Category: search engine marketing

  • Are You Attracting the RIGHT Traffic? Why Search Intent Makes or Breaks Moving Company Leads

    Are You Attracting the RIGHT Traffic? Why Search Intent Makes or Breaks Moving Company Leads

    More traffic is not always better traffic.

    When a moving company’s website gets plenty of visitors but very few estimate requests, the first instinct is usually to fix the website. Redesign the homepage. Change the button color. Rewrite the quote form. Sometimes that helps. But before you touch any of it, there’s a more important question to ask: “am I attracting the RIGHT traffic?”

    That’s right, not all traffic is equal. If the people landing on your site were never going to hire a mover, no amount of design work will turn them into booked jobs. In our post on why you’re getting traffic but not booking jobs, we called this the most important conversion problem. Here, we’re digging into it on both the organic and paid sides, and walking through how to fix it.

    Key Takeaways

    • Intent matters more than volume. A small amount of high-intent traffic will book more moves than a large amount of the wrong traffic.
    • Organic traffic needs to be measured by page type. Blog traffic and service page traffic do different jobs and shouldn’t be judged the same way.
    • Paid traffic needs guardrails. Without negative keywords, tight location settings, and the right match types, Google will happily spend your budget on people who will never book.
    • Audit both sides regularly. Search Console and the Google Ads search terms report tell you exactly who you’re attracting. Use them.

    What Search Intent Actually Means

    Search intent is the reason behind a search. Two people can both type “moving” into Google and want completely different things. One wants to hire a crew this month. The other wants to know how many boxes a two-bedroom apartment needs.

    There are four common types of intent. Here’s how they look for a moving company:

    • Informational: The searcher wants an answer, not a mover. Think “how to pack a TV for moving,” “moving checklist,” or “how much to tip movers.”
    • Navigational: The searcher is looking for a specific brand or website, like a national van line or a truck rental company.
    • Commercial: The searcher is comparing options. Think “best movers in [city]” or “[company] reviews.”
    • Transactional: The searcher is ready to act. Think “local movers near me,” “long distance moving quote,” or “[city] to [city] movers.”

    Commercial and transactional searches are where booked jobs come from. Informational searches have value too, but they play a different role. The problem starts when you can’t tell which is which in your reports, or when you’re paying for clicks that sit in the wrong bucket.

    The Organic Side: Blog Traffic vs. Service Page Traffic

    When organic traffic isn’t converting, the first thing to figure out is where it’s landing. Blog posts and service pages have very different jobs, so they shouldn’t be judged the same way. One of these is usually fine. The other usually needs fixing.

    Blog Traffic: Informational, and That’s Okay

    A lot of the organic traffic moving companies get is informational and coming from blogs. Think searches like “how to pack dishes for a move,” “moving checklist,” or “how much to tip movers.” The person reading is usually looking for answers, not a moving company. They might not be local, they might be months away from moving, or they might be planning to do it themselves.

    You can’t compare that traffic directly to service page traffic. It probably isn’t going to convert right away if at all, and that’s okay. Blog content builds brand awareness, so your name is familiar when someone is ready to book. It also builds authority that helps SEO across your whole site, including the service pages you actually want to rank.

    Small Ways to Stay on Their Radar

    For the most part, leave your informational blog traffic alone. It isn’t hurting anything. But a few small touches can help turn a reader today into a customer later:

    • Link to related services where it makes sense. A packing guide can point to your packing services. A long-distance checklist can point to your long-distance page.
    • Add a soft call to action. A simple line at the end of a post, like “Planning a move this year? Get a free estimate,”.
    • Give them something worth saving. A printable moving checklist or timeline in exchange for an email address keeps the conversation going until they’re ready.

    Service Page Traffic That Isn’t Converting: This One Needs Fixing

    Service and location pages exist to book jobs. If they’re getting traffic but not estimate requests, something is off, and it’s usually search intent.

    Start by Checking Who’s Landing on the Page

    In Google Search Console, open the Performance report, filter by one of your service page URLs, and look at the Queries tab. For each query, ask a simple question: would someone searching this hire us? Then check Google Analytics to compare traffic and quote requests for that page. A page with lots of visits and very few leads is where to start.

    When service pages aren’t converting, we usually find one of three problems.

    Problem 1: Service Pages Attracting Informational Searches

    Sometimes a service page ends up ranking for the kind of searches a blog should be catching. Your long-distance moving page shows up for “what to do with plants when moving across the country.” Your packing services page ranks for “how to pack a kitchen.” Your storage page pulls in “how long can you keep stuff in storage.”

    This usually happens when the page reads more like a guide than an offer, with lots of educational copy and very little about what you actually do.

    The fix: Make the page clearly about hiring you. Lead with what’s included, how pricing works, where you serve, reviews, and a quote form near the top. Move the how-to content into its own blog post and link it back to the service page. Then tighten the title tag and H1 so they read like an offer, such as “Long Distance Movers in [City] | [Company Name],” not a how-to.

    Problem 2: Service and Location Pages Attracting the Wrong Geography

    This one is more common than most movers think. A few examples we see:

    • The wrong city entirely. You rank for “movers in Austin,” but you’re based in Chicago. This often comes from old content or a page that mentions a destination city too many times.
    • Searchers in a different part of the country. Sometimes it’s even simpler: your page is showing up for people searching from another part of the U.S. entirely, often on broad searches like “full-service moving company” with no city attached.
    • Markets you no longer serve. An old location page for a suburb or branch you stopped covering keeps pulling in traffic you can’t take.
    • The destination instead of the origin. Your long-distance page ranks for “Phoenix movers,” bringing in people who are already in Phoenix and need a local crew there, not a company moving them there.

