A website audit helps you find what’s holding your site back. It highlights technical issues that affect your rankings and UX problems that hurt conversions.
In this guide, I’ll walk you through five essential steps to maximize your site’s performance.
And to make it easier, I’ve created a free website audit checklist that you can refer to as you follow along.
Note: This post covers the fundamentals of website audits for small to medium sites. Enterprise sites have extra considerations and may need specialized tools and processes.
Step #1: Review Your Site Architecture and Navigation
A clear site structure and intuitive navigation help both users and search engines find what they’re looking for. This means it can affect your rankings AND your bottom line.
After all, if your visitors can’t find your products or services, how will they buy them?
Here’s how to audit your site’s architecture:
Analyze Your Site’s Navigation
Check how easily users can move through your site. Your navigation menu structure should be intuitive, and your site architecture should be logical.
Here are some questions to ask about key areas of your navigation:
Is your main navigation easy to find, and do the labels clearly describe where they lead?
Does your site search function return accurate, relevant results?
Do you use internal linking for related content to help users naturally explore your site?
For example, this furniture store, Terra Outdoor, ticks all the boxes:
What do they do right?
The site has a clean drop-down design that organizes items by product groups, materials, and collections.
This kind of organization lets shoppers easily browse the products they’re looking for.
Useful resource: Use this menu design checklist to make your site’s navigation more user-friendly.
Map Your Site Structure
Your content needs proper organization on each page so readers AND search engines can understand it easily.
Start with your heading hierarchy:
Your H1 tag is the main title of your page. So it should be unique and properly describe the content of each specific page.
Here’s how an H1 tag appears on your page:
Meanwhile, H2s and H3s should logically break down your topic.
Further reading: Learn more about creating a user-friendly site structure with our website architecture guide.
Check Your Internal Links
Internal links help readers navigate your site. They also signal to search engines that your content is all connected.
That’s why proper internal linking can help boost your topical authority.
So, check if you link to:
Important product/service pages
Related blog posts
High-converting pages
One thing to consider: do you use descriptive anchor text that includes relevant keywords naturally?
This tells readers where your link will take them. Plus, it gives Google helpful context about that page.
With a technical site audit, you can check how easily search engines can access, crawl, and index your pages.
You could have the best content in the industry, but technical issues could still hold your rankings back.
For example, a technical SEO audit helped BetterVet, a mobile veterinary service, fix critical site errors affecting the crawling and indexing of their content. Which resulted in a 2,002%boost in organic traffic.
So this kind of audit can get REAL results for your business.
Here’s how to do it:
Check Your Site’s Indexability
First, you need to know if search engines can actually find and understand your pages.
To check this, head over to Google Search Console and check if Google is indexing your important pages. You’ll see this under “Indexing” > “Pages.”
A page speed audit helps you identify exactly what’s slowing down your site and how to fix it.
Improving your site speed can potentially help you convert more customers.
How?
It’s simple: a fast-loading website creates a smooth user experience.
When your site loads quickly, visitors can easily explore your content, interact with your site, and complete actions—like clicking the buy button.
Want to see the real impact?
Take Agrofy, an agricultural marketplace. After identifying and fixing their performance issues through a page speed audit, their cart abandonment rate dropped by 76%:
Here’s how to check if your site is as fast as it could be:
Measure Your Page Performance
Start by checking your page speed using Google’s free PageSpeed Insights tool.
This tool shows you detailed performance data and actionable insights, which can help you identify areas that you need to improve.
These are part of Google’s page experience ranking factors.
Here’s why they matter and how to improve them:
Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) reflects how quickly your main content loads for users. A good LCP score (under 2.5 seconds) means your visitors are less likely to abandon your page before it loads.
To improve your LCP, compress bulky resources like hero images or animations.
Interaction to Next Paint (INP) measures how quickly your site responds when users interact with it.
Keep INP under 200 milliseconds by minimizing JavaScript execution time. Also remove unnecessary third-party scripts that could slow down interactions.
Cumulative layout shift (CLS) tracks the visual stability of your page as it loads. For example, if ads load in and push content down the page as they do so, that will affect your CLS score.
Aim for a CLS score below 0.1 by setting proper image dimensions, reserving space for ads, and using consistent fonts.
Prioritize High-Impact Fixes
When auditing your site’s page speed, focus on changes that can bring the biggest improvements, like:
Compressing and properly sizing all images
Minifying and combining CSS and JavaScript files
Removing unnecessary code and plugins
If you’re not sure where to start, follow the list of issues and fixes PageSpeed Insights suggests.
Next steps: Learn all about why this matters in our guide to page speed and SEO.
Step #3: Analyze Your Backlink Profile
A backlink audit helps you understand your site’s backlink profile and identify opportunities for improvement.
Strong backlinks from reputable sites can boost your rankings, while poor quality links (or a lack of links) might hold you back.
Let me show you how to evaluate your link profile:
Check Your Backlink Profile
First, get an overview of your backlink profile with a tool like Semrush’s Backlink Analytics.
Take a look at the total number of backlinks, referring domains, and overall toxicity score:
Watch out for any sudden spikes in new, low-quality backlinks. This could signal that you’ve been attacked by spam, which could harm your SEO.
Free tool: Use our free backlink checker to quickly analyze your site’s links (or your competitor’s).
Analyze Link Quality
Next, use the Backlink Audit tool to get a clear picture of your link profile’s health.
Click through the numbers shown in red (toxic), orange (potentially toxic), and green (non-toxic) to review each category of backlinks:
This breakdown helps you spot opportunities in two ways:
You can analyze your healthy backlinks and find similar link-building opportunities
You can identify toxic links and send removal requests
Having a few toxic backlinks isn’t necessarily alarming, and it’s almost inevitable as your site grows. What does matter is the ratio between good and toxic links in your profile—you want the vast majority to be high-quality links.
Regularly monitor your backlink profile to maintain it in a healthy state.
Schedule monthly checks to catch harmful links before they tank your rankings.
Tool recommendation: Use Semrush’s Link Building Tool to monitor your link building efforts. You can manage your outreach and monitor your results in one place:
Step #4: Evaluate Your Content
A content audit will uncover pages you need to update if you want to boost their traffic.
It reveals three key things:
Which pages drive the most value
Which pages you need to improve
Which pages you should remove or consolidate
Here’s how to audit your content:
Evaluate the Quality of Your Content
High-quality content keeps readers engaged and signals to search engines that your page is valuable and deserving of higher rankings.
But how do you evaluate content quality?
High-quality content is generally well-researched, up to date, and provides unique insights.
Other elements of high-quality content include:
Clear language
Easy-to-follow format
Short paragraphs
Relevant images, charts, and videos
Pro tip: Use our guide to quality SEO content to learn what it takes to create truly great content (that also ranks well)
Review Your Meta Elements
Your title tags and meta descriptions are your first chance to impress people in search results.
These elements can determine whether someone clicks through to your content—or scrolls past it.
Here’s what they look like in search results:
But what should you look out for when auditing your titles and descriptions?
Great titles should:
Include target keywords near the start
Stay under ~60 characters (or 600 pixels—use a tool like Mangools to check)
Use compelling language that makes people want to click
Follow a consistent format across your pages
And your meta descriptions should:
Include relevant keywords naturally
Accurately describe the page content
Stay under 155 characters/960 pixels (or ~120 characters/680 pixels on mobile)
Have a clear call to action (CTA)
Use Google Search Console to see which pages get the most clicks from search. Then, analyze their meta elements to understand what’s working well.
Look for pages with lots of impressions but not many clicks. These are pages with low click-through rates (CTRs), and likely ones you could optimize for better performance.
Next steps: You need people to click on your site if you want them to turn into customers. Check out our guide to click-through rate to find out how to further optimize your website content to get more clicks.
