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From retro gaming glory to fighting Google: The journey of Brandon Saltalamacchia

Google crashed his retro gaming site

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.

The Google algorithm crash

Google’s September 2023 helpful content update sent shockwaves through the SEO world and impacted many other independent publishers. For Retro Dodo, the impact was devastating.

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:

  • SEARCHLANDE48E1320
  • SEARCHLAND05311655
  • SEARCHLANDD10EC7C1
  • SEARCHLAND4F87658E
  • SEARCHLAND33EBD5B0

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.

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Take your career to the next level: Become a search marketing master

Are you ready to take your SEO and PPC campaigns to the next level of success? Tackle the challenges of the New Year with actionable tactics, expert guidance, and the inspiration you need to succeed at the spring edition of the SMX Master Classes — happening live online this March.

In-depth training. Actionable tactics. Invaluable Q&A.

This spring’s lineup features seven outstanding courses tackling core topics critical to 2025 success:

Your Training, Your Way.

You asked, and we listened: For the first time ever, each Master Class will take place on different days, giving you the flexibility to attend multiple classes live and customize the perfect training experience.

Each Master Class is a two-part deep dive into critical search marketing topics, with live Q&A designed to answer your specific questions and 120 days of on-demand access for deeper learning.

Why Attend?

💰 Affordable Excellence: Just $299 per Master Class.
🏅 Exclusive Perks: Earn a certificate of completion to showcase your knowledge.
🌎 No Travel Hassles: Join from anywhere — no plane tickets or hotels needed.

Unlock 15% Off

Create the ultimate cross-training experience by purchasing more than one Master Class – and save 15% on your total registration.

Book Now For Best Rates

What are you waiting for? Choose your classes and secure your spot today!

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How to maximize your Google Ads remarketing campaigns

How to maximize your Google Ads remarketing campaigns

Remarketing campaigns can drive significant results when executed effectively.

This article explores advanced strategies for setting up and optimizing your remarketing efforts for greater profitability and long-term success.

Go beyond the basic remarketing setup

By default, Google Analytics creates an “All Users” audience for website visitors over the past 30 days. 

While this basic audience may be useful for beginners, setting up advanced audiences can significantly improve campaign performance in the long term.

Here are audiences to consider testing:

  • Pre-built templates in GA4: Ready to use or customizable to fit your specific needs.
  • Different timeframes: Instead of simply 30-day website visitors, test 10-day, 60-day, 90-day, or 180-day audiences based on your industry and website traffic.
  • 365-day audiences: Ideal for remarketing annual products or services, such as trips, holidays, or Black Friday deals, to previous customers.
  • Page-specific visitors: Retarget users who visited key pages, like pricing, by setting up “Page location” contains “your specific URL.”
  • Converted audiences: Target users for other products or exclude them from campaigns based on completed purchases or form submissions.
  • New visitors: Show ads only to new users, excluding repeat visitors.
  • Traffic sources: Use audiences from other platforms, like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or large newsletter lists, by applying Templates > Acquisition > First user source, campaign, or medium.

Additional advanced options include:

  • Inactive users: Retarget users who haven’t been active for a set timeframe (e.g., 7 days), or delay ads until specific events, like a free trial expiration.
  • Session duration: Target users who spent significant time on your website (e.g., over 1 minute) to exclude low-interest audiences.

Dig deeper: How to combine Google Ads with other channels to retarget, nurture and convert

There are three primary campaign types for targeting remarketing audiences. Let’s explore best practices for setting them up and optimizing their performance.

1. Search remarketing

Setup best practices

You can target the same remarketing audiences you’ve set up in GA4, often called RLSA (remarketing lists for search ads).

To avoid overlap, separate your search remarketing campaigns from standard search campaigns that don’t target a remarketing audience. 

The simplest approach is to create a search remarketing campaign using the same and/or different keywords while excluding that remarketing audience from your standard search campaigns.

In search remarketing, you can test broader keywords, including:

  • Broad match terms.
  • Review-related queries.
  • Competitor names. 

Since these users have already visited your site, broader targeting carries less risk.

For ad creative, you can either reuse existing ads or test unique copy tailored to search remarketing. 

Choose what performs best. If using unique ads, consider adding more selling points and testimonials. Also, test different landing pages, coupons, or special deals.

For bidding, test manual bidding, max conversions, or target CPA – especially if the campaign generates a high number of conversions. 

Even with higher CPCs, maximizing conversions can be worthwhile, as these users are already familiar with your brand.

Optimizing search remarketing campaigns

Optimization follows the same principles as standard search campaigns: 

  • Test different ad copy.
  • Adjust ad group variations.
  • Experiment with new keywords.
  • Pause underperforming ones.
  • Add negative keywords. 

However, avoid directly mirroring changes from your standard search campaigns. What works there won’t necessarily work in search remarketing.

You can swap out audiences as needed, but otherwise, optimization remains similar to standard search. 

Regular adjustments are essential. Don’t leave it on autopilot.

Dig deeper: How to boost PPC retargeting efficiency with an RFM analysis

2. Display remarketing

Setup best practices

When targeting different remarketing audiences, use separate ad groups or campaigns. 

Avoid grouping drastically different audiences together or expanding them with “optimized targeting.”

For ads, you can reuse copy from search or banner ads or test unique messaging specific to display remarketing. Choose what delivers the best results. 

With remarketing banner ads, include your logo and branding to ensure immediate recognition. Even if users don’t click, the impressions still provide branding value.

For high-traffic websites, consider testing three separate remarketing campaigns:

  • Desktop-only.
  • Tablet-only.
  • Mobile-only. 

Combining all devices in one campaign often results in mobile traffic consuming the most clicks and budget. 

Instead of blocking mobile traffic entirely or reducing bids, testing a separate mobile campaign may be more effective. Mobile clicks – especially from in-app ads – are often accidental or irrelevant. 

For bidding, test manual CPC to control volume and spend or use Maximize Conversions to stop showing ads to users who don’t convert quickly. 

Brands with larger budgets aiming for long-term visibility may benefit from manual bidding to maximize touchpoints and reinforce brand presence.

Be cautious with Maximize Clicks bidding. This strategy may favor high-click placements, such as mobile games, where accidental clicks can waste budget.

Optimizing display remarketing campaigns

Optimization follows the same principles as standard display campaigns. 

Regularly review placements – especially apps, games, celebrity gossip, quizzes, and entertainment sites – to prevent wasted spend on users who aren’t in the right mindset for your product or service. 

If mobile traffic dominates the budget, consider blocking it or running separate device-targeted campaigns.

Continuously test ads to determine which ones drive the most conversions or relevant clicks. 

If an ad underperforms with a remarketing audience, replace it. 

Avoid leaving display remarketing campaigns on autopilot. Ongoing adjustments are key to maintaining effectiveness.

Dig deeper: How to make your display campaigns profitable

3. Video remarketing

Setup best practices

Video remarketing campaigns follow a similar setup and optimization process as display remarketing campaigns. 

Use separate ad groups or campaigns for different remarketing audiences. Don’t combine them with other audiences.

For ads, you can use generic branded videos or specific product/service-based videos tailored to the user’s recent activity. 

If producing new video ads is challenging, brands often repurpose existing TV or streaming ads. 

For lower budgets, you can create simple videos using Google Ads’ built-in tool or third-party tools like Canva. 

These videos can now be hosted directly in Google Ads without needing YouTube.

Video ad campaigns offer various subtypes and bidding strategies. 

For remarketing, the simplest option is Video Views, which supports skippable in-stream ads, in-feed ads, and Shorts ads using CPV (cost per view) bidding. 

This is the easiest way to retarget past website visitors or YouTube channel viewers.

For larger budgets, consider Video Efficient Reach, which allows CPM (cost per thousand impressions) bidding and supports unskippable ads. 

Brands focused on reach may also use Non-Skippable Reach if that format aligns with their goals.

When setting up the campaign, consider disabling TV screen targeting unless you have a large brand and budget. 

Most advertisers prefer engagement beyond just branding, so blocking TV placements can help allocate spend more effectively.

The Drive Conversions subtype for video campaigns is transitioning to Demand Gen in early 2025. 

If you don’t want to expand into Gmail and Discovery ads, it’s best to focus on Video Views for remarketing.

Optimizing video remarketing campaigns

Video remarketing follows the same optimization principles as display remarketing and non-remarketing video campaigns. 

Regularly review and block irrelevant placements, including:

  • Video placements. 
  • YouTube channels.
  • Topics.
  • Apps.
  • Entertainment content. 

Video ads often waste budget on kids’ videos, unrelated apps, or entertainment channels. Make sure to continuously block irrelevant placements

If mobile traffic dominates the budget with little to no results, consider blocking it to improve campaign efficiency. 

Advanced remarketing strategies

For advanced users, enhance remarketing by layering audience targeting with relevant placements, topics, and keywords simultaneously. 

This ensures your remarketing ads appear to past website visitors while they browse specific websites, YouTube channels, or content related to your targeted topics or keywords.

For example, if you offer retirement planning services, you can target previous website visitors while they visit financial or retirement-related websites or view relevant topics. 

This strategy works for both display and video campaigns. 

You can also handpick high-authority financial or retirement websites and layer them with your remarketing audience for more precise targeting.

It’s important to note that adding a remarketing audience to a Performance Max campaign is not true remarketing. 

Performance Max uses remarketing audiences as a signal – a starting point to find similar users – rather than exclusively targeting past visitors. 

It will expand beyond that audience based on Google’s machine learning.

By leveraging advanced remarketing and optimization techniques, you can achieve significantly better results than default remarketing strategies.

Dig deeper: From search to social: Retargeting organic traffic with video strategies

Read more at Read More

Product studio now available within Google Business Profiles

Google Product Studio is now available within Google Business Profiles. This allows you to edit the background scenes of your products within your local listing using Google’s AI features. Product studio is already available within Google services including Google Merchant Center and Google Ads, and is now available within Google Business Profiles.

More details. Google community manager, Kara, posted about this news in the Google Business Profile forums and wrote:

“We’re excited to announce that you can now change the background scene of your product with Product Studio, a generative AI tool which helps you create engaging imagery to showcase your products.”

Here is what the feature looks like in my account – it says “Transform your product images with Al Quickly generate lifestyle scenes. To get started, upload a product image and select a theme.”