    The fix: Google can only show your site to the right people if it knows where you are. That means sending clear, consistent location signals across your site, starting with your core pages. Mention your city and the areas you serve in your title tags, headings, and page copy. Keep your business name, address, and phone number the same on your website, your Google Business Profile, and your directory listings. Add local details that only a company in your area would know, like neighborhoods you work in and reviews from local customers.

    On top of strong signals on your core pages, build dedicated area served pages for each market you cover. These give Google a clear page to show for searches in each town or city, and give local visitors something more relevant than a general service page. Our guide to service area pages covers how to build them the right way.

    Problem 3: Service Pages Targeting the Wrong Thing

    Sometimes the page is attracting exactly what it was optimized for. The problem is that it was optimized for the wrong thing. For example:

    • A storage page targeting “storage units near me” brings in people looking for self-storage, not moving and storage.
    • A page built around “moving trucks” pulls in people who want to rent one and drive it themselves.
    • A page built around “cheap movers” attracts bargain hunters when you’re a full-service, premium company.
    • A “moving help” or “moving labor” page ranks for job seekers looking for moving help jobs.

    The fix: Match each page’s keywords to the services you actually sell and the customers you actually want. Specific beats broad. “Full-service residential movers,” “interstate moving company,” “commercial office movers,” and “piano movers” bring in people who are looking for exactly what you do. Rewrite titles and meta descriptions so they filter out the wrong searchers, such as “Moving & Storage Services” instead of “Storage Units.” And give your careers page its own clear title, so job seekers land there instead of on a service page.

    Putting It Into Practice

    Don’t try to fix everything at once. Start with the service pages that get the most traffic and the fewest leads, make the changes, then check your Search Console queries again in a month or two to see if the mix has shifted. If you’d rather hand this off, our SEO team builds keyword strategies for movers around booked jobs, not just traffic.

    The Paid Side: Google Ads Clicks You’re Paying For (and Shouldn’t Be)

    With organic, wrong-intent traffic costs you time. With paid, it costs you money on every single click. Moving keywords can run $15 to $40+ per click depending on the market, so a few hundred junk clicks a month adds up fast.

    Where wrong-intent paid clicks come from

    • Broad match with no guardrails. Broad match lets Google show your ads for searches it considers related. For a mover, that can mean “moving jobs near me,” “U-Haul rental,” or “how to move a piano yourself.”
    • Missing negative keywords. If you haven’t told Google which searches to skip, it won’t skip them.
    • Loose location settings. Google Ads’ default location option targets people in or interested in your area. That can put your local ads in front of someone three states away who once searched your city.
    • Mixed campaigns. Lumping local, long-distance, and commercial moves into one campaign makes it hard to control which searches trigger which ads, or to see what’s actually working.
    • Optimizing for the wrong conversion. If Google is told that every form fill is a win, it will chase cheap form fills, including the ones that never book.

    How to audit your paid traffic

    1. Assess where conversions are coming from. Which campaigns are booking jobs not just receiving form fills. Focus on the campaigns that have high impression and click volume but few leads. 
    2. Dig into your geography report. Where are ads showing? Are you targeting the right areas?
    3. The search terms report in Google Ads is your best friend here. It shows the actual searches people typed before clicking your ad, not just the keywords you bid on. Go through the last 30 to 90 days and flag anything that seems to miss the search intent mark.

    How to fix it

    • Build a negative keyword list for movers. We like to start with a list of obvious word we don’t want to show for and then expand the negative keyword lists based on the search term report.
      • Looking for negative keywords to kick off you list? Here are a few we often start with: jobs, hiring, salary, careers, rental, truck rental, boxes, free, DIY, cheap labor, and competitor brand names you don’t want to pay for. 
    • Tighten match types. Lean on phrase and exact match for your core terms until you have enough data and enough negatives to trust broader matching.
    • Set location targeting to “Presence.” This limits your ads to people who are in, or regularly in, the areas you serve. Long-distance campaigns can be set up separately with their own targeting.
    • Split campaigns by service. Separate local, long-distance, and commercial moves so each has its own budget, keywords, and ads. This allows for cleaner signals for optimization.
    • Send clicks to matching landing pages. A “long distance movers” ad should land on a long-distance page with a quote form, not your homepage.
    • Teach Google what a real job looks like. Use offline conversion tracking to send booked moves back into Google Ads, so it optimizes for jobs instead of form fills.

    Not sure how much of your budget is going to the wrong searches? A free PPC audit will tell you.

    Wrapping Up

    The key to determining why people aren’t converting is to start by looking at search intent, so before you redesign your site or raise your ad budget, find out who you’re actually attracting. Pull your Search Console queries. Open your search terms report. Sort what you find into ready to book, could book later, and never going to book. Then build your SEO and PPC around the first bucket, and give the second bucket a clear path back to you.

    Once the right people are finding you, every other conversion fix (faster pages, better forms, stronger trust signals) works harder.

    We’ve helped dozens of moving companies turn traffic into booked jobs. If you want a second set of eyes on yours, reach out to us.

  • Local SEO for Dentists: How to Grow Your Practice

    Local SEO for Dentists: How to Grow Your Practice

    Here’s a hard truth for dental practices: the best dentist in town doesn’t automatically get the most new patients. The one Google shows first usually does.

    When someone cracks a molar on a Saturday or finally decides to fix their smile, they don’t flip through the Yellow Pages. They type “dentist near me” into their phone and pick from the handful of practices that pop up in the map. If you’re not in that handful, you’re not in the conversation.

    The good news? Local search rewards consistent effort, and you don’t need a massive budget to compete. It does take time and follow-through, so think of it as a long game, not a quick fix. Below, we’ll break down what local SEO actually is, why it matters so much for dental offices, and a 10-step playbook you can start on this week.

