Why You Should Bid on Your Own Branded Terms in Paid Search

One question that has haunted me since I entered the PPC realm in 2014 is, “Should we really be bidding on our own branded terms?” It’s normal to wonder why you should have to pay for clicks when users are already searching for your brand. I (obviously) have opinions on this question, so let this blog post serve as my response to the question above. 

There are some pretty common reasons businesses cite for being hesitate to bid on their branded terms. Most often, the reason is a combination of one or all of the three below:

  1. “People searching my brand will just click on our organic listing.” 
    1. Paying for traffic that you’d likely get for free seems unnecessary!

  2. “Paid branded traffic takes credit away from SEO.” 
    1. This can make it look like paid search is outperforming organic traffic, which doesn’t sit well if you’re putting resources into SEO.

  3. “It’s about saving money!” 
    1. This is the most common reason cited. I get it; cutting branded ad spend feels like the least painful way to save on marketing costs.

But as rational as these arguments seem, they simply don’t hold up in the real world of advertising on the internet here in the 21st century. 

Here’s why bidding on your branded terms is almost always worth it—and what happened when one of our past clients challenged this theory by turning off their branded ads. 

Why Bidding on Your Brand Makes Sense

  1. You Want to Own the Valuable Space at the Top of the Search Results Page (Instead of Your Competitors Owning it!) 

When people search for almost anything these days, they’re likely to see a results page filled with sponsored listings before any organic results. And despite the upsurge in AI eating up most of the space above the fold, this is unlikely to change any time soon. Why? Because Google makes too much money on sponsored listings to get rid of them or make them harder to click. Simple as that. 

This space at the top is premium real estate. People spend most of their time here rather than scrolling down, so if there’s a way to ensure your brand is front and center, why wouldn’t you take it? 

Think about it: if a competitor’s ad shows up for your brand name and catches someone’s eye—maybe it offers a discount or a similar product—that’s a potential customer lost before they even get to your site. And sure, your competitors may not convert every visitor this way, but they’ll likely steal enough traffic to justify the expense. By not bidding on your branded terms, you’re essentially giving away conversions to your competition.

  1. Our Data Proves You Cannot Rely on Organic Alone

If the idea of competitors stealing your traffic isn’t compelling enough, let’s look at some data. One of our clients back in the day was simply not convinced that paying for branded traffic was worth the cost. They wanted to see what would happen if they paused their branded search ads on keywords they were ranking number one organically for. Once their busy season was over,  we suggested pausing their branded keywords for a month and then comparing leads before, during, and after this period.

Here’s What We Found

In previous years, this client saw steady organic and paid search performance, so we had a solid baseline. But when we paused their branded campaigns, things changed.

As expected, leads from paid search dropped significantly during the pause, of course. What was surprising, though, was that organic leads did not pick up the slack.

Our client lost nearly 600 leads during that three-week span—a decrease of 10%.

In this case, organic search alone did not make up for the traffic and conversions that branded ads delivered. 

The Bottom Line

Is this anecdotal evidence? Yes. And sure, if your brand is well-known, has loyal customers, and your site is highly optimized, you very well might get away with pausing branded ads without a huge impact. But for most businesses, those branded ads are worth the cost. Don’t leave your brand’s visibility in search to chance, whether that’s to your organic rankings, or to your competitors.

Not convinced? You can certainly call my bluff and try the test yourself, but I’m pretty confident that branded campaigns are a key part of a well-rounded digital marketing strategy, and also highly skeptical that your Organic Search will make up for it in its absence. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

A great example of how AI still comes up short; in generating images

The Shifting Sands of SEO

AI, Google’s Zero Click Searches, and the Future of What “Organic” Means in Marketing

Over the past year or so, we’ve seen some fascinating trends in organic search, especially with the introduction of AI into commonly used tools. It’s affecting how we approach SEO and plan organic strategies for our clients. For decades, Google has had a virtual monopoly on the search engine market, defining the rules of SEO as we know it. When we talk about SEO and organic traffic, we’re really talking about following the guidelines that Google sets. Play by enough of their rules, and your site ranks higher, gets more visibility, and ultimately draws more traffic from organic search.

