🔍 What advertising looks like now

Plus, if you had to choose SEO or PPC? Apr 03, 2020 Good morning search marketers, “This is our first pandemic, we have no idea.” That comment from Matt Van Wagner on our Live with Search Engine Land episode Wednesday was strangely reassuring. Nobody has this figured out, and anybody who tells you they do — well, run. There are no marketing models for where we find ourselves now, and what works for one company may not work for another. But we can keep learning from each other. Here are [8 takeaways for B2B (and other) advertisers]( from my discussion with Brad Geddes, Michelle Morgan and Matt Van Wagner. You’ll find the full video at the bottom of that article as well. As marketing budgets are being lowered, frozen or redistributed, the question of which channels to use for greatest impact is top of mind for most marketers, said Greg Sterling, who reported on two recent surveys on SEO and PPC. In one, [64% of marketers said they’d choose Google Ads over SEO]( if they had to choose. Are they looking at their analytics? For most companies, organic search drives more traffic than paid — a BrightEdge study showed organic accounted for 53% of site traffic compared to just 15% for paid. A second survey of SMB owners found that just 30% have an SEO strategy in place. “The smart answer to the question of whether to do SEO or PPC is ‘and’ not ‘or’ — both tactics complement one another,” says Greg. “However, as budgets are being[squeezed and paused right now]( — especially in the case of SMBs — the SEO vs. PPC question takes on new importance and urgency.” Keep reading for a Pro Tip from Amy Bishop, Search Shorts and more. Ginny MarvinEditor-In-Chief Pro Tip How to bring GA and Salesforce data together to tell one story “Unfortunately, Google Analytics and Salesforce will likely never match perfectly but typically the best-case scenario to get a good read on which sources and campaigns are driving leads that are ultimately becoming MQLs, SQLs, etc. include these options,” explains SMX speaker Amy Bishop of Cultivative. - Use URL parameters to capture lead data and insert leads into Salesforce campaigns in order to report on those leads via Salesforce. - And/or import your Salesforce leads back into Google Analytics so that you have the data in both places. [Learn more »]( Your 5 biggest Google Ads challenges & how to solve them Paid search is more competitive than ever. Search marketers need to be proactive and learn how to get the best out of the right tools to stay on top of their PPC ‘A-game’ (A for automation). Adthena created this guide to address the top challenges and offer solutions that will help you get better results and make your life easier. [Get it now »]( Mindful Moment This is a difficult time for us all. We are sharing a mindfulness exercise daily to help those interested to take a moment to decompress and regain focus. If you have a tip or exercise to share with the community, please email me at [gmarvin@thirddoormedia.com](. This week, we have suggestions from Tara Martello, a meditation and mindfulness coach based in Philadelphia. Today’s exercise: This 16-second meditation involves inhaling for a count of 4, holding for a count of 4 and exhaling for a count of 4. Repeating for at least 5 times. Search Shorts CDNs, spammy links, and Waze stays at home. Google and CDNs. Google said [regarding CDNs & search:]( there’s no SEO downside to using CDNs. Using CDNs is fine with Google search. And if your site is experiencing a lot more traffic, it’s a good way to handle the load. Label spammy links. Google’s John Mueller said Google will not label which links they find to be spammy. He said, “[spammers would love to know which links aren’t recognized as spam](.” Waze stays at home. Waze is notifying drivers to stay at home, and to [drive only if necessary](. Stay up-to-speed on modern marketing Join us online April 21-23 for Discover MarTech, a free virtual event featuring live keynotes from MarTech Program Chair Scott Brinker and Real Story Group’s Tony Byrne, in-depth marketing technology training, and exclusive community networking. [Learn more & register for free! »]( What we're reading We've curated our picks from across the web so you can retire your feed reader [Discover the Changes in Search Due to COVID-19]( – BrightEdge [Evolving consumer behaviour in key verticals]( – Microsoft Advertising [Google Featured Snippets Not In Position One]( – Search Engine Roundtable [How Much Water Do Google Data Centers Use? Billions of Gallons]( – Bloomberg [How to make the transition to the block editor (from the classic editor) in WordPress]( – Yoast [Human-Friendly Driving Directions Based Upon Personalized Landmarks]( – Go Fish Digital [Quick Tip: How to Diagnose Cloaking]( – iPullRank [Transform your photo in the style of an iconic artist]( – Google Blog [Why Every SEO Should Be Using Google Sheets Query Function]( – Distilled [Search Engine Land] [( [Want to advertise?]( This email was sent to {EMAIL}. [Unsubscribe]( [We respect your privacy.]( This email was sent by: Search Engine Land - a Third Door Media, Inc. publication with headquarters at 279 Newtown Tpke. Redding, CT 06896 USA © 2006-2019 Third Door Media. All Rights Reserved.