Coming soon to a SERP near you: Google brings bidding to Local Services Ads Google announced in September 2020 that it will open up Local Services Ads (LSAs) to auction-based bidding. Right now its focus is on the US market and a limited subset of advertisers – but it’s expected that these innovations will fairly quickly wing their way … Read More
Please Google, can I have my search terms back?
Please Google, can I have my search terms back? So, the search terms report within Google Ads will now be showing only search terms that reach a higher volume. Why is Google doing this? Will it affect your Google Ads campaigns? And is there anything you can do (apart from bad mouthing Google on social media along with the … Read More
B2B sales prospecting: email copywriting made easy
B2B sales prospecting: email copywriting made easy For some reason, everything salespeople know about successful prospecting and relationship building seems to go out the window when they sit down to write an introductory email. Don’t ask me why: it just happens. Instead of writing a short, snappy introduction that will generate leads and enquiries they reach for the latest marketing … Read More
2020 Google Ads: Average Position and Phrase Match are dead and buried
2020 Google Ads: Average Position and Phrase Match are dead and buried Late last year Google Ads gave the kiss of death to two metrics long relied upon by advertisers. Namely, average position and phrase match. What does this mean for your search advertising strategy and what the hell was Google thinking? Here’s the low-down on Google’s latest … Read More
Why Churchill’s war on verbosity is the type of government cut we need today
Winston Churchill led Britain through World War II, but he also fought a much longer war on another front. While the Battle of Britain raged over the English skies, Churchill took aim at his staff’s preference for long-windedness over instant clarity. And the salvos he fired still hit the mark today. In the age of screen reading the scan … Read More
SEO 2019: What should you be doing?
It comes to something when Brian Dean (aka Backlinko) relegates links to almost an afterthought of his review of what will be needed for SEO in 2019. Don’t get me wrong. He’s at pains to stress that ‘Google recently came out and said that content and links are [still] their #1 and #2 ranking factors’. But he’s also aching to … Read More
Why your bounce rate and time on page data from Google Analytics is pants
Let’s start with showing some love: I really appreciate all that Google Analytics offers for free. I love using it – and you are pretty much lost without some kind of Analytics to guide you through the minotaur’s labyrinth that is your website. And now let’s be a hater: The way Google Analytics calculates bounce rate and time … Read More
Your go-to guide to Google Tag Manager
Quite simply you need Google Tag Manager. GTM makes your life so much easier. It dispenses with the need to go running to your web developer every time you need to add a tag, code snippet or change the way you track your audience. This go-to GTM guide is for those who are wondering what all the fuss is … Read More
Is the disruptive power of voice search coming soon – or is all the fuss just a premature ejaculation?
Hear this: Voice search is going to transform our digital lives – and, apparently, it’s set to do so in the next few years. Or so the story goes: But the voice search narrative is actually far from uncontested. I ask you: Is voice search really set to become the loudest and proudest of our SEO future? Or … Read More
Email outreach and the best SEO guide ever
Here are some quick thoughts on email outreach best practice courtesy of my new buddies over at Mangools. First the back story… This is a real-life example of just how effective email outreach can be when it’s carried out with wit, intelligence and careful research and targeting. A while back I published the last blog post from … Read More
PPC keywords – does the long tail still wag Google Ad’s dog?
Long tail keywords are often hailed as the understated heroes of search: they are cast as the SEO’s saviour and the PPC specialist’s best friend. Hmmm: not convinced. Here’s how the story goes. In terms of SEO… Long tail keywords are said to be where competition is less fierce – and so offer low hanging fruit ready for … Read More
Say hello to Google Ads (and wave goodbye to Google AdWords)
Say hello to Google Ads (and wave goodbye to Google AdWords) You may have heard that Google is retiring its AdWords brand in the biggest PPC shake-up since 2000 – when it first launched the service into a PPC space that was still very much in its infancy. Need more info? Here you go… A quick PPC … Read More