Inexperienced veterinarian

We’ve all been through it: inheriting a PPC account that someone else has managed. And we’ve all had that “WTF” moment after looking under the hood, when we’re baffled by how the account even survived to this point. But you never truly know what drove the previous PPC manager to do what they did — were they being downright dirty, were they just inexperienced, or were they overwhelmed with so many other tasks that they got sloppy? It could be any one of those circumstances. And hey, it’s a small world, so the last thing you want to do when inheriting a PPC account is bash the previous agency or professional to your new client or boss. It certainly does take some restraint as you’re pulling apart the logic of an account that doesn’t seem to make any sense. My agency recently inherited an account with some major blunders, and it’s been haunting me as I try to figure out why they made the choices they did. I wanted to share with … [Read more...] about Downright Dirty, Inexperienced Or Overwhelmed? 

One of the limitations of information on the Web is that it is organized differently at each site on the Web. As a newly granted Google patent notes, there is no official catalog of information available on the internet, and each site has its own organizational system. Search engines exist to index information, but they have issues, as described in this new patent that make finding information challenging. Limitations on Conventional Keyword-Based Search Engines The patent granted to Google, in September of 2016, discusses a way to organize information on the Web in a manner which can help to better organize and index that information, using context vectors to better understand how words are being used. The patent describes limitations of search engines that are based upon indexing content using keywords, such as: A search engine working with Conventional keyword searching will return all instances of the keyword being searched for, regardless of how that word is used on a site. This … [Read more...] about Google Patents Context Vectors to Improve Search

Google conspiracy theories aren’t new. Everyone likes to believe their rankings have tanked thanks to something other than poor-quality content or bad linking practices. In reality, a lot of people are guilty of less-than-great SEO. At the same time, it’s hard to ignore the fact that some businesses, no matter how “white hat” their methods, can never seem to gain traction in the SERPs. If you’re having trouble getting the traffic you want, it might just be conspiracy fact. A Small Business Problem: The Adwords Platform Isn’t Very Friendly One of the first nuggets of marketing advice you’re given, as a small business owner, is to market online using Google Adwords. It’s supposed to be a relatively predictable, and affordable, method for generating new leads. But, that train left the station years ago. Google Adwords is expensive, and it’s mostly where large corporations (or super-savvy and experienced marketers) play around with ad … [Read more...] about Does Google Discriminate Against Some Businesses?

Does the following scenario sound familiar? You go the extra mile for your customer, recruit her to sing your praises, write a striking case study and send it off to your email list to do its magic. Then you do a little dance…and you wait. And wait… Crickets. Case studies of customer success let you touch pain points and counter objections in story form, in a way that doesn’t feel too salesy. By reading how their peer overcame challenges and reached the place they’d like to reach themselves, prospects develop an emotional connection with your satisfied customer and, through them, with your company. Plus, once your case study is ready, you can use this one story across the funnel for maximum impact — from marketing copy to webinars to landing pages. According to Content Marketing Institute and MarketingProfs’ 2015 Benchmarks, Budgets, and Trends report, 77% of B2B and 35% of B2C marketers use case studies. And, nearly 60% of the B2B marketers who … [Read more...] about Creating a Case Study that Converts

Search marketing matters. As the owner of a local search engine optimization (SEO) consulting agency, it seems to me that it’s almost every day I hear potential clients say things like, “Well, I can get SEO done for $50 a month” or whatever price-range they have been given by a previous guru. After being in the SEO industry for a fairly long time, I have met more than a handful of marketers who outsource their SEO and link building, and most of them think they are getting such a great deal, but from the looks of things, it seems to me that none of them are making any money through any of their online efforts. When looked upon from afar, there’s really no such thing as cheap SEO or cheap link building. Maybe it’s a good thing for those of you (close-minded) who “think” your’e getting a good deal, but the truth is, there’s no such thing as a cheap SEO plan. There are those who are very desperate, and they offer SEO services, as well … [Read more...] about Why There’s No Such Thing as Cheap SEO or Link Building