    Key Takeaways

    • Local SEO puts you on the map. It’s how your practice shows up when nearby patients search for a dentist, driven by your Google Business Profile, reviews, directory listings, and website.
    • For dentists, local search is the in with new client. Patients choose care close to home and check reviews before they ever pick up the phone.
    • Your Google Business Profile should be your best friend. Claim it, complete it, and keep it active.
    • Steady, recent reviews build trust with Google and with patients alike.
    • Specific pages and real expertise win over time. Dedicated service pages and strong EEAT signals are what separate the practices that rank.

    What Is Local SEO?

    Let’s begin by first answering: What is Local SEO? Local SEO is the practice of optimizing your online presence so your practice shows up when people nearby search for the services you offer. Think “dentist in Gurnee,” “emergency dentist near me,” or “Invisalign in Gurnee.” It’s the part of search engine optimization that’s tied to a place on the map.

    It covers more than your website. Your Google Business Profile, your reviews, your listings on directories like Healthgrades and Yelp, and even what other local sites say about you all feed into it. Google itself says local rankings come down to three things: relevance, distance, and prominence. You can read their explanation in the Google Business Profile help center. 

    Why Local SEO Is Important for Dental Offices

    Dentistry is about as local as it gets. Nobody wants to drive an hour for a cleaning. Your future patients live and work within a few miles of your chairs, and they’re searching on their phones right now. That makes local search the front door to your practice.

    It’s also where trust gets decided. According to BrightLocal’s 2026 Local Consumer Review Survey, 97% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and nearly a third will only consider businesses rated 4.5 stars or higher. For something as personal as dental care, patients are doing their homework before they ever call.

    And unlike paid ads, the visibility you build with local SEO doesn’t disappear the moment you stop paying. Done right, it compounds. Every review, every optimized page, and every quality listing keeps working for you month after month.

    A Local SEO Playbook for Dentists in 10 Key Steps

    We’ve split this playbook into two parts. The first five steps are the easier go-gets: things most practices can knock out in-house with a little time and attention. The last five are more advanced and tend to deliver the biggest long-term gains, but they take more planning (or a partner who does this every day).

    The Quick Wins

    1. Claim and Fully Optimize Your Google Business Profile

    Your Google Business Profile (GBP) is the single most important local SEO asset you have. It’s what shows up in the map pack, and for a lot of patients, it’s the first and only thing they look at before calling. If you haven’t claimed and verified yours, stop reading and go do that.

    Then fill out everything. Choose “Dentist” as your primary category and add secondary ones that fit, like “Cosmetic Dentist” or “Emergency Dental Service.” List your services, hours (including holiday hours), insurance info, accessibility details, and a link to online booking. For a deeper dive, check out our guide on how to improve your ranking on Google Maps.

    2. Lock Down Consistent NAP Across the Web

    NAP stands for name, address, and phone number. It’s Important that these align across the internet. Google cross-checks it across the internet, and mismatches (an old suite number, a former phone line, “Dr. Smith Family Dentistry” vs. “Smith Family Dental”) chip away at its confidence in your practice. Sounds like a no brainer but you’d be surprised how easily things can slip through the cracks. 

    3. Build a Steady Stream of Reviews (and Respond to Them)

    Reviews influence rankings and they influence patients. The key word is steady. BrightLocal’s 2026 data shows consumers increasingly expect recent reviews, so twenty reviews from 2022 won’t carry the weight they used to. Make asking part of your routine: a text or email with a direct review link after each appointment works wonders.

    And respond to every review, good or bad. Thank happy patients by name (if they used it). Address unhappy ones calmly and take the conversation offline. One big caution: never confirm someone is a patient or reference treatment details in a reply. HIPAA applies to review responses too. 

    4. Tune Up Your On-Page Basics

    Your homepage title tag should say what you do and where you do it, like “Family & Cosmetic Dentist in Gurnee, IL | Smith Dental.” Same idea for your H1, your meta description, and the opening copy on your key pages. Google needs clear signals connecting your practice to your city.

    While you’re in there, make your phone number click-to-call on mobile, put your address in the footer, and embed a Google map on your contact page. Most of your local traffic is on a phone, so if your site is slow or clunky on mobile, that’s a problem worth fixing. Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool is a good gut check. If the site itself is holding you back, that’s where our website development team comes in.

    5. Show Off Your Practice with Real Photos and Regular Updates

    Stock photos of perfect smiles don’t build trust. Real photos of your office, your team, your equipment, and your waiting room do. Upload them to your GBP and your website, and refresh them a few times a year.

    Keep your profile active with Google posts too: new patient specials, a new team member, extended hours, or a quick tip on whitening after the holidays. It signals to Google (and patients) that the lights are on and somebody’s home. 

    The Long Game

    6. Establish EEAT Signals on Your Site

    EEAT stands for Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trust. Because dental content affects people’s health, Google holds it to a higher standard than most industries. A blog post on wisdom tooth extraction with an anonymous “admin” byline isn’t going to cut it.

    Give every dentist a detailed bio page with credentials (DDS, DMD), training, memberships, and years in practice. Put real author bylines on clinical content and add a “reviewed by” note where it makes sense. We break this down in more detail in EEAT Signals on Healthcare Websites: What Google Actually Wants to See.

    7. Build Dedicated Pages for Each Service

    A single “Services” page with a bulleted list won’t rank for much. Patients search for specific treatments: dental implants, Invisalign, emergency dentist, teeth whitening, pediatric dentistry. Each high-value service deserves its own page that explains the treatment, who it’s for, what to expect, and why your practice is the right choice.

    This is also where you win the higher-value cases. A well-built implants page can bring in patients worth far more than a routine cleaning. Bonus: detailed, well-organized service pages are exactly the kind of content AI tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews pull from. More on that on our AI Visibility / AEO page.