 

Now, Google’s rules aren’t necessarily bad. Their goal is to provide relevant, accurate, and useful links to their users (while also making money). That said, they’ve been the main authority dictating how we, as marketers, optimize websites. But today, for the first time in a long time, Google’s dominance is looking more vulnerable. We’re already seeing that about 50% of product searches globally begin on Amazon, not Google. In Europe, that number jumps to between 61% and 74%. And when we look at generational shifts, things are equally bleak for the Alphabet company; TikTok is now Gen Z’s favorite place to start a search, with nearly 40% of young people preferring the app over Google. And Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, trails behind Nvidia and Microsoft in terms of best AI stocks to buy right now.

 

Speaking of AI, let me put to bed the idea that AI is creating entirely new rules for organic traffic; it’s not —at least, not yet. AI, after all, is still an algorithm designed to provide the most statistically probable result to a query. It’s still a computer. It doesn’t actually “understand” the question, it’s just processing data. And this distinction is crucial. AI still operates on the foundational principles of SEO, like reading H1 tags to understand the subject of a webpage. AI is going to rely on those same technical elements—H1s, H2s, internal links—to determine what a page is about. When AI relies on human language and context… well, you get the title image for this blog post. One that kind of, sort of works, but don’t examine it too closely. That’s all to say that for now, AI is not reinventing the SEO wheel. It’s using the same, if not very similar, code-based signals that Google uses.

 

Now of course, as an avid Science Fiction reader, I have to entertain the idea that we may eventually enter an era where someone “teaches” AI how to interpret websites differently. But we’re not there yet (except maybe in Sci-Fi novels). We’re still in the discovery phase, figuring out how AI impacts organic search. One of the clearest examples of this is the rise of zero-click searches. A zero-click search means users got the answer they were looking for directly from the search results page, without ever clicking through to a website. 2019 was the first time a majority of browser-based searches on Google were zero-click searches, and that percentage continues to climb. In July of 2024, a study revealed that nearly 60% of Google searches in the U.S. resulted in zero clicks.

 

Google’s AI scrapes sites to provide these zero-click answers to users. For example, if the 2012 you searches “What caused the War of 1812?”, you’d get a results page filled with links to sites like Britannica, History.com, the Smithsonian, or other educational institutions. You’d have to click into each site to see what depth and breadth of information these pages had. For the 2024 you, Google scrapes content from these sites and presents the answer right on the results page (basically British impressment of American sailors, maritime disputes, and territorial control, in case you were wondering). Users no longer need to click through to the source to get the answer.

 

This is undoubtedly great for users, especially those trying to win trivia contests, but life is not a game of trivia, and it’s creating a new challenge for content creators. Websites like the Smithsonian Institution or the USS Constitution Museum are providing this content about this War, but they aren’t seeing any organic traffic because users don’t need to visit their pages. The content is there, but it’s effectively being scraped (or stolen) by Google and displayed without a visit to the author’s page. From a business perspective, this is obviously problematic. Institutions like the Smithsonian rely on traffic to generate revenue, Google itself uses traffic as a signal for how to rank websites, and if users are staying on Google’s results page, that revenue stream dries up and could be negatively affecting that institutions’ ranking.

 

It also raises interesting questions about copyright and intellectual property. AI flirts with copyright issues because, while facts can’t be copyrighted, the way they are presented can. This is why recipes, for example, are kept secret—because they can’t be copyrighted. Once KFC’s 11 secret spices recipe was out, that was it. There’s no getting that cat back in the bag. So, is it fair that AI generates revenue from stealing the content businesses and blogs put on their websites?

 

That was certainly the question on Genius’ mind, the song lyrics website that calls itself “the world’s biggest music encyclopedia;” they sued Google in 2019, arguing that Google was stealing content from their website without any link back or attribution to Genius. Disappointing spoiler, Genius lost the case. But any SEO worth their salt was keeping an eye on its developments and potential ramifications for Organic Search. And I personally predict this will not be the last content-related lawsuit Google sees.

 

Regardless of Google’s future, what we know now is that AI still depends on well-organized, high-quality content to function. It needs crawlable, accessible websites with clear internal linking and proper use of H1s and other technical SEO factors. While zero-click searches are on the rise, AI (whether its Google’s, Microsoft’s, or NVIDIA’s) still relies on good old-fashioned SEO practices to scrape websites and present information.

