As a reminder, here’s a screenshot of HubSpot’s organic traffic drop, based on Semrush data:
Among the endless reactions and perspectives, two former HubSpot employees shared five good reminders about SEO strategy.
1. SEO takes time
Pruning content and focusing on E-E-A-T were among the many obvious remedies SEOs pointed out following the news of HubSpot’s apparent organic traffic decline.
Well, these aren’t simple tweaks for a brand the size of HubSpot. They’re massive undertakings, according to this LinkedIn post by Bianca Anderson, HubSpot’s former SEO strategist (who is now manager, organic growth for hims and hers):
“When HubSpot began optimizing for EEAT, it required overhauling processes in a way that significantly slowed the output of net-new content AND optimizations. Additionally, pruning a blog at HubSpot’s scale, with thousands of articles, is no small task and takes extensive effort to execute effectively (and SMARTLY).
“…fixing this kind of thing isn’t an overnight process. It’s not as simple as mass redirects. This type of work can take YEARS to properly execute.”
This may feel like an obvious observation for many of you reading, but Anderson made an important point about how volatile Google’s algorithm has been lately:
“Algorithm updates over the past two years have been unprecedented in their volatility (I know we all know this, but just want to emphasize) — it’s been an onslaught. Major brands like HubSpot and WordStream, are feeling these changes deeply.”
3. There is no shared definition of ‘content quality’
Google is not the sole arbiter of quality, according to this LinkedIn post by Braden Becker, former principal growth marketing manager at HubSpot (who is now the global SEO lead for Faire):
“I believe their quality standards are vastly more sophisticated than they were when I was working on the HubSpot Blog, and the company is surely paying a little for that. But just because Google makes a grand decision on a big website doesn’t mean the victim objectively deserved it.”
Becker highlighted another key point about quality:
“There’s a difference between ‘quality’ and ‘the most helpful answer’ to a given search term. I think Google consistently focuses on the latter, despite not always being clear about that.”
“You try to do what’s right for the business at the time. What worked, we kept doing. And what didn’t work, we stopped doing.”
Anderson added:
“From what I’ve seen, TOFU (top-of-funnel) non-ICP (Ideal Customer Profile) targeting content seems to be the most impacted. Is this partly the result of a wide-scale strategic de-prioritization? Maybe. I don’t know.
“What I do know is this: HubSpot has been actively working on this long before these traffic declines became more publicly known.”
Traffic and revenue are not the same thing, as Anderson pointed out:
“Traffic is cool, but it should rarely be a leading metric of success (especially now). Conversions or other core KPIs that drive business matter far more.”
Bottom line. Peter Rota, senior technical SEO manager, HUB International, made several great points in this LinkedIn post. Of note:
We can only see a portion of what happened – we don’t have Google Analytics or Google Search Console data.
We don’t know how many of these keywords brought meaningful visitors.
We don’t know whether any of this lost traffic impacted their sales/revenue. We might get more insight Feb. 12 – that’s the date when HubSpot is expected to release its Q4 results.
Rota added:
“In SEO, you can literally do everything right, and one day, Google could be like know what, we’re changing things. No site is truly ‘white hat,’ and everyone thinks they’re doing amazing SEO until you get hit.
“We all have access to the same public data, but the reality is that the SEOs who are working/ worked at HubSpot only know the true story of what happened.
“So, stop giving advice, stop thinking you know better. They literally wrote the book on inbound marketing and have taught many of us SEO or we’ve learned something from them.”
Want more buyers and sellers from Google without relying on Zillow or Redfin?
Or more leads for listings that support your cold-calling and door-knocking efforts?
Then, become skilled at real estate SEO.
SEO is about ranking your site in search engine results pages (SERPs). This will attract qualified buyers and sellers to your agency.
Just look at Campion & Company, a small real estate agency in Boston. They outrank Zillow for high-value property searches like “Burrage Mansion.”
And that’s just one keyword.
This agency ranks for 19K different search terms on Google—all driving potential buyers directly to their listings.
All thanks to SEO.
In this guide, you’ll learn how to conduct keyword research for high-intent terms, create lead-generating content, and dominate the local SERPs.
But first, let’s take a closer look at the benefits of SEO.
Why Is SEO Important for Real Estate Sites?
Real estate SEO helps your listings show up in search results when people look for homes online.
This includes Google Maps when people search for things like “realtor” in your area.
Why does this matter?
According to a study by the National Association of Realtors (NAR), 100% of Americans who bought a house in 2024 used the internet to search for a home.