    8. Create Location and Neighborhood Pages

    If you pull patients from surrounding towns, or you have more than one office, give those areas their own pages. A page targeting a neighboring town should actually talk about that town: directions, nearby landmarks, parking, the communities you serve, and testimonials from local patients.

    The trap to avoid is copy-and-paste pages where only the city name changes. Google sees right through it. Our post on service area pages cover how to do these the right way.

    9. Add Local Business Schema Markup

    Schema markup is code that tells search engines exactly what your business is, where it is, when it’s open, and what it offers. For a practice, that means using the Dentist schema type on your site with your NAP, hours, accepted insurance, and services.

    It won’t rocket you to #1 on its own, and not every schema type pulls the weight it used to. (Google dropped support for FAQ rich results earlier this year.) But clean business schema removes guesswork for Google, and that’s never a bad thing. It’s one piece of a solid technical SEO foundation.

    10. Earn Local Links and Community Authority

    Links from other trusted local websites tell Google you’re a real, recognized part of the community. The best part? Dental practices have more natural link opportunities than most businesses.

    Sponsor a youth sports team. Host a free screening day or a back-to-school dental event. Partner with local schools on oral health talks. Offer expert quotes to local news outlets or parenting blogs. Each of these can earn a mention and a link that your competitors can’t easily copy. 

    Wrapping Up

    Local SEO isn’t a one-and-done project. It’s a set of habits that, stacked together, make your practice the obvious choice when someone nearby needs a dentist. Start with the easier steps, layer in the advanced ones as you build momentum, and measure success by calls, booked appointments, and new patients, not just rankings. Solid analytics tracking makes that a lot easier.

    If you’d rather spend your time with patients than with title tags, that’s what we’re here for. We work with healthcare and dental practices to build local visibility that lasts. Reach out to us and let’s talk about where your practice stands.

    Frequently Ask Questions

    How long does local SEO take to work for a dental practice?

    Quick wins like optimizing your Google Business Profile can show movement within a few weeks. Bigger gains from content, reviews, and links usually build over four to six months. We dig into timelines in How Long Does SEO Take to Work

    What’s the most important local SEO factor for dentists?

    Your Google Business Profile, backed by a steady flow of recent reviews. Those two together drive most of your visibility in the map pack.

    Should I respond to negative reviews?

    Yes, always. Keep it calm and professional, and never confirm the reviewer is a patient or mention treatment details. Invite them to contact the office directly to resolve it.

    Is local SEO different from regular SEO?

    Local SEO is a subset of SEO focused on location-based searches and the map pack. It leans heavily on your Google Business Profile, reviews, and citations, while traditional SEO focuses more on your website’s content and authority overall. Most practices need both. Read more in our SEO for Dentists guide.

    Can I do local SEO myself?

    Absolutely, especially steps 1 through 5. The advanced steps take more time and technical know-how, which is where an agency partner usually pays for itself.

  • Search Engine Marketing for Small Businesses in Chicago: A Local Agency’s Guide

    Search Engine Marketing for Small Businesses in Chicago: A Local Agency’s Guide

    The Chicago area is a powerhouse of small business innovation. From manufacturing plants in the suburbs to tech startups in River North, from trade contractors in Naperville to service companies in Evanston, entrepreneurship thrives throughout Chicagoland. We should know—we’re Fanatically Digital, a family-owned digital marketing agency right here in the market, and we work alongside some incredible local entrepreneurs every day.

    Whether you’re launching a new venture or scaling an existing business in the Chicago market, you have countless marketing options at your disposal. While offline and online marketing each have their merits, we’ve seen firsthand how digital channels can level the playing field for small businesses competing in this competitive market.

    Search engine marketing stands out as one of the most effective channels for Chicago small businesses. With multiple components working together, virtually every company can benefit from at least one aspect of search marketing—and most benefit from several.

    What Is Search Engine Marketing for Small Businesses?

    Search Engine Marketing (SEM) encompasses all the ways your business can appear when potential customers search online. For Chicago small businesses, this is particularly powerful because people actively search for local services, products, and solutions every day.

    The beauty of SEM is its flexibility. Depending on your business model, target market, and budget, different components will make sense for your growth strategy. Here are the essential elements every Chicago small business should understand.

    Google Business Profile: Your Digital Storefront

    When someone in Chicago searches for your business name or the services you provide, your Google Business Profile (GBP) often appears first. This free tool is crucial for local visibility, yet many businesses struggle to set it up correctly.

    Google’s verification process can be frustrating—they require multiple steps to combat fraud—but the investment in time pays dividends. Your GBP controls how you appear in local search results and Google Maps, making it essential for attracting nearby customers.

    Key benefits for Chicago businesses:

    • Appears in “near me” searches
    • Shows your business hours, location, and contact info
    • Displays customer reviews and photos
    • Connects directly to Google Maps directions

    The verification process takes patience, but it’s non-negotiable for local businesses. We’ve helped dozens of Chicago companies navigate this setup, and the local visibility boost is always worth the effort.

    For detailed guidance, check out our Google Business Profile startup guide. If you’re struggling with verification, our post on why GBP verification is challenging explains the common hurdles. And for tips on ranking better in local map results, read our guide on improving your Google Maps ranking.

    Search Engine Optimization: Building Long-Term Visibility

    SEO involves numerous moving parts, which explains why many business owners find it overwhelming. It’s understandable—running a business requires focus on core operations, not search algorithms. However, some fundamental SEO practices can significantly improve your visibility when Chicago customers search for your services.

    The key is ensuring search engines can properly crawl and index your website. When potential customers search for services like yours, you want to appear in those results.