How it works. Google has a more detailed help document on this feature over here but here is how to quickly access this feature in your Business Profile.

  1. Go to your Business Profile. Learn how to find your profile.
  2. To generate a scene for your product, click Edit products  Get started.
  3. Select the image you want to edit.
    • Wait until the background from your image is removed.
  4. Select a theme for your product.
    • Choose a generated image from the editor.
  5. If you’re satisfied with the image, click Add image to product.
  6. You’ll receive a confirmation to save the image, click OK.

Once you saved the generated image for your product, from the product editor:

  1. Fill out the fields in the form.
  2. To submit your product, click Publish.

US only. Google did not that “Only merchants in the US can use scene generation in product editor.” Google added, “When you use Product Studio, you agree to the Terms of Service (TOS).”

Why we care. If you manage products within your Google Business Profile account, quickly being able to make those products look more appealing to searchers might be a great thing to increase conversions and sales. Of course, you want to make sure you are happy with how Google’s AI improves your images and only accept changes that you feel will make a positive change to those images.

Read more at Read More

How to Sell SEO Services in 5 Steps+ Expert Tips & Templates

Learning how to sell SEO isn’t easy.

Why?

Your prospects don’t want to buy SEO—they want to buy results.

I learned this the hard way.

After years of trial and error, I found a system. It consistently delivers what people want: more customers, revenue, and growth.

In fact, I’ve maintained a 75% close rate by focusing on one thing: demonstrating value before asking for the sale.

Think about it:

AI advancements. Nontraditional search results. Constant algorithm shifts.

SEO looks different every year. But these changes have made skilled SEOs more valuable than ever.

In this guide, you’ll learn my exact process for selling SEO services, backed by insights from industry veterans who’ve closed millions in SEO deals.

1. Prepare Your Sales Toolkit

As the saying goes, “Failing to prepare is preparing to fail.”

In other words, don’t wing it.

Sure, you can eventually throw stuff at the wall and see what sticks.

But if you want to successfully sell SEO services, you’ll need a few essentials.

Build Trust with Case Studies

Case studies are your bread and butter of selling.

They’re proof you know what you’re doing and an opportunity to show exactly what you can accomplish for your clients.

The key is to be specific.

You didn’t just increase demo requests.

You grew inbound leads by 40% with conversion-focused content marketing.

See the difference?

The more detail you provide, the easier it is for clients to envision these results for themselves.

And the likelier they are to trust you.

Taylor Scher – Case study

It’s especially helpful if you have a case study that addresses each client’s specific needs.

Kevin Indig, a growth advisor who has worked with companies like Nextdoor, Dropbox, Hims, and Reddit, believes there’s nothing more powerful than demonstrating real results.

Build out references and projects you can showcase. Very early on, it’s important to be able to show what the work for a client could look like at the hand of a live example.


If you’ve done it for someone else, you can do it for them, too.

Another perk?

Case studies are versatile.

Present them during client calls to get buy-in.

And highlight them on your site for prospects to read.

Skale – Highlighted case studies

Pro tip: New to SEO? Exchange free or discounted SEO work for case studies and testimonials. For example, offer a free technical audit to a small business. Once they start seeing results, ask if you can document their success story.


Collect High-Impact Testimonials

Case studies are great.

But testimonials hit differently.

Why?

Because they come directly from your happy clients.

Taylor Scher – Testimonials

When clients explain the impact you’ve had on their business, it boosts your credibility with prospects.

So, let them be your ambassadors.

Follow these steps to collect testimonials:

  • Text or email clients a short feedback form
  • Ask them to share specific results (metrics help)
  • Keep it simple: “What was your biggest win from working with us?”
  • Offer to draft it for them (just get their approval)

Even better: Ask for a video testimonial.

If clients are willing to have their face and brand associated with your business, that’s a ringing endorsement.

It doesn’t get much better than that.

No matter how you collect the testimonial, what matters most is that it comes from a reputable person in the company.

Aim for a VP of marketing or founder for the most significant impact.

Pro tip: Place your best testimonials on high-traffic pages, such as pricing, services, and contact pages. Highlight them in post-discovery call emails and on social media to seal the deal.


Create a Lead Qualification System

Time is money.

Don’t waste it on unqualified leads.

Before you even have a first call with your prospects, ensure they fit your ideal client profile (ICP).

Make sure they:

  • Are the right type of company you want to work with
  • Are actually in need of your services
  • Aren’t looking to just sell you on something (it happens more often than you think)

Pro tip: Asking for project details is usually the best way to qualify a lead. It also helps you set expectations for your role and prepare for the initial discovery call. This way, you come to the meeting with a personalized approach that reflects what they actually need and explains how you can help.


So, how do you have a qualifying process before a prospect even reaches out to you?

Your contact form is your best friend here.

Add qualifying questions that will tell you from the get-go if this lead has potential.

Contact form in lead qualification system

Here’s what your contact form should ask:

  • Budget range
  • Services they need
  • Project details
  • How they found you

In my experience, the responses will tell you whether they’re a legitimate lead 95% of the time.

Further reading: What Are Lead Magnets?


Invest in a CRM

I won’t lie—not having customer relationship management (CRM) software was probably the worst mistake I’ve made as a consultant.

It took me around six months to finally realize this.

That’s six months of lost revenue, wasted time, and unnecessary stress.

If I ever had more than five leads contact me at once, it was just pure chaos managing them with a spreadsheet.

If you’re a solo SEO consultant or freelancer, I can’t recommend using a CRM enough.

You’ll be able to:

  • Manage and track your prospects
  • See which leads are hot, warm, or cold
  • See how long it’s been since a lead contacted you
  • Qualify that lead by seeing which company they’re from

I would personally recommend HubSpot as the best all-in-one CRM–especially if you’re a new SEO.

It can manage all your sales data and give you access to a full range of marketing tools.

HubSpot – CRM for Small Business

But a few other CRMs worth looking into would be:

  • Semrush
  • Apollo.io
  • Salesforce
  • ClickUp

Decide on Your SEO Services

Want to know why many SEOs struggle to close deals?

They’re not specific enough about the SEO services they offer.

Here’s what I mean:

Don’t just say you “do SEO.”

Instead, decide what services you’ll offer and be specific when you describe them:

  • Technical SEO for enterprise companies
  • Content creation for B2B SaaS
  • Link building for ecommerce sites

Skale – Specific services

Niche down whenever possible.

Once you control a niche, whether B2B SaaS, home care, or legal SEO, it will be much easier to grow from there.

Rankings – Control your niche

I learned that the hard way when I first started posting on LinkedIn.

My niche and SEO posts were too broad.

The posts helped grow my followers quickly but not my revenue.

The majority of my followers were SEOs, not my actual ideal client profile.

So, I wasn’t generating leads.

That changed pretty quickly after I nailed down my niche.

After focusing my posts on B2B SaaS to help target my ICP—marketing VPs—I saw better results.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – B2B SaaS

Instead of competing with every SEO agency out there, I have an easier time being seen by my ICP.

Plus, they know my services are designed specifically for them.

Another important decision will be how you want to structure your services.

Kevin recommends creating a clear distinction between freelancer and consultant work.

You need to know very clearly whether you want to do the work (freelancer) or guide/advise (advisor). Early on, I did a lot of the leg work because that’s where I felt most comfortable, but that didn’t match the advisor prices I charged and wasn’t what I actually wanted to do.

So, it’s important to know what work you want to do and where you can provide the biggest impact. If you want to advise, don’t agree to do any busy work. Focus on the strategy.


You’ll likely have to learn your preferences by trial and error at first.

But don’t be afraid to adjust if you have to.

Choose Your Pricing Model

Like your services, you’ll want to have your pricing figured out upfront, too.

This works well for a few reasons:

  • You understand your worth before going into a client call
  • You can use it to qualify leads before they reach out
  • You avoid being lowballed during calls

Let me break down the four main ways to price SEO services:

First, there’s retainer pricing.

Clients pay a fixed monthly fee for ongoing SEO work. You commit to a set number of hours each month.

Next, there’s package pricing.

Taylor Scher – SEO Pricing

This is what I use. Clients can choose from different packages that best suit their needs for SEO.

Here’s how I structure it:

  • SEO audit: $1,500
  • SEO consulting: $2,000
  • Fractional SEO: $3,500
  • Full management SEO: $6,000

Your third option is value-based pricing.

It’s riskier but can pay off big. You set goal targets with clients and get bonus compensation when you hit them.

Finally, there’s hourly pricing.

You bill based on actual time spent on SEO tasks. This is great for one-off projects.

Pro tip: Price your services based on value. Low rates might seem like a path to more clients, but they can attract lower-quality clients. My highest-paying clients are always my best clients—they pay on time, are pleasant to work with, and trust my expertise.


Keep in mind that every model is dependent on what works for you.

I’m personally a big fan of package pricing.

But that’s because I want my work to prioritize value over output.

Optional: Gather Proof You Can Rank

Want to know one of my best-selling tools?

My own SEO results.

SEO results – Top pages

Think about it:

What better way to prove your SEO skills than having prospects find your website through Google?

It’s an instant trust signal.

In fact, organic search is one of my most consistent channels for new leads.

But here’s the catch:

Don’t just rank for random topics.

Rank for topics related to your services:

  • Best SEO agencies for lawyers
  • Technical SEO for Shopify websites
  • B2B SaaS SEO consultant

Google SERP – B2B SaaS SEO Consultant

There’s no denying that building SEO authority from scratch is tough.

I learned this firsthand when launching my site.

Competing against established SEO websites with zero website authority? Not easy.

Here’s my best advice: Run PPC campaigns while your SEO compounds.

PPC campaign

This keeps your lead pipeline full while you build organic visibility.

2. Find Prospects

Successful SEO sales require a reliable lead-generation system.

Here’s how I use both inbound and outbound marketing to build a steady stream of qualified prospects.

Inbound Prospects

Inbound marketing is the process of creating valuable content that attracts potential customers to your site when they’re actively looking for solutions.

This is the channel I’m most familiar with.

And the one that provides the most long-term value.

With inbound, you can build a long-term community that’s invested in your brand and create a stronger pipeline for leads at a much lower acquisition cost.

So, how do you find high-quality leads? It depends on your services and industry.