 

This leaves us, the lowly humans, in an interesting place. SEO isn’t disappearing or going away, per say, but it’s certainly evolving and will continue to do so. We’re entering a strange, new era where content creators may need to rethink how they optimize for search engines and AIs that are more focused on retaining users on their own platform. The challenge moving forward will be finding ways to adapt to these changes, while still driving qualified traffic to our sites. And as to what these changes will entail? If you’re still reading this post, your guess is probably as good as mine.

 

The future of digital marketing is definitely shifting, but there’s one thing I still feel confident writing and shouting at all of our clients: good content and solid technical SEO are still the foundation of organic success—whether for AI or traditional search engines.

Representation of Code Bloat and Impact on SEO and more

Bloated Code Hurts Digital Marketing Efforts

In modern society, we’ve gotten really good at accumulating stuff. Between Amazon Prime’s Two-Day shipping and capitalism, it’s a wonder we haven’t started sending our excess stuff into space via SpaceX. And though there are plenty of how-to articles and influencers expounding the virtues of minimalism and telling us how to de-clutter and simply, how many of us think about how clutter manifests in the digital realm? Just like the closet in the guest bedroom, our finely tuned websites can get bogged down with unnecessary stuff. And what happens when that machinery becomes bogged down with unnecessary weight? Enter the dreaded “code bloat.”

When a website is laden with excessive code, it mirrors the clutter in our homes: it slows down performance, hinders user experience, and can ultimately drive potential customers away. This post will explore the detrimental effects of code bloat on your website’s performance and why it’s crucial to streamline your digital presence.

 

Representation of Code Bloat and Impact on SEO and more

Slower Performance

First off, let’s talk about the most immediate and noticeable effect of code bloat: slower performance. Imagine walking through a crowded market, dodging obstacles like baby strollers and people with backpacks, left and right; it’s hard to focus on what’s being sold when you’re trying not to trip over a dog leash. That’s what your website visitors experience when they try to navigate a bloated site. Excessive code can lead to longer loading times, and as studies show, even a one-second delay can lead to a 7% decrease in conversions.

Visitors expect websites to load quickly, and if they’re forced to wait, they may abandon your site altogether. Research by Google from 2017 indicates that 53% of mobile users will leave a page if it takes longer than three seconds to load, and I’m willing to bet mobile users haven’t exactly gotten more patient in the years since. The bottom line? A sluggish site can severely impact your business, driving potential customers away before they even get a chance to see what you have to offer.

Negative SEO Impact

Now, let’s address one of the most significant concerns: the negative impact on SEO. Search engines like Google prioritize fast, user-friendly websites in their ranking algorithms. Google’s algorithms are designed to reward fast, user-friendly websites. According to research by Google, a site that takes longer than three seconds to load can lose over half of its visitors, which directly translates to higher bounce rates. And of course, bounce rate is a crucial metric for SEO, since search engines interpret high bounce rates as a signal that users are not finding what they are looking for, leading to lower rankings in search results.

A sluggish website can also lead to decreased session durations. If users are frustrated by slow loading times and decide to leave, this decreases the average time spent on your site—another metric search engines consider when determining rankings. High bounce rates and low session durations can create a vicious cycle, wherein your site’s visibility drops, leading to fewer visitors and, consequently, even poorer performance. Yikes.

Moreover, code bloat can also hinder search engine crawlers from efficiently indexing your site. Crawlers need to access and analyze your web pages to determine their relevance for search queries. If they encounter a bloated site that takes too long to load or is difficult to navigate, they may not fully index all of your content, leading to missed opportunities for visibility. This means that valuable pages could be overlooked, ultimately impacting your site’s performance in search results.

More Resource Usage for the End User

Now, let’s shift our focus to resource usage. A bloated website doesn’t just affect the server; it can also take a toll on the end user’s device. I’m not a developer, but even us plebs can understand that each line of unnecessary code requires processing power, memory, and data. For users on older devices or slower internet connections, a resource-heavy website can feel like trying to run a marathon with a backpack full of canned soup.

This excessive resource usage can lead to frustrating experiences, particularly for those who are trying to access your site on mobile devices and for those who are less technically literate. If your website is eating up their device’s battery or data, it’s not just annoying; it’s a major turn-off. In an age where consumers are increasingly concerned about efficiency and performance, this can be a dealbreaker for many potential customers.