    For Chicago service businesses with local customer bases, local SEO is particularly important. Our beginner’s guide to local SEO covers the essentials specific to location-based businesses.

    For businesses serving broader markets or selling online, traditional SEO principles apply, focusing on content quality, technical site health, and building authority in your industry.

    Paid Search Advertising: Immediate Results

    Search advertising puts your business in front of customers actively looking for your services. Google’s advertising platform offers extensive options, though the sheer number of choices can overwhelm newcomers to paid search.

    Google Local Service Ads for Trade Businesses

    If you’re a Chicago-area contractor—electrician, HVAC technician, plumber, or similar trade professional—Google Local Service Ads (GLSA) offer a streamlined entry point into paid advertising.

    GLSA works differently than traditional ads. You provide Google with your service details, service area, and contact information. Google handles the advertising and sends qualified leads directly to you. You pay only for legitimate leads, not clicks or impressions.

    While you sacrifice control over ad creative and targeting, GLSA’s simplicity makes it ideal for trades businesses focused on their craft rather than marketing complexity.

    Google Shopping Ads for Product Sales

    For Chicago retailers and e-commerce businesses, Google Shopping Ads display your products directly in search results with images, prices, and store information. This visual format significantly outperforms text ads for product searches.

    Setting up Shopping Ads requires a product feed (which can start as a simple spreadsheet) and a Google Merchant Center account. The initial setup demands attention to detail, but the visual prominence in search results typically delivers strong returns for product-based businesses.

    Google Search Ads for Service Businesses

    Traditional search ads work for virtually any business model, from local Chicago services to national companies. You control geographic targeting, ad messaging, keywords, and budgets.

    Search campaigns require substantial upfront planning and ongoing optimization. However, the ability to appear immediately when customers search for your services makes this channel valuable for businesses ready to invest in proper management.

    Optimizing Landing Pages for Different Traffic Sources

    One crucial consideration often overlooked by small businesses is that visitors from different sources have different mindsets and needs.

    Someone finding your website through organic search results is often in research mode, comparing options and gathering information. In contrast, someone clicking your paid ad has typically made a decision to explore your services more seriously.

    These different visitor intentions require different landing page approaches. Our guide on optimizing landing pages for SEO vs PPC explains how to tailor your pages for each traffic source.

    Making Search Marketing Work for Your Chicago Business

    The internet has certainly changed the competitive landscape for small businesses, though it hasn’t eliminated all the advantages larger companies hold. What digital marketing does provide is access to sophisticated tools and targeting that were previously available only to companies with massive marketing budgets.

    For Chicago small businesses willing to invest time in understanding which digital channels align with their customer behavior, search engine marketing can drive meaningful growth. The key is starting with the components that best match your business model and customer needs, then expanding as you gain experience and see results.

    Whether you’re competing with established players in the Loop or trying to build awareness in the suburbs, search marketing gives you tools to reach customers actively looking for your solutions. Take time to understand these channels, or partner with experts who can help you navigate them effectively.

  • Google Automated Campaigns…use with caution

    Google Automated Campaigns…use with caution

    Google Ads is a great advertising tool for businesses of all sizes. From international organizations to local car repair shops, Google Ads can drive revenue. With the push into automated campaigns, it may be easy for businesses to set it and go simply. In our experience, that would be a mistake.

    Issues with Google’s Automated Paid Search Campaigns

    While using Google Ads’ fully managed/optimized settings can be beneficial for some advertisers, there are also several potential drawbacks to consider:

    • Limited control: Using fully managed/optimized settings means that you are giving up some control over your campaigns. Google’s algorithms will make decisions about which keywords to target, what ad copy to use, and how much to bid for each click. While this can be convenient, it can also lead to missed opportunities or suboptimal results if Google’s decisions do not align with your business goals.
    • Higher costs: Because fully managed/optimized campaigns rely heavily on automated bidding strategies, they may end up costing more than campaigns that are manually optimized. This is because automated bidding algorithms may bid more aggressively than is necessary to achieve your desired results.
    • Less transparency: Fully managed/optimized campaigns can be less transparent than manually optimized campaigns. With less control over your campaigns, it can be difficult to understand how Google is making decisions and what changes you can make to improve performance.
    • Limited customization: Using fully managed/optimized settings means that you are limited to the options and features that Google offers. This can be a disadvantage if you have specific campaign requirements that are not supported by Google Ads.
    • Potential for misalignment: Google’s automated algorithms may not always align with your business goals or audience preferences. This can lead to wasted spend or missed opportunities if your campaigns are not reaching the right people or driving the desired results.
    • Overall, fully managed/optimized settings can be a good option for some businesses, especially those that are new to Google Ads or have limited resources for campaign management. However, it is important to weigh the potential drawbacks against the benefits before deciding whether this approach is right for your business.

    What type of program is good for fully optimized campaigns

    To get the most out of a fully automated campaign, you need to provide valid input for Google’s algorithm. The best is e-commerce/sales with a Shopping campaign. While we’ll still manually edit titles and descriptions, letting Google manage the bidding and placements usually provides good results. The returning revenue data back to Google, the algorithm has a direct metric against which to optimize the campaign.

    Campaigns that should be managed manually

    On the opposite end of the spectrum are programs where leads and calls are generated, but there is no quality indicator. A spam lead counts as much as a prospect. Google may optimize the spam sources because they are getting more leads. It almost becomes a game of generating more traffic rather than qualified leads.

    How to Approach Paid Search Campaign Settings

    Before launching a fully automated campaign, advertisers should create and manage campaigns manually. Even after the automated campaigns run (if you decide to do it), you may want to set up a manual campaign periodically to learn about the landscape. To understand the metrics you see in an automated campaign, approach the manual paid search campaign in the following way.