Step #5: Assess the User Experience
The goal of auditing your site’s user experience (UX) is to identify friction points and optimize them so users can effortlessly find what they’re looking for.
A great UX keeps visitors engaged with your content and encourages them to take action (like making a purchase).
Plus:
Intuitive experiences also signal to search engines that your site is valuable to users. In fact, page experience is a key ranking factor.
Here’s how to audit your site’s UX:
Check the Mobile Experience
More than 60% of website traffic comes from mobile devices.
So, test your site on different screen sizes to ensure you provide a consistent experience.
Focus on the following:
Are your buttons and links large enough to tap without zooming?
Do your images scale properly on smaller or larger screens?
Is your text readable without pinching to zoom?
Does your navigation menu work smoothly on mobile?
Auditing what’s on your website is just part of the overall process.
To find out what the best next steps are, you need to look at the data.
Analyze Search Performance
Open Google Search Console to check your content’s performance metrics.
Identify the following:
Pages with zero traffic
Content with low click-through rates
Pages ranking on page 2-3
Like Brian Dean suggests:
“Start by identifying content that gets zero traffic and zero sales. With lots of published content, there’s just too much to analyze at once. When you clear out the junk first, you can focus your energy on content worth improving.”
Once you get rid of the junk content, check how other pieces are performing.
Brian Dean suggests focusing on one key metric: traffic. It reflects whether or not a piece of content is attracting an audience.
Look for content with declining traffic trends.
Here’s how:
Open the “Performance” tab from the left side menu
Scroll past the main performance chart and open the “Pages” tab
Select 12-month period (or longer) to clearly show traffic patterns
Select one page to see its individual performance graph
When looking at the traffic graph for each individual page, watch for these patterns:
Consistent downward trend over several months
Sudden drops that haven’t recovered
Previously high-performing content that’s lost momentum
That means there’s an opportunity to update it and regain the traffic.
Next steps: Boost your numbers with our guide to driving more traffic to your blog (you can use the tips for other types of websites too).
Take Action on Your Website Audit Findings
After completing your website audit, you’ll likely have a long list of potential fixes.
But how do you take action on these? And how can you best prioritize your resources so you make the highest impact fixes first?
Here’s how you turn these findings into actual improvements:
Prioritize Your Fixes
Start with issues that have the biggest impact on your SEO and user experience.
Such as:
Critical technical issues like crawlability and indexing problems
Missing meta information on key pages
Slow loading pagesNon-intuitive navigation
Poor mobile experience
High number of toxic backlinks
Create an Action Plan
Looking at a long list of issues can feel overwhelming. To make things easier, break them down into manageable chunks based on how quickly you can implement them.
For example, your breakdown might look like this:
Timeline
Action Items
Quick wins (tasks requiring little effort and less than an hour)
Add missing meta descriptions
Fix broken internal links
Compress large images
Medium-term (tasks that need more planning and resources)
Improve site structure
Rewrite underperforming content
Fix Core Web Vitals issues
Long-term (major changes requiring significant time and effort)
Site redesign for better UX
Migration to faster hosting
This helps you tackle high-impact quick wins immediately, while planning for bigger projects.
Plus, you won’t feel paralyzed by a massive to-do list.
Pro tip: Set up regular monitoring in tools like Semrush’s Site Audit to catch new issues early and make timely improvements.
Ready to Do Your Own Website Audit?
When doing your first website audit, start small. Pick the SEO aspects or areas of your site that resonate with the biggest challenges you currently face.
For example:
If your rankings are falling, focus on an on-page SEO audit to find out how you can boost their performance.
If your bounce rate is high, do a UX audit to find out why people might be leaving your site without taking action.
Before, during, and after your audit, use our complete SEO checklist to keep your optimization efforts on the right track.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-06 01:01:312025-02-06 01:01:31How to Do a Website Audit in 5 Steps (+ Checklist)
Keyword research reveals what your audience wants to watch and helps your videos appear in search results.
This is why it’s a vital step in growing your channel’s reach and engagement.
Decode Audience Search Intent
On YouTube (and search engines), people search with different goals in mind. They might want to learn something, compare options, or find entertainment. This is called search intent.
Keyword research lets you match your content to your audience’s search intent to attract engaged viewers that turn into subscribers.
For example, informational searches like “how to deadlift” show viewers want to learn specific skills, while commercial searches like “best home gym equipment” indicate they’re comparing different options.
Matching your content to these search patterns helps you attract more engaged viewers.
Find High-Performing Keywords
Smart keyword research helps you discover topics with high search volume but low keyword difficulty—the sweet spot for growing channels.
For example, instead of competing for overcrowded terms like “gardening tips,” more specific searches like “apartment gardening” can be easier to rank for but still drive significant traffic.
Identify Trends to Maximize Discoverability
Popular YouTubers anticipate viewer demand—and keyword tools reveal exactly when that demand is building.
Using keyword research tools helps you:
Spot rising topics before they peak
Create timely content when search interest is growing
Build momentum from trending searches
For example, when the TV show “Squid Game” announced its second season, keyword tools showed surging searches for “squid game season 2” and “squid game season 3″—revealing perfect opportunities to create videos before peak interest.
Now that you know why keyword research is important, let’s explore the best tools for it.
5 Best YouTube Keyword Tools (Free & Paid)
I tested the most popular YouTube keyword tools to see which ones performed best at keyword analysis, competitive intelligence, and trend spotting.
Here’s what I discovered.
1. VidIQ: Best for Deep Keyword Intelligence
VidIQ helps YouTube creators find content ideas and maximize their reach organically.
Its helpful browser extension lets you perform keyword research, audit your channel, track competitors, and more.
Conduct Keyword Research
VidIQ’s keyword analysis stands out as the most detailed of the tools I reviewed.
It provides:
An overview with key metrics
Related keywords
Matching terms
Trending videos
For example, when I searched for “affiliate marketing,” I could see its SEO score, search volume, and competition level, along with multiple other helpful metrics.
This includes long-tail keywords, relevant questions, and variations containing my primary keyword.
This information will allow me to focus on niche topics that tend to attract smaller but highly engaged audiences.
Like “Amazon affiliate marketing,” which gets fewer searches than “affiliate marketing” but has lower competition, too.
When you search for a keyword, VidIQ highlights the top 10 trending videos for that term so you know what you’re up against.
It also tells you how many views each one has and its engagement rate.
For example, I clicked on one of these videos, and the tool revealed it was performing 15 times better than this channel’s average video engagement.
This tells me I should investigate further to find out why it’s doing so well—whether it’s niche keywords, quality content, a trending topic, eye-catching visuals, or something else.
I recommend repeating this process for five or so competitor videos to gain valuable insights you can use to improve your own video’s optimization and performance.
Create and Track Keyword Trends
Trends move fast on YouTube—what’s viral today might be forgotten tomorrow.
VidIQ’s real-time trend tracking keeps you ahead of the competition.
Set up custom trend alerts to discover hot topics in your niche before they explode.
Here’s how:
Give your alert a relevant name
Add target keywords and competitors
Set a views-per-hour (VPH) threshold as your benchmark
Choose how often you want to receive email notifications
Click “Update alert” to go live
Outperform the Competition
Use VidIQ’s competitor analysis tools to find keywords and content types that drive the highest traction in your niche.
Track your competitors’ content performance through:
Engagement rate
Views per hour
View velocity
For example, I noticed a competitor’s video gained over 400,000 views with a 3.9% engagement rate and over 100 views per hour.
So, I exported its keywords to see which terms the YouTuber used to drive this impressive traffic and growth.
I also learned when the video was published and how many subscribers it attracted.
Data like this reveals exactly which topics and search terms drive the most views in your niche, giving you a clear strategy for your own videos.