Personally, I’ve found the most success with:

  • SEO: Targeting high-intent searches coming directly from my audience
  • Reddit: Answering questions on subreddits where my ICP is
  • YouTube: Creating videos that help my audience overcome industry challenges. Works great for repurposing content, too.
  • Email marketing: Nurturing my email audience by sending them highly valuable content directly to their inbox
  • LinkedIn: Posting thought leadership content that establishes me as an expert within my field

LinkedIn –Taylor Scher establishes as expert

As you can see, organic search and social are among my top traffic sources:

[missing ss]

When you’re starting out, I recommend playing around with each channel.

Once you find the channel that works, double down on it.

Pro tip: Don’t stretch yourself too thin. If you’re solo, it’s better to comfortably handle one or two channels than struggle with five. The goal is to build a community interested in your brand through quality content—not spam your audience.


Outbound Prospects

Outbound marketing is when you reach out to prospects through various methods rather than waiting for them to find you.

While I’m pro inbound marketing, it can be inconsistent.

Outbound can make up for that.

There are a few different ways you can target outbound prospects.

But the ones that work the best for me are:

For example, I use a template similar to this to reach out to potential prospects through email:

You can also use LinkedIn for outreach, but don’t expect to take the same approach as email.

Focus on social selling.

Interact with your ICP and find something in common with them.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher comments post

Then, reach out to them.

Don’t treat them as just another automated message.

Focus on building an actual relationship with them.

Then, once the time is right, see if they’d be open to a coffee chat.

Ask if they’re facing any challenges with SEO and offer advice on how to help.

Chances are, they might just be willing to delegate that to you, anyway.

But when you’re deciding which marketing channels to use, I recommend this approach:

Pro tip: Blend one outbound channel with one inbound. Outbound brings quick wins, while inbound builds long-term success. Together, they offer a balance of quick wins and sustainable growth for long-term success.


3. Offer Strategy Calls

This step is often called a “discovery call.”

But I recommend using strategy call instead.

Why?

Well, you want to demonstrate perceived value before prospects even contact you—an additional incentive for them to take that next step.

And “strategy” implies they’ll get something tangible out of this call.

For example, point out issues they can fix right after the call. It’s an easy way to show you’re invested in them and have done your research.

Taylor Scher – Book a Strrategy Call

Use this call to discuss your services and offer a glimpse into what working with you looks like to see the best conversion rates.

Learn More About Your Prospect

Use the first call strictly as a way to understand the company and what’s currently going on with its marketing efforts.

I even recommend using a questionnaire to help you run through the call.

Here’s what I ask every prospect:

  • What do you hope to achieve with this call?
  • What are your long-term SEO goals?
  • What’s your current SEO strategy?
  • What makes your product unique?
  • Who are your decision-makers?
  • How does your sales process work?
  • What sets you apart from competitors?

I usually ask these questions to help prepare myself for the SEO audit in the next step.

Customer Insights Template

But prospects also appreciate that you seem invested in their company.

You’re obviously not just pitching yourself and are actively looking to learn more about them—something that’s often rare during the discovery phase.

Focus on Early Wins

Here’s a persuasive tactic: Give prospects actionable tips during the call.

Point out easy fixes they’ve missed to highlight your expertise and prove your worth.

For example:

“I noticed your product pages aren’t targeting money keywords. Here’s a quick fix that could boost your traffic…”

Or

“I researched some easy keywords you’d be able to rank for quickly. This includes…”

Keyword Magic Tool – How to grow tomatoes – Keywords

This gives prospects a reason to develop early trust with you.

This is something my friend Jacob Statler, founder of Stat Digital, highly recommends doing:

Show your prospects how you can get them quick wins that tie back to revenue. If possible, get them a win before working together during the sales process.
SEOs often give away high-level audits that they auto-generated with a tool, but these are usually not very actionable. I like to create mini-action plans of easy-to-implement opportunities. This builds trust and shows competency.


And if that quick win translates to results, all the better for you.

Highlight What Their Competitors Are Doing

This is such an underrated strategy.

If you think I’m joking, try it out for yourself.

I’ve been stumped before getting clients to commit to something.

But the moment I mention a direct competitor doing something they aren’t, they get tunnel vision.

This includes:

  • Their competitors’ top traffic channels
  • Articles their competitors have that they don’t
  • Articles their competitors created against them (this is my go-to if a client is ever opposed to creating alternative or category content)

Traffic Analytics – World Wildlife – Traffic Journey

It’s almost an immediate way to motivate your prospects, especially if you’re facing early resistance to a tactic you’re recommending.

You can conduct competitor research in a few ways, but I usually recommend using the following tools:

  • Semrush competitor analysis tools
  • SpyFu

Pro tip: Offer the SEO audit at the end of your strategy call or follow up with an email to get it scheduled right away.


4. Schedule an SEO Audit

Think about how many agencies and consultants are pitching your prospects right now. Chances are you aren’t the only one being considered.

If you don’t make an impression, you’ll get lost in the crowd.

The solution?

SEO audits.

Pro tip: Always lock in the audit with a hard date. Leaving the audit timeline open is a deal-killer. I schedule the audit presentation right after the discovery call. Vague follow-ups kill momentum.


Position the Audit as a Roadmap, Not a Selling Technique

Audits are my secret sauce for selling SEO services.

Why do they work so well?

I go above and beyond. While others send automated reports, I tailor each audit to my client.

This means I:

  • Never use a template; I always start fresh
  • Look at their product/offering/industry/ICP to put together my recommendations
  • Focus on specific tactics that drive value and have an expected outcome

I’ve found it not only gets additional buy-in but also keeps leads moving through the pipeline.

Taylor Scher – Audit as a roadmap

Once prospects see the issues affecting their site, they’re way more motivated to get started with services.

But this isn’t a selling technique.

If clients see the audit as a pitch, then you’re just another company pitching them.

When you position your audit as a roadmap, it’s much easier to present a legitimate vision for the client.

Ben Goodey, founder of the SEO growth agency Spicy Margarita, agrees that leading with value is essential.

My top advice for those looking to sell SEO? Know your audience doesn’t want to buy SEO. They’re business owners or team leaders who want to buy results—that is what you should focus on selling.

In my experience closing clients, the more freely you share your “how,” the more trust and enthusiasm you build with a client. So, share your tactics openly—people are typically willing to take a risk working with you if you’re an expert.


Taylor Scher – SEO Audit roadmap

The idea is that the audit should be so helpful prospects can take the information and use it on their own.

“But why would you do that?”

Sure, it sounds like it wouldn’t make sense. But think about most companies that lack internal marketing teams.

Most of the time, they don’t want to handle marketing and SEO themselves.

They would rather outsource it to another team.

So, even though they COULD take the audit and run, chances are they’d rather have someone else manage it anyway.

Plus, if they do decide to move forward, it shows their level of trust in what you’re proposing.

Which is a great sign for longer-term engagements.

If you didn’t schedule the audit at the end of your strategy call, use this template to follow up by email:

Build a Reliable Stack for Conducting Your Audits

I keep my tech stack pretty consistent for most audits.

The ones I find helpful and recommend using are:

  • Google Search Console: Find crawling/indexing issues, quick SEO wins, and potential content topics
  • Screaming Frog: Uncover large-scale technical issues like missing canonicals or JavaScript issues
  • Google Analytics 4: Extremely useful if a client has set up conversion tracking. See what pages have previously driven conversions and how you can double down on that.
  • Semrush site auditing features: Identify housekeeping items to take care of, such as orphan pages, broken links, and redirect chains

Site Audit – Backlinko – Overview

Focus on Value, Value, Value

When you’re delivering the audit, focus on value.

And I don’t mean to just stuff it with data and overwhelm the client.

Remember: This is also for you, not just the client.

I find it helpful to start with an overall strategy, like how I’ll increase revenue by X% through SEO.

SEO Strategy Objectives

Then, I recommend SEO tactics that will help the client achieve the goal.

But this isn’t the time to be vague—I show exactly how I’ll hit that number.

SEO Tactic Objectives In Order of Priority

When you start with a goal, the client has an easier time understanding what you’re recommending and why.

So, let’s say the goal for a B2B SaaS company is to increase demos and freemium signups through SEO.

You’d focus your audit on:

Side note: There will be times when clients still choose not to work with you despite all your work—and that’s okay. As long as your overall close rate increases, that’s all that matters.


5. Send a Proposal or SOW

Now comes the easiest part.

Sending out the SEO proposal or statement of work (SOW).

If you ran your audit properly and the client showed interest in what you had to say, the proposal should be a piece of cake.

Still, there are a few things to keep in mind during this step of the process.

Include Audit Findings

For the beginning of the proposal, include findings from the audit.

It doesn’t have to be anything fancy.

I usually use:

  • Google Docs for the template
  • Canva for custom graphics
  • Data screenshots if I have access to GA4 and GSC
  • Google Sheets if forecasting is involved

You’ll want to touch on the recommended priority tactics and how you’ll approach them.

SEO proposal for "x client"

You can also include a monthly timetable to visualize how you would structure each month of the engagement.

For me, it usually looks like this:

  • Month 1: Start with conversion rate optimization, technical SEO, optimizing your product pages, going after quick wins, and taking care of any on-page housekeeping
  • Month 2: Continue going after quick wins, start building out BoFu content
  • Month 3: Continue creating BoFu content, creating link assets, and backlink opportunities
  • Month 4-6: Build out a solid profile of MoFu content, continue going after quick wins

Help your clients understand how you’ll approach each month for the engagement.

This way, they’ll have a better reference point for understanding what you’ll be working on.

The success behind selling SEO comes from value, trust, and transparency.

Don’t neglect any of them.

Highlight Your Goals/Strategy/KPIs

This will be similar to what you did for the audit but in more detail.

First, lay them out as a goals section.

Then, explain specifically how you’re going to work towards those goals.

Here’s an example of what this looks like on my proposals:

Highlight your SEO Goals

Now, let’s break this process down.

First, I summarize each goal:

“Goal #1: Increase the quantity and quality of demo requests and signups coming from SEO.”

Then, I add more detail to show I understand what success looks like:

“The main goal of this engagement will be to increase the quantity and quality of leads from SEO (and other channels). We’ll want to establish a benchmark for demo requests/signups and then measure that against the performance of the engagement.”