Difficult Maintenance for Developers

Code bloat doesn’t just hurt users; it also complicates life for developers. Think of your codebase as a garden: if you allow weeds (unnecessary code) to grow, it becomes difficult to find the flowers (the code that actually serves a purpose). When developers have to sift through heaps of cluttered code to find what they need, it not only slows down their workflow but also increases the likelihood of introducing bugs or errors during updates.

Moreover, maintaining a bloated codebase often leads to higher costs in the long run. Every time a new feature is added or an update is necessary, developers spend more time dealing with the consequences of that bloat rather than focusing on enhancing user experience. This means that while you may save time initially, you could end up spending far more as your website becomes more challenging to manage.

What Can You Do About Code Bloat?

Now that we’ve established how code bloat can affect your website, let’s look at some actionable steps you can take to minimize its impact. Here’s a quick checklist to get you started:

  • Run Your URL through PageSpeed Insights: This Google tool will help you identify areas where your site’s performance can be improved.
  • Minimize HTTP Requests: Reduce the number of elements on your page (images, scripts, etc.) by simplifying your content to decrease load times.
  • Optimize Images: Use the right file formats and compress images with tools like TinyPNG to reduce their size without sacrificing quality.
  • Use a Content Delivery Network (CDN): A CDN like CloudFlare or Amazon CloudFront can help you scale and speed up content delivery to users around the globe.
  • Remove Dead Code: Tools like SonarQube and Coverity can help identify unused code and duplicate code.
  • Regularly Audit Your Code: Schedule regular audits to identify and remove unnecessary code and improve overall performance.

Conclusion

Code bloat is an often-overlooked issue that can significantly harm your website’s performance, user experience, and SEO. In the end, the aim is to create a seamless experience for your visitors, turning casual browsers into loyal customers. And a well-optimized website not only pleases users but also keeps search engines happy. If you’d like more specialized advice and an evaluation of your code’s effect on your marketing efforts, drop us a line; we’d love to help.

Google's New Core Web Vitals Metric: Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Google’s New Core Web Vitals Metric: Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Google has recently announced that Interaction to Next Paint (INP) will become a primary Core Web Vitals metric, replacing First Input Delay (FID), starting in March 2024.

What is Interaction to Next Paint?

Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is a fairly new metric developed by Google to help website owners and developers evaluate the responsiveness of user interactions on their web pages. It measures the time it takes for a website to respond to all user interactions, such as button clicks or link taps, and provides the maximum time for all or most interactions.

Why is INP Important?

INP focuses on user experience and responsiveness, which are crucial aspects of site speed in today’s fast-paced digital world. Users expect websites to be fast and responsive, and a slow response to their actions can lead to a poor user experience, increased bounce rates, and potential revenue loss. INP sheds light on interactivity pain points.

How is INP Different from FID?

INP and FID are both performance metrics that measure different aspects of a website’s interactivity and responsiveness. While FID is concerned with the initial page load interactivity, INP focuses on interactions after the page has loaded. INP provides a broader view of the browsing experience by considering the entire lifecycle of user interactions.

How Does Interaction to Next Paint (INP) Work?

INP measures the time it takes for a user to interact with an element on the page and the subsequent paint event that occurs. It assesses the speed at which the browser can process and display the outcome of a user’s interaction.

What Is a Good Interaction to Next Paint Score?

Aiming for an INP score of 200ms or less is considered ideal for providing an enjoyable user experience. Google has set scoring guidelines, with scores ranging from “Good” (0-200ms) to “Needs improvement” (201-500ms) and “Poor” (Over 500ms).

Tools to Measure INP

Several tools are available to measure INP, including Chrome User Experience Report (CrUX), WebPageTest, Browser Developer Tools, and Custom JavaScript.

How to Improve Your INP Score

Improving INP involves addressing long input delays, optimizing event callbacks, and reducing presentation delays. Strategies include optimizing JavaScript, prioritizing event handling, minimizing main thread activity, and deferring non-critical tasks.

In conclusion, Interaction to Next Paint (INP) is a valuable Core Web Vitals metric that provides insights into the responsiveness of a website’s user interactions. Improving INP scores can lead to a smoother user experience, increased engagement, and potentially higher search engine rankings, contributing to the overall success of a website.