And more than half (52%) of recent buyers found the home they ultimately purchased online.
SEO lets you reach these buyers when they’re actively looking to buy.
But it’s also a cost-effective way of capturing online demand.
For example, the cost-per-click of a Google ad for the keyphrase “real estate companies in West Palm Beach Florida” is $5.67.
But SEO can get your business to appear directly under those ads without spending a dime.
This puts you in direct control of lead generation. Which means no more relying on expensive ads or third-party directory sites.
Sounds ideal, right?
Now that you’ve seen what real estate SEO can do for your business, let’s start with the most important first step:
Conducting a quick technical audit to see if Google can actually find your website.
(Because if it can’t, other SEO strategies don’t matter.)
Step 1: Make Sure Google Can Find Your Property Listings
The best way to check if Google knows your site exists?
This will tell you which pages from your site are in Google’s index, which aren’t, and why.
Some red flags to watch out for:
Your indexed pages WAY outnumber your actual pages (this usually means Google’s finding pages it shouldn’t)
Google’s only indexed a fraction of your pages (meaning potential clients can’t find most of your listings and services)
Important pages show up under “Error,’” “Valid with warnings,” or “Excluded”
Not sure why Google isn’t indexing your pages?
The “Why pages aren’t indexed” report is your friend here.
It’ll tell you exactly what’s wrong—like a redirect error or improper canonical tags—and how to fix it.
If you have unindexed pages, you can manually request indexing.
This is super helpful for new listings you want to appear ASAP.
Pro tip: Don’t have the time or desire to handle SEO issues? Delegate them to a pro. A skilled website manager can tackle indexing issues, implement fixes fast, and keep your site climbing the rankings—while you focus on closing deals.
Step 2: Find Keywords That Drive Leads
To increase leads, you need to show up on Google for the terms homebuyers search for in your area.
But it’ll take a strategic plan to beat the big real estate directory sites.
For example, here’s what the search results look like for “Raleigh homes.”
Directory sites dominate the SERPs, including Zillow, Realtor.com, and Redfin.
Enter a neighborhood into the search bar and click “Search.”
The tool will return a list of keywords and important metrics for each one.
This includes:
Search volume: The average number of monthly searches for a specific keyword in Google
Keyword difficulty (KD): A score from 0-100 that estimates how hard it would be to rank on the first page of Google for that keyword
Search intent: The primary purpose or goal behind a user’s search query—informational (learn), commercial (compare/buy), navigational (find site), or transactional (take action)
While the list will typically include some long-tail keywords already, you can add filters to narrow it even further.
Here’s how:
Select the “KD %” filter and type “0-50” in the custom range.
Then, click the “Intent” filter and select “Transactional” and “Commercial.”
Filtering this list for “Commercial” and “Transactional” will limit the list to terms people search when they’re looking to buy a home.
Now, you have a list of long-tail keywords you can use to optimize your property page.
For example, “boylan heights raleigh homes for sale” receives 40 searches a month and has a keyword difficulty score of 3, meaning it should be super easy to rank for.
It also has transactional intent, which tells you these searchers are ready to buy.
Even better?
The SERP for this keyword is a mix of directory sites and local realtors, so you know you’ve got a shot at ranking.
Now that you’ve got your target keywords, it’s time to use them strategically on your property pages.
Step 3: Optimize Your Property Pages for Conversions
It should describe the page’s contents and include the main keyword.
It doesn’t have to be the exact keyphrase—you can use a variation of your target keyword in your H1 like We Know Boise Real Estate did.
H2s are the main subheadings that go underneath your H1 to organize your content and make it easy for readers to find what they’re looking for.
Include the location name in some of your page’s H2’s as well:
This makes it crystal clear to search engines exactly what this page is about, which increases your chances of ranking.
Just ensure your page headings read naturally and avoid keyword stuffing.
Include Internal Links
Internal linking connects your location pages together, helping you rank higher in search results.
It also keeps website visitors engaged longer as they explore other pages on your site.
For example, We Know Boise’s Barber Valley page includes hyperlinks to every other neighborhood in East Boise:
When you click a neighborhood, it takes you to a dedicated page on We Know Boise’s site for that location.
This lets Google understand the relationship between these pages on your site.
Which will help you rank for your target keywords—and ultimately land more leads.
Pro tip: Don’t gate your content. Requiring visitors to provide personal details to view property listings can negatively impact your SEO efforts. Many potential clients will hit the “back” button and head to one of your competitor’s sites instead, reducing your chances of ranking.
