Many PPC advertisers obsess over click-through rates, using them as a quick measure of ad performance.
But CTR alone doesn’t tell the whole story – what matters most is what happens after the click. That’s where many campaigns go wrong.
The problem with chasing high CTRs
Most advertisers think the ad with the highest CTR is often the best. It should have a high Quality Score and attract lots of clicks.
However, in most cases, lower CTR ads usually outperform higher CTR ads in terms of total conversions and revenue.
If all I cared about was CTR, then I could write an ad:
“Free money.”
“Claim your free money today.”
“No strings attached.”
That ad would get an impressive CTR for many keywords, and I’d go out of business pretty quickly, giving away free money.
When creating ads, we must consider:
Type of searchers we want to attract.
Ensure the users are qualified.
Set expectations for the landing page.
I can take my free money ad and refine it:
“Claim your free money.”
“Explore college scholarships.”
“Download your free guide.”
I’ve now:
Told searchers they can get free money for college through scholarships if they download a guide.
Narrowed down my audience to people who are willing to apply for scholarships and willing to download a guide, presumably in exchange for some information.
If you focus solely on CTR and don’t consider attracting the right audience, your advertising will suffer.
While this sentiment applies to both B2C and B2B companies, B2B companies must be exceptionally aware of how their ads appear to consumers versus business searchers.
B2B companies must pre-qualify searchers
If you are advertising for a B2B company, you’ll often notice that CTR and conversion rates have an inverse relationship. As CTR increases, conversion rates decrease.
The most common reason for this phenomenon is that consumers and businesses can search for many B2B keywords.
B2B companies must try to show that their products are for businesses, not consumers.
For instance, “safety gates”is a common search term.
The majority of people looking to buy a safety gate are consumers who want to keep pets or babies out of rooms or away from stairs.
However, safety gates and railings are important for businesses with factories, plants, or industrial sites.
These two ads are both for companies that sell safety gates. The first ad’s headlines for Uline could be for a consumer or a business.
It’s not until you look at the description that you realize this is for mezzanines and catwalks, which is something consumers don’t have in their homes.
As many searchers do not read descriptions, this ad will attract both B2B and B2C searchers.
The second ad mentions Industrial in the headline and follows that up with a mention of OSHA compliance in the description and the sitelinks.
While both ads promote similar products, the second one will achieve a better conversion rate because it speaks to a single audience.
We have a client who specializes in factory parts, and when we graph their conversion rates by Quality Score, we can see that as their Quality Score increases, their conversion rates decrease.
They will review their keywords and ads whenever they have a 5+ Quality Score on any B2B or B2C terms.
This same logic does not apply to B2B search terms.
Those terms often contain more jargon or qualifying statements when looking for B2B services and products.
B2B advertisers don’t have to use characters to weed out B2C consumers and can focus their ads only on B2B searchers.
How to balance CTR and conversion rates
As you are testing various ads to find your best pre-qualifying statements, it can be tricky to examine the metrics. Which one of these would be your best ad?
15% CTR, 3% conversion rate.
10% CT, 7% conversion rate.
5% CTR, 11% conversion rate.
When examining mixed metrics, CTR and conversion rates, we can use additional metrics to define our best ads. My favorite two are:
Conversion per impression (CPI): This is a simple formula dividing your conversion by the number of impressions (conversions/impressions).
Revenue per impression (RPI): If you have variable checkout amounts, you can instead use your revenue metrics to decide your best ads by dividing your revenue by your impressions (revenue/impressions).
You can also multiply the results by 1,000 to make the numbers easier to digest instead of working with many decimal points. So, we might write:
CPI = (conversions/impressions) x 1,000
By using impression metrics, you can find the opportunity for a given set of impressions.
CTR
Conversion rate
Impressions
Clicks
Conversions
CPI
15%
3%
5,000
750
22.5
4.5
10%
7%
4,000
400
28
7
5%
11%
4,500
225
24.75
5.5
By doing some simple math, we can see that option 2, with a 10% CTR and a 7% conversion rate, gives us the most total conversions.
How do you dissuade users who don’t fit your audience from clicking on your ads?
How do you attract your qualified audience?
Are your ads setting proper landing page expectations?
By considering each of these questions as you create ads, you can find ads that speak to the type of users you want to attract to your site.
