Rand's presentation on the biases of cultural conditioning in the marketing world, and how history and media nudges marketers to make bad choices (along with loads of tactical SEO, social media, and content marketing tips).
Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com
The Invisible Giant
That Mucks Up Our Marketing
“If anybody dares to step outside of the box, the
retaliation is swift. I have to say, after 50 years of
feminism, the retaliation against “tomboy” girls has
softened some over the years. The retaliation to
“mama's boys” and “sissy boys” is just as violent now
among peers as it has always been.”
- Terrence Real, Author of I Don’t Want to Talk About It:
Overcoming the Secret Legacy of Male Depression
It’s not just gender norms.
The culture we live (and work) in
biases all our actions & beliefs
Like fish in water, we don’t realize we’re
swimming in it. Via Oliver Tarling
It’s why (despite all the data that in-office work is less productive, misery-
inducing, & lower quality) most of us still commute.
It’s why, even though we know it’s net-negative toproductivity,
many of us work 50, 60, or 70+ hours in a week.
It’s why, even though we know the archetypical “brilliant asshole” drags down
team performance, they keep getting hired.
It’s why, despite awful odds that an investor-backed tech startup will
produce returns, tech entrepreneurs like me think that raising money is a
celebratory milestone and a goal to strive for…
What if those channels are easy to measure because
the more measurable they are, the more money
powerful corporations make from us?!
Solution: Invest X% in Hard-to-Measure
Marketing Channels
Paidads+email
Social+contentmarketing
SEO
Events+PR
Use Geography,Audiences, and/or Time-SeriesAnalyses to
Monitor Brand + Traffic Lifts
Nest can see exactly
how their PR launch
impacted search
activity via Google
Trends’ upgraded
toolset
With tools like Fresh Web
Explorer, Talkwalker, or
Mention, you can track
media mentions too.
Over Time, Effectiveness Improves!
2008
WBFisourworst-performing
blogposteachweek
2017
WBFisourbest-performing
contentpieceeachweek
Solution: Focus on Potential;
MeasureAgainst Trajectory
Today
Long-Term
Potential
1Year 2Years
EstimatedGrowthRate
ROI-Positive
If you’re here after three
months of work, you’re on a
powerful trajectory, even if it’s
not ROI-positive yet
Can You…
Scan HTMLcode for basic functions?
Pull data viaAPIs inside Excel?
Insert code snippets with Google Tag Manager?
Audit websites to find technical issues?
Use web crawl tools to export desired data?
Test Google’s indexation of a page’s content?
Search Marketing in 2017 Has to Consider:
Google Images
Google Maps (& Local-Biased Results)
YouTube (originating searches & in GG results)
Which SERP Features Show For Your Keywords
Amazon, Facebook, Reddit, Bing
Where Search Demand Originates
Ranking well in Image
Search often doesn’t bring
much traffic or value
Image Search
Pro Tip
But… If you’re in a
vertical where
commerce is tied to
visuals, it can be
quite powerful
Likewise, if lots of
content creators
want your visuals,
ranking here can
yield loads of links
Text in images is one way to draw in clicks
for the right kinds of queries
But What If Your Site is…
New
Light on LinkAuthority
Lacks a Usable CMS
Controlled by a Team/Client Who Won’t Let You Do
What Needs Doing?
Subject to Nasty Legal or Brand Restrictions
What’s Google Ranking
These With?
Sure, this might be the most
interesting or click-worthy piece,
but it has poor KW-targeting and
little link authority?!
Focus on Signal:Noise Ratio – Don’t Let Bad Pages
Drag Down a Good Site
Quantity of Pages
Earning SERP Visits
Relative Time on Site,
Bounce Rate, Pgs/Visit,
Searcher Satisfaction
Site’s Search
Engagement
Reputation
=
3 Options for Pages Like These:
1) Improve them
2) Remove them (404)
3) Redirect them (301)
Marketing Culture Leads Us to Believe :
When Google Takes Your Search
Traffic, You Can’t Earn It Back
16 Features Every SEO Should Consider:
Videounits
SERPFeature Type How toGet In
“PeopleAlsoAsk”
FeaturedSnippet
MapsBox
KnowledgePanel
TopStories(News)
Images
Apps
Create&optimizeonYouTube(or,rarely,Vimeo)
Branding–getsearchedforwith/afterthequery
Phrasing&positionofshortanswerincontent
ClaimGMB,getlinks,earncitations,benearby
Earnbrandassociation,usestructuredmarkup
GetinGoogleNews,earnlinks,titlew/KWs
Relevantimages,altattributes,&directembeds
KWsintitle/description,getpopularinappstores
Analyze Which Types of SERPsAppear Most in the
Keywords You CareAbout
These show me how many of
each SERP type appears in the
results for this keyword list (via
KW Explorer)
Then Determine What Verticals & SERPTypes You
Need to Optimize For
Aiming for these PAA
boxes (People Also Ask)
might be a great content
marketing strategy for
SEO
Next time you’re making a strategic or tactical marketing
decision, ask yourself:
How is cultural conditioning
biasing me?
Not “if”