Are you wasting your Google Ads budget bidding against yourself? by BrandPilot.ai

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BrandPilot.ai - The uncontested paid search problem

Imagine this: You are a wealthy art lover seated in a room filled with beautiful paintings and surrounded by other art lovers. You have a numbered paddle in one hand and a glass of champagne in the other. You are at the center of an auction and about to bid against all the other people in the room for the artwork you want.

Now imagine you are blindfolded! The auctioneer’s rapid-fire speech guides you as prices go higher and higher. 

You periodically raise your paddle to make a bid; you assume that those around you are doing the same. But what if they’re not? What if the joke is on you, and you’re feverishly raising your paddle again and again to win the auction while everyone else in the room is motionless, watching you bid against yourself? 

Never forget: Google Ads is an auction. Most of the time, you are blind, unaware of competing bids for the keywords your business needs to win.

At BrandPilot, we call the phenomenon of a search ad with no competition the “Uncontested Paid Search Problem.” 

The Uncontested Paid Search problem 

The BrandPilot definition of the Uncontested Paid Search ad is a Google search where no competitor ad is present across several search terms. Yet, you are still paying for your sponsored ad CPC, even without competition. You are essentially bidding against yourself.

Here’s an example of an Uncontested Paid Search ad. In this case, you can see that the sponsored ad is directly above the organic result, meaning there is no other competition for this search result.

There are two problems with these Uncontested Paid Search ads:

  1. Wasted ad spend on organic traffic: A significant number of people simply click the sponsored ad as it appears at the top of their search, unnecessarily costing you money.
  2. Overpaying for clicks in paid search: You want people to click on your sponsored ad, but you are unnecessarily paying a high CPC in the absence of competition.

The critical takeaway here is that advertisers are paying high CPC for ads with no competition every hour of every day. The whole point of the Google keyword auction is to bid fairly against your competitors on a CPC for a keyword, so why are advertisers paying the same CPC even when competition is not present?

When do ‘uncontested search ads’ happen?

Instances of uncontested search ads are more pervasive than you might think. While results will vary by industry, data from BrandPilot indicates that Google Ads for:

  • Branded keywords face no competition 20–30% of the time.
  • Non-branded (general search) keywords experience moments of no competition but at a rate of 5–10%.
How often are search ads uncontested?

This makes sense as there would be less competition for a keyword specifically related to a brand or product name.

How big is this problem?

Uncontested search ads are a silent thief of marketing budgets. While this topic is not widely discussed, it has enormous impacts on the marketing industry.

Here is one way to measure this industry-wide issue:

  • Google’s annual search revenue in 2024: $264 billion (Statista)
  • Ad budget breakdown: On average, 18% ($47 billion) is spent on branded keywords, while 82% ($216 billion) goes to non-branded keywords. (Dreamdata)
  • Estimated wasted ad spend: Advertisers may be wasting approximately $11 billion annually on branded CPC and approximately $16 billion on non-branded CPC.

How much are you spending on search ads? If you could recover approximately 25% of your branded keywords budget and another 7.5% of the non-branded keyword budget, where would you invest those savings?

How to fix the uncontested paid search ad problem

There are really only two options to optimize for searches with no competition:

  1. Suppress your sponsored ad and let your organic search results float to the top of the search results page.
  2. Replace your current sponsored ad with a clone that you gradually bid-walk down to the lowest possible CPC.

Option 1: Let organic win the day

For this option, marketers can simply pause their existing sponsored ad when there is no keyword competition at that moment. If you are conquering organic search for that keyword, this will allow your organic search results to appear at the top of the search results page and drive organic traffic to your website.

Important note: You would need to ensure that you rank No. 1 organically for that keyword search. Be mindful that, as a marketer, your organic search results might not include your current promos, copy, buyers’ journey, etc.

Option 2: Bid-walking down a CPC

In this scenario, a marketer would allow the sponsored ad and the organic link to appear simultaneously on the search results page.

In this case, marketers create a clone of their sponsored ad that is displayed only when there is no competition. Over time, marketers reduce the CPC of this “no-competition clone.” This allows them to retrain the search algorithm and get the CPC for this cloned ad all the way down to $0.01!

Maintaining search traffic

The above processes are designed to eliminate unnecessary Google Ads spending and create more budget for you to drive growth and revenue. Every month, brands who execute strategy for uncontested ads typically reclaim approximately 30% of their branded keyword budget and another 5–10% of non-branded keywords. 

