As we gear up for the final two installments of the Pardot B2B Bootcamp Webinar Series, we’ve got search on the brain. Search engine marketing and search engine optimization best practices are constantly changing, and it can be hard to keep up. Fortunately, we’ve got some experts on deck ready to help you whip your marketing into shape.
Join Katie Blair and Bob Dinsmore from Salesforce Online Marketing to learn how Salesforce Pardot approaches SEO and SEM. They’ll also be joined by special guest Christina Rohde, Online Sales Account Manager at Google, who will share her expert perspective on goal-crushing SEM promotional plan ideas for the new year.
Their webinar will take place on Thursday, January 28th at 2PM EST — take a moment to reserve your spot today! And in the meantime, brush up on some best practice SEO and SEM tips for 2016.
1. Don’t forget about complementary search terms.
As Jayson DeMers explains in Forbes’ Fundamental Guide To SEO In 2016, proof terms and relevant terms “indicate to Google and to your readers that you’re comprehensively covering the topic.” For example, he says, the word “search” will virtually always be included on a page about SEO, making it a proof term. Relevant terms, on the other hand, widen the scope of the topic. DeMers uses “Panda” and “Google” as examples of terms that are relevant to SEO.
Another reason secondary keywords are becoming increasingly important is because of virtual assistants like Siri, Cortana, and Google Now. People use these tools to search the web differently than they use typical search engines. Let’s say I can’t remember a specific actor’s name. I might type “Breaking Bad cast” into Google and browse the cast on IMDb. If I’m using a virtual assistant, however, I’m likely to say something more conversational, such as, “Siri, who plays the wife in Breaking Bad?” In this case, wife would be a supplementary search term that not all websites on the topic would include.
The takeaway? Consider what words and phrases your readers (and search engines) will associate with your primary keywords, and be sure to include those on your webpage.
2. Responsive web design is no longer enough if you want to be truly mobile-friendly.
In April of 2015, Google’s so-called Mobilegeddon changed the way marketers look at SEO. By factoring mobile-friendliness into SERP placement, Google took a huge step forward in creating a better mobile experience.
Chances are, you’re already using responsive design to conform your website to the device on which it’s being viewed. But that’s not enough for a site to be truly optimized for mobile.
According to Google, mobile-friendly sites must also take the following into account:
- Multimedia content – Ensure all your video and audio content is playable on mobile. (That means no Flash players!)
- Load time – Make sure your site loads quickly on mobile. Learn how to leverage browser caching, optimize images, avoid unnecessary landing page redirects, and more in this helpful video from Google Webmasters.
- Ease of navigation – Avoid using interstitials (or pop-ups) that cover the content of the page on mobile, and don’t put clickable elements too close together. Nothing makes visitors click away as quickly as an unusable website.
- Font size – Google recommends making your font at least 16 CSS pixels so readers won’t have to zoom in to read it.
Of course, these aren’t the only factors Google — and your end users — take into consideration when determining whether your site is mobile-friendly. Check out Google’s guide to mobile-friendly websites to learn more, and be sure to use their free Mobile-Friendly Test tool to get a detailed breakdown of what you can do to improve.
Don’t forget to optimize your landing pages as well. There’s nothing like investing in SEM and display ads only to scare away prospective clients with clumsy or too-long forms. Learn how to create a better mobile landing page experience in this article.
3. Calculate the ROI of every keyword.
You’re already measuring the cost per click and cost per conversion of your paid search keywords — but that data can only get you so far. With marketing automation, you can sync your Google AdWords account with your other marketing data to easily dive into a wide range of other metrics. Using Pardot’s Google AdWords Connector, for example, you can calculate your cost per opportunity, cost per sale, and campaign ROI, just to name a few.
As we discussed in last week’s blog post about marketing reporting, these metrics can make it simple to spend your search engine marketing dollars more wisely. Using this data, you can reallocate some of the funds from less effective ads to your top-performing ones to get more bang for your marketing buck.
Get more SEO & SEM tips in the January 28th webinar.
Want even more expert tips for improving your SEO and SEM in 2016? Register now for the January 28th webinar by clicking the banner below. In the meantime, don’t sit on the sidelines — share your thoughts on search engine marketing in the comments section!