Create Detailed Listing Pages That Convert Browsers into Buyers
The more information you provide on your property pages, the more likely visitors are to book a viewing.
It also helps with lead qualification, as they’ll know upfront if the listing is likely to be a fit.
Include:
A detailed description of the property
A description of the local amenities
High-quality images of the entire property
A map showing the property’s location
Look at the big directory sites for inspiration when creating your listings.
For example, Trulia includes high-quality images and essential information like address and price prominently at the top of the listing.
They follow this up with a “Local Information” section that includes a map, description of the area, and information on local restaurants, shopping, and schools.
Next, comes the “Home Highlights” at a glance, such as the HOA fee, price per square foot, and how long the property has been listed.
Then, an expandable drop-down menu with even more details like the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, and more:
Trulia also showcases what locals say about the area to give prospective buyers an inside look into the area:
Notably, they also include an interactive mortgage calculator set to the home’s listed price.
Doing something similar will help you get more leads from your property pages.
Step 4: Dominate Local Search Results with Your Google Business Profile
Search “[your location] real estate agents” in Google.
The top organic result is almost certain to be a Google Local Pack—a SERP feature that appears for location-specific searches—featuring three local realtors:
It goes without saying that you should prioritize landing in one of those three spots through your real estate SEO strategy.
This is especially vital for a local realtor since the rest of the organic results are likely to be dominated by directory sites:
Here’s how to optimize your site to appear in the Local Pack for your area:
Enter your business name, category, location, and contact information
Verify your business by the method offered to you by Google (usually by a phone call or a postcard sent to your business’s address)
Fill Out and Optimize Your Google Business Profile
Once your Google Business Profile is verified, fill it out with as much information as possible—including all the areas you have listings:
Add plenty of high-quality photos of your team, current listings, and properties sold.
Do this regularly to show Google you’re a legitimate business worthy of ranking at the top of the Local Pack.
Plus, it’ll help sell your company to potential clients—and agents who might be looking for a new agency.
You also have the option of writing a brief description of your business, which will appear under the heading “From [your business’s name]’:
Include target keywords in this section.
Things like:
[Your area] real estate
[Your area] homes for sale
[Your area] real estate agent
[Your area] realtor
Encourage and Respond to Customer Reviews
It’s good practice to ask all your customers to leave you a review on Google.
After all, 35% of people say a real estate agent’s reputation is the most important factor when they’re choosing a realtor to sell their home, according to NAR’s study.
Plus, the more positive reviews you receive on Google, the more likely you are to appear in the Local Pack for relevant searches.
Your business’s overall rating and review highlights will appear on your Google Business listing:
As a best practice, respond to every review you receive on Google.
This includes the positive ones:
And the not-so-positive ones:
This will show potential clients that you care what people have to say about your business and respond to their feedback.
It’s also another signal to Google that you’re a well-run business that deserves to sit at the top of its local results.
Get as Many NAP Citations as You Can
NAP (name, address, and phone number) citations are a huge deal when it comes to local SEO.
The more websites that list your company’s NAP correctly, the more confident Google is that those details are correct—and that you’re a legitimate business worth sending searchers to.
But manually adding and updating citations isn’t a good use of anyone’s time.
Instead, use a tool like Semrush’s Listing Management, which automates the process.
By connecting your Google Business Profile, the tool will automatically distribute your details to vital directories for your industry.
Search your business to find out how many correct NAP citations it has online:
The tool will show you where your NAP details are listed incorrectly—or not at all to help you improve and expand your presence.
Use Google Posts to Advertise Property Listings
Google Posts are updates that appear at the bottom of your Google Business Profile.
They’re the perfect place for you to advertise your latest listings.
Plus, Google is less likely to display your Business Profile at the top of local search results if it’s inactive. Which means making a Google Post about each of your new listings will help you rank in the Local Pack.
Create a Google Post by clicking “Add update” in your dashboard:
Step 5: Start a Blog to Establish Your Agency as an Industry Leader
Rank for more keywords and strengthen your site’s authority by creating a blog.
Write High-Quality Blog Content
Blog content can drive highly relevant traffic to your site.
The key is finding topics homebuyers are actively searching for online.
Search for your service area in the tool, such as “Cambridge MA.”
You’ll see an Overview report with keyword data.
Click “View all keywords” under the “Questions” report.
Now, you’ll see a list of questions people ask Google about this area.