Finally, I outline my action plan:

“To do this, I’ll help your team focus on sales enablement content that can help convince users to take that next step. This will also involve building out bottom-of-funnel traffic that can bring in qualified users who are in the market for your type of product.”

I also include a section that discusses the main opportunity behind the project.

Project Oportunity

What’s the ultimate value that’s going to come out of this engagement?

I’ll often structure it similarly to the goals listed above.

But it’s usually a more general overview of the project as a whole.

You can also have a section on KPIs.

I generally save specific KPIs for the actual onboarding meeting (once they’ve signed the proposal), but I’ll usually have a section in the proposal that looks like this:

Success Metrics

So, there are no specific percentages tied to those KPIs, just what we’ll be prioritizing.

Detail Contract Terms (Make Them Fair to the Prospect)

Ahh, the contract terms.

The fun part.

I highly recommend working with a lawyer on this one.

Your contract terms will be pretty consistent across most proposals, but they should be fair to you and the prospect.

The lawyer can help you put terms in place that safeguard you and your business during any engagement.

As for the actual general terms, I recommend including:

  • The hard start date so both parties can prepare appropriately
  • The length of the engagement so clients know how much to budget for
  • The pricing terms and dates
  • If the contract is rolling, month to month, or a fixed date project
  • The flexibility of the contract, meaning if clients are locked in or able to cancel at any time

Surfer SEO Blog – SEO contract template

Once you have that set, all you need now is a signature.

Then, you’re basically ready to get started with your client.

Bonus Tips to Keep in Mind When Selling SEO Services

Are you tired of hearing me talk yet?

I hope not.

I have some bonus tips that will help you refine your selling approach and close more leads.

Master the Follow-Up

My personal motto is simple:

Keep following up until you get a response.

Why?

Most leads won’t respond on the first try. Or the second. Or even the third.

So, reach out to prospects once a week to see where they are in the process.

This is where your CRM becomes your best friend.

It helps you:

  • Track when you last reached out
  • Set follow-up reminders
  • Note any previous interactions
  • Monitor prospect engagement

CRM in the process

But here’s the catch:

This aggressive follow-up strategy works best with warm prospects.

Cold prospects? Not so much.

Cold vs Warm Leads

I won’t tell you to annoy your prospects.

But don’t be shy, either.

Use Traditional Sales Psychology

I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I’m extremely grateful for that Sales 101 class I took in college.

I might’ve treated it as a joke in college, but that class has helped me drive thousands in monthly recurring revenue (MRR) just by using traditional sales techniques.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not a schmoozer by any means whatsoever.

But psychologist Robert Cialdini’s principles of persuasion work extremely well throughout this entire process:

The psychology of persuasion

Reciprocity

People feel compelled to return favors, which is why free audits work so well.

When someone gives us something, we instinctively want to reciprocate.

Taylor Scher – Reciprocity

Not in a manipulative way but as a natural response to receiving something valuable.

This subtle tactic can help you turn prospects into clients.

Social Proof

Your reputation is one of your greatest sales tools.

People want reassurance that they’re making the right choice—especially for something as important as SEO.

You can pitch yourself all you want, but if you don’t have any proof of results, why should they believe you?

The more people who vouch for you, the more people will trust you.

This could be:

  • Case studies
  • Brands you’ve worked with
  • Testimonials

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Testimonials

Whatever it is, let your existing/previous clients be your most vocal supporters.

Authority

Establishing authority is huge for building trust.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Establishing authority

When people see you as an authority in your field, they’re more likely to trust what you have to say.

You can:

  • Post content specific to your ICP on LinkedIn
  • Write for highly authoritative websites
  • Collab with well-known industry leaders
  • Be a guest on or host webinars or podcasts

Podcasts – Apple – Taylor Scher

This establishes your expertise and authority in your field.

With that positioning, people already have a sense of trust in me before we even meet on a call.

It also makes prospects more excited to work with me.

My professional reputation adds a perceived value to my services.

As a result, prospects aren’t as likely to question my prices since they know the value my work delivers.

People don’t want to work with the smooth-talking ‘SEO expert’ who promises the world but doesn’t deliver.

They want a partner or team member they can relate to and trust.

Someone who’s passionate about what they do, genuinely invested in helping them, and overall seems like a fun person to work with.

That’s why I’ve been so focused on demonstrating value over selling.

YouTube – Taylor Scher – SEO

Focus on being seen as a partner, not just another vendor.

Scarcity

Scarcity works surprisingly well.

People get FOMO.

It’s a common human experience.

As a solo consultant, I’m not interested in scaling to take on unlimited client profiles.

I want a small batch of handpicked SEO clients who are invested in working with me.

Usually, this comes out to five to 10 monthly clients based on the scope of services.

Taylor Scher – Book an Intro Call

If I stretch myself too thin, I can’t give every client the attention they deserve.

So, if I have multiple prospects who are interested in that last position, my availability becomes scarce.

And as my scarcity increases, pricing can follow.

That’s not to say you should have leads fight over that last spot.

But it is something to mention to your prospects, as it can make you seem like a more desirable candidate.

Keep Leads Interested

While each hard-set date will help keep prospects interested, they can still get distracted.

Other agencies may poach them, they can get pulled in new directions, or their schedule may become too tight.

Even the slightest hesitation can derail your efforts.

So, beyond moving them throughout the sales process, you can keep them interested in a few ways.

Post Client Wins on LinkedIn

Case studies work.

We know this.

But it’s another thing to put it out there for everyone to see–especially when you can use it as an opportunity to explain that case study in detail.

It also makes you way more desirable, so it might even trigger FOMO for them if they feel like others might reach out to you because of that case study.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Case studies work

Even from one case study post, I had three to four qualified leads reach out.

Provide a Reference from a Previous Client

This shows a huge amount of transparency that is surprisingly rare.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Recommendations

Even before they ask, offer them a client referral from a similar industry.

Focus on the Relationship, Not the Sale

People buy from individuals they trust, not just from salespeople.

Especially in the early stages, when a prospect can easily move on to another offering, you can keep yourself memorable by focusing on developing a relationship.

Be likable.

Be funny.

Be authentic.

Be personal.

Go beyond just being seen as an SEO provider.

LinkedIn – Taylor Scher – Relationship

Treat every prospect as an opportunity to develop valuable relationships, not generate sales.

And even if the lead falls through, that relationship still has value.

It can lead to future opportunities like a referral or a personal connection request.

Even if that lead doesn’t work out, it’s still an opportunity to expand your network for future opportunities.

Sell SEO Services Like a Pro

Selling in SEO is just a matter of delivering early value to your prospect.

I’m not even a salesperson.

I’m just an SEO who had to force myself to learn sales.

And honestly, if I can do it, you can do it, too.

Learn how to translate the value of your work into a language your prospects understand.

Now that you know how to sell SEO services, you can start landing clients more consistently.

But first, make sure you have the right tools to deliver the results your clients deserve.

Check out our article on the best SEO agency tools on the market.

Including some free options you can use today.

The post How to Sell SEO Services in 5 Steps<br>+ Expert Tips & Templates appeared first on Backlinko.

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Google reverses stance on Performance Max campaign controls

How to create and optimize Google Ads custom segment audiences

Google acknowledged that Performance Max (PMax) campaigns can be controlled through API placement exclusions — contradicting months of its own documentation and support guidance, according to new research from ad tech firm Optmyzr.

This revelation gives advertisers more programmatic control over their PMax campaigns than previously thought possible, potentially saving significant time and resources in campaign management.

The big picture. Performance Max campaigns, Google’s AI-driven ad format, have been a source of frustration for advertisers seeking more granular control over where their ads appear.

Lead up. Earlier this year we saw that despite Navah Hopkins, Brand Evangelist of Optmyzr, reporting that Google said that API based placements exclusions don’t work for PMax campaigns, multiple advertisers were reporting the opposite.

By the numbers. Optmyzr ran an experiment, running from Dec. 30 to Jan. 21. It showed:

  • Zero ad spend on excluded placements after implementing API controls.
  • Complete effectiveness of API-based exclusions, despite Google’s previous claims.
  • Faster implementation compared to manual UI controls.

Behind the scenes. Google’s documentation and AI help center had explicitly stated that placement exclusions would only work through their user interface, not via API.

  • Multiple support channels reinforced this incorrect guidance.
  • This misinformation was shared for months.
  • Google has since updated its stance after Optmyzr’s findings.

What they’re saying. Following the experiment, Google admitted that placement exclusions work through both the API and UI as we see in this response from Ginny Marvin, Google Ads Liaison:

Why we care. Performance Max campaigns represent a significant portion of many advertisers’ Google Ads spend, but the lack of control over where ads appear has been a major pain point. This situation also highlights a broader point: you shouldn’t take platform limitations as gospel, even when they come directly from Google. Testing and verification could reveal hidden capabilities that provide competitive advantages.

Bottom line. This discovery highlights a broader issue in ad tech: platform documentation doesn’t always reflect actual capabilities, requiring advertisers to actively test and verify functionality.

What’s next. As advertisers, you should:

  • Review your PMax campaign controls.
  • Consider implementing API-based exclusions for more efficient management.
  • Maintain active oversight despite automated controls.
  • Confidently question capabilities they may have strong reason to believe isn’t true.

Between the lines. The finding suggests other undocumented capabilities might exist across Google’s ad platforms, encouraging advertisers to question and test official limitations.

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10 SEO tips for your Valentine’s Day sale

Valentine’s Day is an interesting shopping event for ecommerce stores. Customers are looking for gifts that help express their love for one another, with flowers, jewelry, and other interesting options. It’s a great opportunity to attract and convert online shoppers. Here are some SEO tips to help make the most of your Valentine’s Day sale!

Start preparing early

As with most sales, you need to plan ahead. Begin planning your Valentine’s Day SEO strategy as early as possible. Ideally, you’d start several months in advance. Research keywords related to Valentine’s Day and your industry to see what comes up. When the sale comes, you’ll be inspired and have new ways to promote your products. If you set up gift guide pages, do so in advance so search engines have enough time to index your pages. This increases your chance to rank when the shopping rush begins.

