The Impact of Google’s Generative Experience (SGE) on Organic Traffic

A new study by Authoritas reveals that Google’s planned integration of AI-generated search results, called Search Generative Experience (SGE), will significantly impact organic search rankings and traffic. The study analyzed 1,000 commercial search queries and found that SGE content appears for 86.8% of keywords, pushing down the first organic result by over 1,500 pixels on average.

Beyond Backlinks: E.E.A.T. – Your Guide to Authority in 2024 SEO

The SEO landscape is constantly shifting, and keeping up with the latest trends can feel like chasing a moving target. While backlinks remain a crucial ranking factor, Google’s algorithms are increasingly prioritizing content from credible sources and established authors. This is where the concept of E.A.T. (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) takes center stage. But for

Writing Better Titles Without Using Clickbait Tactics

Catchy, provocative headlines are the key to driving traffic and clicks online. But going overboard with hype and exaggeration can backfire, damaging your credibility and turning off readers. Here are some tips for writing strong headlines that attract attention without resorting to cheap clickbait tricks. Focus on Providing Real Value The best headlines make a

20 FAQs About Search Engine Optimization

Question: What is search engine optimization (SEO)? Answer: Search engine optimization (SEO) is the practice of optimizing websites and web pages to improve their visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). It involves various techniques and strategies to enhance website structure, content relevance, and authority, ultimately driving organic (non-paid) traffic from search engines.

When Can I Measure the ROI of My B2B Campaigns?

When you launch an advertising campaign, you want results. For B2C products, a digital ad with an incentive, such as a discount or limited-time sale, can lead ROI in short order.  The sales cycle is short.  Sales can also stop the minute you stop advertising. For B2B businesses, the sales cycle is much longer.  74%

Advertising During Uncertain Times: 11 Research Projects Tell the Same Story

If you’re looking for hard data on what’s happened to brands that increased or decreased marketing during and after a crisis or recession, I’ve compiled the results of 11 studies into this article.  Every single one shows the same thing:  the companies that stayed the course or increased their marketing efforts grew at significant rates

What is the World’s Largest Advertiser Doing Right Now?

Procter & Gamble is generally considered the world’s largest advertiser.  They are certainly TV’s largest advertiser and it’s where they spend the bulk of their money.  P&G spent more than $100 million in TV, digital, and print last year. You would think if anyone could afford to take a little time off with the advertising it

Take Control of Your Brand Conversation or Someone Else Will

Not surprisingly, when you don’t control the conversation, it happens without you.  Brands that stop advertising and sending positive messages are seeing huge drops in brand sentiment because they only thing people hear about you is nothing or negative.  Those that continued to market saw a drop (people are thinking about other things these days),

Marketers #1 Goal in 2019? Get That Email Address

“Personalized experiences are about delivering contextually relevant experiences to your prospects and customers, based on what you know about them, where they are in the purchase journey, and what they are looking to achieve. It is becoming more evident that marketers who consistently deliver personalized cross-channel experiences are seeing moderate to substantial conversion improvements.” –

Changing Channels: Direct to Consumer Brands Are Moving Digital Dollars Back to Traditional Advertising

Many D2C brands are moving digital dollars back to traditional marketing channels. Rising costs of digital mediums Need to build brand awareness, trust, and credibility They are finding out that the direct response type campaigns that can work on search and social media channels will only take you so far.  “As you evolve,” Melanie Travis,

“Belief-Driven Buyers” Are Playing a Bigger Role in Brand Trust

Why do customers trust brands? The top reasons are all about product or service quality, according to the latest edition of the Edelman Trust Barometer. It delivers good quality products or services The brand gets good ratings and reviews It charges a fair price It has always treated me and others well Farther down the

Despite What You Hear, TV is still the Dominant Medium

Despite all the talk about cord cutting, streaming, social media, and digital marketing, it’s easy to forget that TV remains the dominant medium. Here are four facts that demonstrate the continued power of television as the dominant medium. People spend more time with TV than computers, smartphone, and tablets combined… by a factor of 5x.

Restaurants Are Spending Significantly More on Digital Ads

A new study shows that independent restaurants are dramatically increasing their spending on digital advertising.  Within the last year, 68 percent of those surveyed report they are spending more on digital ads than ever before to attract customers. The restaurant business has never been easy.  17 percent of new restaurants don’t last a full year. 

Basics in Sales & Marketing: Would You Hire a Milkshake?

The basic tenet of successful selling is to uncover a customer need and then find a way to fill that need.  Salespeople sometimes forget to find the need and rush straight to selling products or services.  Then, they wonder why people don’t buy what they’re selling. Clayton Christensen is a Harvard professor and author of

Brands, Agencies say Lack of ROI Proof & Ad Fraud are Biggest Threats to Digital Budgets

Digital advertising was supposed to give us more transparency.  Better insight with a slew of metrics on clicks and conversions.  The ability to draw a straight line from campaign performance to ROI.  A way to stop wasting advertising dollars through micro-targeting and geo-targeting. Report after report show the incredible waste in digital advertising dollars when people

AI is changing the way we interact with brands

New advancements in AI-based search, including voice search, are fundamentally changing the way people interact with brands. Research from Yext Inc and Vanson Bourne shows marketers are struggling to evolve quickly enough for this new reality:   only 8% of marketers believe their organization’s brand management strategy is completely effective to manage emerging technology and changing

Top 10 Trends for Programmatic Advertising

Today’s consumers are spending more time than ever on personal devices and are invested in their voice assistants, which have quickly become an integral part of our everyday lives. “The voice technology category is evolving rapidly and will affect the digital marketing landscape in a similar way that mobile devices and smartphones did a decade

Digital Transformation Starts at the Top

One of the hardest things to do in transforming an organization to a digital world is getting cross-department support.  Traditional boundaries between sales, marketing, IT, customer service, online and offline staff, impede these efforts.  It’s tough to get everybody rowing the same way when they still have to take care of the legacy business every

For Online Reviews, Recency Matters

Online reviews matter.  92% of consumers say they look at reviews.  68% say positive reviews increase their trust. In addition to looking for positive reviews, we now know that consumers also value recent reviews in far greater numbers.  85% of those surveyed say that reviews dated more than three months old are no longer relevant.

Optimizing Ad Performance: Measuring ROI for Digital Campaigns

The promise of digital was more transparency and access to metrics that demonstrate whether something is working or not.  Too often, though, the metrics establish action without establishing conversions.  In other words, the metrics show that someone clicked on an ad, but doesn’t demonstrate whether they bought the product.  Clicks are great, but making the