Including the search volume for each term, intent, and keyword difficulty.
Review the list to find questions that would make great blog post topics.
Ensure they’re relevant and aim for low difficulty and moderate search volume.
For example, “What is there to do in cambridge ma” gets 320 searches per month and has a low keyword difficulty score of 20.
This means it should be fairly easy to rank for, which is especially important if you have a new site or one that lacks authority.
Create Neighborhood Guides
Neighborhood guides are a tried-and-true way to rank in the SERPs. (Note: these can work well as site pages or blog content.)
For example, Trulia created a neighborhood guide for every neighborhood where they have listings.
That subfolder drives 611.2K visits to the Trulia site each month.
And it has 11K backlinks:
These pages work.
And your content marketing strategy should revolve around them.
But how can you compete with Trulia, Zillow, and Redfin’s neighborhood pages?
With high-quality, comprehensive content that highlights your local expertise.
For example, New Orleans real estate agency Crescent City Living has a neighborhood guide that outranks all the directory sites for “Seventh Ward New Orleans”:
How’d they do it?
Well, compare Crescent City Living’s guide to Trulia’s, and you’ll see significant differences:
Crescent Living’s page was clearly written by someone who knows the area.
It describes Seventh Ward’s colorful Creole cottages and beloved Marching 100 band.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-23 12:01:282025-01-23 12:01:286 Steps to Win at Real Estate SEO
Pay-per-click (PPC) advertising is one of the most effective paid channels helping businesses increase visibility and build awareness.
If you’d like to learn about the state of PPC in 2025, find the latest data on PPC usage, most used ad platforms, and PPC benchmarks, we’ve curated a list of 24 essential PPC statistics to help you answer these questions.
General PPC Statistics
Among surveyed pay-per-click (PPC) marketers, Google (98%), Facebook (76%) and Instagram (70%) are the most widely used advertising platforms (Statista)
Here’s a full breakdown:
Digital Advertising Platform
Share of PPC Professionals
Google (excluding YouTube)
98%
Facebook
76%
Instagram
70%
Microsoft (Bing)
67%
YouTube
67%
LinkedIn
48%
TikTok
31%
Pinterest
24%
Amazon
17%
X (Twitter)
15%
Reddit
11%
Apple Search
11%
Snapchat
9%
Quora
4%
Yandex
2%
Baidu
1%
Yahoo! Japan
1%
Other
6%
Among PPC practitioners with a monthly budget between $50K and $500K, Google, Facebook, and YouTube are the top 3 most used advertising platforms (PPCsurvey)
Here are the exact numbers:
Ad Platform
Adoption ($50K – $500K PPC budget)
Google (excluding YouTube)
99%
Facebook
79%
YouTube
75%
Instagram
74%
Microsoft (Bing)
73%
LinkedIn
46%
TikTok
28%
Pinterest
20%
Amazon
15%
X (Twitter)
11%
Reddit
10%
Apple Search
7%
Snapchat
6%
Quora
4%
Yandex
1%
Baidu
1%
Yahoo! Japan
1%
Other
8%
73% of B2C marketers stated their organization used PPC advertising in the last 12 months (Content Marketing Institute)
64% of B2B marketing professionals say they used PPC advertising at their organization in the past year, which is only behind the usage rate of social media advertising at 73% (Content Marketing Institute)
93% of marketers say pay-per-click (PPC) as a marketing channel is “effective” or “highly effective”, making it the 2nd most effective channel after content marketing (96%) (eMarketer)
Only 10% of surveyed marketing professionals identify PPC as a primary focus for their budget allocation (eMarketer)
Among surveyed marketing specialists worldwide, 49% claim it became harder managing PPC campaigns today than 2 years ago (PPCsurvey)
Among in-house teams, the average monthly PPC spend is $950,000, while freelancers usually manage an ad budget of around $575,000 per month (PPCsurvey)
Here are the exact numbers:
Monthly PPC spend
In-house
Freelancer
More than $3M
5%
3%
Between $500K and $3M
14%
10%
Between $50K and $500K
41%
38%
Between $5K and $50K
29%
33%
Under $5K
11%
16%
According to surveyed B2B marketers, PPC advertising ranks as the most effective paid channel for content marketing activities, with 61% of respondents citing it as effective, followed by social media advertising (49%), and sponsorships (48%) (Content Marketing Institute)
Search Ads Statistics
Paid search spending in the US is estimated to reach $124.59 billion in 2024, showing an 11.1% year-over-year increase (eMarketer)
The average cost-per-click for advertisements on Google ads stood at $1.16 (eMarketer)
The average cost per click for search ads across multiple industries on Amazon was $1.50 (eMarketer)
The average benchmark bounce rate for paid search is 43.9% (Contentsquare)