    Search Query Reviews

    Check on the queries where Google is showing your ads. Do these make sense? Should they be negatives or have their own ad group? This is a typical manual management program. 

    Since Google is basically ignoring your target search term match types, and even venturing pretty far afield in the queries where they show your ad, this gives you an understanding of how Google will treat your ads in a fully managed campaign. This is one of the best ways to see what will happen. It can also help you set up the rails you want to apply to the automated campaign where possible.

    Paid Search CPCs

    Get a handle on the cost per click for a search campaign that is managed manually. Assuming well-structured ad groups with built-out negatives, you will have a good idea of what the competitive landscape looks like. Having this information will provide an understanding of your CPC for the automated program.

    We’ve seen automated paid search campaigns with CPCs that were 1/10th the manual campaign. Knowing the details of the category through manual bidding, we knew that Google was not showing the ads in the best way. This proved out with the quality of (or lack of) the leads; a lot of spam. Learn where your CPCs need to be not just to drive traffic and form fills but to gain quality leads.

    Set Geos for observation

    Each area of the country has a different competitive environment. This may impact search results. The CPC may be different, or the conversion rate may be different for the various search terms. You may also see that copy performs differently.

    With this understanding, you may decide to be more aggressive in certain areas. With a fully automated campaign, Google will likely push your ads to where it is the least expensive. On the surface, this may seem fine. But, you lose the opportunity to penetrate more competitive areas. 

    Depending on your category, there may be other metrics that are important for you to understand before starting a fully automated paid search campaign on Google. Configure your search campaign settings in order to gather the data. Once done, you’ll have a better idea of how well the automated campaign is performing.

    As Google pushes for advertisers to adopt its AI (fully automated campaigns), it will be tempting to let Google have your budget and run with it. Avoid doing this. Adopt a cautious approach to using AI, and gather information so you will understand the results. Absent the basic information about paid search performance in your category, you will not be able to tell if the automated campaign is performing as well as a campaign can.

  • B2B SEO: Content-Led Strategy

    B2B SEO: Content-Led Strategy

    Business-to-Business SEO Strategy

    B2B SEO is an important strategic marketing tool for companies looking to increase their visibility, gain website traffic, and create a strong presence online. 

    While the core components of SEO will remain the same regardless of your business objectives, your overall strategy and the specific tools you’ll lean on will vary depending on your industry.

    An eCommerce platform will have a very different SEO strategy compared to a B2B SaaS company.

    In this post, we’ll take a look at Business-to-Business (B2B) SEO strategies generally differ from B2C SEO strategies, how critical differences in the sales process produce these different strategies, and how B2B marketers can implement successful SEO programs focused on content and thought leadership.

    Cornerstones of B2B SEO

    Who’s Buying?

    Businesses typically aren’t making one-click purchases from their couch like many B2C buyers. The sales process is usually longer, higher stakes, and therefore, much more involved. 

    Typically, you’re selling to professionals who know their industry. More likely, you’re selling to a team of professionals. Or at the very least, someone who needs to justify their purchasing decision to company stakeholders.

    This means that your strategy will need to appeal to multiple decision-makers, each of whom might be looking to solve their problem in different ways.

    While this can be intimidating, it can be a good thing because it provides a ton of opportunity to leverage your content marketing.

    How so?

    Well, a big part of B2B SEO is “thought leadership.” And while it makes me cringe just to type that term out, it’s a critical part of any professionally-focused marketing strategy.

    Demonstrating your expertise on multiple fronts within your own industry is a big component of building trust within a sales prospect. Better still is demonstrating how you’re able to leverage that expertise (via your product or service) in order to address the pain points your potential clients/customers face.

    If they know the extent to which you understand the challenges they face within their industry, that gives the decision-makers more confidence to pull the trigger on your product or service.

    So, building trust within your prospect is important to closing sales. 

    No duh.

    The question is, how do we leverage this into an SEO strategy?

    Building Trust Through Content

    It starts and ends with good content.

    Whether in the form of blog articles, whitepapers, guest posts, eBooks, or podcasts, your content strategy should address customer pain points, provide not-so-obvious answers to common industry questions, and on the whole, work towards building the all-important trust factor.

    This type of content serves multiple purposes.

    As mentioned, it can build trust by playing an ongoing role in your sales process and can be provided or referenced by your sales team to nurture prospects.

    However, as a factor within your SEO strategy, it will play an important role in increasing visibility and acquiring high-value traffic from the SERPs.

    It’s important to remember users who land on your site aren’t likely to convert right away. That’s just the nature of B2B sales. 

    But by creating a memorable experience, you’re establishing an organic relationship between your brand and the potential customer. The next time the customer searches a relevant question and it’s your website that shows up, you’re furthering that relationship.

    If the user has another question and types it into Google, he or she might be actively looking for your site in the SERPs because you’ve established yourself as a reliable source in the field.

    That’s the essence of thought leadership.

    Now, how do we go about creating this type of content? How do we become “thought leaders.”

    Long Tail, Low Volume

    One mantra you’ll often see when comparing B2B and B2C is “B2C = high volume keywords and B2B = low volume keywords.”

    And to a certain extent, this is true. 

    Targeting potential buyers throughout the sales funnel will require answering specific questions and addressing pain points. This means the search queries will tend to be more obscure and specific. Hence, low volume.

    Because they will often be in the form of a question, the queries will be longer. Hence, long tail. 

    In order to optimally perform this strategy, marketers can leverage two different tools: keyword research and customer surveys.

    SEO tools such as MOZ and SEMRush are great for performing keyword research. They allow users to identify relevant search queries within their industry and develop content around them.

    Customer services are fantastic because they allow you to obtain direct feedback from your customers about issues they struggle with, major pain points in their industry, and ways to make their job easier.