The real-world example below shows how a global fashion brand maintained website traffic while dramatically decreasing its Google Ads spend. In this case, the marketing team elected to simply pause their sponsored ads whenever there was no competition for the search term. Maintaining search traffic is more important to any marketer.

Here, you can see their blended CTR:

Graph

Reducing Google Ads spend

While maintaining search traffic, the marketing team was able to dramatically reduce its daily Google Ads spend simply by not paying a high CPC when a search result had no keyword competition. They were able to go from an average spend of $500 per day down to less than $100 — all while maintaining search traffic!

graph

Final thoughts

Here’s the no-brainer: a flaw in Google Ads has you bidding to win the auction, even when there is no competition for your selected keywords. A seven-day inspection of your Google Ads data can help determine how the Uncontested Paid Search problems is impacting your search campaign budget. 

You can save approximately 30% of your branded keyword budget each month and experience an 11% increase in site performance based on the redistribution of those wasted budgets. 

Book some time to discuss your keyword costs and get a free Google Ads campaign audit.

Branded vs generic Google searches
Data source: SparkToro

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Google: Not all sites will fully recover with future core algorithm updates

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When Google launched the March 2025 core update last week, Google said there will be a series of improvements aimed to help “better surface relevant, satisfying content” from content creators “throughtout this year.”

But you should not expect all sites to fully recover by the end of 2025, that simply won’t happen.

What Google said. Danny Sullivan, the Google Search Liaison, in a conversation on X with travel blogger, Nate Hake, explained that there is a caveat to the statement about surfacing those sites better in Google Search again. Sullivan wrote:

  • “With the important caveat that this doesn’t mean all sites will go back up to wherever they were if they are down from a previous peak.”

Some sites don’t deserve to rank. That means that not all sites will rank as well as they did because, as Sullivan wrote, “some sites with great content and hearts in the right place still don’t provide a satisfying page experience.” Sullivan added:

  • “But our systems themselves need to get better; it’s not all on creators sites that really do have good, solid content.”

Different systems impact different sites. In addition, different core ranking systems may impact one site but not the other, in the same way.

  • “From the group you were with that came out and generously shared your time, not everyone is impacted by exactly the same ranking systems,” Sullivan said.

That means you need to wait for the Google system (or systems) that impacted your site in earlier updates, will have a positive impact in future updates. And, honestly, that might never happen.

Search evolves. Plus, search evolves. What Google ranked in 2023 is not what Google wants to rank in 2025. Sullivan wrote:

  • “Our results have continued to change since 2023, including showing more social content, for example. The results are going to continue to evolve.”

Why we care. Google is committed to continue to make improvements to its search algorithms and systems. Google is aware of the issues many of those who went to the web creator summit won’t recover, Google said that already.

But do expect more Google updates to its core ranking systems throughout 2025, as we have seen with previous core updates and we will see in future core updates this year and in 2026 and beyond.

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What is Shopify and why choose it as your ecommerce platform?

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Shopify is one of the most impressive internet success stories. According to BuiltWith, the Canadian ecommerce giant now powers almost five million stores worldwide. Merchants choose it for its ease of use, robust features, scalability, and cost-effectiveness. Let’s go over the main reasons for choosing Shopify.

Table of contents

What is Shopify and what does it do?

Shopify is an ecommerce platform that has everything under one roof. It’s a cloud-based solution that lets merchants create, customize, and manage online stores without issues. Shopify focuses heavily on ease of use and functionality, and with the thought of having businesses run an online business without technical expertise. 

The CMS has quickly become one of the most popular ecommerce platforms. For instance, it dominates the US market, with a market share of around 30%. It helps by easily serving businesses of all shapes and sizes, from small startups to large enterprises. 

Choosing the right ecommerce platform is critical to your online success. There are many good reasons to choose Shopify, as it’s versatile, user-friendly, and scalable. It’s a good solution for most businesses and even has an app store with tools like Yoast SEO for Shopify that help you with your content marketing and SEO efforts.

Primary features and services of Shopify

One of Shopify’s main features is hosting and scalability. As a managed hosting solution, the platform offers fast and reliable performance for your pages. Its infrastructure can handle traffic spikes and high-demand sales peaks like those during Black Friday sales. 

Next, it is well-known for its template and customization options. The theme store has over 240 themes, all of which are mobile-friendly. You even get a selection of industry-specific themes to help businesses get online quickly. 