Create a landing page specifically for your Valentine’s Day sale. Use it to highlight your best deals and popular items that make great gifts. Keep the URL simple and undated so that you can update and reuse it yearly. This approach helps you build SEO value over time while keeping backlinks intact. It also makes your seasonal campaigns easier to manage in the future.

an example of an ecommerce store for tea using seo to boost a valentines day sale
It doesn’t have to be just jewelry or flowers; there are plenty of interesting gift options, like tea

Optimize your product pages

Your product pages will probably see the most traffic and conversions, so be sure to optimize them. Use proper related keywords in the places where they make sense, but don’t overdo it. For example, instead of “Rose bouquet,” try “Classic rose bouquet for Valentine’s Day.” Yoast SEO for Shopify or WooCommerce SEO can help you do this.

Consider conveying that your products are made with a good heart without relying on traditional red heart symbolism. This could involve creative descriptions, imagery, or design elements that convey a sense of warmth, kindness, and generosity without being overtly literal.

As always, add high-quality images to your sales pages with descriptive alt-text, such as “red roses for Valentine’s Day delivery.” This will make your product pages more accessible and understandable for search engines. If you sell jewelry, create specific pages with phrases like “Valentine’s Day jewelry sale.”

When you have options to deliver your product, include the final delivery date in your communication to build trust and ensure customers receive their items on time.

an valentines day seo example from a lego gift guide featuring a bouquet build
Lego published a great gift guide on its site, including great images and content

Create gift guides and seasonal content

Content marketing drives traffic to your site. Good content can help shoppers find the perfect gift. For SEO purposes, Valentine’s Day gift guides can serve well. Make guides like “Top 10 gifts for her” or “Romantic ideas for Valentine’s Day.” In these guides, link to the proper product pages to make it easy for shoppers to buy the listed products.

Keywords like “Unique Valentine’s Day gift” or “Valentine’s Day flower delivery” work well in blog content. There are plenty of relevant content ideas. For instance, you could create themed infographics or videos to share on social media.

Focus on local SEO for delivery or pick-up

Is your business locally oriented, and do you offer local delivery or in-store pick-up? Optimize your sales for local searches! Edit your Google Business Profile and add details about your Valentine’s Day sales, opening hours, and local delivery options. Don’t forget to use location-specific keywords in your content.

Build a bond with your customers and encourage them to leave reviews. Positive reviews are an important part of building your local business. Use local SEO properly to attract customers needing last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts or same-day delivery. 

Use social media and influencers

Social media is a great tool for promoting your Valentine’s Day deals. Remember to post appealing images of your products, such as flower arrangements, gift boxes, or jewelry. Depending on your business, Instagram and Facebook are especially good for showcasing your Valentine’s gifts. You might even try TikTok if you’re good at video content. TikTok even published a guide to help you with your Valentine’s Day sale. 

Remember to think about influencers who like your brand. Influencers can create authentic content to drive traffic to your site. Be sure to include special offers to make them actionable.

Use user-generated content

Social media is also a great place to encourage customers to share their Valentine’s Day experiences with your products. Ask them to post photos of the gifts they purchased, the stories of how they were received, or even a review of the experience of buying from your store. You could even create a branded hashtag and promote it in your social media and email campaigns.

As your website is the focal point, remember to add these posts to it. User-generated content helps build trust and acts as social proof. It’s great for potential customers to see that other customers have had an excellent experience with your business. Seeing happy customers share photos of their Valentine’s Day flower arrangements or jewelry gifts can help others do the same. In addition, you are creating a human connection with your customers.

Run exclusive Valentine’s Day promotions

It’s not just about inspiring customers to want to buy but also about getting them to buy it. Special offers help shoppers complete that last step. Create urgency with limited-time deals, such as “20% off Valentine’s Day gifts for 48 hours.” You can also offer free shipping or discounts on bundles for couples.

Don’t forget to use your email newsletters to announce these promotions. Write subject lines like “Valentine’s Day sale — Shop the perfect gift now” to grab attention and get clicks to your site.

an example of a jewelry store using seo to build rankings and good pages
For a jewelry store, this is always a busy time, so it needs to come prepared

Add festive details to your website

A subtle way to get shoppers in the mood for Valentine’s Day is to add small festive design elements to your store. For example, you can update banners, landing pages, and CTA buttons with a subtle Valentine’s theme, such as hearts or pink and red color schemes. But be sure to keep it subtle. 

You can directly link your Valentine’s Day landing page or related content from your website’s header navigation during the sale to improve your SEO. Many ecommerce stores use dynamic navigation to feature seasonal categories like “New In,” “Back to School,” or “Holiday Deals.” Adding a Valentine’s section makes it easy for shoppers to find your offers quickly.

Offer last-minute shopping options

Some people like to shop at the last moment, so please also cater to them. You can always offer digital gift cards and same-day delivery services. Highlight these offers prominently on your website with phrases like “Still looking? Get it today!” or “Instant Valentine’s Day gifts.” 

PPC ads like “last-minute Valentine’s Day gifts”  in search or on social media help target people needing an urgent solution. It’s a quick and easy solution to get sales from customers running out of time. 

an seo example of a last-minute valentine's day sale at harry and david
You won’t be the only one looking for last-minute Valentine’s gifts!

Track and adjust your strategy

Last but not least, monitor the campaign’s performance. Use analytics and internet marketing tools to track keyword rankings, traffic, and conversions. Find out which products or pages perform well and adjust your strategy where needed. For example, if certain keywords like “Valentine’s Day exclusive jewelry sale” drive traffic, create more content around those topics.

Keep an eye on your competitors, too. If they offer something unique, consider how you might adapt your approach.

That’s it for Valentine’s Day SEO

Planning and great content are the most important things to make your Valentine’s Day sale successful. A targeted campaign can attract more shoppers to your store. Optimize your product pages, create engaging content, and promote your offers via social media and email campaigns. Now, you’ll be ready to turn the season of love into a successful sales season.

The post 10 SEO tips for your Valentine’s Day sale appeared first on Yoast.

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Microsoft Performance Max testing LinkedIn targeting, measurement tools

Microsoft Ads: How it compares to Google Ads and tips for getting started

Microsoft Ads will soon roll out four major updates to Performance Max, significantly expanding your ability to target, measure, and optimize your campaigns.

These updates will give advertisers more granular control over their automated campaigns while introducing LinkedIn’s professional targeting data — a unique advantage over competing platforms.

What’s new. Here are the four new features:

  • LinkedIn integration. Advertisers in six major markets (U.S., Canada, UK, Australia, France, and Germany) will be able to tap into LinkedIn’s professional targeting data, including company, industry, and job function signals.
  • Reporting gets granular. Advertisers will be able to analyze performance by audience segments and track individual asset performance, providing clearer insights into what’s working.
  • Smart conversion tracking. New conversion value rules will let advertisers adjust values in real-time based on business-specific factors like location and device usage, making automated bidding more precise.
  • New customer focus. You will be able to enable specific targeting of new customers, with options to either increase bids for new customers or focus exclusively on acquiring them.

Why we care. Should these long awaited changes fully roll out, it should give you more precise control over automated campaigns while providing better measurement tools and access to professional audience data. For B2B marketers especially, the LinkedIn targeting integration across represents a significant competitive advantage with these new sophisticated audience targeting opportunities.

What’s next. These features are in pilot, suggesting Microsoft is gathering feedback before a broader rollout.

Bottom line. Microsoft is positioning Performance Max as a more sophisticated alternative to competing automated ad platforms by leveraging its unique access to LinkedIn’s professional network data.

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Top Google Ads recommendations you should always ignore, use, or evaluate

Top Google Ads recommendations you should always ignore, use, or evaluate

Google Ads recommendations often spark debate among advertisers.

While some are highly situational and require careful consideration, others can actively harm your account’s performance.

However, some recommendations offer valuable insights or significantly improve results when applied effectively.

This article explores the most common recommendations:

  • Those that should be ignored because they typically do more harm than good.
  • Those worth evaluating for the insights they provide.
  • Those that are almost always worth using to optimize your campaigns.

Recommendations I always ignore

Some recommendations are so poor that they are instant dismissals. 

On rare occasions, one might be useful. However, spending hours looking through them all to find a single good one is a waste of time.

Optimize your budgets

Google is good at math. Their automated bidding generally works well. However, it seems they can’t do math regarding budgets.

Raising your budget by $46,200 per week to receive $35,600 more in conversion value is a quick way to go out of business.

Google Ads - Optimize your budgets

After reviewing all 50 of these recommendations, I found that every single one would have caused a significant drop in ROAS or doubled the CPAs. In some cases, the CPAs were 10 times higher.

That’s why I always ignore budget recommendations.

Add broad match keywords

Broad match has its place, but only after carefully evaluating your account.

No one should blindly use this match type because it was a recommendation.

Google Ads - Add broad match keywords

If your lost impression share budget is greater than 10%, and you primarily use exact and phrase match, adding broad match usually worsens your performance.

Your bid strategy dictates how well broad match will work for a campaign. You must evaluate your bid strategy before using broad match.

Choosing to use broad match is decided by performance, bid methods, and budget.

Your overall strategy will determine your choice to use or skip broad match, not an automated recommendation.

Dig deeper: Automated bidding in Google Ads: How to get the best results

Remove redundant keywords

At first glance, this seems like a good recommendation.

You have almost the same keyword multiple times, so removing the duplicates can make your account easier to manage.

Google Ads - Remove redundant keywords

However, removing these keywords causes Performance Max to trump your search campaigns.

Since search campaigns have higher conversion rates than PMax campaigns, this recommendation often results in fewer conversions.

This is another recommendation you can always ignore as it can only hurt your performance.

Dig deeper: Why advertisers should reassess Google Ads recommendations

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Always evaluate

Some Google Ads recommendations are always worthy of evaluation.

These are my favorite recommendations that cause me to examine the account in more detail.

Remove conflicting negative keywords

Keyword conflicts occur when one of your negative keywords is blocking one of your keywords from showing.

Google Ads - Remove conflicting negative keywords

These are always worth fixing, though fixing doesn’t always mean removing the negative keyword. Sometimes, it involves pausing the keyword instead.

Unfortunately, Google doesn’t check negative keyword lists for conflicts.

In about 90% of accounts I review, lists older than five years contain at least one conflict, and sometimes even thousands.

Many people ignore this recommendation because they want to temporarily block a keyword or aren’t sure if they want to show for it or not.

However, these keywords can still receive impressions and clicks.