2. Keyword Analytics for YouTube: Best for Finding Popular Seed Keywords
Keyword Analytics for YouTube is a Semrush app (available without a subscription) that lets you research seed keywords, top-ranking videos, and trends in your niche.
Fine-tune your search by time period and location to zero in on the most relevant data for your content strategy.
Identify Popular, Low-Competition Keywords
Search any term in Keyword Analytics for YouTube to learn its search volume and competition.
For example, I searched “learn Spanish.”
This keyword gets 140K monthly searches and has a 67 competitive rate in YouTube search.
Hover over the competitive rate for any term for more context.
For instance, “learn spanish” has an “average” level of competition in YouTube search.
This means it’s ideal for channels with 1M+ subscribers.
To find less-competitive keywords, scroll through the list.
This helped me find terms like:
“Learn spanish for beginners”: 13K search volume; 56 competitive rate
The tool integrates directly into your YouTube dashboard.
So, you can take advantage of its features without leaving your channel.
Get Actionable Keyword Insights
Analyze any keyword in TubeBuddy’s Keyword Explorer to see important metrics like search volume and keyword difficulty.
For example, I searched “how to make pasta” in the tool and learned this keyword gets 782K monthly searches but is surprisingly not overly competitive.
It also revealed videos currently ranking on YouTube for this topic have “excellent” optimization.
This tells me something crucial: I’ll need to focus heavily on optimization to give my video a good shot at ranking.
Another cool feature is the overall SEO score, which factors in multiple ranking signals.
This helps you gauge the potential of a keyword.
Not sure which keyword to use? The tool lets you compare two options.
To test this out, I evaluated “how to make pasta” and “homemade pasta recipe.”
Keyword Explorer shows that “homemade pasta recipe” has an SEO score of “Good” and a “Very Good” search volume of 156K.
It’s also a fairly low-competition keyword, making this term promising.
In comparison, “how to make pasta” has a much higher search volume (782K), a “Very Good” SEO score, and a “Fair” competition level.
This indicates even stronger potential—voilà, I’ve found a winner!
Generate and Optimize Titles and Descriptions
TubeBuddy’s SEO Studio lets you instantly generate AI-powered titles and descriptions for your videos.
Improve your SEO score by following the tool’s optimization recommendations, such as “include your target keyword naturally in the title.”
Spy on Your Competitors
Next, I used TubeBuddy’s Videolytics tool to evaluate competing videos and identify keyword opportunities.
This powerful tool shows you why videos succeed or struggle by revealing:
Performance metrics: Views, likes, comments, and social shares
SEO insights: Optimization scores and which tags drive traffic
Competitor strategies: What top channels do differently
Improvement tips: Recommendations to boost your video’s visibility
This data helps you create better content and get more views by understanding exactly what works in your niche.
4. Keywords Everywhere: Best for Analyzing Competitors’ Keywords
Keywords Everywhere is a handy browser extension and keyword tool for YouTube.
It lets you analyze every keyword through data-packed widgets like trend charts, popular tags, and engagement scores.
Get Detailed Keyword Insights
Keywords Everywhere taps into Google Keyword Planner data to show you real-time search volume, competition, and cost-per-click (CPC).
For example, when I searched “weight loss,” the tool suggested related terms like “weight loss diet” that had lower competition.
This instant insight helps you pick keywords that will rank higher and attract more views.
Keywords Everywhere also breaks down exactly what makes videos successful.
For example, I found that videos about “weight loss” have 3.35 million views on average.
60% of these videos contain “weight loss” in the title, and 50% contain the keyword in the description.
This data shows you how to optimize your content by strategically placing keywords where they matter most to boost your visibility.
Analyze Top-Ranking Competitors
Keywords Everywhere also tells you what’s working for your competitors.
I looked at an in-depth breakdown of the top 20 videos for the keyword “weight loss.”
And learned metrics like view count, views per day, ranking difficulty, and SEO score.
But the one that stood out to me the most was “Age.”
This metric tells you how long ago a video was published.
For example, most of the videos for my keyword are at least a year old (and likely outdated).
So, now I know there’s a good chance I can outrank the existing content by sharing fresh perspectives.
Besides this detailed top-20 breakdown, you’ll also find a summarized analysis of all search results for a given keyword.
This overview tells you helpful info, like how many subscribers and views each video has.
But it also analyzes video titles and descriptions for length and quality.
Generate Keywords in Bulk
I also experimented with the Bulk Keywords Data Tool to expand my initial keyword list.
A bulk keyword tool saves hours by analyzing hundreds of terms instantly instead of one by one.
Seeing all keywords together also reveals valuable patterns in viewer search behavior.
Once you add your seed keywords, the tool suggests related terms.
Use these insights to naturally weave relevant keywords into your video description and transcript—helping YouTube better understand and recommend your content to interested viewers.
Keywords Everywhere Pricing
Bronze: $2.25/month
Silver: $6/month
Gold: $25/month
Platinum: $80/month
5. Google Trends: Best for Real-Time Keyword Trend Tracking
Google Trends reveals real-time search patterns across web, image, and YouTube searches, helping you spot opportunities others miss.
Compare keywords, track trends, and discover what’s hot in specific regions—all for free.
Find Keywords for Specific Locations
Want to know where your content will resonate the most?
Google Trends can show you.
For example, when I searched for “travel destinations,” it revealed unexpected hotspots in Idaho, Connecticut, and Kansas.
I can turn this insight into targeted content like “Best travel destinations in Idaho” to reach a local audience.
Discover Related and Trending Topics
Google Trends shows you related topics for every search, so you can add relevant keywords and subtopics to your videos.
But it doesn’t just show you what’s popular—it reveals what’s about to be big.
For example, a search for “coffee makers” uncovers emerging trends like “coffee makers that use k cups,” which recently increased in interest by 350%.
For each trending term, you’ll learn:
Search volume
When the term started trending
Specific queries fueling its popularity
Create content around these rising topics, and you’ll catch viewer interest at the perfect moment.
Compare Keywords to Find the Best Opportunities
Google Trends lets you compare keywords head-to-head to see which ones truly resonate with viewers.
When I compared “vegan meal prep” versus “quick vegan recipes,” the data revealed “vegan meal prep” consistently attracts more interest.
These direct comparisons help you focus your efforts on topics viewers are actively searching for rather than guessing what might work.
Google Trends Pricing
Google Trends is free to use.
Fast-Track Your YouTube Channel’s Growth
Want your YouTube channel to get more views and subscribers?
You need to target the right keywords.
And to find those keywords, you need the right Youtube keyword tools.
Whether you use TubeBuddy to optimize videos or Semrush for deeper analysis (or both), keyword research can set your channel up for long-term growth and success.
For best results, combine keyword research with a strong promotion strategy.
Founded in 2023, DeepSeek is a Chinese AI startup known for its new chatbot beating many existing models and rivaling dominance of ChatGPT.
Since the public release of DeepSeek-R1 on January 20, the startup attracted worldwide attention thanks to its reported cost-efficient model outpacing leading US-based AI chatbots.
Today, DeepSeek ranks as the #1 most downloaded app in the App Store in over 160 countries and has been downloaded more than 2.6 million across App Store and Google Play.
AI chatbot by DeepSeek is currently one of the fastest-growing tech products but as a private company, they don’t disclose many details. We plan to update this page as more information is available.
Key DeepSeek Stats
As of January 2025, DeepSeek had 33.7 million monthly active users worldwide.
As of January 2025, DeepSeek reached an average of 22.15 million daily active users globally.
China, India and Indonesia are the largest markets for DeepSeek accounting for 51.24% of DeepSeek monthly active users in January 2025.
DeekSeek website unique visitors per week amounted to 15.9 million.
