designates a search on your site. Mine is an “s” but I also entered “q” to be safe. It could also be search or query. To find your query parameter, do a search on your site and look in the URL.

For more on this, click on the following Google help article.

Make sure you click “save” when finished.

THIRD

Now that Site Search is set up, it’ll take some to build up your site search history. Assuming you have some history, you can now view reports to see how many searches are being performed and for what words or terms. Great insight!

Navigate to Behavior >> Site Search >> Overview

FOURTH

You can check out the number of searches on your site, search terms, and what pages on your website that users are performing searches.

Oh, by the way, you might as well check “on” the box to exclude bots and spiders from your stats.

Turn On Bot Filtering in Google Analytics

What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization

What is SEO? A beginner’s guide to what that means for your website.

What is SEO, exactly? In this digital age, the success of your business largely depends on its positive online presence. How are you creating a word for your brand and what are you doing to reach out to your potential customers online? These are some serious questions to consider if you want your business to grow and flourish.

Most people turn to the internet to look for information that will inform their purchasing choices and on an average of 3.5 billion searches happen per day (Google search statistics). When so many people are out there looking for so many things, how will they find out about you? Where will they encounter your business? How will they hear you over the noise of your competition?

SEO Definition

The answer is SEO. SEO means Search Engine Optimization, and it is the practice of optimizing your website to reach a higher rank in search engines like Google or Yahoo. What that means is that you can curate your website in such a way that it receives a high quantity of quality traffic through organic search engine results.

1) Optimized Content:

The most important aspect of a good SEO rating is a good content strategy. Having high-quality content on your website that is both meaningful and relevant is the key to brand communication. You can explore different types of content and content formats to find what fits your brand message better. Blogs have become the most important form because they help you create fresh and frequent content that is both original and populated with relevant keywords.

After all, SEO is the game of keywords.

Keywords are basically words that your customers are most likely to use in their searches. With the right keywords, you can catch their pulse and that can bring up your ranking without any additional effort. However, populating your website and blogs with popular keywords isn’t the only way of driving your SEO and it’s certainly not the most intelligent way too.

Longer tail keywords or key phrases are slightly longer but are more specific in nature – of course, they translate into less traffic but usually leads to a higher chance of a conversion. These key phrases, when used smartly, gives context your content and gives you an edge over your competitions.

2) Optimized Design:

Just like SEO optimized content, the images on your website should also be optimized in terms of size, format and quality. It’s not just about adding good images, you also need to insert the relevant alt tags and description tags so the search engines can locate them easily.

In a way, your images and videos are also a type of content and contribute to the overall aesthetics of your website. A website that looks good in terms of design – from the logo to the color palette, offers a seamless experience for its audience. That’s what urges them to continue exploring the website and stay there long enough to begin an interaction with you.

3) Optimized Website:

Users these days are highly impatient and are least likely to spend more than 10 seconds on a website that won’t load instantly. It’s an important factor for Google rankings, as faster loading sites usually appear first in searches. Slow pages lead to a disappointing user experience and no level of good content can change it.

You can check the speed of your website with Google’s PageSpeed Insights which analyzes your web pages and offers free suggestions to make them faster. There are numerous other resources too that can help you with this or you can seek help from SEO experts who will be able to assist you better. Apart from site loading speed, another thing to keep in mind is that your website should be responsive, interactive, engaging and mobile friendly.

If you are investing time and money in creating and developing a website, it makes sense to dedicate some resources to your website SEO as well.

After all, what’s the point of it all if no one ever gets to read it?