Another strong aspect of the platform is its tools section and how it integrates with nearly everything. The app store has almost any app you need, from Shopify SEO tools like Yoast SEO to inventory management options. This breadth of options is very impressive. 

Lastly, the CMS makes it easy to manage payments and financial transactions. It runs its own payment gateway, Shopify Payments, but it also supports various third-party payment processors. 

These options together form a fully formed product that helps merchants with everything from server management to brand building and marketing. No wonder so many merchants choose Shopify as their ecommerce platform. 

How does Shopify work?

Shopify’s intuitive platform makes starting and running an ecommerce store very easy. It doesn’t matter if you sell just one product or thousands — the software makes it accessible for every type of merchant. 

Simple setup process

One of Shopify’s most impressive aspects is the setup. Entrepreneurs can literally launch an online store within a few hours — without prior technical know-how. The platform offers easy-to-use tools that work by simply dragging and dropping elements. In addition, it offers user-friendly walkthroughs to guide merchants through the process. There are pre-built themes to get started with quickly, and buying premium themes from the Theme Store is also possible.

Effortless management

Shopify has a clearly organized admin dashboard. Store owners can track orders, manage inventory, and check customer data in a single place. Merchants also enjoy the automation features. For instance, it automatically calculates taxes, handles shipping integrations, and manages checkout processes — a huge time saver!

Of course, as we live in the mobile age, the platform offers mobile app access. Merchants can manage their stores on the go, so they don’t have to miss anything when they are out and about. We’ve already mentioned that the store themes all scale with and perform properly on mobile devices. 

All of these possibilities make Shopify a very good solution for most stores. Even a solo entrepreneur can build and manage a professional store without issues. This makes it a far more accessible option than platforms like WooCommerce or Adobe Commerce.

7 Key benefits of choosing Shopify

The ecommerce platforms’ impressive features, scalability, and customer-centric design stand out. Here are some key reasons merchants choose Shopify as their preferred ecommerce platform. 

1. The user-friendly interface

Time and time again, merchants mention that the clean, intuitive interface is the most important reason for choosing this ecommerce platform. It’s one of the most user-friendly e-commerce builders out there, and it’s intuitive for beginners and powerful for experienced users. 

Shopify has an innovative drag-and-drop builder that lets merchants customize the store layout and product pages without coding. The admin interface is clearly organized and simple, even for non-developers. Thanks to the guided setup and well-designed templates, business owners can quickly move from concept to live store. In addition, the admin panel gives an easy-to-understand overview of the store’s performance so merchants can manage orders and inventory without issues.

image showing the theme editor interface of shopify, one of the main reasons to choose it
Shopify’s easy-to-use interface makes it a joy to work with

2. Shopify AI Magic

One of the newest benefits is Shopify Magic, an AI-powered solution that makes work easier and more fun. For instance, it has an image editor that automatically cleans up and optimizes product images, and a content generation tool that uses generative AI to write FAQs, product descriptions, and blogs. Email improvements also help dynamically tailor email campaigns for higher engagement rates.

It also has Sidekick, an AI assistant that can help you get more done in your store. This chatbot answers all your questions and advises you on your specific situation, as it knows everything about your store. As a result, you have more time to focus on important things like strategy.

3. Flexible and scalable

Another big benefit of choosing Shopify as an ecommerce platform is its flexibility and scalability. The CMS can grow with a merchant and offers options for large and small businesses. 

It has an affordable pricing structure. The $29/month plan helps small businesses get online quickly without investing too much. For large businesses, there’s Shopify Plus, which supports global enterprise brands like Heinz and Gymshark. This plan offers advanced features like a multi-store setup, custom checkout-out options, and very high API limits. The platform is also very proud of its 99.98% uptime guarantee, which keeps stores online even in the busiest seasons. 

4. Integrated payment solutions

Another big advantage is the streamlined payment process for clients worldwide. Shopify Payments, a built-in payment system, eliminates the need for third-party gateways at no extra cost and no set-up fees. Additionally, it supports over a hundred payment integrations, including Stripe and PayPal.

5. Robust app ecosystem

Shopify is a very extendable ecommerce platform. It has an excellent app store, where developers offer a wide range of good apps that improve and expand what the CMS can do. Currently, over 10,000 apps are available in the app store, and new ones are arriving daily. 