These ads are rarely your best CTRs. These ads balance the appeal of high CTRs with pre-qualifying statements that ensure the clicks you receive have the potential to turn into your next customer.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/OSHA-compliance-Google-Ads-hT8Y2X.webp?fit=871%2C574&ssl=1574871http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-27 13:00:002025-10-27 13:00:00Why a lower CTR can be better for your PPC campaigns
The message from this month’s SEO Update is clear: AI and data accuracy are reshaping how we plan, optimize, and measure SEO. This is not just a slate of updates, but a signal to rethink impressions, content creation, and tooling so you stay effective. Chris Scott, Yoast’s Senior Marketing Manager, hosted the session. Alex Moss and Carolyn Shelby shared deep dives on AI trends, Google updates, and Yoast product news.
Data and rankings in flux
A key shift centers on data. Google removed the num=100 parameter, which changed how much ranking data shows up per page in Google Search Console. The result isn’t a sudden performance drop; it’s a correction. Impressions can look lower because the data is being cleaned up, and that matters more than the raw numbers. Paid search data stays solid, since ads rely on precise counting for financial reasons.
AI content and media: use it, don’t rely on it
Sora 2 can generate short videos from text prompts, providing handy visuals to accompany blog posts. Use AI visuals to complement your core messaging, not to replace it. In e-commerce, Walmart, WooCommerce, and Shopify are testing AI-enabled shopping features. Don’t rush a full switch before major buying events.
Local SEO and engines beyond Google
Bing’s Business Manager now has a refreshed UI focused on local listings, signaling a push into local search. Diversifying beyond Google can reveal new AI-powered opportunities. It’s about testing where AI-driven search and shopping perform best, not moving budgets blindly.
AI mode and how people behave
Research into AI-dominant sessions shows a distinct pattern: users linger 50 to 80 seconds on AI-generated text, and clicks tend to be transactional. Intent patterns shift, too. Now, comparisons lead to review sites, decisive purchases land on product pages, and local tasks point to maps and assets.
Meta descriptions and AI generation
Google tested AI-generated descriptions for threads lacking meta content, but meta descriptions aren’t obsolete. Best practice is to lean on Yoast’s default meta templates (like %excerpt%) as a reliable fallback. Write with an inverted pyramid in mind, which puts key information first, so AI can extract it cleanly. Keep a fallback description in Yoast SEO so automation stays under your control.
AI in everyday workflows
ChatGPT updates push toward more human-to-human interactions, and tools like Slack can summarize threads and search discussions by meaning, not just keywords. Growth in AI usage feels steadier now; some younger users opt for other AI tools.
Insights from Microsoft and Google
The core rules haven’t changed: concise, unique, value-packed content wins. Shorter, focused writing works best for AI synthesis; trim fluff and sharpen clarity. The message is simple because clarity beats complexity, especially as AI becomes more central to how content is consumed.
Yoast product updates to watch
The Yoast SEO AI+ bundle adds AI Brand Insights to track mentions and citations in AI outputs, and pronoun support has been added to schema markup for inclusivity. If you’re tracking AI relevance beyond traditional signals, this bundle can be a smart addition.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-22 13:11:592025-10-22 13:11:59A recap of the October 2025 SEO Update by Yoast
Google Merchant Center is rolling out a new Issue Details Page (IDP) to help advertisers more easily diagnose and resolve account or product-level problems.
How it works:
Located under the “Needs attention” tab, the page provides a consolidated overview of current issues.
It surfaces recommended actions, business impact metrics, and sample affected products — giving merchants a clearer sense of what to fix first.
Why we care. Until now, identifying and fixing issues in Merchant Center often required navigating multiple sections and reports. The new Issue Details Page (IDP) in Google Merchant Center gives advertisers a single place to view and fix account or product issues.
It highlights the problem’s impact, recommends actions, and shows affected products, helping advertisers resolve issues faster and keep listings active. In short, it saves time, improves visibility, and helps prevent lost sales.
The big picture. The update is part of Google’s broader push to improve Merchant Center usability ahead of the holiday shopping season, when product accuracy and uptime are critical for advertisers.
The bottom line.Google’s new IDP could save advertisers time and guesswork by putting all issue diagnostics and solutions in one place.