The average click-through rate for Google search ads is 3.17%, based on data collected from multiple industries (WordStream)
On average, paid search campaigns are reported to generate a conversion rate of 2.55% (Contentsquare)
Paid search accounts for 29.7% of total media ad spending in the US (eMarketer)
Analysis of over 43 billion website visits found that paid search accounts for 23% of traffic share, behind direct (27.6%) and organic search (26.7%) (Contentsquare)
The share of new visitor traffic attributed to paid search is 27.6%, which is more than any other marketing channel (Contentsquare)
Paid search accounts for 39.5% market share of digital advertising, more than any other advertising format (display, video or audio) (IAB)
In the US, Google dominates the search advertising market, accounting for 50.5% of the total search ad spending (eMarketer)
Amazon’s share of the overall search ad spending in the US is 22.3% (eMarketer)
75.78% of Google’s revenue came from advertising in Q1-Q3 2024 (Alphabet)
AI Use for PPC Statistics
75% of PPC professionals say they use generative AI at least “sometimes” for writing ads. Other common use cases include keyword research (60%) and writing emails (52%) (PPCsurvey)
Here are the exact numbers:
Use Case
Share of PPC Professionals Who Use AI at Least “Sometimes”
Writing ads
75%
Keyword research
60%
Writing emails
52%
Audience research/analysis
48%
Writing/editing scripts
45%
Landing page optimization
41%
Generating insights and suggestions
41%
Strategy
38%
Campaign creation
38%
Reporting
31%
Among PPC professionals that use AI at least “sometimes” for writing emails, 71% claim they’re satisfied with results generated by AI (PPCsurvey)
Use Case
Share of PPC Professionals Satisfied with AI Results
It provides data and insights that will help you target the right keywords for your audience.
More data isn’t always better.
So, focus on the key metrics: search volume, keyword difficulty, and search intent.
Search Volume: The average monthly searches for a keyword
Keyword Difficulty (KD%): A measure of how hard it is to rank for a keyword. It’s based on the link profiles of the top 10 ranking pages.
Search Intent: The purpose behind a user’s search query. It’s categorized as transactional, informational, commercial, or navigational.
Stick to these essentials to guide your keyword strategy effectively.
Define Commercial Opportunities
The commercial value of a keyword varies for each business.
What may be a high-value commercial keyword for a competitor might not be for you.
For example, let’s say you have top-rated resorts in Mexico. You might see “all-inclusive resorts in Mexico” as a valuable keyword.
Now, imagine you manage one outdated, overpriced resort there. Your chance to profit from this keyword is likely much weaker.
When evaluating a commercial opportunity, ask: Will this page convert visitors?
Categorize each keyword into the following:
0. Not Likely: We don’t offer anything related to the user’s intent
1. Unlikely: We offer something related to the user’s intent, but it doesn’t directly address the user’s needs
2. Potential: We offer a solution that could meet the user’s intent
3. Likely: We provide the best solution for the user’s intent
This approach helps focus your efforts on the most commercially valuable keywords.
Pro tip: Before using a keyword, check its intent. Analyze the top-ranking content in the search results. A keyword like “Mexico vs. Ecuador” might seem perfect for a travel site selling flights to both. However, a quick Google search may reveal that the user intent is related to soccer, not travel.
By knowing what users want, you can avoid irrelevant keywords. This will ensure your content matches user intent.
It also increases your chances of ranking and converting.
Step 3: Create a Keyword Map
Once you’ve gathered your keywords, the next step is to build an SEO keyword map.
Here’s how:
List existing pages: Use an SEO spider tool like Screaming Frog. It will list all existing pages.
Filter irrelevant pages: Remove any pages that won’t serve as SEO landing pages. Focus only on those that have the potential to drive organic traffic.
Pair pages with keywords: Use Google Search Console (GSC) to find queries that generate the most clicks for each page.
Assign target keywords: Assign one keyword from your research to each relevant page.
Avoid keyword cannibalization: Target each keyword with only one page. This prevents competition between your own pages for the same search query.
SEO for travel websites often involves optimizing destination-specific and service-related keywords.
These efforts help drive organic traffic to your site.
By mapping keywords to pages, you’ll have a clear strategy. It’ll help you optimize existing content and find gaps for new content.