If the search term matches your keyword and the negative keyword isn’t in the search term, the keyword can still show an ad.

This means you are showing for keyword variations but not the keyword itself.

These should always be examined and action taken to pause the keyword or remove the negative keyword.

Make your headlines and description more unique

I don’t care about ad strength since lower ad strength ads often outperform higher ad strength ads. I also ignore the recommendation to add more headlines.

Fewer headlines reduce the potential combinations, increase the data for each ad combination, and often improve your CTR and conversion rates.

However, most of the RSA recommendations are useful.

Google Ads - Make your headlines and description more unique

The recommendation to make your headlines and descriptions more unique often means you: 

  • Have too many headlines related to the keywords in the ad group.
  • Don’t have enough CTAs, USPs, or benefit statements in your ads.

Adding a variety of assets generally improves both CTR and conversion rates.

When you see the recommendation to make your headlines more unique, examine your headline assets. 

Then, make the necessary adjustments to ensure you are using a variety of headlines and not just headlines related to your keywords.

If you get a recommendation to include popular keywords in your headlines but already have two or three headlines with keywords from your ad group, it may indicate your ad group has too many disparate keywords.

In this case, consider splitting your ad group into smaller ones.

Review your keywords and check if your headlines match them well. If some keywords aren’t well represented in the ad, move them to a new ad group with more relevant headlines.

Always use

Some recommendations are always worth using. These are usually related to missing keywords, ads, or extensions.

Add extensions to your ads

Accounts grow and change, and it’s easy to miss something.

Almost everyone wants to use the sitelink and callout ad assets.

Google Ads - Add extensions to your ads

When I see this recommendation, I generally add the appropriate ad extension.

There are some exceptions, such as a recommendation to add the call extension to an ecommerce account.

Most accounts want to use several extensions, so it’s worth examining when you see a missing extension recommendation.

Disapprovals

Ad extensions or ads that have been disapproved don’t show. It’s a good idea to examine your disapprovals and fix them so they can be displayed.

Google Ads - Disapprovals

These are straightforward recommendations. View what is disapproved, fix it, and resubmit it for approval.

The best way to see your top recommendations

The repair category offers the most useful recommendations, but the card view makes it difficult to identify which campaigns or accounts need the most attention.

Switching to the table view provides a clearer, at-a-glance overview of all your campaigns or accounts.

Google Ads recommendations - Table view

The table view will show your campaign or account and the number of ad groups without ads, keywords, or other disapprovals.

Google Ads table of top recommendations

The table is highly efficient, allowing you to spot issues, address them, and move on to the next campaign.

Among Google’s recommendations, the repair category is the most valuable to review regularly.

Decoding Google Ads recommendations for smarter ad management

Overall, Google Ads recommendations often have a poor reputation, as many seem designed to push advertisers to spend more or surrender control over their accounts.

This has led many advertisers to tune them out entirely.

However, hidden within these recommendations are valuable insights that can genuinely improve performance.

The next time you encounter a recommendation, don’t dismiss it outright.

Instead, evaluate it carefully to see how it could benefit your account.

Read more at Read More

9 Ecommerce Website Examples to Copy for Better Results

Many ecommerce websites obsess over flashy designs and trendy layouts.

Big mistake.

Instead, you should focus on conversion-centered design.

That’s the blend of buyer psychology, user experience, and strategic design working together to turn visitors into customers.

Doing this can get you:

  • More sales
  • Higher average order values
  • Better conversion rates

Below, I’ve handpicked nine effective ecommerce website examples that follow a conversion-focused design. Use them as a blueprint to create your own online store that converts.

Crème de la Crème: Our Favorite Ecommerce Website Examples

Short on time to review every ecommerce website example on this list?

Focus on these three.

Study them. Use them as a template for your store. And watch your conversion rates improve.

1. Crutchfield

Crutchfield is a large electronics retailer specializing in audio, video, and car tech.

The company grew its business on expert product knowledge and top-tier customer service.

Crutchfield – About us

Their website stays true to this focus.

They have designed it with the customer experience in mind.

Despite offering thousands of products, the layout is clean, organized, and easy to navigate.

Crutchfield

Take the homepage, for example.

It provides links only to popular products and categories.

Crutchfield – Categories

By limiting the options to these key choices, it avoids overwhelming shoppers. (While also letting them dive deeper to find exactly what they need.)

Click one of these product category links, and you’ll find the pages are just as well-organized.

Take the “Smart Home” category, for example.

Easy-to-read text and clear images make sure you move through the site with ease.

Crutchfield – Smart home

The content is also easy to skim, which simplifies browsing and finding information.

Crutchfield – Shop by category

Scroll down the page, and you’ll see options to search for products in different ways:

  • By use
  • By brand
  • By compatibility
  • By subcategory

This lets you shop in the way that works best for you.

You can either search for a specific product or browse through the available options.

Crutchfield – Shop by use

Now, check out the navigation bar.

The mega menu is clear and simple, with dropdowns that guide you to the right section.

Crutchfield – Navigation

But what if you already know the specific product you’re looking for?

The intuitive search bar helps you with that.

It gives suggestions as you type—aka predictive text—to speed things up.

Crutchfield – Search

Once you’ve searched, narrowing the results is just as easy.

You can filter with options like:

  • Price
  • Features
  • Availability of virtual audio demo

Select the filters you want, and voilà, you customize your search results.

Crutchfield – Search results

And you know what that means:

The quicker you can find a product, the more likely you are to buy.

Now, let’s look at the product pages.

They’re a perfect mix of SEO and user experience (UX).

For example, breadcrumbs show exactly where you are on the site and make it easy to go back a step.

And the product names and descriptions are also clear and easy to understand. They even include target keywords to help with search rankings. A nice touch.

Crutchfield – Breadcrumbs

What’s more, the reviews and testimonials are right where you can see them.

These help build credibility as you read more about the product.

Crutchfield – Product overview

Then, to make it easier for potential customers to click the buy button, Crutchfield uses “anxiety reducers” in strategic locations.

For example, near the “add to cart” button, microcopy highlights benefits such as:

  • Free lifetime tech support
  • 60-day price-drop protection
  • 60-day returns

Crutchfield – Benefits

Smart move. Why?

Asking someone to take action, like adding to cart, can trigger hesitation.

These anxiety reducers help ease buyer concerns and make the next step feel safer.

But what really sets Crutchfield’s website apart is how clear their focus on customer service is.

(After all, that’s their brand differentiator.)

Crutchfield – Customer service

On every page, they make it clear how quickly you can reach them.

First, their phone number is always visible at the top of every page.

Crutchfield – Phone number

And no matter where you are—homepage, category page, or product page—they always feature tech experts.

This reassures shoppers that a real, knowledgeable human is always ready to help.

Crutchfield – Tech expert

These elements build trust in their business while making the shopping experience stress-free.

That’s why they top my list of ecommerce sites with conversion-focused designs.

How Crutchfield Looks on Mobile

Crutchfield’s mobile site is just as user-friendly as the desktop version. It ticks all the big mobile SEO boxes.

Pages load fast, and the search and filter options are clear, simple, and easy to tap.

Crutchfield – Mobile site

All the trust signals are still there, too.

And here’s a superb touch:

The PayPal “Buy now” button gets prime placement on mobile, unlike the desktop version.

(While we obviously don’t know for sure, the team likely tested this and found it boosted mobile sales.)

Crutchfield – Paypal

Takeaways

  1. Prioritize user experience: Focus on customer needs to help boost conversions and SEO.
  2. Make your value proposition obvious: What makes your store and products different? Make sure visitors see that on every page.
  3. Design product pages for people AND search engines: They should load fast, give clear details, and guide shoppers to buy.

2. Bang & Olufsen (B&O)

Bang & Olufsen is a global leader in luxury audio and visual technology.

They’re known for sleek design features, cutting-edge sound, and refined Scandinavian craftsmanship.

Bang & Olufsen

Their website matches their brand, as the minimalist design oozes elegance.

Plus, the generous white space makes each product look like a museum piece.

Bang & Olufsen – White space

The clean layout and modern font (Beosupremen) complete the Scandinavian aesthetic.

Bang & Olufsen – Aestethics

Browsing the site feels less like online shopping and more like exploring an art exhibit.

Bang & Olufsen – Home audio

Now, check out the product pages.

It feels like something out of a premium lifestyle magazine.

Bang & Olufsen – Earbuds

High-resolution images capture your attention immediately.

Plus, the detailed, well-crafted descriptions speak to reason AND emotion.

Bang & Olufsen – Product description

The best part?

B&O have managed to do all this while optimizing for SEO.

For example, their product pages use keywords in the H1 tag instead of just the product name.

(In this case, “portable speaker.”)

Bang & Olufsen – Portable speaker

They also use the keyword naturally throughout the page a few times.

Bang & Olufsen – Keywords

Side note: H1 tags are the main headings on a webpage. Adding target keywords here can boost your SEO and make the page’s purpose clear to visitors.


And there’s more:

Bang & Olufsen’s website does a great job of linking online browsing with in-store visits.

Their homepage displays a call to action encouraging shoppers to “Experience in store.”

Bang & Olufsen – Experience in store

The same CTA copy also appears on product pages reinforcing B&O’s physical presence.

Bang & Olufsen – Speaker

And here’s why that matters:

It shows they’re more than an online retailer.

This adds credibility and sophistication to the brand. It also helps boost buyers’ confidence in the brand’s legitimacy.

How Bang & Olufsen Looks on Mobile

Bang & Olufsen’s mobile site keeps the same luxury vibe.

The minimalist design stays the same, with clean layouts and space for products to stand out.

The high-quality images load quickly and look stunning.

Bang & Olufsen – Mobile site

Navigation is just as smooth.

The large, clear buttons are easy to tap, and everything responds quickly to your touch.

All this comes together to create the premium, elegant feel you’d expect from B&O.

Bang & Olufsen – Mobile navigation

Takeaways

  1. Speak luxury through subtlety: Skip the loud banners and hard-sell tactics. They create a salesy feel that cheapens a premium brand.
  2. Balance image quality with page speed: Showcase your products with high-quality images. Also compress them so they load fast and stop visitors from bouncing.
  3. Create a seamless shopping experience: Link your website to your offline stores. This makes everything feel more cohesive.