DeepSeek Monthly Active Users
In January 2025, DeepSeek had 33.7 million monthly active users across the world, which makes it the #4 most popular AI app worldwide by active user base.
According to latest data, the top 3 markets of DeepSeek are China, India and Indonesia, combined accounting for 51.24% of monthly active users worldwide.
Here’s a detailed breakdown of top 5 countries with the largest share of monthly active users as of January 2025:
As of January 20 – 26 2025, DeekSeek had 15.9 million unique website visitors, up from 5.1 million unique website visitors during the previous week (January 13 – 19 2025).
According to the latest estimates, DeepSeek’s audience mainly consists of younger users aged 18-24 years old accounting for 44.4% of total audience among Android users and 37.0% among iOS users.
Here’s detailed breakdown of DeepSeekers by age across Android and iOS devices:
Age Group
iOS
Android
18-24
37.0%
44.4%
25-34
23.8%
13.2%
35-49
16.1%
14.4%
50-64
22.8%
27.0%
65+
0.4%
1.1%
On both platforms, DeepSeek’s user base leans male.
As of January 20 – 26, 2025,the US, China and India are the largest markets for DeepSeek accounting for 32.62% of all unique visitors to the DeepSeek website.
Here’s a detailed breakdown by country, including unique visitors share:
Country
DeepSeek Website Weekly Unique Visitors (Share of Total)
SEO and PPC are two of the most important strategies for increasing your website’s visibility. While they both aim to attract more traffic, they operate differently. They also serve different purposes. Here, we’ll discuss SEO vs. Pay-per-click advertising and how to choose the best option for you.
As we all know, SEO stands for Search Engine Optimization. It consists of everything you do to get your site higher rankings in the original search results. Those tactics are thoroughly researching which keywords to target, writing high-quality content, and making sure that your site is structurally and technically sound. The goal is to get the organic traffic you want by making your site relevant and authoritative.
Pay-per-click (PPC), on the other hand, is all about paying for ads — the sponsored listings — that appear at the top of search results. So, every time someone clicks your ad, it costs you money. As it lets you target advertising based on user demographics, this model can lead to immediate results.
An example of PPC ads vs organic results for a search term in Google
What’s the difference between SEO and PPC?
SEO and pay-per-click advertising are both popular options to get traffic to your site. However, both options have their advantages to help you reach those goals.
Cost structure
For SEO, the costs mostly lie in the initial work and ongoing maintenance. You have to invest in creating high-quality content, optimizing your site, and reaching out to build good links and relationships. With SEO, there are no direct costs per click, but it does require consistent effort and resources to get results.
With PPC, you pay every time someone clicks your sponsored listing. To make it manageable, you set a budget; when this budget runs out, your ads will no longer be visible. PPC gives you control over budget, but costs can quickly ramp up — especially in high-demand markets or for competitive keywords.
Time to results
We always say that SEO is a marathon and not a sprint. Building authority takes time, so it can take months to see rankings go up. But the wait is worth it, as it leads to better and more stable results in the long run.
PPC is more direct and to the point. Launch a campaign, and the visitors should come in straight away. As such, this is a great tool for time-sensitive stuff like promotions and launches or when you need instant visibility and reach.
Sustainability and impact
SEO is the more sustainable option. With your initial work done, you can reap the rewards for a long time. Of course, there’s always more to do with your SEO tasks, but that’s normal. Building a brand is something that will pay off big time. With PPC, you get an incredible boost for a short period — the time you pay for the sponsored listings.
Targeting capabilities
SEO targets users based on content and keywords. You can target your content on different search intents, but the options are not as direct as with PPC. This offers more precise options, allowing you to publish ads to specific demographics, locations, times, and user behavior.
Flexibility and control
With SEO, you do put yourself in the hands of search engine algorithms. Algorithm updates could harm your rankings. As a result, you should reevaluate your strategy. You have control over everything on your site, but not search engines. PPC, though, does give full control over your ads. It makes it easier to adapt to changes and needs.
Measurement and analytics
It’s important to measure your success. For SEO, you are looking at a longer period and need to keep track of traffic and keyword rankings. It can be difficult to get usable insights from data. With PPC, you get detailed insights that show you how your campaigns are doing. You’ll also get the tools to adjust instantly.
SEO and PPC, while different channels that require different skills and have different goals, can really complement each other in the long term. To me, PPC is considered more of a science than the art of SEO. The great thing about PPC for SEOs is that it not only attracts quicker returns (that can also be calculated with more precision) but also provides the same accurate and actionable data for SEOs. I have always found data from PPC extremely useful in directing an SEO strategy.
Alex Moss – Principal SEO expert at Yoast
Pros and cons of SEO
Both SEO and PPC have their pros and cons. Let’s go over these.
Pros of SEO
SEO is cost-effective in the long run. Once you have a strategy and an optimized site, it can continue attracting traffic without additional costs, leading to a sustainable traffic source.
Ranking well gives your site a sense of trust and credibility, as people trust sponsored listings less than organic search results. High rankings can boost your brand. Of course, higher rankings lead to a high CTR, and many users simply skip ads because they don’t like them.
As SEO improves the general user experience of the website, it will become a better investment for your money overall. Investing in SEO can lead to higher engagement and conversion rates.
Cons of SEO
Of course, SEO isn’t the end-all solution to everything. For one, building up authority and higher rankings takes a lot of time. It’s not the solution if you want quick results. You must also work on your strategy, content, and site quality. The more work you put in, the better your results can be. And as search engines keep evolving, you must evolve as well.
SEO operates in a highly competitive landscape. For some markets, it’s almost impossible to break into the top ten of the results. Plus, it might take a ton of money to do that. And that’s another con for SEO: the results are uncertain due to algorithm changes, competition, and market conditions.
Pros and cons of PPC
Pay-per-click advertising also has its own good points and bad points, as you’ll read below:
Pros of PPC
The biggest benefit of PPC is getting immediate results for your money. You can set up campaigns quickly and get results going without much hassle. You also have full control over the budget, so you only pay for what you want to pay for.
PPC is also flexible and precise. You have much control over who you target and when, leading to more precise results. And if your strategy needs adjustments, you can update your sponsored listings quickly. Pay-per-click ad systems give you all the data you need to make the proper decisions.
Cons of PPC
One of the main drawbacks of pay-per-click is that costs could rise quickly. Another main drawback is that you’ll only get results as long as you pay — no money, no results. This makes PPC a viable option only for specific campaigns.
How well ads perform also depends on how users perceive them — ad fatigue is a thing. You must experiment with placements and forms to see what works best. For this, you should adhere to the rules of the platforms on which you’re running your ads.
Conclusion SEO vs Pay-per-click
Whether you choose between SEO and PPC depends on your needs, strategy, and timeline. SEO is amazing for long-term results, while PPC can quickly produce results. Most businesses will probably use a combination of both. You can use the strength of both strategic tools in your toolset to get the results your business is looking for.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-05 11:25:432025-02-05 11:25:43SEO vs. Pay-per-click advertising: Which one should you choose?
Education, technology, and software development websites have gotten a referral traffic boost from ChatGPT search – and ChatGPT sent more traffic to more than 30,000 unique domains by November.
That’s according to new Semrush (disclosure: Search Engine Land is owned by Semrush) analysis of 80 million lines of global clickstream data from the second half of 2024.
Search behavior changes. ChatGPT answered about 54% of queries with search turned off, with the remaining 46% of queries using search.
The average ChatGPT prompt length was 23 words, with a high of 2,712 words.
The average ChatGPT search length was much lower – just 4.2 words, with a high of 301 words.
Search intent shift. In search, keywords have an intent – navigational, informational, commercial and transactional (though there are additional types of search intent). However, only 30% of ChatGPT prompts fell into any of these categories, the analysis found. That means 70% of the prompts are unique and rarely or never seen in classic search engines (e.g., Google, Microsoft Bing).