    By speaking directly to them, you’ll gain first hand knowledge of how customers talk about your products and services, allowing you to further optimize your content.

    B2B SEO Success

    By implementing a content-focused SEO strategy, B2B companies have the opportunity to become thought leaders in their industry and establish themselves as a pillar of trust for their target markets.

    While it’s not the optimal strategy for every enterprise out there, the general focus of B2B SEOs should be establishing their business as an authority with the solutions your customers need.

    And if you’re looking for B2B SEO services, Fanatically Digital has the thought-leading, web-optimizing team for you!

  • SEO Timelines: How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

    SEO Timelines: How Long Does SEO Take to Work?

    How long does SEO take to work?

    It’s a pretty straightforward question with a less straightforward answer. Because that answer (like it always seems to be) is a frustrating it depends.

    Sorry. I know, that’s never any help. But the answer will never be the same for any two sites because, quite simply, no two sites are ever the same.

    So, while I cannot give a straightforward answer to ‘how long does SEO take to work,’ what I can do is offer a typical timeline for a generic SEO strategy as well as the factors that determine how quickly a site might respond to that strategy in each phase. So let’s dive in.

    Typical SEO Timeline

    Compared to PPC campaigns which provide almost immediate results, SEO is a long haul that can take months to build a strong foundation and years to create a powerful, sustainable search presence.

    Most SEO strategies can be split up into four phases with distinct levels of activity. If you’re considering hiring an agency, they’ll likely follow a similar timeline.

    Phase One

    Defined: The first phase is almost always dedicated to research and review. If you’ve hired an SEO agency, they’ll likely spend the first month or so researching your industry, niche, or market, keywords, competition, as well as become acquainted with your website and tracking schemes.

    Time: Phase one is usually about a month or so. If you’ve hired an agency or SEO that is already familiar with your field or niche, this will be even quicker.

    Expected Results: don’t expect any.

    Phase Two

    Defined: Phase two is when activity really begins. If the agency discovers major technical issues or finds areas to improve the code or structure of the site, these are typically tackled in the first round of activity. We want to make sure that search engines can easily access and read your site. This is also the time in which we’ll begin our link building efforts.

    Time: For small, healthy, or young sites, phase two may only take a couple of days if it’s even necessary at all. But for larger sites that may be older (especially if multiple developers have managed it over the years) and less technically sound, this process can take a while; sometimes up to several months.

    Expected Results: Once the technical aspects are fixed, it is certainly possible to see improvements in impressions or positioning. But technical fixes alone won’t make a successful SEO strategy.

    Phase Three

    Defined: This is where content production and improvement begin. Once we have a solid technical foundation to build on, agencies will start to optimize current landing pages as well as schedule and publish new content to drive inbound traffic. By this point, link building outreach is in full swing.

    Time: Phase three will take anywhere from one to six months. By the end of the third phase, once technical fixes are made, existing content has is optimized, and new content is published, by this point, there should definitely be some favorable movement in the organic search metrics.

    Expected Results: This doesn’t necessarily mean you’re getting new clicks left and right. It could simply mean a respectable bump in impressions for a handful of landing pages. Which brings us to…

    Phase Four

    Defined: Phase four is really just a continuation of phases two and three. Agencies will make adjustments according to search performance, client feedback, and changes to the almighty algorithm.

    Time: Phase four is indefinite. By now, enough time has passed to collect data on those initial changes from which we can fine-tune and further optimize our strategy moving forward

    Expected Results: Phase four is where you’ll see sustained, steady growth. This is where SEO is really meant to shine and the results you can expect will depend on just how good your SEO team is. But with a solid team, year over year increases should be expected and great SEO teams can double organic users every few years.

    So… How Long Will This Take?

    It will probably be a number of months before your SEO agency will be able to offer any evidence of progress. As a business, it’s important to understand that going in. SEO requires patience and long term strategizing and any agencies that guaranteed they can get you to rank #1 in “x” months should be viewed very skeptically.

    If you’re considering SEO for your business, check out Fanatically Digital’s services as well as our SEO pricing.

  • Changes With Google and Bing Search

    There have been a lot of changes in search this year and some big changes in store. You have likely seen many of these, but since they tend to come out in a fairly ad hoc fashion, I am bringing together some of the bigger changes.

    Bing and Yahoo! are breaking up their deal. While there is a lot of behind the scenes organizational stuff, for advertisers it means that Bing is no longer the exclusive provider of search ads on Yahoo!. However for the short term, Bing continues to provide most of the ads we see there.

    Bing is now the provider of search ads on the AOL network, once served by Google. This should give Bing another small boost.

    The bottom line is that if you have the resources and are not already doing so, you should explore Bing. I’ve seen it do really well on some programs vs Google, on par for others and not so well on a few. But, worth exploring.

    Google… Lots of stuff here.

    The Ads on the right rail are gone. We’ve seen some minor price pressure for the top of page positions. It hasn’t been too bad so far though. A little more explanation and early on impressions of this change here (https://fanaticallydigital.com/blog/2016/02/big-changes-coming-to-google-paid-search-results/)

    Google Local / Map advertising has moved out of Search Partner status. This means advertisers can opt out of the Search Partners (Google.com only) and still show up on the maps as long as they have location extensions.

    Google up and coming
    Google is changing the text ad format. Currently there are 25 characters for the headline and 35 each for the two description lines. Pretty soon we will have 30 characters for the headline and a single block of 80 characters for the copy/ description. This means more copy rewriting ahead. Also, the display URL will be automatically pulled from the final URL, but we’ll be able to append sub paths.

    Device bidding is coming back. For those who have been in the game a bit, you remember being able to create campaigns specifically for certain devices (mobile vs desktop). Google did away with that and incorporated bid adjustments instead. In the near future, we’ll be able to create device specific bids again. This will help for some programs that see very different behavior between devices.