First seen. The newly released help doc was spotted by PPC News Feed founder, Hana Kobzová
Google Ads appears to be testing an automatic assignment of New Customer Value within New Customer Acquisition (NCA) campaigns — and it’s doing so without advertisers’ explicit consent.
The change, first spotted by performance marketer Bilal Yasin, has led to unexpected reporting shifts and frustration among advertisers.
“Without any heads-up, and without it being in the change history, a new customer value has suddenly been applied to a customer,” Yasin wrote on LinkedIn. “It was set to 200 DKK… One thing is that Google has assigned a value, but another is that I can’t remove it again!”
Why we care. Advertisers rely on New Customer Value settings to determine how campaigns optimize toward acquiring new users. When Google sets those values automatically, it can distort revenue reporting and campaign efficiency metrics.
Yasin noted several issues:
Google doesn’t know the true lifetime value of a new customer.
Many conversions are still classified as “unknown,” further clouding data.
What they’re saying. Google Ads Liaison Ginny Marvin confirmed the behavior is part of an experiment.
“This guidance is part of an experiment aimed at helping advertisers use settings that will improve results—specifically, to increase new customer ratios,” Marvin wrote.
She added that when the New Customer Value is too low—or not set—it can hinder campaign optimization.
What’s next. Google says it plans to roll out new customer reporting for all purchase conversion campaigns “in the next couple of quarters.”
The bottom line. While Google frames the test as a way to improve campaign performance, advertisers are raising alarms over transparency — especially when automatic value assignments alter reported revenue without clear notice or control.
It’s true that YouTube Ads perform very well for ecommerce advertising aimed at consumers. But YouTube can also help drive B2B leads.
You might be scratching your head and saying, “But I’ve tried YouTube for B2B. It doesn’t convert.” And you would be right.
YouTube Ads for B2B rarely convert directly into leads. Complex products with long sales cycles are not going to sell themselves in one video.
But YouTube campaigns definitely have a positive influence on B2B lead generation – we’ve seen it across nearly all of our B2B clients.
Here are two case studies, featuring very different advertisers, that show how YouTube Ads can be used to increase B2B conversions.
Case study 1: Enterprise B2B SaaS advertiser
One of our enterprise B2B SaaS clients offers multiple business solutions.
Paid search is a strong lead source for most of them, but two struggled to convert – traffic was steady, yet the cost per lead was high.
When we dug in, we found that users weren’t aware of these solutions or how they addressed specific business needs. The landing page content wasn’t persuasive enough.
We tested YouTube video campaigns that clearly explained each solution’s value. The impact was undeniable.
Comparing search performance from the quarter before video to the quarter during, we saw key metrics – CTR, CPC, cost per lead, and conversion rate – all improve.
Here, CTR improved significantly with the video live, which indicates that users had a better understanding of the solution after seeing the video.
This led to a lower CPC, which, combined with a slightly improved conversion rate, lowered cost per lead by 30%.
With the second solution, the results were even more dramatic.
For this solution, front-end metrics actually got worse: CTR declined, and CPC increased.
Search competition in this space was stiffer during the “after” period, which pushed CPCs up.
However, the campaigns still saw a 25% decrease in cost per lead, and conversion rates more than doubled.
In this instance, the video campaigns really helped explain how the solution can benefit users, which directly translated into better conversion rates from search.
For the first five months of 2025, this advertiser ran a small YouTube video campaign intended to drive consideration.
We had hoped the video would directly drive a few leads, and ran it on a Maximize Conversions bid strategy, but it never generated a single lead.
At the same time, CPLs across the entire account were rising, so in early June, we decided to pause YouTube and use the budget on campaigns that were directly driving leads.
That turned out to be a mistake.
CPLs on brand search campaigns rose by 47% when we stopped video.
This is a business without much seasonality, and brand is usually less impacted by seasonality anyway, so at first, we were puzzled. Then we decided to relaunch video.
Voila! Brand search CPLs returned to their previous levels.
We suspected the video campaigns were contributing to the success of the brand campaigns, so we decided to try adding a Demand Gen campaign to the mix.
Brand CPLs decreased by 47%.
Not only were we able to return brand search CPLs to their original levels, but we were also able to cut them nearly in half when combined with YouTube and Demand Gen campaigns.