Guide to Linking Your Google Ads to GA4

Guide to Linking Your Google Ads to GA4

 … And why we think it’s worth it

Hello fellow marketers! It’s time to connect your Google Ads to the new Google Analytics (GA4).

GA4 is replacing Universal Analytics (UA), formerly Urchin Analytics. UA has been around since 2005 and we agree that it is time for some disruption.

GA4 promises to give us a better view into the entire customer journey. The update includes the integration of Looker’s business data visualizations. This, along with the new default Data-Driven Attribution is truly going to give us actionable data on which touchpoints convert customers.

If you are hesitant about linking to GA4, there is good news! You will still have access to your Universal Analytics property, and it will continue to collect data alongside the new GA4 instance.

Read More
How Long Do 301 Redirects Last?

How Long Do 301 Redirects Last?

Google Webmaster Trends Analyst Gary Illyes addressed a persistent question: How long do 301 redirects last? His answer: one year. But like many things with Google, there’s a bit more to it. Illyes goes on to explain that even after the redirect is removed, the signals do not go back to the origin page but stick with the destination page. So the answer to, “How long do 301s need to be alive to permanently move a page in Google’s eyes?” The answer is one year.

Let’s back up and explain that in detail.

There’s more to it!

For years, Google has recommended that you keep a redirect live for one year for Google Search purposes. If that redirect is live for a year, all the signals from the original page will be transferred to the destination page and stay with it even after the redirect is removed. Illyes also confirmed the one year mark starts when Google first crawls the page, not when the page itself was created. This also applies as long as there is no change to the redirected link. So, if you create a new inbound link to the origin page but there is no longer a redirect in place, then it gets crawled again as a normal page, and no value is passed along to the redirected link.

Google updated its site move instructions with the following, as listed in section six: “Keep the redirects for as long as possible, generally at least 1 year. This timeframe allows Google to transfer all signals to the new URLs, including recrawling and reassigning links on other sites that point to your old URLs. From users’ perspective, consider keeping redirects indefinitely. However, redirects are slow for users, so try to update your own links and any high-volume links from other websites to point to the new URLs.”

That means that once the redirect is removed, any new signals pointing to the origin page will not be passed along. If a signal was already passed to the new destination, it will stay there “no matter what.”

How long should you maintain your redirects?

This is more about managing and maintaining your redirects for search AND users. Hot takes:

  • Your redirect needs to be alive and well for at least 1 year from the day Google crawls it.
  • If anything changes in the status of that redirect, the 1-year clock resets.
  • Leave the redirect up indefinitely for users since it’s unlikely all inbound links to the old page will be updated.
  • Redirects do slow down the user experience.
  • Updating links from your old pages to the new pages is good practice.
The Impact of Returning to “Normal.” A Covid Story.

The Impact of Returning to “Normal.” A Covid Story.

If you’ve said, “2020 was my best year” or “we grew in 2020 despite the pandemic” you might be in for a reset in 2021 and into 2022. We don’t want to alarm you, but we do want to help you set realistic expectations. It may be best to expect a pullback from 2020 numbers.

2020 Success May Not Be So Easy to Maintain

When Covid hit in early 2020, we saw clients with digital products, digital solutions, online businesses, and even some brick and mortar companies thrive. Additionally, companies that invested aggressively to grow during the downturn were able to outmaneuver competitors who didn’t have the foresight, or the funds, to remain strong when business slowed.

Read More
Google Core Web Vitals Metrics for 2021 SEO

Google Announces Core Web Vitals. Start Planning.

Coming sometime in 2021, Google will be changing the way site speed affects search rankings. The new ranking signal will be lovingly titled the “page experience signal” and will be combined with Core Web Vitals per an announcement from Google. Google suggests you’ll be given notice six-months before rolling out the changes, so you don’t have to respond immediately. But it would be wise to start preparing now.

Read More
Does your copy pass the skim test?

Does Your Copy Pass the Skim Test?

You did it. You researched your topic, wrote multiple drafts, revised and edited, and finally polished it up. Now your article or blog post is ready for the world.

But wait! Before you click the publish button, there’s one final important step: content layout. Give your copy the best chance for success by making it as reader-friendly as possible.

Read More