Many of these apps integrate deeply with the CMS, allowing marketing automation and personalization that can increase sales. Merchants can install apps to recover abandoned carts, upsell related products, or integrate with CRM and advertising platforms.

Merchants can find apps for nearly everything. Some of the most popular ones are Oberlo for dropshipping, Klaviya and Mailchimp for email marketing, Judge.me and Loox for product and store reviews, and PageFly for building custom landing pages.

This extendability helps merchants scale their work whenever they need it most. 

an example of a search result for shopify apps related to email marketing
Shopify has over 10.000 apps in its app store

6. Comprehensive support

Running an online store is difficult enough without having to worry about technical issues. Luckily, the platform helps remove that worry with 24/7 technical and customer support. Merchants can access professional assistance via live chat, email, or phone. In addition, it offers loads of learning material in the form of Shopify Academy, community forums, and tutorials. Business owners can quickly learn to make the most of their online stores. 

7. Yoast SEO for Shopify

The ecommerce CMS comes with all merchants need to run their stores, including tools to improve search engine visibility. While SEO is always in its mind, it is good to think beyond the basics that the e-commerce platform offers. Getting traffic is too important to leave it to chance. 

Yoast SEO for Shopify is the perfect tool for merchants looking to get that traffic. This app is built by a team of SEO experts with decades of experience. Yoast SEO has innovative features like real-time SEO suggestions, helping you optimize your pages and products with actionable insights. Or enhanced structured data for your products to make these stand out in Google. 

Yoast SEO also helps you write better product content. Enter your focus keyword and use the feedback to make your product descriptions stand out. A readability analysis also helps you make the content as readable for your customers as possible. There’s a Semrush integration to get keyword data from the editor and AI-powered features to automate some parts of the optimization process. 

Combining Shopify’s framework with Yoast SEO makes your store accessible to search engines and customers.

Optimize your products with Yoast SEO to make them stand out

Unique selling points

Shopify has a lot going for it as an ecommerce platform, and there are more things it does to stay ahead of the competition. 

Multi-channel selling

One reason Shopify could be chosen over the competition is its ability to sell across multiple channels. Multi-channel options allow merchants to sell their products on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, with all the management and insights happening on the main dashboard. It also has point-of-sale options that help merchants offer in-store sales and integrate online and offline. 

The CMS can sync listings to third-party platforms like Amazon, eBay, or Google Shopping, increasing merchants’ visibility. The platform also has many more options for going omnichannel with your store, which makes it a great fit for managing everything all at once. 

Strong security and reliability

Trust is an important aspect of ecommerce. Merchants need to trust ecommerce platforms with their data and trust that they keep it safe and sound. Luckily, Shopify is working hard to provide store owners with a secure shopping environment. It is certified Level 1 PCI-DSS compliant, the highest level of payment security standard, which helps protect customer data. It also has built-in fraud detection features that minimize the risk of chargeback. 

Compared to hosted platforms like WooCommerce, Shopify automatically handles almost every security aspect. This gives merchants peace of mind that their customer’s data is safe.

Considerations before choosing

Shopify is an all-around great ecommerce platform, but there are some things to remember when merchants choose between the many other options. Its pricing is decent, with basic monthly plans starting at $29. Still, the cost can add up when you want to add apps, third-party integrations or want to have a custom theme developed. However, the CMS is often easier to set up and cheaper to run than platforms like Adobe Commerce.

Another consideration is the platform’s limitations. Shopify is closed software, so store owners have limited code access. WordPress solutions like WooCommerce might be better if openness is an issue.

These are the main reasons to choose Shopify

Shopify provides a great combination of ease of use, scalability, and features that help merchants thrive. Whether you run a simple store with a small budget or juggle millions of dollars, the commerce platform has the necessary solutions. It grows with your needs and offers you many options and possibilities to make the most of your business. Moreover, if you add Yoast SEO for Shopify to your store, you can boost visibility on Google, hopefully translating to more traffic and business growth.

So, why wait? Sign up for a free trial, add Yoast SEO to your store, and get your business on the road!

The post What is Shopify and why choose it as your ecommerce platform? appeared first on Yoast.

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Google Ads rolls out channel control for Demand Gen campaigns

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Google Ads logo on smartphone

Google Ads has begun rolling out channel control for select Demand Gen campaigns. This feature will let you specify where your ads appear across Google’s properties.