During the whole nine-month period, YouTube and Demand Gen campaigns only generated two conversions directly. However, the positive impact on brand search performance was indisputable.
It’s important to stress here that we made other optimizations during the test periods for both clients, so the improvements in search are probably not 100% attributable to the addition of the video campaigns.
However, in the case of the enterprise client, the improvements for the solutions that ran video outpaced performance across the rest of the account.
And the fact that two very different advertisers saw correlated improvements in search performance lends further credence to the theory that video played an important role.
Even though these two cases involved very different clients, here are the key practices that made both video campaigns successful:
Use custom segments made up of high-performing search keywords. Don’t use broad targeting or in-market audiences unless you have a very large awareness budget.
If you have first-party audiences and want to run Demand Gen, use them for a lookalike audience. Otherwise, custom segments of strong search keywords work best.
Make your geo-targeting spot-on. Don’t waste spend on irrelevant regions. For the local B2B client, we carefully selected areas of the city that best met their needs. For the enterprise client, even though they wanted to reach a global audience, we took care with which countries we targeted.
Use short videos – no more than 15-30 seconds – and include your brand name and logo in the first few seconds.
Choose a Target CPV bid strategy. We were able to get CPV below $0.01, which got our message in front of as many users in the target audience as possible.
The more videos, the better. If you have 3, 4, 5, or more videos, use them. Even slight variations help minimize video fatigue and grab attention.
You don’t need huge budgets for this to work – in both cases, we spent less than 5% of the client’s total budget on video.
With the right targeting, you can keep costs very reasonable – and the campaigns pay for themselves in lower CPLs in search.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Enterprise-B2B-SaaS-advertiser-Solution-1-yzX8m1.jpg?fit=375%2C131&ssl=1131375http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-21 13:00:002025-10-21 13:00:00How to use YouTube Ads to drive B2B conversions
Marketing mix modeling (MMM) is having a moment in marketing measurement.
As privacy regulations limit user-level tracking, marketers are turning to it for reliable, cross-channel measurement. (We love it at my agency – MMM analyses often lead to smarter budget allocation with significant downstream impact.)
But as adoption grows, so do execution errors and misconceptions about what MMM can and can’t do.
Despite its strategic potential, it’s often misused, misinterpreted, or oversold – leading to costly mistakes and credibility loss from unrealistic expectations.
MMM isn’t a black box. To produce meaningful insights, it demands context, strategy, iteration, and strong data.
Context is especially critical. Without it, MMM becomes what I call a mathematical echo chamber – no external inputs and little connection to reality.
This article breaks down how to approach MMM correctly, avoid common pitfalls, and turn your analysis into real business value.
Execution errors
Too often, teams fixate on the modeling technique and overlook the broader system – data quality, assumptions, and stakeholder context.
There are plenty of possible mistakes, but the ones I see most often are:
Using inconsistent, incomplete, or unvalidated spend and performance data.
Assuming immediate or linear responses to media spend, which oversimplifies reality.
Interpreting statistical relationships as proof of impact without experimentation.
Using MMM for daily campaign decisions despite its strategic design and lagging granularity.
Building models that are over-optimized in-sample but fail in the real world.
If you make any of these, your MMM efforts will be muddled and ineffective, and you will not get much buy-in for the initiative going forward.
Faulty expectations vs. reality
When run properly, MMM can offer highly valuable insights, but only within its appropriate use case.
With good modeling and inputs, you can:
Reallocate budgets based on marginal ROI and saturation.
Forecast sales impact from various budget scenarios.
Set spending caps to avoid diminishing returns.
Show long-term contributions of brand versus performance channels.
Track media effectiveness over time and support cross-functional alignment.
What you cannot expect MMM to do:
Optimize daily media buying decisions.
Attribute at the user or creative level.
Replace lift tests or experimentation (which are a necessary complement to MMM).
In other words, treat MMM as a strategic GPS that needs other inputs to work well, not a tactical turn-by-turn navigation tool.
Misreadings of output
You can give three marketers the same MMM output, and they might have three very different interpretations of what it means and what to do next.
We’ve got a handy chart of the ways people misread the data (and how to fix those mistakes):
The misinterpretation I’d like to spend a bit of time on here is the correlation/causation dynamic.
