3 SEO Lessons from the Presidential Election

As we approach the end of the presidential race, it’s time to reflect on what we’ve learned.  More specifically, what are the key takeaways that we can apply to our digital marketing?

 

That’s right, while you were watching the debates you were subconsciously learning about marketing. :)

 

In this article, I’ll walk through 3 of the SEO lessons you picked up along the way…

 

1. The Wisdom of the Crowd

We’re all familiar with how our presidents are elected in the United States.  On Election Day, we go to the polls and cast our vote.  Those votes are tallied up and the candidate with the most votes wins.

 

While this is not a perfect example, it does loosely follow the phenomenon known as the “wisdom of the crowd.”

 

Studies have shown that when you average the guesses, or votes, of a crowd you’ll end up very close to the correct answer.  The classic example is when a crowd of people try to guess the weight of a cow.  It turns out that the average of the weights guessed will be remarkably close to the actual weight.  You can learn more about this by reading The Wisdom of Crowds by James Surowiecki.

 

This is important to understand because Google uses this phenomenon to rank websites in their search engine.  Every time you use Google and click on the search results you’re casting a vote.  You’re either telling Google you like what you see on the first page or you don’t like what you see.  Over time, Google uses that data to ensure the best webpages show up at the top of the results.

 

Think about that for a minute.  You have the power to influence Google’s search results just like you have the power to influence the election!

 

2. The Skeletons In Your Closet

In politics, your past will certainly haunt you.  We’ve seen this time and time again during this election.  Every other day there’s a new audio recording of a candidate flip flopping on a key topic or a video revealing unsavory behavior.  I don’t even have to mention a specific example because we can all quickly think of a handful on our own.

 

Depending on the size of the skeleton in the closet, candidates can easily lose elections because of something they did or said in the past.

 

The same is true with SEO.  Just because you’re ranking well now doesn’t mean Google won’t eventually find a skeleton in your website’s closet.  For example, Google may discover that you paid for other websites to link to you.  Or maybe you created several websites that are using nearly identical website copy.  These tactics may go unnoticed for a while, but once Google finds out, your SEO candidacy can come to an end.

 

3. Reputation By Association

In politics, you need to be extra careful about who you hang out with and who you do business with.  Trump received a lot of backlash when he praised Putin and gave an impression that he and Putin were friends.  Then Hilary found herself under fire for receiving money from Morocco.

 

Both examples hurt the respective candidate’s reputation, and in turn, hurt their campaign.

 

Guess what, this can also happen with your SEO.  Google reviews the websites that are linking to you (and that you’re linking to) because those are your “online friends.”  If a lot of low quality (aka spammy) websites are linking to you, then that can hurt your website’s reputation, which in turn, will hurt your Google rankings!

7 AdWords Tips Google Doesn't Want You To Know

Paying more for the same service is never a good business practice.

 

Yet this happens all the time with Google AdWords. People who are new to AdWords set up campaigns and let them run, often with profitable results, but they don't realize they're massively overpaying for their clicks. Or, on the other end of the spectrum, they give up on campaigns that should be profitable when early results don't look good.

 

Either way, Google wins. The search giant makes more than $100 million from AdWords per day. And a good chunk of that cash is from advertisers who run inefficient campaigns.

 

Of course, you'd rather be increasing your profits rather than padding Google's pockets, and that's where we can help. Here we've compiled a list of tips that can help most advertisers optimize their campaigns and make better use of their budgets. Google probably wishes we'd keep these tips under wraps, but we won't lose any sleep over this - Google would do just fine without folks like you overpaying.

 

#1: Don't launch campaigns over the weekend

You can't properly optimize if you lack sufficient data. It's not only that you want to have lots of clicks to analyze, but you also need to have the right kinds of clicks in your campaigns.

 

For many businesses, most of your traffic will occur Monday through Friday, so you should launch new campaigns to get clicks on those days. That means you'd ideally want to start a campaign earlier in the week so you have time throughout the week to collect data. People behave differently when searching the Web on weekends, and you don't want these differences clouding your initial data.