Yes, but. While the feature is live, segmentation by individual channel (e.g., YouTube, Discover, Gmail) is not yet available. This will limit your ability to make data-driven adjustments.

Why we care. This update, first announced in January, gives advertisers more control over campaign placement, but the full impact remains unclear since performance data is still aggregated under “Google-owned channels.”

What they’re saying. Greg Kholer, director of digital marketing at ServiceMaster, shared seeing the update on LinkedIn:

  • “While exciting, we won’t be making any changes until we’re able to see channel performance segmented out – as of today it’s still all lumped together as ‘Google owned channels’”.

What’s next: More search marketers will likely hold off on changes until Google provides detailed channel performance breakdowns.

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Bing pushes ad-heavy search results with 7+ sponsored listings

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Microsoft Bing appears to be testing an aggressive new ad display format that dramatically reduces organic search visibility in favor of sponsored content.

The details:

  • Users are reporting search result pages with at least seven paid advertisements.
  • One or two organic results are visible on the first page.
  • The format has been independently verified by multiple users.

What they’re saying. The original poster, Red Leaf Web Design, expressed shock at the format, stating “BING Ads Gone Wild!” on X. Several of the Search Engine Land staff were also able to replicate the ad-heavy results, seeing as many as nine ads:

Why we care. Bing’s ad-heavy testing fundamentally changes the competitive landscape for paid search visibility. With so many ads and barely any organic results on the first page, this format creates a more crowded advertising environment where standing out becomes increasingly difficult and expensive.

If rolled out more widely to more commercial queries, competition for the limited ad slots will likely intensify, potentially driving up cost-per-click rates as advertisers vie for visibility.

Between the lines. This extreme ad-to-content ratio suggests Microsoft may be testing the limits of user tolerance for sponsored results as search engines face increasing pressure to generate revenue in a rapidly-changing search landscape.

The big picture. Major search engines have gradually increased ad visibility over the years, but Bing’s apparent test pushes well beyond Google’s typical ad density, which usually caps at around four sponsored listings on the first screen.

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Google AI Overviews caught linking back to its own search results

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Google is testing placing special and very clickable links in its AI Overviwws, but not to publishers or your own website, but rather back to its own search results. You got that right, Google is testing linking the AI Overviews back to new search queries on Google.com.

What it looks like. I posted a screenshot and video from Sachin Patel who spotted this change on the Search Engine Roundtable – here they are:

Clicking on those underlined links in the text of the AI Overview, both at the top and in the middle section, will take you back to a new Google Search. The smaller link icons take you to the side panel links, those go to publishers and external websites.

Here is a video:

Why we care. All that talk, even recently with Google’s new AI Mode, around “prominently surfaces relevant links to help people find web pages and content they may not have discovered before,” and I quoted that from Google, means what here?

Those link icons in AI Overviews have shown to result in a drop in CTR from Google Search to external websites. We’ve seen a large company sue Google over traffic drops due to AI Overviews.

These links back to Google results in Google search volume growing, but do they actually help the searcher or they only help Google’s bottom line.

What about Google saying they value independent publishers and are prioritizing ways to send traffic to publishers in AI Overviews?

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Bing Webmaster Tools Copilot feature now available to all users

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Microsoft released Copilot within Bing Webmaster Tools to all users today, the company announced today. Initially, Microsoft had a beta release to only 10,000 trusted users of Bing Webmaster Tools but now the feature is generally available to all users.

What is Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools promises to provide “instant, accurate and contextually relevant answers to [user] queries.” It is engineered to provide “streamline workflows, enhance productivity, and provide valuable insights,” Microsoft initially said.

Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools aims at “helping webmasters manage their search optimization efforts more efficiently, improving workflows, productivity, and providing actionable insights,” the company said.

Top features. Microsoft outlined these four features as the top features for Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools:

  • Real-Time Question/Answer Chat: Offers personalized, instant, and accurate responses tailored to your specific site, enhancing efficiency and effectiveness in managing your SEO.
  • Deep Data Insights: Provides comprehensive, site-specific insights into performance, helping you quickly identify and resolve issues.
  • Learning Resources: Access built-in guidance to perform tasks, utilize tools, and improve your website’s visibility and performance.
  • User Feedback Integration: Continuously improves based on user feedback, ensuring the tool evolves to meet user needs.

English only. This feature is currently only available in English only, but Microsoft is working to expand it to more languages in the future.