Marketers need to understand that MMM is essentially a fancy correlation analysis that needs to be supplemented by incrementality testing, such as geo lift testing, to establish causation.
MMM does involve coding, but it’s a lot more than that.
It’s a cross-functional discipline involving data science, marketing, finance, and strategy.
To get it right, you need:
1. Clean, longitudinal data
One note before I dive into the data elements you need to run MMM: data density is critical.
For businesses without a huge pool of revenue-generating events (think of big SaaS platforms or car dealerships advertising online), use strategic proxy metrics that happen earlier in the purchase journey and provide strong predictors of revenue generation.
With that in mind, here’s the data needed (or recommended) for your model:
Weekly data across 2–3 years.
Media spend by channel and campaign. (Region is recommended.)
Control variables (all recommended): Promos, pricing, and competitors.
Note: seasonality is baked into the model for Meta’s Robyn, one of my favorite MMM options.
2. Advanced modeling techniques
Adstock/lag functions to reflect delayed impact.
Saturation models (e.g., Hill curves) for diminishing returns.
Regularization or Bayesian priors to stabilize estimates.
3. Validation and iteration
Running an MMM analysis once and taking the results at face value is never going to get you the best possible insights.
If you’re serious about adopting MMM, prepare to include the following in your process:
I highly recommend running analyses more than once and using different methods/platforms to identify commonalities and differences.
In the visual comparing Robyn and Meridian’s output from a recent client analysis, both models attributed similar influence across most channels – a good sign that helps validate the model.
But there’s a wrinkle: for channel 0, Meridian showed much higher organic influence and a slight bump in paid.
That suggests we need additional testing before moving to action items.
4. Stakeholder engagement
Even with top-tier MMM analyses, how you communicate the findings – and what they enable – is critical to getting buy-in from clients or management.
Before you start, align with stakeholders on KPIs, ROI definitions, and model assumptions to prevent surprises or misunderstandings later.
When you share results, include uncertainty ranges and clear action items that flow directly from your data.
If you can’t answer the inevitable “So what?” question, you’re not ready to present your findings.
Better MMM becomes a competitive edge
Overall, the shift away from user-based tracking is healthy for the marketing industry.
Initiatives like incrementality testing and MMM are finally getting their due as core parts of campaign analysis.
As major platforms level the optimization playing field with automation, running these analyses more effectively than your competitors is one way to drive differentiated growth.
Google is starting to roll out its new Text Guidelines feature in Google Ads, a tool first announced at the Think Retail event five weeks ago that gives advertisers more control over AI-generated ad copy.
Driving the news. The feature, now appearing in some accounts, lets marketers set campaign-level text parameters — guiding Google’s AI to stay within brand tone, language preferences, and compliance requirements when generating text assets.
Why we care. As Google Ads leans deeper into AI-powered creative, advertisers have been asking for stronger brand safety and message consistency controls. Text Guidelines offer a way to fine-tune AI output without sacrificing automation or performance.
How it works:
Found at the campaign level, Text Guidelines apply only when text customization is turned on.
Advertisers can define rules to steer AI-generated text assets toward specific brand or legal standards.
Designed to support “brand-safe creative” and improve asset quality.
The bottom line. Text Guidelines give brands a new lever to shape how Google’s AI writes for them — tightening control without slowing down automation.
First seen. This rollout was spotted by PPC Speacialist Arpan Banerjee
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/google-ads-text-guidelines-beta-1760877222-pPO2We.jpg?fit=1113%2C1058&ssl=110581113http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-20 16:31:512025-10-20 16:31:51Google Ads’ new text guidelines feature begins rolling out
Google is tightening its account retention policy — canceled Google Ads accounts will now be permanently deleted six months after cancellation, marking the end of indefinite account storage.
Driving the news. Under the new policy, Google will begin a cleanup of inactive accounts, sending a 30-day email warning before deletion. Previously, advertisers could reactivate canceled accounts at any time, preserving data and structure indefinitely.
Why we care. This change could impact advertisers who rely on historical performance data, conversion tracking, or campaign templates stored in inactive accounts. Once deleted, all account history and assets — including campaigns, reports, and settings — will be gone for good.