Step 4: Form a Content Strategy
With your keyword research and keyword map in place, it’s time to create an SEO content strategy.
To maximize organic revenue, prioritize content targeting bottom-of-the-funnel keywords.
These are high-intent keywords where users are closest to making a booking decision.
By focusing on this stage first, you’ll drive more immediate conversions and revenue.
Target Commercial Keywords
In your keyword sheet, filter for keywords with commercial scores of two or three.
This filter will give you keywords with high commercial intent. They’ll match what you offer.
Think “Cancun resorts,” “flights to Hawaii,” “Las Vegas hotels,” or “Punta Cana excursions.”
For each keyword:
If a landing page is ranking, optimize its content to boost performance
If none of your pages are ranking, decide whether to create a new landing page or optimize an existing one
Finally, create a timeline and roadmap for implementing these optimizations.
This helps ensure steady progress toward your content goals.
Build Topical Authority
After covering your commercial keywords, it’s time to move up to the middle of the funnel.
Focus on keywords like “things to do in Miami,” “best time to visit Japan,” and “best beaches in Puerto Rico.”
These keywords are primarily informational and have lower conversion rates.
Cluster these topics to help search engines understand your content.
You’ll signal to search engines that your site is a trusted travel resource.
Blog pages often cover these topics best. But you can use landing pages if they fit your strategy.
Create a Topic Map
Up to this point, your SEO content strategy has been based on keyword data.
Now, it’s time to explore new topic ideas by leveraging topic maps.
To do this, use an AI tool like Claude or Chat GPT to uncover relevant topics for specific destinations.
Here’s an example of a prompt you can use:
“Please provide a table listing the key topics related to travel in Mexico. The table should have three columns: categories, subcategories, and subtopics. Each subtopic should have its own row.”
Then, copy your topic map to a sheet. Use a ChatGPT plugin like Whimsical Diagrams to visualize it.
Use the following prompt: “Generate a mind map from this table: {paste table}.”
Repeat this process for each destination you serve.
Add any new topics to your content roadmap.
Cover a wide range of content that appeals to search engines and your audience.
This approach fills gaps in your strategy. It keeps your content fresh and competitive.
Tap Into the Travel Content Loop
The travel experience is cyclical.
Here’s how the journey typically unfolds:
Inspiration: “That’s beautiful, where is that place?”
Education: “Tell me more about this place”
Booking: “Let’s go there”
Inspiration again: After the trip, the traveler dreams of new adventures. This sparks the loop once more.
Travelers constantly seek beauty, adventure, and new connections.
Your content strategy should reflect this ongoing loop.
To build a successful travel content strategy off the back of this loop, think beyond SEO. This is especially true for inspiration, where social media is vital.
SEO is about fulfilling a need for information.
So, focus on education and answering users’ specific questions.
Inspiration, however, often comes to people when they’re not actively searching for it.
That’s why inspirational content must be:
Visual and destination-focused
Pushed to users, igniting wanderlust
Once the audience is captivated by a destination, they might seek more information. That’s where SEO comes in to guide them further down the funnel.
When planning content, ensure synergy between inspirational and informational content.
For example, let’s say you publish an SEO-optimized article like “The Best Time to Visit Costa Rica.”
Coordinate with your social media team to release visual, inspirational content.
This integrated approach keeps your audience engaged at every stage of their journey. Whether they’re exploring on social media or searching for information online.
Step 5: Establish a Content Creation Process
Your content strategy is ready.
Now it’s time to establish a streamlined content creation process.
Here’s how that might look:
Keyword selection: Choose primary and secondary keywords based on your content calendar
Writer briefing: Provide clear, detailed briefs for high-quality content
Write: Focus on comprehensive, unique content that goes beyond top-ranking pages
Edit: Align with the brand’s tone and ensure scannability
Optimize: Fine-tune for SEO—headings, body content, internal links, and meta
Add photography: Use images that follow guidelines and enhance user experience
Publish and promote: Share across social, email, and other channels to maximize reach
Translate: Expand reach by targeting non-English keywords
Pro tip: After headlines, image captions are the most read by users. Add a commercial message or a call to action to your image captions. It will help boost engagement.
To AI or Not AI?
When it comes to your content creation process, a key question is how much of it should involve AI.
The answer depends on your goals.
One thing is certain—it’s tough to stand out in a sea of mass-produced AI content by just publishing more AI content.
Craftsmanship and authenticity are what make content truly stand out.