3. Misen

Misen sells high-quality cookware for home chefs and hobby cooks.

They transform everyday kitchen tools into aspirational must-haves.

Misen

Their website fully reflects this goal.

Misen – Holiday gift guide

Bold typography and bright colors grab your attention.

Misen – Typography

And the compelling copy inspires you to level up your cooking skills.

Misen – Copy

What sets Misen’s website apart?

It speaks to four distinct decision-making styles.

Just look at their product pages to see this at work.

First, Misen wins over methodical buyers with:

  • Detailed specs
  • Material breakdowns
  • Clear explanations

This gives these logic-driven shoppers the data to make a confident purchase.

Misen – Products

For emotion-driven buyers, Misen uses vivid images and GIFs, like the knife slicing through a grape.

These visual elements spark desire and help you imagine using the product yourself.

To attract competitive buyers, Misen uses bestseller badges and review counts.

These elements trigger FOMO and appeal to the desire to choose the best product.

Misen – Chef knife

Finally, for practical buyers, Misen features close-up shots of knives in action.

You’ll see hands gripping tools, before-and-after cooking shots, and precise cuts.

This gives practical buyers proof that the product delivers on its promises.

So go visit Misen’s product pages.

Study them. Copy what works. And your conversions will thank you.

How Misen Looks on Mobile

Misen’s mobile site proves that rich content and video can work on smaller screens.

They also embrace long copy, pairing text and visuals with precision.

Images appear right where they’re needed, making browsing smooth and intuitive.

Misen – Mobile products

But that’s not all.

Social proof, like user-generated content (UGC), appears at just the right moments to nudge shoppers to buy.

Misen – Social proof

Misen’s mobile pages make it clear:

Premium design and performance can work perfectly even on smaller screens.

Takeaways

  1. Design for different buyer mindsets: Show your product working in multiple ways to appeal to different buyer types.
  2. Make images tell stories: Skip stock images and basic product photos. Show your products in action to evoke curiosity and desire.
  3. Keep mobile fast but premium: Compress images to load high-res product shots and videos quickly. This keeps the premium feel while boosting performance.

Top tip: Want to know if images are slowing down your site? Run Semrush’s Site Audit. It flags issues like uncompressed images and slow-loading pages. Fixing these can help keep your site fast.

Site Audit – Issues – Images


Note: A free Semrush account lets you audit up to 100 URLs. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.


Large Ecommerce Website Examples

Large ecommerce sites face a big challenge:

Managing thousands of products while staying fast and user-friendly.

The best sites drive conversions by focusing on key elements like:

  • Fast load times
  • Simple navigation
  • Streamlined checkout processes

These elements aren’t optional. They directly impact conversions, user experience, and customer satisfaction.

4. Sephora

Sephora is a global beauty retailer with a wide selection of products.

The website feels like browsing a sleek, organized beauty aisle (without the crowds).

Sephora

One of Sephora’s smartest conversion plays is “Buy Online, Pick Up In-Store (BOPIS).”

It’s a way to reduce cart abandonment, and Sephora makes it impossible to miss.

Sephora – BOPIS

But that’s just the start of their user-friendly design.

Their intuitive navigation menu makes browsing simple.

The menu dropdown appears instantly when you hover, and categories are easy to find.

Bold fonts highlight main categories, while subcategories use lighter fonts.

Sephora – Menu

This makes scanning super easy, so you can easily find what you’re looking for in the mega menu.

The category pages keep this same attention to detail.

Popular filters like “Vegan” and “Clean” sit right at the top, making it easy to sort by preference.

Sephora – Filters

The site also uses faceted navigation. This lets shoppers filter results based on specific criteria, like price or brand.

It’s especially helpful for large ecommerce sites with extensive product catalogs.

Sephora – Faceted navigation

Now, let’s look at Sephora’s product pages.

Key product details like price, availability, and shipping info are clearly displayed.

This gives potential customers the details they need to make a confident purchase decision.

Sephora – Product info

The product photos do some heavy lifting, too.

First, Sephora uses unedited images to show real results.

Sephora – Product photos

It also includes influencer videos that show real people using the product.

Sephora – Influencer video

Then, there are photos with ingredient callouts that highlight key benefits.

Sephora – Product ingredients

As you can see, everything about Sephora’s product pages encourages action:

  • Clear product details help visitors understand the value
  • Social proof like unedited photos and videos builds trust in the products

These elements work together to make it easy for visitors to take the next step and buy.

Side note: Images can have a huge impact on conversions. But don’t rely on standard shots. Mix in other types of visuals, such as influencer content and action shots, to bring the product to life. And make sure to pair them with conversion-focused copy that drives home the product’s benefits.


How Sephora Looks on Mobile

The mobile experience on Sephora is just as user-friendly.

But you’ll notice one big difference from many ecommerce site designs:

The hamburger menu is missing.

Instead, Sephora uses a scrollable text-based menu at the top.

Sephora – Mobile menu

And a bottom navigation bar that pops up when tapped.

Sephora – Mobile – Shop menu

This design isn’t typical, but it reflects Sephora’s customer-first approach.

How so?

Their customer research has shown that the hamburger menu was causing friction. So they removed it.

This move paid off.

According to Andrew Birgiolas, UX Lead at Sephora:

“We (also) discovered that a bottom navigation helps users quickly orient themselves in the app and allows them to multitask.

The changes we made were good for our users—and for our business. We saw immediate improvements in app engagement, satisfaction, and perception of speed, which ultimately led to increases in conversion and revenue that surpassed our expectations.”


Takeaways

  1. Bridge online business and in-store shopping: If you offer in-store pickup, make it impossible to miss. Don’t bury it in the checkout process.
  2. Simplify navigation: Use scrollable menus with clear, readable labels that guide customers naturally.
  3. Make data-driven decisions: Ask your customers what they like and don’t like about your site and make changes based on these insights. And use tools like heatmaps to find out what elements of your site are acting as stumbling blocks.

5. RevZilla

RevZilla is a shop for motorcycle enthusiasts.

They offer a range of products from riding gear to bike parts.

Revzilla

A big part of their conversion strategy?

Building a community.

Their “Riders Preferred Membership (RPM)” offers members exclusive perks and benefits.

Revzilla – Membership

The moment you land on the site, it’s clear that members get special treatment.

This taps into a powerful psychological driver: the need to belong.

But RevZilla’s strategy goes beyond community.

The site is also filled with customer-centric features that speed up the buying process.

Just look at the header.

You’ll find a search bar and the “SHOP YOUR RIDE” button.

Revzilla – Search bar

The search bar supports average users just browsing the site. These are the shoppers casually exploring options or researching gear.

But “SHOP YOUR RIDE?”

It’s for riders who know what they’re looking for and want to find products fast.

Just enter your bike’s make, model, and year…

Revzilla – Shop your ride

…and the search results instantly filter into products that fit your ride.

Revzilla – Products

How about that for search personalization?

RevZilla also uses dynamic personalization.

It detects the customer’s location and updates shipping details automatically.

Revzilla – Shipping

It’s a small touch, but it makes customers feel seen.

And the customer-focused design elements don’t stop there.

Check out their “Find Your Perfect Helmet” tool:

Revzilla – Helmet tool

It’s an interactive product quiz that asks simple questions to match users with the right helmet.

Revzilla – Helmet types

This interactive element boosts engagement.

It also reduces decision fatigue, making it easier for customers to buy.

This is exactly the kind of thoughtful design that makes shoppers feel like the entire site was built just for them.

How RevZilla Looks on Mobile

RevZilla’s mobile site is perfectly adapted for mobile users.

The sticky header keeps essential navigation tools within reach at all times.

This includes the search bar and the “SHOP YOUR RIDE” feature.

Revzilla – Mobile site

Navigation on mobile is also smooth and responsive.

Filters, buttons, and dropdowns are perfectly sized for touch, and navigation paths are simple and clear.

Revzilla – Mobile menu

The checkout process is just as thoughtful. It’s designed for speed and simplicity.

Revzilla – Add to cart

There are also progress indicators that show you where you are in the process. And form fields are kept to a minimum.

Revzilla – Checkout

Plus, RevZilla offers guest checkout, which is a way to reduce cart abandonment.

Revzilla – Guest checkout

Takeaways

  1. Build a community, not just a customer base: When customers feel seen, heard, and valued, they’re more likely to stick around and spend more.
  2. Personalize the shopping experience: The more personalized the experience, the more engaged users become—and engaged users convert. Could your ecommerce website emulate the “Shop Your Ride” feature?
  3. Optimize the checkout process: Guest checkout, clear next steps, and fewer form fields remove friction. This makes it easier for users to complete their purchases.

Luxury Ecommerce Websites

Luxury ecommerce sites need to radiate sophistication and exclusivity on screen.

Not an easy task.

So, how do they create that kind of experience?

With:

  • High-quality visuals that capture the product’s exclusivity
  • Minimalist layouts that create a refined and polished aesthetic
  • Curated design elements that reflect the brand’s elegance

But here’s the real challenge:

How do they exude elegance without slowing the site down?

And if that’s not tricky enough, they also have to nudge customers toward a purchase.

In a subtle way, of course.

6. Tiffany & Co.

World-renowned luxury jewelry store, Tiffany & Co. transforms online shopping into a refined experience.

The site carries the same aura of exclusivity as stepping into one of their flagship stores.

Tiffany&Co.

The moment you land on the site, you’re unmistakably in Tiffany’s world.

The iconic Tiffany blue frames every page. And you can feel the elegance in every detail.

The typography is subtle and unobtrusive.

(Just like a butler. Always present but never in the way.)

Tiffany&Co. – Visuals

Then, there are the visuals.

High-resolution images take center stage, showcasing the craftsmanship of each product.

Tiffany&Co. – Images

Even the mega menu exudes refinement.

Generous white space, carefully chosen fonts, and a clean layout come together to create a truly luxurious feel.

Tiffany&Co. – Menu

And here’s something that goes against typical ecommerce best practices:

You won’t find star ratings, review snippets, or social proof bars anywhere on the site.

Tiffany&Co. – Product page

What’s more, the luxury feel goes beyond design choices.

Tiffany & Co. doesn’t rush you into a purchase.

Instead, they make it clear that a slower, more personal shopping experience is an option if you want it.

