Corey Morris gave a presentation on search marketing, strategy development, pay-per-click advertising, search engine optimization, and web analytics. He discussed key concepts for each topic, including how search engines have evolved over time, developing goals and personas, managing PPC campaigns and measuring performance, on-page and off-page SEO factors, and using Google Analytics for audience, acquisition, behavior, and conversion metrics. Morris also outlined his processes for managing PPC accounts, optimizing on-page SEO, external SEO factors, and reviewing analytics regularly.
3. About Me
◦ Vice President of Marketing
◦ 14 Years in digital marketing
◦ KC Search Conference founder
◦ VP on global board of SEMPO
◦ VIP Contributor to
Search Engine Journal
◦ Former KC tech radio personality
@coreydmorris
4. Voltage
◦ Digital agency
◦ Focus on branding,
web & digital marketing
◦ Founded in 2001
◦ Based in Kansas City’s
River Market, Downtown
@coreydmorris
24. PPC Concepts
◦ How it works
◦ The networks
◦ Campaign management
◦ Performance metrics
◦ Bonus tips
◦ My process
@coreydmorris
25. How It Works
◦ Live auction CPC or CPM
◦ Ad types
◦ Text CPC
◦ Display CPC, CPM
◦ Shopping
◦ Remarketing/retargeting
◦ Programmatic
◦ Predictive
◦ Ad networks & management platforms
@coreydmorris
33. @coreydmorris
My Process
◦ Daily
◦ Account touch looking at stats and for red flags
◦ Weekly
◦ Match type updates
◦ Keyword additions and subtractions (negative matching)
◦ Monthly
◦ Quality score review & optimization
◦ Ad A/B testing rotations
@coreydmorris
35. SEO Concepts
◦ How it works
◦ Indexing & technical
◦ On-page (relevancy)
◦ External influences (authority)
◦ Performance metrics
◦ Bonus: advanced strategies
@coreydmorris
36. How it Works
◦ Search engines index content
◦ Rank on a topical basis for
relevancy & authority
◦ Over 200 variables in ranking algorithm
◦ Not all are known and they are weighted
differently
◦ White hat vs. black hat tactics
@coreydmorris
37. Indexing & Technical
◦ Robots.txt
◦ XML sitemap
◦ The modern way
of “submitting”
to Google
@coreydmorris
38. On-Page Optimization
Relevancy
◦ Site structure & on-page elements
◦ Context matters
◦ Topics of content and pages
◦ Keywords still matter,
but don’t stand alone
@coreydmorris
39. Page Elements
◦ URL
◦ Title tag
◦ Meta description
◦ Heading tags
(H1, H2, etc.)
◦ Body copy
◦ Image alt attributes
@coreydmorris
40. External Influences Optimization
Authority
◦ Inbound links (aka backlinks)
◦ Social media engagement
◦ Brand mentions
◦ Popularity & reputation
◦ Site usability & engagement
@coreydmorris
42. Bonus: Advanced Topics
◦ Canonical tags
◦ Content grouping to maximize
Google PageRank
◦ Dynamic tagging
@coreydmorris
43. @coreydmorris
My Process
◦ Technical
◦ Indexing, site architecture, site speed, diagnostics
◦ On-Page
◦ URLs, tags, copy, attributes in each page
◦ External
◦ Inbound links, brand mentions, social media engagement
@coreydmorris
53. @coreydmorris
My Process
◦ Define KPIs up front
◦ Ensure KPIs align with business metrics
◦ Set up dashboard or tools to get data coming
to me
◦ Review and report regularly on KPIs
◦ Monitor user path and advanced stats
@coreydmorris
55. Trusted Resources
◦ Google certifications through
Academy of Ads
◦ Sources to follow
◦ Search Engine Journal
◦ Search Engine Land / Marketing Land
◦ MediaPost Search Insider Daily
◦ Bruce Clay
◦ Moz
@coreydmorris
This is hard to see on screen, so if interested, I encourage you to find the interactive histogram where you can drag a slider through the years to see the updated relationships
The diagram shows who provides primary and secondary organic search results to other search engines as well as paid ads
Since the ”Microhoo” agreement in 2009, Yahoo shows Bing search results.
Yahoo still does some of their own advertising though and could terminate the organic search deal at any time.
Since the ”Microhoo” agreement in 2009, Yahoo shows Bing search results.
Yahoo still does some of their own advertising though and could terminate the organic search deal at any time.
Even in 2001, we see more than just the “Ten Blue Links” as ads are taking over the page. However, it was clear what an ad was versus an organic result.
This example shows how Google was showing categories as either a standard feature triggered by this search term or as an experiment in competing with Yahoo at the time who was known for their directory
We’re cleaner in 2005 and still segmented with organic results and ads. Around 30% of Google users clicked on ad links in the late 2000s
Here’s 2009 where ads are still on the right as well as on top.
Still a clean layout for this search, but this is due to the perceived intent of the search.
By this point, Google had started introducing “Universal” search results
Universal included different details and layouts based on intent like shopping ads, map listings, Google News articles, etc.
Here we are now…Google is still really trying to determine intent
We recently had the big update where right rail ads are gone. Ads are now just at the top and bottom
We have RankBrain for machine learning, the knowledge graph (which you see at the top of this page) and a whole lot more based on searcher intent
Here we are now…Google is still really trying to determine intent
We recently had the big update where right rail ads are gone. Ads are now just at the top and bottom
We have RankBrain for machine learning, the knowledge graph (which you see at the top of this page) and a whole lot more based on searcher intent
There are many ways to name the categories, ways to categorize the diagram, and buzzwords (earned/owned, inbound/outbound…different uses of content strategy/content marketing, etc)
Scaling of efforts across channels within strategy and research
This is a visual tool available on ThinkWithGoogle.com that is a great example of starting the process of mapping out the customer journey
This is where most keyword research happens
(Go over details of metrics)
There are many tools for competitor intelligence and research
(talk through this example)
Google example showing text ads and product listing ads
Bing example showing the same
LinkedIn display ad slot (text ads are smaller and below it)
One keyword ad groups
Match type ad groups and cost savings
Forced even rotation of ads and constant A/B testing
Settings Matter! Ex: geographic targeting
One keyword ad groups
Match type ad groups and cost savings
Forced even rotation of ads and constant A/B testing
Settings Matter! Ex: geographic targeting
“Nursing Home” example
One-way inbound links from quality sources
Google PageRank scale
Reciprocal links and link schemes, link farms, off-topic links, etc.
Causation and correlation regarding social impact on SEO, search engine denials of the connection, and what we know
One keyword ad groups
Match type ad groups and cost savings
Forced even rotation of ads and constant A/B testing
Settings Matter! Ex: geographic targeting
One keyword ad groups
Match type ad groups and cost savings
Forced even rotation of ads and constant A/B testing
Settings Matter! Ex: geographic targeting
One keyword ad groups
Match type ad groups and cost savings
Forced even rotation of ads and constant A/B testing
Settings Matter! Ex: geographic targeting