ChatGPT vs. Google and Microsoft Bing. The types of sites getting more referral traffic from ChatGPT than Google include:
OpenAI-related domains, tech, and AI-focused platforms.
The types of sites getting more referral traffic from ChatGPT than Microsoft Bing include:
Academic publishers and research, and education and technical resources.
ChatGPT vs. Google users. Google had 6.5 billion unique worldwide visitors compared to ChatGPT’s 566 million in December. Semrush also compared audience demographics and found:
ChatGPT users are younger and more male.
ChatGPT wins with students; Google wins with full-time workers, homemakers and retirees.
What Semrush is saying. According to the report’s author, Brenna Kelly:
“For marketers and content creators, this data reveals an emerging reality: success in this new landscape requires a shift from traditional SEO metrics toward content that actively supports learning, problem-solving, and creative tasks.
Why we care. SEO continues to evolve quickly. How people search and find answers is evolving. Making sure your brand’s content can be understood and cited by LLMs will only become more critical heading forward.
Paid search audits are essential. But let’s face it: they can be a beast to do.
It’s not just about understanding complex strategies; it’s about meticulously reviewing every setting, campaign, keyword, and ad, then translating all those details into actionable insights for stakeholders who may not be PPC experts.
Before AI, I spent countless hours refining audit checklists and presentations, constantly second-guessing myself.
Did I miss a crucial setting?
Did I fully grasp the account’s nuances and how they align with business goals?
I even resorted to downloading templates from other experts for reassurance.
Now, AI chatbots like ChatGPT and Gemini have transformed my entire auditing process, bringing a new level of thoroughness, clarity, and actionability.
They help me avoid missing critical details and analyze data faster than I ever could, freeing up my time for strategic thinking.
Read on to learn how AI can help you conduct comprehensive, insightful, and actionable paid search audits that drive better performance.
Streamline your initial account review
Feeling overwhelmed when reviewing a new account? I used to, as well.
Now, I simply open the account and dictate my observations directly into a Google Doc using my phone’s text-to-speech feature.
I cover everything – from account structure and campaign settings to keyword choices and ad copy.
Next, I feed this raw data into my AI chatbot, asking it to organize my thoughts and structure the observations.
I can even paste the campaign structure for the chatbot to analyze, identifying issues like overly broad keywords or illogical setups.
Suddenly, I have a clear, concise account overview, ready for deeper analysis.
Explain complex topics with AI
Explaining bid strategies or match types to someone unfamiliar with PPC can be challenging and frustrating.
I’ve always struggled with this, especially after analyzing data all day.
AI chatbots excel at simplifying complex concepts and translating technical jargon for stakeholders.
For example, if you’ve identified a suboptimal bidding strategy, instead of a technical explanation about value-based bidding, you can ask the AI to tailor the message for different audiences:
For an executive: “The current bidding strategy is likely costing us money by not focusing on the most valuable conversions.”
For a marketing team member: “We can improve our bidding to reach more of the right customers and reduce wasted ad spend.”
For a paid search manager: “I recommend transitioning to value-based bidding, as it helps inform the ads platform that we prioritize form submissions over phone calls.”
Similarly, rather than saying, “The search terms report shows a high volume of irrelevant queries,” the AI can rephrase it as “We’re wasting money on clicks from people who aren’t interested in our products.”
This approach ensures your insights are clear and actionable for all stakeholders.
AI helps turn what’s in your head into polished presentations with actionable steps businesses can easily implement.
Flag high-cost, low-converting campaigns, ad groups, or keywords
AI chatbots aren’t just passive note-takers. They can be proactive analysts.
Once you’ve provided the AI with account data, you can ask it targeted questions like:
“What are the biggest opportunities for improvement in this account?”
“Are there any red flags I should be concerned about?”
“Which keywords have high cost but low conversions?”
The AI can analyze the data and provide insights you might have missed.
For example, in a recent audit of a luxury car accessories campaign, I analyzed a search terms report and asked AI to flag potential inefficiencies. One standout issue was high-cost, low-conversion keywords.
The term “premium leather seat covers” had 128 clicks, a CTR of 4.6%, and only two conversions, resulting in a cost per conversion of $180 – much higher than the account’s target.
Meanwhile, “heated seat covers for winter” showed a strong CTR of 25.8% and a conversion rate of 1.25%, but its cost per conversion was still high at $161.
This data indicates a need for lower bids, better use of negative keywords, or landing page optimization.
A high CTR combined with a low conversion rate suggests that while users are clicking, they are not converting – highlighting clear opportunities for improvement.
Once I used AI to identify the opportunities, I can use AI to communicate this concept to an executive:
“We’re seeing some instances where we’re paying a lot for clicks, but those clicks aren’t turning into sales. This is often due to targeting the wrong keywords or sending people to landing pages that aren’t optimized for conversion. By addressing these issues, we can reduce wasted spend and improve our return on investment.”
This concise explanation focuses on the issue’s financial impact and potential for improvement, which is what executives typically care about most.
It also avoids getting bogged down in technical details, like negative keywords, which is crucial when communicating with non-PPC experts when delivering audits.
Believe me, when you start talking about negative keywords or match types with an executive, you’ve lost them! As subject matter experts, it’s so easy to get caught up in the details.
Still, AI has been monumental in helping me bridge that communication gap and communicate what is important.
Remember to apply the process of analyzing data with AI at every level of the account hierarchy.
Start with campaign data, then drill down to the ad group level within each campaign, and finally, review the ads and keywords.
Analyzing campaign data with AI
Download the relevant campaign data from Google Ads.
Upload it to ChatGPT (or another AI tool).
Ask targeted questions like: “Which campaigns are underperforming?” or “Which campaigns have the highest cost per conversion?”
Analyzing ad group data with AI
Download the relevant ad group data from Google Ads.
Upload it to your AI tool.
Ask questions like: “Which ad groups have the lowest click-through rates?” or “Are there any ad groups with high impressions but low clicks?”
Analyzing keywords and ads with AI
Download the relevant data (e.g., search terms report, keyword data, ad data) from Google Ads.
Upload it to your AI tool.
Ask targeted questions like: “Which keywords have high cost but low conversions?” or “Suggest new negative keywords.” or “Which ads have the highest conversion rates?”
AI analyzes the data and provides insights within seconds, saving hours of manual review. This helps you quickly identify areas for improvement.
As the human expert, you can then determine the best course of action, such as adding negative keywords, adjusting bids, or optimizing landing pages.
You can also use AI to analyze your current audience targeting settings and suggest improvements, such as layering demographics, interests, and behaviors for more precise targeting.
By applying this process at each level, you gain a comprehensive understanding of the account’s performance and can develop targeted recommendations for improvement and incorporate into your audit.
Auditing ad copy with AI
AI can be a valuable tool for generating ad copy variations and incorporating feedback on ad copy into your audits.
With the rise of responsive search ads (RSAs), which allow for up to 15 headlines and four descriptions, it’s easy to overlook the importance of solid ad copy.
We’re often stuck in a situation where many headlines or combinations simply don’t get served, making it difficult to know which ones are truly effective.
By leveraging AI to analyze existing ad copy and campaign data, you can provide specific, data-driven suggestions for improvement directly within your audit reports.
This enhances the value of your audits and streamlines the optimization process for your clients.
Here’s how to use AI to enhance your paid search audits:
Upload your campaign data to the AI platform, including ad copy, impressions, clicks, conversions, and other relevant metrics.
Ask the AI to analyze the data and identify the top-performing ads in terms of key performance indicators (KPIs) like conversions or click-through rates (CTR). For example, you could ask: “Analyze this ad copy data and tell me which ads are driving the most conversions. Then, generate 3 new ad copy variations based on the top performer.”