For example, they offer virtual consultations with jewelry specialists.

This helps customers make better decisions through one-on-one advice.

Tiffany&Co. – Service

Then, for diamond purchases, experts are readily available for personalized guidance.

Tiffany&Co. – Diamond expert

And for customers who want to see and feel the pieces in person, they can easily book in-store appointments.

Tiffany&Co. – Book an appointment

Yes, these paths to purchase may take longer.

But they make the target audience feel seen and valued.

After all, when you’re spending thousands on jewelry, the experience matters as much as the product.

How Tiffany & Co. Looks on Mobile

The mobile experience keeps Tiffany & Co’s signature elegance intact.

Tiffany&Co. – Mobile site

A standout feature is the “Mobile Virtual Try-On” tool.

Tiffany&Co. – Virtual Try-On

It uses augmented reality (AR) to let customers see how jewelry looks on them using their phone’s camera.

Tiffany&Co. – Try On

This feature reduces purchase anxiety and gives customers the confidence to move forward.

Takeaways

  1. Make your site look the part: Prioritize minimalist design, lots of white space, and uncluttered layouts.
  2. Skip the hard sell: People don’t generally buy luxury items on impulse. Embrace a slow, thoughtful approach and do away with urgency tactics.
  3. Break best practices if they don’t fit your brand: Skip review stars and ratings if they feel off-brand. But make sure you replace them with stronger conversion triggers like brand authority. Or, say, Anya Taylor-Joy’s face on your homepage.

7. Louis Vuitton

Louis Vuitton is one of the most iconic and recognized names in fashion.

Its website carries the same confidence and authority that only a legacy brand can.

The colors are rich and striking.

Louis Vuitton

And the oversized product images command attention.

Then, there’s the iconic LV monogram which signals status and quality.

Louis Vuitton – Monogram

Head to one of their product page, and you’ll see something unique.

The first image is often a lifestyle shot.

It’s like seeing the product on the runway which helps reinforce the brand’s aspirational nature.

Next, check out the unique navigation menu.

Click the hamburger icon, and a list of product categories slides in.

Louis Vuitton – Menu

Click one of the product categories and a subcategory appears.

Louis Vuitton – Menu woman

Choose one and click. And yet, another subcategory slides in.

Louis Vuitton – Menu – Woman – Leather goods

It’s an approach that’s visually clean and easy to follow, thanks to the ample white space.

And if you use the search function, a full-screen window will appear with images of trending products and bestsellers.

Louis Vuitton – Search

As you type, search is predictive, and results populate instantly.

No need to hit enter. Everything happens in real time.

Louis Vuitton – Search prediction

All these design elements make the site feel like LV truly understands its customers.

And that’s exactly how you want your customers to feel—luxury site or not.

How Louis Vuitton Looks on Mobile

Louis Vuitton’s mobile site keeps the same smooth, refined experience.

Louis Vuitton – Mobile menu

For example, the “Find in Store” option is easily accessible.

Louis Vuitton – Find in store

And search works just as beautifully as it does on desktop.

Predictive search offers instant results that make browsing fast and easy.

Louis Vuitton – Mobile search

Takeaways

  1. Create a great search experience: Use predictive search or quick links to trending products. These can make browsing easier and more engaging.
  2. Offer omnichannel flexibility: Add features like “Find in Store” to improve user experience. These give customers more control over how they shop, which helps increase sales.

Subscription-Based Sites

Subscription ecommerce sites have one job:

Convince people to pay every month.

Tough business.

To do that, they must clearly show value and build trust.

Key elements include clear pricing, smooth signups, and risk-free trials.

The goal? Make it feel easy to start and enticing to stay.

Side note: The FTC’s “Click-to-Cancel” rule requires subscription sites to make a cancellation as simple as signing up. So your website should make it just as easy to cancel as it is to join.


8. HelloFresh

HelloFresh is a major name in the meal kit delivery space.

Its website has a clear focus:

Stand out in a crowded market.

HelloFresh

Here’s how they do this.

The homepage makes their unique selling points clear.

It starts with a bold value proposition for why visitors choose them:

  • 15-minute meals (for people looking for speed and convenience)
  • America’s #1 meal kit (social proof)
  • Up to 10 free meals + free breakfast for life (attention-grabbing incentives)

HelloFresh – Get started

The “Get Started” CTA is perfectly placed for warm visitors ready to buy.

And the image next to it isn’t just eye candy—it’s functional.

Each image is paired with text, making it easy for visual scanners to find key information.

Plus, to make the subscription even more appealing, HelloFresh emphasizes control and choice.

For example, customers can browse menus before committing.

HelloFresh – Our menus

This makes the process feel flexible and low-pressure.

Plus:

Key features and benefits are clear throughout the site.

HelloFresh – Why

You’ll see images that show just how easy the meals are to prepare—kids can even get involved.

HelloFresh – Cook it

And the onboarding process?

It’s friction-free.

The first step is simple: enter your zip code to confirm deliverability.

This way, customers immediately know if HelloFresh delivers to their area.

(So they don’t waste time going through the process only to find out it’s unavailable.)

HelloFresh – Delivery

From there, the entire process is busy-user-friendly, with minimal typing required.

HelloFresh – Personal plan

This keeps the experience effortless—exactly what customers want when signing up for a subscription.

How HelloFresh Looks on Mobile

Unfortunately, HelloFresh’s mobile site doesn’t match the sleekness of its desktop version.

For example, some text in the hero section of the homepage is hard to read.

HelloFresh – Mobile

One smooth aspect, however, is the signup process.

The same progress indicators show the steps you need to take.

HelloFresh – Mobile plans

And moving from step to step feels intuitive and smooth.

It’s the kind of signup you can complete while watching a Netflix show on your couch.

HelloFresh – Mobile signup

This low-friction process makes it so much easier to complete the signup process.

Takeaways

  1. Lead with your differentiators: Show visitors why you’re better than the competition as soon as they arrive.
  2. Don’t make signups a chore: When shoppers are ready to commit, make it quick and easy.

9. First Day

For our last ecommerce website example, let’s look at First Day—a store that sells supplements.

First Day

Unlike HelloFresh, they offer many products with both one-time payment and subscription options.

First Day – Shop

If you look closely, it’s clear that getting people to subscribe is a major focus.

The navigation menu, for example, includes only three links:

  • Shop
  • Learn
  • Subscribe and Save

First Day – Navigation

The “Subscribe & Save” link takes you to a dedicated page explaining a First Day subscription.

First Day – Subscribe

Giving the page its own spot in the nav bar underscores its importance.

But here’s the best part:

First Day doesn’t rely solely on this page to sell subscriptions.

Instead, they integrate subscription nudges throughout the site.

It’s on the hero section of the homepage, for example:

First Day – Offers

And the product pages also reinforce the subscription as the preferred option:

First Day – Product

Yes, a “One-Time Purchase” is available. But it’s downplayed compared to the subscription.

Now, you might think all these subscription nudges would feel overwhelming or pushy.

But here’s the thing:

First Day’s site integrates them so naturally that they don’t ruin the shopping experience.

First Day – Subscription

And that’s the key for subscription sites like this: aligning business goals with a user-friendly experience.

How First Day Looks on Mobile

First Day’s mobile site keeps the subscription focus.

For example, when you click the navigation icon, the first button takes you to the “Subscribe & Save” page.

First Day – Mobile navigation

The product pages also maintain its emphasis on subscriptions as the preferred option.

First Day – Mobile subscriptions

But what’s even more impressive is how the site seamlessly integrates this focus.

For example, the product pages continue to use conversion-focused design best practices.

Look at the product descriptions. They’re laid out for easy scanning.

First Day – Mobile product description

This helps users quickly absorb important information.

Plus, the site reinforces trust with credibility boosters.

You’ll see customer reviews all throughout, for example.

And there’s even a section for media mentions.

First Day – Media

Together, these features create an experience that draws visitors in and keeps them informed.

And they’ve managed to do all this while consistently promoting their subscription option throughout.

The result?

Visitors have plenty of chances to see the value of subscribing—a must for any subscription website.

Takeaways

  1. Design with your subscription goals in mind: If your goal is to get more subscriptions, ensure visitors see the benefits clearly. And don’t be afraid to nudge them towards subscribing (naturally) across your site.
  2. Balance business goals with UX: Design your site to guide customers toward goals like subscribing or purchasing. But make sure it doesn’t ruin the shopping experience.

How to Create a Conversion-Focused Ecommerce Website

1. Optimize for User Experience

Make it easy for visitors to find what they came for, fast.

Here are some areas to prioritize:

  • Simplify navigation so users can browse with ease
  • Structure category pages to make product discovery simple
  • Streamline the checkout process to reduce friction and speed up purchases
  • Create persuasive product pages that highlight key benefits and drive action
  • Design for a mobile-first experience

The key is to make the experience foolproof.

As the book Making Websites Win says:

“Design your processes for what you perceive to be a busy, lazy, drunk, amnesiac idiot—what lawyers call a “moron in a hurry” (really). Even geniuses with time on their hands will be grateful that you did.”


2. Speed Up Your Site

Page speed affects everything: SEO, conversions, and brand perception.

And so speeding up your site is one of the most impactful changes you can make.

For example, Vodafone ran an A/B test focusing only on page speed improvements.

The results? As much as 8% increase in sales.

[VISUAL]

Faster pages can drive higher revenue. Period.

So you can’t afford to ignore it.

3. Match Pages to Visitor Needs

Visitors come to your site for different reasons.

Some are browsing. Some are comparing. And others are ready to buy.

Build a site that serves all of them.

For example, on your homepage, visitors are usually in the browsing stage, so grab their attention quickly.

Introduce your brand and key offers and be clear about what makes your products different.

Like Huel’s homepage:

Huel

However, on product pages, visitors have different expectations.

They might be comparing products. Or are ready to buy.

Make it easy by including comparison tools and clear product details.

Give people what they need at each stage of their journey. And they’ll be more likely to click checkout.

Build an Ecommerce Site That Converts

The ecommerce website examples above show you how to design for conversions.

But even the most user-friendly site isn’t that great if no one visits.

Enter: ecommerce SEO.

It’s one of the best ways to get in front of ready-to-buy shoppers.

Learn how to do it right by checking out our ecommerce SEO guide for proven traffic-boosting strategies.

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