 

#2: Spread the impressions around

In addition to collecting enough data, you also need to make sure your data is properly distributed among your ads. The temptation is to use the AdWords default option to "optimize for clicks," but doing this might cause more traffic to go to certain ads over others. In the first stages of optimizing, it's more important to spread out clicks so you give all ad variations a fair shot. Set ads in new campaigns to "rotate indefinitely."

 

#3:  Block bad Display Network placements

The Display Network is a great source of cheap, high-volume traffic. But if you're not careful, you'll end up paying for a ton of clicks that don't convert into leads and sales.

 

If your Display Network CTR is suffering, try running a Placement report in Google AdWords. This report will show which Display Network websites are showing your ads, as well as metrics such as impressions and conversions from each of those sites. Identify which websites don't send converting traffic and block them in your campaigns. Oftentimes, you'll find these websites have little to do with the goods and services you're marketing.

 

#4: Always split test new ads

A good online advertising strategy is always evolving. Riding the performance of a single high-performing ad is only a recipe for temporary success. Split testing at least two ads per ad group is essential for maintaining success and staying ahead of the curve.

 

Early on in your campaign, don't waste time split testing ads that are just slight variations of each other. Instead, write ads that employ different sales tactics. Try one ad that touts a benefit of what you're selling, then another that mentions your limited-time sale. You can also write ads that appeal to emotions using simple, powerful words such as "imagine" and "discover."

 

Don't instantly give up on ads that you're split testing. Go through your standard steps of optimization. That said, don't hesitate to shut down a struggling ad and replace it with something completely new.

 

#5: Check for landing page congruence

Do your ads make sense with your landing pages? If your ad makes a promise that isn't reflected by your landing page, then your conversion rate will certainly suffer. That's bad for ROI. Landing page congruence issues can become problematic if you've split testing numerous ads and drifted from your original concepts.

 

Landing page congruence is also important for design reasons, especially with campaigns for your mobile ads. Your landing page content could be perfect on desktops, but that doesn't matter if your targeting mobile devices and your mobile landing page isn't properly configured or designed.

 

#6: Create separate campaigns for your top keywords

Finding keywords that win big won't take long. These keywords are great for ROI, but bad for optimization as they'll dominate your clicks and your budget.

 

The solution? Run your proven keywords in their own separate campaigns. As you find more winners, move them over. You can pump up the budget for your winning keywords while spending less money on the rest (including new keywords you're testing).

 

#7: Check your Impression Share

Getting your ads seen can be difficult if you're marketing within a highly competitive niche. If you feel like your impressions are lower than they should be, then you can check your Impressions Share to learn how completely you're reaching your potential audience. Add this data to your AdWords account interface by clicking the Columns tab, then the "Customize columns" and "Competitive metrics" options.

 

To remedy a low impression share, either increase your bid or improve the quality of your campaign. Remember that low CTRs and landing page problems - usually either congruence or page load issues - can sink your campaigns' quality scores, resulting in more expensive costs and less-favorable ad placements.

 

Conclusion

Don't be too hasty when optimizing your campaigns. Take the time to dig into under-performing campaigns and find out exactly what's not working. In most cases, if you can isolate the problem, then you can also create a solution. However, don't be afraid to turn off under-performing ads and keywords. Run with what works while never stop looking for your next big winners.

The 6 Key Metrics to Track in Your Email Marketing

Email marketing can be powerful and far-reaching -- more people use email than Facebook and Twitter combined -- but you won't get far if you're going in blind.

Email marketing is like any other form of online marketing -- you'll only succeed if you optimize, and optimizing requires data. But which data should you track to learn the most about your campaigns?

The answer to that question depends on the goals of each of your email campaigns. If you're optimizing an email meant to generate sales, you'll look at different data than you would for an email meant to bring visitors to your blog. Keeping these goals in mind will eventually help you optimize more efficiently.

So where to begin?

In this post, I'll review 6 key metrics to track in your email marketing campaigns. I'll also explain how each metric can help to optimize emails with different goals.

Before Getting Started...

You can't collect the data you'll need until you create special tracking URLs through a Web analytics platform. I recommend Google Analytics, a powerful (and free) analytics tool.

In order to track traffic to your website from email campaigns, you'll need to use the URL Builder to create special tracking URLs.