Filter the suggestions to align with your brand voice, character limits, and other campaign requirements.
Incorporate the AI-generated suggestions into your audit report, providing specific, data-backed recommendations for improvement.
Advise clients to A/B test the different variations to identify the most effective ad copy.
Using AI to analyze your RSAs can help you uncover which headlines and descriptions are actually working and generate new variations based on those insights.
This allows you to make data-driven recommendations for improving ad copy, even with the added complexity of RSAs.
Gain competitor insights with AI
Including competitor insights in paid search audits helps clients understand their market better and find ways to stay ahead.
While there are tools available that provide competitor analysis, manual review and analysis of publicly available data can uncover valuable insights that might otherwise be missed.
One powerful application of AI in this context is competitor website analysis.
By providing the chatbot with your competitors’ websites or ad copy, you can ask it to:
Analyze their strategies.
Identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Suggest opportunities for differentiation.
This allows you to gain valuable insights into the competitive messaging landscape and refine your own approach to copy.
Another application is to look at websites like Amazon or Reddit.
For example, you could gather competitor reviews from platforms like Amazon and use AI to analyze the sentiment and identify recurring themes.
You could also read what customers are saying about a brand on Reddit.
This can help you understand what customers like and dislike about your competitors’ products or services, which can inform your ad copy and messaging.
You can even ask the AI to generate ad copy variations based on these insights, ensuring your ads stand out from the competition and resonate with potential customers.
Including this level of competitor intelligence in your audits shows a strong market understanding and gives clients actionable strategies to stay ahead.
It’s important to remember that paid search audits can vary in scope. Some audits require a high-level overview, while others demand a deep dive into every aspect of the account.
AI can be adapted to both scenarios. For comprehensive audits, you can use AI to analyze vast amounts of data and pinpoint areas for improvement across all levels of the account.
For more focused audits, you can use AI to examine specific aspects, such as ad copy testing, keyword research, or campaign structure.
Automate reporting with AI
Compiling the findings into a clear and concise report is one of the most time-consuming aspects of paid search audits.
This is where AI can shine, helping you automate the reporting process and create professional presentations with minimal effort.
Here’s how you can leverage AI to streamline your audit reporting.
Create a comprehensive audit template
Develop a spreadsheet template that captures every single setting in the advertising platform you’re auditing (Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads, etc.).
Include checkboxes for items that meet best practices and text fields for observations or recommendations.
This template serves as your standardized audit checklist.
Populate the template
As you conduct your audit, meticulously fill out the spreadsheet, checking boxes and adding notes where necessary.
Leverage AI for report generation
Once the template is complete, upload it to your AI chatbot.
Provide clear instructions on the desired output. For example:
“Generate a PowerPoint outline for a paid search audit report based on this spreadsheet. Include a slide for each section with key findings and recommendations. Highlight any critical issues or opportunities.”
Refine and customize
The AI will generate a PowerPoint outline based on the data in your spreadsheet.
Review the output, refine the language, add your own insights, and customize the formatting to create a polished and professional presentation.
This process allows you to leverage AI to automate the tedious aspects of report generation while maintaining control over the content and ensuring that your expertise shines through.
Combining a standardized audit template with AI-powered reporting can save significant time and deliver high-quality audits that impress your clients.
A glimpse into the future of creative collaboration with AI
While AI may not be a complete replacement for human expertise just yet, its rapid evolution hints at an exciting future where it significantly enhances our skills and knowledge.
We all have strengths and weaknesses, and AI has the potential to bridge those gaps effectively.
For example, I used to rely on a colleague with a knack for data visualization. I’d describe a concept, and they’d effortlessly create a compelling visual.
Today’s AI tools are starting to offer similar capabilities, though they often require more guidance.
Recently, I needed a flowchart illustrating the Google Ads auction process. I provided a detailed prompt to Canva’s AI, outlining the steps and desired visual elements.
The result was a decent starting point, but it wasn’t quite what I envisioned. (See my prompt and the AI’s output below.)
This experience highlighted the iterative nature of working with AI. It’s like a dance where both partners are learning and adapting.
As we refine our ability to communicate effectively with AI, and as AI technology itself advances, the results will become increasingly impressive.
Imagine a future where we can dictate a flowchart, outline complex processes with ease, and AI generates a stunning visual that surpasses anything we could create with traditional tools like Mermaid.
This level of creative collaboration could revolutionize how we visualize and communicate information.
My prompt:
“Create a flowchart illustrating the Google Ads auction process. The diagram should show the following steps:
User Search: A user searches for a query on Google.
Ad Auction: Google’s ad auction determines which ads to show based on factors like bid amount, ad quality, and ad relevance.
Ad Serving: Google serves the ad that is predicted to maximize the advertiser’s goal (clicks, conversions, or conversion value).
User Interaction: The user may or may not interact with the ad (e.g., click, convert).
Use simple shapes and arrows to represent the flow of the process. Label each step clearly. Consider using different colors to distinguish between user actions, Google’s decisions, and advertiser goals.”
AI’s result:
This visual isn’t accurate, but I believe as technology and prompting improve, we’ll reach a point where accurate diagrams and charts can be created quickly for presentations.
AI-powered paid search audits: Faster, smarter, and more actionable
AI technology is evolving rapidly, changing how marketers approach their work.
Integrating a chatbot into your paid search audit process can help you deliver better results faster by automating tedious tasks.
However, remember it is a tool to assist you, not a replacement for your expertise.
Always review and refine the chatbot’s output, and use your judgment to ensure the quality and accuracy of your findings.
Embrace these advancements, and you’ll be well-equipped to navigate the complexities of paid search and achieve outstanding results.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/AI-generated-Google-Ads-auction-process-visualization-LO5hZM.png?fit=1600%2C1073&ssl=110731600http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-04 14:00:002025-02-04 14:00:00How AI makes paid search audits faster and better
Super Bowl 2025 will be held on Sunday, Feb. 9. The “Big Game” will have around 50 minutes of TV commercials trying to change the hearts, minds, and actions of over 100 million viewers.
However, many marketing executives ask, “Are Super Bowl ads effective?”
And with a 30-second spot during the Big Game costing $8 million, some are also asking, “Are Super Bowl commercials worth it?”
I asked Avinash Kaushik, who spent 16 years leading analytics at Google before becoming the chief strategy officer of Croud, to share the secret sauce for measuring Super Bowl ads.
Below is an edited transcript of my questions and his answers.
Avinash Kaushik (AK): “If your Super Bowl commercial can stand out among the 60 to 80 that air during the Big Game, then it can be effective.
But it’s really hard for anybody to remember 10 ads after the Super Bowl, which means they aren’t effective for the rest of the ads.
At my former employer, we did studies around the half-life of a Super Bowl commercial. How long does it take for ads to lose half of the buzz that being in the USA Today Ad Meter, the YouTube AdBlitz winners, or somebody else’s top 10 list gives them?”
The short half-life of Super Bowl buzz
AK: “Marketers may have run Super Bowl commercials to generate water-cooler conversations. So, how long does it take to lose half and what you had gained when the Super Bowl ended?
It takes less than six hours to lose half of what you have gained, and then you lose the rest of it in four days or so.
And that was only for ads that managed somehow to stand out in those top 10 lists. So, it’s only the top ads that survive from 4 to a handful of days.
I bet you and I can’t remember a single freaking commercial from last year, right? And you and I both watched it with interest.
If the half-life of a TV commercial during the Super Bowl is that short, then what’s the point of a Super Bowl commercial?”
Spike and sustain: The key to effective big-ticket advertising
AK: “The best way to make a Super Bowl ad effective is through ‘spike and sustain’ marketing.