“To beat AI, become more human.” – Wesley van der Hoop, PPC + SEO at Unique Vacations Ltd.
For example, let’s say you’re writing about “the best restaurants in Amsterdam.”
Instead of simply copying the list from TripAdvisor, go beyond the surface:
Experience the destination firsthand
Talk to locals and uncover hidden gems that aren’t widely covered
Engage with restaurant owners. Try their signature dishes. Share deeper insights than current online articles.
AI should play the role of an assistant, not the solution.
That said, AI can still assist in the content creation process.
It can help create content briefs, structure the content, and suggest data points.
This lets writers focus on the human elements. They can craft unique, authentic content that AI cannot replicate.
In this hybrid approach, AI handles repetitive tasks.
Meanwhile, your team focuses on insights, experiences, and personal connections.
Step 6: Set Up Tracking and Measuring
Begin by measuring your current performance to understand where you stand.
Define and track both macro and micro conversions. Use your travel site’s analytics tools (e.g., Google Analytics 4).
For most travel websites, the macro conversion will be bookings and revenue.
Micro conversions may include actions like account creation or requests for more information.
They can also involve newsletter sign-ups, brochure requests, and travel guide downloads.
Once tracking is set up, integrate SEO tools like Google Search Console (GSC).
Use a rank tracker to gain deeper insights into what’s happening on the SERPs.
Finally, create easy-to-understand dashboards that blend different data sources. They let you track progress and show results to stakeholders at performance meetings.
Step 7: Optimize Your Google Business Profile
Local SEO is essential for improving visibility.
It’s particularly important for attractions, restaurants, bars, and accommodations at popular destinations.
Google can struggle to determine which of your pages to prioritize.
It can also lead to crawling, indexing issues, and loss of link equity.
In severe cases, it can also trigger manual penalties.
The seven most common types of duplicate content on travel websites are:
Destination descriptions: Frequently reused descriptions of popular travel destinations across multiple accommodation pages
URLs with filtering parameters: Filtering options (e.g., “?sort=price”) generate different URLs. These may show similar content.
Pagination: Ensure paginated lists of destinations or accommodations are distinct or canonicalized
URLs with UTM parameters: Parameters like “?utm_source=social-media” track traffic. But they can also create duplicate content issues.
Split URL tests: A/B testing may create duplicate content. It does this by generating alternative versions of the same page.
Dynamic URLs with session IDs: When indexed, they can cause duplicate content issues
M-dot URLs: They’re rare today. But if used, link them to their desktop versions.
Use Semrush’s Site Audit tool to identify duplicate content. Mitigate it by implementing canonical tags.
Use Structured Data
Structured data helps search engines better understand and display your content.
For travel websites, this can lead to rich results like pricing and star ratings.
These features can help boost click-through rates.
Structured data can also improve your site’s rankings.
How?
By providing search engines with clearer context for your content.
Pro tip: To further enhance SEO, implement structured data using the LocalBusiness schema. This helps search engines understand and validate your business information. It includes key details like category, location, and operating hours. Properly structured data can positively impact your rankings in local searches.
Step 9: Optimize UX with a Mobile-First Approach
Users have been living in a mobile-first world for some time, and Google was quick to follow.
Travelers may book on desktop. But they often make the decision to book on mobile.
Focus on quick load times and ensure strong Core Web Vitals performance.
Search engines like Google favor fast-loading content.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-23 11:57:472025-01-23 11:57:47How To Improve Your Travel SEO In 10 Steps
Search engines want to show users the most accurate, up-to-date information possible, which may lead to changing the order of search results.
For example, “best restaurants near me,” results change as you move locations, new restaurants open in your area, or customer reviews change.
Also, changes to ranking algorithms may reorder search results drastically.
When Google updates its algorithms, it usually offers guidance to site owners in its Search Central Blog.
Presenting the Best Answers
Search engines show more than simple links.
They display special SERP features to present answers quickly and enhance the user’s experience.
For example, a user searching for “sugar cookies” may be looking for recipes, nutritional facts, or a list of ingredients.
Google returns varied results to satisfy all of these potential intents.
But a user searching for “buy sugar cookies” has transactional intent.
Google returns product results to make it easier for users to locate key information about the product.
SERP features can make the search experience more enjoyable for users.
Common types include:
Popular Products: A list of products with key information like price, reviews, and shipping information
Organization: A knowledge panel with key information about a business like founders, history, social media profiles, and more
Local Business: A knowledge panel featuring key information about a local business like address, phone number, and hours of operation
FAQs: A list of questions and answers about a topic
Paid search results may also appear at the top of the SERPs.