What it looks like. Here are two screenshots of Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools:

Why we care. Copilot in Bing Webmaster Tools may help you find answers to your data questions on how your site is performing in Bing Search, what issues your site may be experiencing, and how to use Bing Webmaster Tools.

It seems this feature has improved over the last few months and hopefully will continue to improve over time.

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Bing Webmaster Tools Search Performance reports gains comparisons

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Microsoft has added the ability to compare date ranges within the Search Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools. This allows you to compare metrics and data points such as clicks, impressions, CTR, keywords, and pages across various date ranges.

What Microsoft said. Microsoft wrote:

“These enhancements enable in-depth analysis, providing invaluable insights for optimizing online presence and improving visibility. This means businesses can now make more informed decisions, identify key trends, and effectively adjust their marketing strategies to achieve better results.”

Microsoft also made user experience improvements in time filters, the company added.

What it looks like. Here is a screenshot showing the new “compare” option in the Search Performance report in Bing Webmaster Tools:

Why is this helpful. Microsoft posted a few ways these comparisons helps you, including:

  • Identifying key trends and patterns
  • Evaluating the effectiveness of their marketing campaigns
  • Gaining insights from seasonal search data
  • Setting benchmarks and goals using historical data
  • Identifying areas for improvement in search performance

Why we care. Google has offered comparing data in Search Console for a while, plus all the third-party tools offer this.

But now you can compare this data directly in Bing Webmaster Tools without having to export this data to a third-party tool. This should save you a lot of time, by not having to use another tool to compare your Bing Search data.

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No rookies. No fluff. Just the most advanced SMX agenda ever.

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The wait is over: I am beyond thrilled to finally reveal the agenda for SMX Advanced – June 11-13 in Boston.

Still here? Weird. You should already be knee-deep in the 500-level program by now… but hey, if you want a preview, I’ve got some mind-melting sessions to share, including:

And that’s just the start. There’s also an exclusive keynote conversation with Google’s Ginny Marvin, an opening keynote with the one and only Wil Reynolds, and of course, our hands-on Q&A-fueled clinics that address your specific needs and curiosities.

Still here? Okay then. You’ll also be the first to see the results of a groundbreaking study by Search Engine Land and Fractl on how consumers and marketers are adapting in the age of AI-driven search.

And you’ll have the chance to participate in all-new Mastermind Sessions, no-holds-barred 10-person roundtables that deliver uncensored, practical advice on what really works – hosted by iconic industry experts. Stay tuned for the complete lineup!

Networking! I can’t believe I didn’t mention networking yet. We’re bringing a fabulous mix of both structured and serendipitous networking experiences to Boston, including:

  • The ever-classic Meet & Greet Reception and Networking Happy Hour
  • Casual cocktails with the SMX crew
  • A scenic morning jog along the harbor
  • Morning mindfulness to set you up for a day of success
  • Topic-driven lunch discussion tables
  • SEO and PPC meetups with your friends from Search Engine Land
  • A Magic the Gathering game night

For nearly 20 years, 200k+ search marketers from around the world have attended SMX to learn game-changing tactics and make career-defining connections. This is your chance to join them.

Super Early Bird rates – $500 off on-site prices – expire next Saturday, March 29, so get a move on and secure your spot today! 

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4 SEO practices with diminishing returns

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4 SEO practices with diminishing returns

Whether it’s time, money, or expertise, marketing resources are finite.

In today’s world, with advances in AI and more efficient tools than ever, businesses expect better results with fewer resources.

That means every second spent on an SEO campaign matters.

To keep up, SEOs must focus on actions that truly move the needle – without wasting time or unnecessary effort.

This article highlights SEO activities that have diminishing returns – where the effort eventually outweighs the benefits – and offers tips on optimizing more effectively.

1. Page speed improvements

Not long ago, I had a client who was obsessed with page speed. 

The site’s page speed was excellent, with 100% of its pages passing Core Web Vitals on desktop and more than 95% passing on mobile.

And yet, they still wanted every URL to be rated “good” for mobile and every page speed test score to be a perfect 100/100. 

Achieving that would have required painstaking hours digging through code and cleaning up things like unused JavaScript to rework how pages loaded.

Brand with a good CWV score on desktop

Let’s be clear – page speed is important! 

Plenty of data shows that improving page speed can boost conversion rates, especially for ecommerce stores. 

But if a page loads in under two seconds, is interactive quickly, and doesn’t have disruptive layout shifts, a site can gain only minor performance boosts by shaving off additional milliseconds.