Here’s how it works:
First, you do a spike campaign to move your unaided brand awareness, purchase intent, or whatever KPI you’re solving for. You gotta move it up. So, if you were at 14 points before and after you’re at 16, then happy birthday.
Next, you need to spend money sustaining your marketing. So, you stay at 16.
But, if you don’t do sustained marketing within one week, that 16 will fall back to 14, and that’s the impact of what is known as ‘spike and silence.’
If you spend money on your campaign and go silent, then that half-life is about 4 days. ‘Spike and silence’ is a very bad idea. ‘Spike and sustain’ is the way to go.
If you’re executing a strategy that is ‘spike and sustain,’ then one of your spikes can be the Super Bowl.
It’s like you’re always in the market; you’re always running these ads at high frequency, low frequency, high reach, low reach, whatever it is.
The Super Bowl can be a part of your spike strategy.
Right after the Super Bowl is done, you will have lots of sustained marketing in the marketplace, and that will ensure that any lift you get from that few hours of buzz from the Super Bowl can be sustained by the rest of your marketing.
At my former employer, if you were going to spend roughly $6 to $10 million on a Super Bowl ad for the media, creative talent, and production costs, then you also needed to put another $20 to $30 million into sustained advertising in the weeks following the Super Bowl.
That was the only way to get the Super Bowl halo to last, right? Otherwise, it’ll disappear in hours.
Nowadays, as a part of your ‘spike in sustain’ marketing strategy, the Super Bowl can be a spike.
Likewise, ‘back to school’ can be a spike. Thanksgiving can be a spike. A new product launch can be a spike.
If those are all spikes that you do in advertising to get higher reach, get back into the consciousness of a wider audience, then a Super Bowl ad makes sense.
If you do not have sustained marketing before and after the Super Bowl, then usually the Super Bowl ad is an ego play. It’s a vanity spec, right?
But remember, for every dollar you invest in a Super Bowl commercial, you’re going to have to invest $3 to $5 in sustained marketing for weeks after the Big Game.
If you don’t do it, then you’re going to get a brand or sales lift for a few hours or a few days. But that’s about it. You’re not gonna drive long-term profits.”
GJ: “That framework is perfectly clear. But, with a 30-second spot during the Big Game costing $8 million, how do you measure advertising effectiveness so you can answer questions like, ‘Are Super Bowl commercials worth it?’”
AK: “Do things really simple. Most of the time, there are two use cases:
Performance.
Brand.”
Measuring performance marketing campaigns
AK: “When I say Performance, I mean driving short-term sales, which could be for B2B, B2C, nonprofit, for-profit…
If your Super Bowl commercial has:
‘Buy our product tomorrow.’
‘We’re offering a Super Bowl coupon.’
‘We’ve launched this brand new product.’
Or anybody responding to the Super Bowl ad gets a free lifetime supply of diapers with their product.
If you’re doing a Performance Super Bowl ad for short-term sales purposes, we will:
Measure the sales that come from it within the first 48 hours.
Then, we’ll run some financial models to see if that performance, the sales that we got, lasted beyond 48 hours.
But it is all based on short-term sales. This is easy to measure.
If you could run a sophisticated Media Mix Model, you could include a simple analysis and your Google Analytics report the following month.
But if your commercial is performance-oriented – it’s giving a coupon, launching a new product, starting a new promotion, etc. – then it’s all based on sales.
We will measure short-term sales instantly, online, offline, and everywhere.
For larger companies, we have models that will help us understand what it’s like a month later.
We did see a 1% lift in sales compared to normal times, and we can attribute that to our Super Bowl commercial, right?
It’s probably not going to last more than a few weeks, but you can measure it. That’s performance marketing.
The purpose of your ad is to rush everybody to buy the new Doritos Locos Taco, which you launched at the Super Bowl.”
Measuring brand marketing campaigns
AK: “The second use case, which is a brand advertisement, is a bit more complex.
Remember the days when Budweiser would run four or five commercials?
They’re not trying to drive short-term sales. Sure, maybe a few more people will buy Budweiser, but those gorgeous horses pulling the beer are meant to evoke something about the brand.
It’s solving a longer-term problem.
If you and I were at Budweiser today, we might be trying to overcome the slump in sales for Budweiser over the last year…
We’re trying to get people to reposition Budweiser back to the working man’s everyday, affordable beer with horses and good American feelings.
This is a very good example of brand marketing.
A whole lot of commercials for B2B companies like Salesforce are grand commercials. There is no intent to drive only short-term sales.
We measure two different things for those, and that’s when ‘spike and sustain’ is particularly important.
First, we’ll look at the brand outcomes from the Super Bowl. We’ll measure four important metrics:
Percentage brand lift.
Number of people lifted.
Cost per individual lifted.
Long-term impact on sales.
A lot of these commercials are trying to move the metric unaided brand awareness.
It’s not brand awareness or aided brand awareness. Those are crappy metrics.
Unaided brand awareness is the good metric.
Usually, they try to move unaided brand awareness to get more Americans who usually don’t know us to get them to remember our brands.
So, we’ll measure the percentage of lifts, the number of people lifted, and the cost per individual lifted.
What does that mean?
For a Super Bowl commercial, it means how many points of unaided brand awareness were lifted over the next week.
Now, let’s say we got two points, three points, or whatever it was. OK, great.
How many people did we lift? How many people are going to remember a brand?
If it was 300,000, even though over 100 million people watched the Super Bowl, that would be OK.
Fine, 300,000. What was the cost per individual lifted?
How much did it take to influence Greg, who is just one of the 300,000?
You take your Super Bowl budget, divide it by 300,000, and get the cost per individual lifted.
It’ll say, wow, it costs us $6 to get Greg to remember us for a few days now.
You can see, was it worth it? But we measure brand impact and then keep tracking it over time, so that’s the brand play.”
Brand impact vs. sales impact
AK: “The dimension that we will measure first is the short-term impact of a brand ad; we measure those three metrics.
Then comes the idea of a lagging sales effect from great brand marketing.
You will measure this by the incremental sales driven and the cost per incremental sale from running the Super Bowl ad.
Remember that’s the second tranche of measurement you will do. And this is where ‘spike and sustain’ is very important.
Because if you did spike and silence, at best, if Jesus and Krishna are supporting you together, you will get some brand lift.
In those three metrics, I mentioned, if you do ‘spike and silence,’ you will see zero impact on performance metrics like incremental sales or cost per incremental sale.
But if you do ‘spike and sustain’ pitches and spend 3 to 5 additional dollars following the Super Bowl for every dollar you spend on the Super Bowl ad, you will also see a lift in sales, a drop in cost per sale, and a lift in incremental sales.
And you will see that for B2B companies, nonprofits, beer, cars, insurance, and everything else advertising on Super Bowls.”
Final takeaway: Is a Super Bowl Ad worth it?
As Kaushik explains, Super Bowl ads can be effective, but their impact is short-lived unless supported by sustained marketing.
Measuring their success depends on the ad’s objective:
Performance ads focus on short-term sales and are easy to track using immediate sales data and financial models.
Brand ads aim to build long-term awareness and should be measured in two steps: first by evaluating brand lift (percentage lift, number of people lifted, and cost per person lifted), then by tracking the ad’s long-term impact on sales.
As Kaushik says, “Don’t judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree.”
Brand ads shouldn’t be evaluated purely on short-term sales. Instead, they require a different measurement approach to assess their true value.
The key takeaway?
A Super Bowl ad works if it’s part of a larger “spike and sustain” strategy. Otherwise, the buzz fades within days.
Google resolved a six-month-long headache for online merchants by restoring filtered product download capabilities in Merchant Center Next, bringing the platform’s functionality back in line with its classic version.
The context. In digital commerce, precision matters. Merchants often need to:
Troubleshoot specific product listings.
Optimize particular product categories.