    While the above is not exhaustive, it does touch on some of the main changes so far this year. If you have any questions about it or other areas of digital marketing, please drop me a line…happy to talk.

  • What to look for in a search marketing agency

    Organizational and cultural fit.

    There are a lot of search marketing agencies out there. And, putting our competitive natures aside, there is a lot of good talent spread throughout. Often it is not the competencies of the search marketers themselves, but the culture of the agency that will determine if they are a good fit for your company.

    Because of the nature of search marketing, virtually all agencies share characteristics. The difference comes in the mix of things such as reliance on bid management automation, reporting tools, processes and procedures, newbies vs highly experienced staff, and media partner relationships. Where companies put their focus directs where their culture goes, or their culture drives their focus, depending on the agency. Even this nuance says a lot about the fit.

    Price based agency

    Some client companies are price driven. There is a culture of tough negotiation and getting the cost for everything to the bare minimum. There are some search marketing agencies that thrive in this environment. Some characteristics include very regimented processes, standardized reporting and a heavy reliance on automation to offset a higher mix of newbies vs experienced search marketers. Essentially these are good for marketers who are purely price driven and don’t need / want high touch search management.

    Cutting edge agency

    I’ve seen clients who are heavily focused on being cutting edge. They like the bragging rights that come with always being the first to try new technologies, be in all the betas, and blog about how they were “there first”. Search agencies that do this well tend to be larger, often combined with other digital marketing capabilities, have a lower dependence on automation and standardization. You’ll typically find a higher mix of more experienced search marketers vs newbies. Generally, these elements have a higher price tag, but that comes with the ‘cutting edge’ search marketing label. For some brands this is a great fit.

    Performance focused agency

    Performance based search marketing agencies focus in on maximizing a client’s goals for each dollar spent. We didn’t say ROI because some companies can’t directly measure it. But, they do have goals that are important such as leads, content consumption, engagement, sharing etc. While the ideal is to measure direct ROI, the inability to do that does not preclude these companies from setting goals and optimizing their search marketing accordingly. These agencies tend to be more balanced in their approach because optimizing programs depends on the nuances of the programs; they can’t be too rigid yet they need the capacity to focus. They test into new areas (usually a predefined portion of the budget) and keep what works, trash what doesn’t. Often this is where knowing what to do when search marketing best practices aren’t working and how to integrate that with automation tools comes into play. Clients who can or want to start setting goals and developing reporting to guide decisions (not just fill up in boxes) work well with these agencies.

    Starting down the right search path

    For those looking for a search marketing partner, the trick in all of this is to be honest with your assesment of your own company. Too often, we’ve seen companies say they are performance based yet negotiated for a price point that simply cannot support the mix of talent to do that. Or, they’ll say they are performance based, but then constantly push for the new stuff (ie, unproven). Not properly managed, new stuff blows up performance based search marketing programs. As companies seek a new search marketing agency, they first need to prioritize their own objectives. One isn’t better than the other, but they all require different approaches and most agencies are simply better suited for one versus the others.

    So, what kind of search marketing agency is Fanatically Digital?

    • We focus on our clients’ program performance.
    • We use bid automation and reporting software to help manage the daily flow of search efficiently.
    • We employee search marketing experts to oversee programs and develop recommendations to make them more effective.
    • We implement Google Analytics to provide nuanced understanding of users activities.
    • Our reports are developed for each client to focus on the key elements of their program so we can, together, make well informed decisions.

    We offer our clients the option to be deeply involved with access to our own project management tools so they can (if they desire) know exactly where we are in our program management and optimization processes.

  • Bing makes a profit

    Bing makes a profit

    Bing LogoBing is profitable (Fortune Bing story ) and the search engine broke the 20% search share threshold. So, are you still ignoring the search engine?

    Paid Search
    Google seems to get all the attention from many advertisers. But those who have taken advantage of Bing paid search have often seen their advertising dollars generate more efficient sales than on Google. We have developed Bing paid search programs for clients that proved more effective in generating profitable leads than google.

    With limited budgets it makes sense to explore the most efficient options. Google, as the default ppc option, usually gets first shot at ad dollars. However, for those with more limited budgets, it is possible that the entire budget can be absorbed efficiently on Bing. Better yet, find a blend with the two to get the best of both engines. For paid search, if you’ve only worked with Google, start testing into Bing.

    Yahoo is pulling in about 10% of the search share, making it a minor contender for attention. With the new Google deal, combined with Bing, advertisers will some of the Yahoo impressions with ads in either.

  • Google and Yahoo; Friends Again?

    Yahoo! announced an agreement to tap into Google Search and image ads as part of its ongoing quest to deliver results that ‘don’t suck’. Yahoo! will determine which queries to send to Bing (that agreement still stands) and which to send to Google. Each will then bump the query against their own algorithms to deliver the best ads. Essentially, Yahoo! gets the best of both worlds.

    I think this is an great agreement on Yahoo’s part. They’ll never beat Google, and Bing will be there to give them options. Meanwhile, Yahoo! will continue to work on its core content and mobile strategies, which is where it’s future lies.

    This past weekend, Yahoo streamed the Bills / Jaguars game ($17M for the right to do so), as it explores streaming pro sports and looks at more content across Yahoo properties.

    At the same time we are told that Yahoo is also looking to develop mobile search, which is much more influenced by localization. This may be another case of Yahoo! going head to head with Google only to end up falling back and leveraging someone else’s (Google’s) technology down the road. Not so long ago Yahoo! was hot into desktop search. Those of us in the game for a while remember when they came to us and sold us on the platform that was essentially a google me-to. It will be interesting to see how far Yahoo! can take it’s mobile play.