How it works:
Canceled accounts with no active campaigns will be deleted six months after cancellation.
A 30-day warning email will be sent before deletion.
Reactivating an account within the six-month window will prevent deletion.
Between the lines. The policy shift underscores Google’s broader effort to streamline its ad systems and purge unused data, mirroring similar moves across other Google services.
The bottom line. Advertisers who want to preserve old campaign data or structures should reactivate or export data from canceled accounts before the six-month clock runs out.
First seen. This update was spotted by PPC News Feed founder Hana Kobzová.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Inside-Google-Ads-AI-powered-Shopping-ecosystem-Performance-Max-AI-Max-and-more-Hl9R7E.webp?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=110801920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-20 16:12:482025-10-20 16:12:48Google Ads to permanently delete canceled accounts after six months
Heads up! Black Friday is almost here, and if you still haven’t prepared, it’s time to act fast. The clock is ticking, but you can still make meaningful updates that count. This article covers practical and straightforward last minute Black Friday tips to help you make quick, effective changes to your eCommerce store. Even with just a few days left, there’s still room to attract customers and make the most of the biggest shopping event of the year.
Act quickly to implement last minute Black Friday tips for maximizing eCommerce sales
Focus on essentials such as clear offers, optimized checkout processes, and engaging email campaigns to boost conversions
Leverage social media to build anticipation, share customer stories, and create urgency with time-sensitive posts
Consider quick SEO fixes to enhance visibility, like updating meta titles and refreshing content for Black Friday
Utilize tools like Yoast SEO for enhanced performance and structured data to ensure your deals stand out in search results
Did you know?
Numbers show that Black Friday 2024 broke all records, as U.S. shoppers spent a staggering $ 10.8 billion online, representing a 10.2 percent increase from 2023. These numbers prove one thing: it is never too late to take action and grab your share of the Black Friday rush.
The must-dos (essentials you can’t miss)
The fastest way to put your Black Friday campaign on pilot mode is by focusing on a few essentials that make an immediate difference. These must-do, last minute Black Friday tips are your quick wins, helping you cover the basics, build momentum, and set up the foundation for a successful marketing campaign.
Make your offers crystal clear
When shoppers land on your website, your Black Friday deals should be impossible to miss. Highlight your best offers right on the homepage or add a static banner so visitors see them immediately. The clearer your offers are, the easier it is for customers to take action.
One of the most innovative ways to increase engagement is by using countdown timers. They build urgency, encourage faster decisions, and make shoppers feel like they’re part of something time-sensitive. The Diamond Store saw this in action when they added a live countdown clock to their 24-hour Black Friday email campaign. The result? A 400% higher conversion rate compared to their previous emails.
Forever 21 shows all the offers clearly on the homepage
For WordPress users, OptinMonster is a quick way to get started. It lets you create dynamic floating bars and banners with countdowns, all through a simple drag-and-drop builder.
If you’re using Shopify, the Essential Countdown Timer Bar app works perfectly for creating announcement bars or cart countdowns to drive urgency and prevent cart abandonment.
Check your checkout
Did you know a long or confusing checkout process is one of the biggest reasons shoppers abandon their carts, especially during high-traffic days like Black Friday? That’s the last thing you want when every second counts.
Before the rush begins, take a few minutes to go through your own checkout process on both desktop and mobile. Place a test order just like a customer would. Verify that your discount codes are applied correctly, your payment options load smoothly, and the overall flow feels quick and effortless.
Ask a few friends, family members, or even teammates to try it too. Fresh eyes often spot friction points you might miss, such as unclear buttons, confusing forms, or slow-loading pages.
Trust also plays a huge role. Ensure your checkout page displays secure payment badges and recognizable gateways, such as PayPal, Apple Pay, or Stripe. When shoppers feel confident their payment is safe, they’re far more likely to hit “Buy now.”
And one last tip: keep it simple. The fewer distractions and clicks, the smoother the path to purchase. That’s precisely what drives conversions during a last minute Black Friday rush.
Send a simple email to your list
Black Friday emails have been shown to generate 33 percent higher conversion rates than regular marketing messages. That alone makes it one of the smartest last minute Black Friday tips to focus on. When time is short, your existing customer base is your best asset. They already trust your brand and are far more likely to act quickly on your offers.