Analyze subsets of their inventory.
The previous limitation essentially forced merchants to sift through massive, unwieldy files — like finding a specific book in an entire library by dumping all books on the floor.
Why we care. The update allows merchants to export specific product subsets instead of being forced to download entire product feeds, a critical feature for businesses managing large, complex inventories.
First seen. This fix was first brought to our attention by Emmanuel Flossie on his blog.
Bottom line. A seemingly small technical fix can represent a significant operational improvement for digital businesses, underscoring how platform features directly impact merchant efficiency.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/filtered-product-downloads-dr2TDu.png?fit=1280%2C720&ssl=17201280http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-03 18:43:582025-02-03 18:43:58Google Merchant Center Next fixes product download frustration
Cybercriminals are exploiting Google Search ads to steal Microsoft advertising account credentials, revealing a sophisticated phishing scheme that has potentially been active for years.
The big picture. Attackers created malicious Google ads mimicking Microsoft Advertising’s official platform. The campaign redirects users through complex networks to steal login information. Researchers discovered potential infrastructure dating back multiple years
How it works. Hackers use a multi-step process to bypass security:
Create sponsored search results that look like legitimate Microsoft ads.
Implement cloaking techniques to evade bot detection.
Use Cloudflare verification to appear more authentic.
Present a convincing phishing page that mimics Microsoft’s login screen.
Why we care. This threat is significant because it can compromise advertising accounts, potentially leading to financial losses, reputational damage, and disruption of critical marketing operations across digital platforms.
Protect yourself
Verify URLs carefully before entering credentials.
Use two-factor authentication wisely.
Regularly monitor advertising accounts.
Report suspicious ads.
What’s next? Cybersecurity firms are investigating the broader implications of this phishing infrastructure, which appears to span multiple countries and platforms.
Bottom line. As online advertising becomes more complex, so do the techniques used by cybercriminals to exploit it.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/image_d1e94e-200x94-ssX8nF.webp?fit=200%2C94&ssl=194200http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-03 17:10:472025-02-03 17:10:47Phishing scam targets Microsoft Ad accounts via Google Search
Brandon Saltalamacchia’s office, adorned with a dazzling collection of retro gaming paraphernalia, offers a glimpse into the passions that have driven his professional life.
In this interview with Saltalamacchia, you’ll learn about his humble beginnings as an independent publisher to navigating the labyrinthine challenges of SEO in a Google world.
The early days: A camper van and a dream
Saltalamacchia’s foray into independent publishing began in 2017 while working full-time for Future Publishing. A self-described “newb” in SEO and content marketing, he channeled his love for camper vans into a small passion project — a website dedicated to van life.
“It was a little pot on wheels,” said Saltalamacchia, recalling his first camper van, “but we had a bunch of fun with it.”
That website, built on pure enthusiasm and curiosity, caught the eye of a buyer in 2019. The sale allowed Saltalamacchia to pivot toward his true passion: retro gaming.
Retro Dodo was born as a personal project, combining Saltalamacchia’s knack for content creation with his lifelong love of classic games.
“I started writing about things I enjoyed and unboxing Game Boys [on YouTube],” he said.
It wasn’t long before the site began to gain traction, fueled by Saltalamacchia’s genuine enthusiasm and a simple, straightforward content strategy.
Building Retro Dodo: From passion to business
Retro Dodo grew steadily from its inception, thanks in part to Saltalamacchia’s willingness to experiment with SEO and social media.
“I installed the Yoast SEO plugin and made sure every little thing was green,” he said.
While Saltalamacchia admitted to following some misguided SEO advice early on, the site flourished due to its authenticity and dedication to serving its niche audience.
By 2021, Retro Dodo had evolved into a full-fledged media company with a team of six, producing daily content, video reviews, and even books. It reached about 2 million readers at its peak and Saltalamacchia recalled
“My [Google] Search Console said, “Congratulations, you hit 1 million organic results in May [2023],” Saltalamacchia said.
The site’s success brought collaborations with major brands and recognition from influencers like Casey Neistat, who invited Saltalamacchia to New York to discuss their shared love of retro gaming.
However, beneath the surface of Retro Dodo’s success lay a precarious dependence on organic search traffic — a vulnerability that would soon be exposed.
“We lost about 85% of our traffic,” Saltalamacchia said. “It felt … like you’re almost swimming and someone’s put a big weight on your feet and it’s just dragging you and dragging and there’s nothing you can do.”
Saltalamacchia’s initial optimism gave way to stark reality as months passed without recovery.
“I tried pretty much everything,” he said, detailing attempts to improve site speed, refine content, and follow advice from SEO consultants. Despite his efforts, Retro Dodo remained essentially invisible in Google.
The experience brought Saltalamacchia face-to-face with Google representatives, including Search Liaison Danny Sullivan. While the meeting offered a platform to share his frustrations, it ultimately provided little in the way of actionable solutions.
“Danny told me, ‘Keep doing what you’re doing. Your site’s great. I can’t see anything wrong with it.’ Which I wish he never said that to me in all honesty because you almost want to find something wrong to snip,” Saltalamacchia said.
Reinvention and a new chapter
Faced with dwindling traffic and mounting financial pressure, Saltalamacchia made difficult decisions, reducing his team and scaling back operations. Yet, Retro Dodo’s core community remained loyal, and Saltalamacchia refused to give up on his vision.
“We’re very lucky to have quite a large community and a lot of people that return to our work to read, especially news and reviews. We’re quite well known in our niche for that. So, we’re still profitable, we’re definitely nowhere near as what we used to make,” Saltalamacchia said.
Heading forward, Retro Dodo is pivoting toward video content, premium memberships, and creating its own products and events.
Retro Dodo’s transition to the Ghost platform reflects a broader shift in focus: building a sustainable, high-quality digital magazine for retro gaming enthusiasts.
Simultaneously, Saltalamacchia embarked on a new venture with Kagi, a paid, ad-free search engine designed to prioritize user experience over ad revenue.
“Kagi [is] trying to humanize the web,” he said. “No ads, no tracking … My full focus is on making Kagi a great environment and helping independent publishers and helping families search without distractions.”
In his role as a consultant, Saltalamacchia wants to help Kagi champion independent publishers and redefine the online search landscape. He also shared five promotional codes that will give you one month free of Kagi Ultimate, limited one per user. Once these codes are claimed, they are gone:
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Lessons for creators
Saltalamacchia’s journey offers valuable insights for aspiring creators and independent publishers.
“People won’t really be blogging anymore unless they’re super passionate about that subject. So, I think creators are going to move to YouTube even though it’s just as competitive,” Saltalamacchia said. “The only people that are still doing it and still surviving are the ones with true passion for the niches that they cover.”
Google changed the game for independent creators. So what’s his advice for creators in this era of when we’re watching the enshittification of Google? Focus on creating exceptional premium-level content and building genuine relationships with your audience.
What’s next?
For Saltalamacchia, the future is a mix of nostalgia and innovation.
With Retro Dodo’s evolution and his work at Kagi, he’s poised to make a lasting impact on the retro gaming community and the search landscape.
“Google and YouTube are [basically] the same thing. And the creator economy over at YouTube is phenomenal. … There’s a really good financial incentive to build great content and build a community that supports you.
“Whereas then there’s Google just destroying blogs left, right, and center. It really bewilders me how the search team have got it so wrong when the YouTube team have created such a fantastic environment to learn to be informed to entertain yourself and to build a potential great content business. so I think that’s where creators are going to move to.”
As Saltalamacchia looks to the future, one thing seems certain: it’s far from game over.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Google-crashed-retro-gaming-site-800x450-7wOPzB.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1450800http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-02-03 16:00:002025-02-03 16:00:00From retro gaming glory to fighting Google: The journey of Brandon Saltalamacchia