With these tracking URLs installed, you'll see how email recipients react to your campaigns and interact with your website. Then you can really get your hands dirty.

Metric #1: Clickthrough Rate

Clickthrough rate, or CTR, is perhaps the most universally important metric worth tracking. Whether you're promoting a sale or registering subscribers for a webinar, you'll always want recipients to click on links or share buttons in your emails. Engaging email campaigns earn more clicks from recipients. If your CTR is unusually low, then you'll know your messaging needs work.

To calculate CTR, divide your total clicks by the number of emails that reached their destination. Then multiply the answer by 100.

Don't be surprised if your CTR seems low. A study by Hubspot.com found companies that send 16 to 30 emails per month see median clickthroughs of 6.5 percent (and that's twice the CTR of companies that launch just one or two email campaigns per month).

Metric #2: Conversion Rate

If CTR measures engagement, then conversions measure effectiveness.

If the goal of your campaign is to entice people to complete an action -- such as requesting a quote, downloading an e-book or making an online purchase -- then anyone who follows through counts as a conversion.  These actions can be tracked in Google Analytics by setting up Goals.

To calculate your conversion rate, divide the number of email recipients who completed their desired action by the total number of emails that reached their destination. Multiple the answer by 100.

Conversion rates will always be smaller than CTR. However, a strong CTR with a weak conversion rate usually means your offer or your landing page needs some TLC.

Metric 3: Email Sharing/Forwarding Rate

If the goal of your email campaign is to get people talking about your business, then you'll want to pay close attention to your email sharing and forwarding rate. This is a measurement of how many people click on "forward" or "share" buttons embedded in your email. Shares and forwards can help raise awareness of blogs and social media profiles, and they're great for organically advertising compelling services and sales.

To calculate this rate, divide the total number of clicks on share/forward buttons by the total number of emails you've delivered. Multiply the answer by 100.

Shares and forwards also usually bring new people to your email list. Also, this metric can help you understand which campaigns your customers find to be most compelling.

Metric #4: Bounce Rate

Are your emails reaching their intended targets? Although email marketing isn't as engaging as social media marketing, it's still powerful because emails reach their intended targets and have tremendous staying power.

Emails remain in inboxes until they're deleted, creating opportunities for reengagement.

Unless, of course, those emails bounce, meaning they can't be delivered to recipients' inboxes. These can be "soft" bounces -- temporary problems usually resulting from server problems -- or they can be "hard" bounces from email addresses no longer being valid. Too many hard bounces can cause your ISP to flag you as a spammer, which can harm your marketing efforts. Delete invalid email addresses from your lists as soon as you're made aware of them.

To calculate your bounce rate, divide the number of bounced emails by the total number of emails you've sent. Multiply the answer by 100.

Check your bounce rate if an email campaign surprisingly underperforms. You might find that a hardware issue, not a marketing issue, is impeding your efforts.

Metric #5: Growth Rate

Even with stellar CTRs and conversions, your efforts will eventually fizzle out if you're not adding new emails to your list. That's because your list will shrink over time as people get new email accounts, unsubscribe or flag your messages as spam. Your growth rate is the no-nonsense answer to whether you need to more urgently grow your list.

To calculate your growth rate, subtract the number of emails you've lost from your total new subscribers. Divide the answer by the total number of email addresses on your list, then multiply that answer by 100. Positive numbers are good; negative numbers, not so much.

Metric 6: ROI

Is your email marketing campaign profitable, or are you spinning your wheels? Calculating your ROI gives you the answer. You'll definitely need to outfit your emails with analytics tracking URLs in order to learn your overall ROI.

To calculate this metric, divide the amount of money earned by your campaign by the money you've invested in your campaign. Multiply the answer by 100 to get your return on investment. Don't expect all of your campaigns to be profitable right off the bat, especially if you don't have a sizeable email list. But keeping track of your ROI will help you stay within your email marketing budget.

Conclusion

Email marketing is powerful and effective, but only if you know how to optimize. The six metrics reviewed in this article are a great start. Become proficient in monitoring these metrics, and you can rest easier knowing whether your campaigns are hitting their targets.