Once a site meets Core Web Vitals standards, further page speed optimizations have diminishing returns. 

Unless a business handles a high volume of on-page transactions daily, it’s usually better to focus on other areas for improvement.

Now, if your page takes 10 seconds to load, has poor interactivity, and webpage elements move around while users try to click, then this should be a priority. 

But if most of your pages pass Core Web Vitals and the user experience is solid, agonizing over page speed makes no sense.

The client in the example above had much bigger priorities, like cleaning up rampant over-indexing or pruning their stockpile of old, outdated content. 

Although this was explained to them, they ignored it, despite efforts to prevent them from wasting time on a dead end.

2. Increasing backlink authority

Many businesses fixate on backlink authority, seeing it as a silver bullet for rankings while overlooking issues like:

  • Poor keyword targeting.
  • Content cannibalization.
  • Weak internal linking.

Link building is not dead. Plenty of studies and anecdotal evidence prove it.

Building link authority can be the missing piece that pushes rankings onto Page 1, especially for new websites or brand-new pages on an existing site.

But if your website’s authority is well established and content ranks the second it’s published, then building links can have diminishing returns.

It can even start to work against a site that:

  • Chases poor-quality link opportunities.
  • Gets overly spammy with anchor text.
  • Pursues links from places that aren’t relevant to its content.

Does that mean you should stop link building altogether? 

No! Always take a quality link if you can get it. 

But depending on a website’s level of authority, more success may come from focusing efforts elsewhere – such as content strategy, public relations, or conversion rate optimization (CRO).

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See terms.

3. Publishing net-new content

Another client insisted on producing only new content.

Refreshing old articles or removing underperforming pages was off the table.

For a while, the strategy worked, and the website saw gains in nonbranded performance.

However, there was a tipping point – continuously adding new content eventually led to performance declines.

Publishing net-new content - tipping point

Why?

Writing only net-new content for years caused internal cannibalization, as multiple articles covered similar topics. 

Relevant topics also became scarce, leading to content that was only loosely related – or even unrelated – to the company’s services.

HubSpot has been in SEO news recently for this exact reason. 

When a marketing automation software company writes on topics around business credit cards, performance starts to move in the wrong direction.

HubSpot's blog posts with credit card topics
HubSpot's organic performance

So what does this all mean? 

Writing net-new content can not only have diminishing returns but, if done incorrectly, can actually hurt performance. 

Instead, it may be more effective to focus on:

4. Refreshing old content

I know – I just said refreshing old content is often better than focusing only on new content.

But stick with me.

There’s no debate: Refreshing old content is both a successful and necessary SEO tactic. 

Search engines prioritize fresh content, and some of the easiest and most effective wins come from updating existing content to be more accurate and relevant.

We surveyed about 850 enterprise-level marketers and found that updating existing content provided a greater performance lift than creating new content.

It should come as no surprise that the biggest growth comes from content refreshes. 

As noted in the previous section, creating new content was cited as the largest source of traffic loss between the two strategies.

NP Digital's survey on creating vs. updating content

However, even content refreshes have diminishing returns. 

The Pareto Principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, states that roughly 80% of results come from 20% of the inputs. 

This applies to on-site content – about 80% of traffic or conversions typically come from just 20% of a website’s pages.

Naturally, returns will be much higher when focusing on top-performing pages and gradually decline as you move further down the list.

Does that mean you should only focus on the top 20% of your content and ignore the rest?

Absolutely not! 

But it does help put things into perspective. 

While it may be tempting to squeeze more performance out of every article, refreshing low-volume or low-relevance content eventually will not provide value. 

Sometimes, it’s best to leave an article alone or retire it – and that’s OK.

Dig deeper: SEO prioritization – How to focus on what moves the needle

Where should you spend your time?

Where to focus SEO efforts depends on various factors. 

A newer website, for example, will likely need to prioritize link building and generating new content. 

Meanwhile, a website with a large library of existing content and strong authority should focus more on content refreshes and leveraging existing traffic through UX and CRO strategies.

With so many ranking factors at play, no single tactic ensures success. 

Winning in SEO requires a combination of strategies and tactics. 

It’s on you to allocate resources wisely. Make sure every effort contributes meaningful value, avoiding the law of diminishing returns.

Dig deeper: Prioritizing SEO strategies: Where to focus your efforts

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