Keep your email focused and straightforward. Start with a subject line that clearly highlights your best deal or most significant discount. For example, in the screenshot below, you can see how the key offer or discount is prominently displayed in the subject line, while the body reinforces the offer with a clear call to action.
Inside the email, make your main offer impossible to miss. Emphasize the key benefits of your product or service, and include a direct call to action that takes users straight to your Black Friday sale page. Make it visually engaging by adding a countdown timer or a short GIF that brings energy and urgency to the message.
Remember, this isn’t about crafting a perfect campaign. It’s about getting the right message to the right people at the right time. A simple, well-timed email can make a real difference in your Black Friday sales.
Promote on social media channels
Social media continues to play a significant role in Black Friday success. It has seen a 7 percent year-over-year increase in traffic, now driving around 10 percent of all global mobile traffic referrals during the holiday season. Your audience is already scrolling, searching, and shopping, so this is your opportunity to be where they are.
In these last few days, your social media strategy should focus on building anticipation and trust. If you have customer review videos, testimonials, or any user-generated content, start sharing them now. Boosting these posts or running quick ad campaigns featuring real customer stories can help you build credibility fast. People are far more likely to buy when they see genuine experiences from others.
You can also collaborate with a micro-influencer or a brand advocate who already has a connection with your target audience. Even a brief post, story, or reel from them can draw attention to your sale and help you gain visibility.
If you are short on time, focus only on your most active platform, whether that is Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, or LinkedIn. Post your best offer as a pinned post or a story highlight and use countdown stickers or short video snippets to create a sense of urgency.
Lastly, remember to engage. Reply to comments, answer questions, and reshare posts from happy customers. Small interactions can make your brand feel more approachable and help you stand out during the Black Friday rush.
If you haven’t touched your SEO yet, don’t worry. There’s still time to make a few quick updates that can help your store appear in the search results. These last minute Black Friday SEO tweaks can enhance visibility, attract the right audience, and might give your deals a competitive edge.
Start with your meta titles and meta descriptions. Add words like Black Friday 2025, sale, or deal to your titles so searchers know what to expect. For example, instead of ‘Women’s handbags – Classic collection,’ you can try ‘Black Friday 2025 deals on women’s handbags.’ Keep it relevant, natural, and clear.
Next, check your product and landing pages. Make sure they’re up to date with current pricing, stock status, and offers. Highlight the discounts in your product descriptions, and, if possible, include keywords that shoppers might search for, such as ‘best Black Friday deals’ or ‘holiday gift offers.’
Another smart move is to reuse your existing content. If you already have an older Black Friday or holiday gift guide, simply refresh it for 2025 by updating the year, offers, and internal links. It’s a fast way to keep your content relevant without having to start from scratch.
Lastly, take a minute to review your page experience. A fast, mobile-friendly site can make or break your Black Friday sales. Run a quick check using Google’s PageSpeed Insights and fix anything that’s slowing your pages down. Even minor improvements can help increase conversions.
These quick wins may not replace a comprehensive Black Friday SEO strategy. However, they can still make your website more discoverable and help you capture traffic from shoppers actively seeking deals.
The nice-to-dos (if you have a little more time)
Okay, so the must-dos can help you frame a solid last minute marketing campaign. But if you’ve managed to check those off quickly and still have a little time on your hands, don’t stop there. The following few ideas may seem optional, but they can give your campaign the extra boost it needs to capture more attention, convert hesitant shoppers, and capitalize on the Black Friday rush.
Run simple retargeting ads
Don’t let potential buyers slip away after visiting your store. Retargeting ads help remind them of products they viewed or added to their carts, increasing the chances of conversion. Even a short, time-bound campaign with strong visuals and clear CTAs can make a difference during the Black Friday rush.
Bundle products or create quick gift sets
Shoppers love convenience, especially during the holidays. Bundling complementary products or creating quick gift sets can simplify decision-making and increase your average order value. Highlight these as limited-time deals to develop a sense of urgency and drive faster sales.
Add live chat or quick support options
Many customers abandon their carts when questions go unanswered. Adding a live chat feature helps resolve last minute queries instantly and keeps buyers engaged throughout the checkout process. Tools like Tidio and LiveChat integrate seamlessly with both WordPress and Shopify, making setup quick and easy.
Make your Black Friday deals shine with Yoast SEO for free!
Getting your offers in front of the right people starts with how your website appears and performs in search results. That’s where Yoast SEO can be a real game-changer during the Black Friday rush.
Here’s how:
Write SEO-friendly content
With Yoast SEO, you can create content that both readers and search engines understand. With Yoast SEO’s real-time feedback:
Get instant insights on keyword use, density, and placement
Optimize your product titles and descriptions to highlight key offers
Ensure your content maintains the right balance between keywords and readability
Improve readability
Shoppers move fast during Black Friday. Keep them engaged with content that is easy to read and skim. Yoast helps you:
Simplify long sentences and paragraphs
Use better transitions for a smoother flow
Maintain a consistent tone and structure throughout your content
Help search engines crawl your site efficiently
Visibility depends on how easily search engines can crawl and index your site. With Yoast SEO, you can:
Automatically generate XML sitemaps to guide crawlers
Use SEO-friendly breadcrumbs to create a clear site structure
Ensure your most important Black Friday pages are indexed correctly
Prepare your website for the future of search
AI-powered search is transforming the way people discover brands and deals online. The llms.txt feature in Yoast SEO helps you:
Communicate directly with AI systems, such as ChatGPT
Control how your content is accessed and cited by large language models
Enhance the likelihood of your offers being accurately represented in AI-driven summaries and recommendations
Want your Black Friday products to stand out in search with details like price, stock status, and ratings? That’s where structured data comes in. It helps search engines understand your products better and display them as rich results.
With the Yoast WooCommerce SEO plugin, this process becomes effortless. It automatically adds product-specific structured data to your pages, so your deals are clearer and more clickable in search results. This gives your listings the best chance to shine when shoppers are scanning for quick, trustworthy deals during the Black Friday rush.
Buy WooCommerce SEO now!
Unlock powerful features and much more for your online store with Yoast WooCommerce SEO!
As the countdown begins, remember that success isn’t about doing more but doing what matters most. It’s easy to get caught up in ambitious plans, such as redesigning your website, launching new products, or building influencer partnerships, but those time-intensive ideas rarely deliver quick results when the clock is ticking.
Instead, focus on achievable actions that create immediate impact. Refresh your existing content, refine your offers, and utilize tools like Yoast SEO to optimize your pages efficiently. A few smart tweaks to your product descriptions, meta titles, or site speed can often drive better conversions than a full-scale overhaul.
The key to winning Black Friday isn’t scale, it’s strategy. Work with what you already have, double down on proven tactics, and use every minute wisely. That’s how you turn last minute prep into lasting results.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-15 13:20:492025-10-15 13:20:49Still not ready for Black Friday 2025? Here is your last minute rescue plan
Google’s Performance Max (PMax) campaigns now support vertical 9:16 image ads, bringing the popular mobile-friendly format to the platform’s most automated campaign type.
What’s new. Google Ads specialist Thomas Eccel spotted the update, noting that vertical “Story Image Ads” – first seen in Demand Gen campaigns earlier this year – are now available in PMax.
Specs at a glance:
Minimum size: 600×1067 (recommended: 1080×1920)
Maximum file size: 5MB
Google hasn’t officially confirmed where these will serve, though in Demand Gen, they appear in YouTube Shorts Image placements.
Why we care. Vertical 9:16 images let PMax campaigns fit naturally into mobile-first environments like YouTube Shorts, where user attention is highest. Experts say this update goes beyond creative specs. As Phil Byrne, founder of Positive Sparks Marketing LTD, noted, it’s about “meeting users where they naturally consume content.”
With Shorts, Reels, and TikTok dominating mobile engagement, vertical formats are key to maintaining attention and relevance.
The bigger picture. Mike Ryan, head of ecommerce insights at Smarter Ecommerce, added that PMax is already monetizing YouTube Shorts through “GMC Image Shorts,” which display multiple product images for remarketing and personalization – a sign that Google is leaning deeper into short-form, shoppable media.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/10/Screenshot-2025-10-14-at-18.35.32-HCfS9m.png?fit=502%2C402&ssl=1402502http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-10-14 17:50:462025-10-14 17:50:46Google Performance Max adds support for vertical 9:16 image ads