To qualify, sites need to set up Google Ads campaigns and bid for specific keywords.
AI Overviews, featured snippets, and People Also Ask boxes often appear for informational searches.
Like this:
These features deliver quick answers and can increase visibility for pages that earn these placements.
Turn Your Search Engine Knowledge into Rankings
While many factors could be at play, understanding how search engines work is an essential first step to helping your content rank higher for the keywords that matter most to your audience.
Armed with this knowledge, you can boost your site’s visibility and get your pages in front of the right people.
The next critical step?
Making sure your website’s technical foundation helps search engines efficiently crawl, index, and rank your content.
Check out our technical SEO guide to optimize your site for better search visibility.
A new “Used since” column reveals when assets were added to Google Ads accounts, giving advertisers crucial historical context for managing their creative assets.
The addition of this timestamp feature addresses a common pain point for digital marketers who inherit or audit accounts, as they previously had no easy way to determine how long specific assets had been in use.
Details. The new column appears at the asset level within Google Ads accounts, providing a clear date stamp for when each creative element was implemented.
Why we care. Understanding the timeline of asset implementation helps you track performance over time and maintain fresh, relevant creative content.
First seen. This update was first seen on PPC News Feed.
What’s next. This feature could signal Google’s broader commitment to increasing transparency and giving advertisers more tools for historical analysis of their accounts.
Bottom line. For agencies and in-house teams managing multiple accounts or transitioning between account managers, this feature streamlines the process of understanding asset history and planning creative refreshes.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/pmax-assets-used-since-1024x576-1-Pw2VcO.png?fit=1024%2C576&ssl=15761024http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-21 19:10:482025-01-21 19:10:48New Google Ads feature spotted: Asset history
No matter how perfectly crafted your PPC ads are, their success hinges on what happens after the click.
In 2025, optimizing your forms and follow-up processes is the key to turning traffic into high-quality leads and ensuring your campaigns deliver real results.
Why optimizing forms and follow-ups is essential
Google’s mantra, “Focus on the user, and all else will follow,” rings especially true in lead generation.
While PPC marketers often focus on perfecting ad copy, audience targeting, and bidding strategies, many overlook a crucial element: the post-click experience.
No matter how strong your campaigns are, they won’t deliver their full potential if your forms and follow-up processes aren’t optimized.
Refining these touchpoints will be key to attracting higher-quality leads and boosting your campaign results this year.
With optimized forms and strategic follow-ups, every click from your PPC campaign delivers value.
Whether you’re collecting leads through forms or other tools like chatbots or call tracking, the goal remains the same: guide future customers smoothly through your lead-gen funnel.
Here are the five key methods to perfect in 2025:
1. Crafting PPC forms for maximum conversions
The era of a one-size-fits-all approach is over.
Forms must be tailored to the specific needs of each industry, customer segment, and sales process to effectively serve both the user experience and the sales team’s ability to close deals.
It’s common knowledge that every additional field in a form introduces potential friction. Reducing the number of fields can significantly boost conversions.
However, simplicity must be balanced with the data necessary to qualify a prospect.
Different industries and businesses require varying levels of personalization.
Real estate or local services
The “sweet spot” for most industries is between 3 to 5 fields. However, this isn’t a one-size-fits-all rule. Simplified forms may overlook key insights needed to move leads down the funnel.
A/B testing a basic form (name, email, ZIP code) against a more detailed one (asking about intent and timeline) can help determine whether complexity improves or hinders conversions.
Another approach is using a multi-step funnel, where initial engagement leads to deeper qualification questions.
B2B SaaS or high-ticket services
These industries require more nuanced testing.
If a single landing page form doesn’t deliver quality leads, try multi-step forms to gather detailed information over time without overwhelming users.
Pest control service
A single-field form asking for a ZIP code to generate instant quotes works well, as users in urgent situations prioritize speed and simplicity over additional questions.
Education SaaS campaign
For an ebook offer like “How to double campaign ROI with automated email workflows,” a form asking only for a name and email maximizes conversions.
The user is in the early stages of the funnel, so simplicity reduces friction and captures basic contact info for future nurturing.
Higher education
Universities may require more flexibility in how they present questions.
Multi-step forms, broken into smaller sections on different landing pages (e.g., Step 1: Contact Information, Step 2: Program Interest), can help guide users without overwhelming them.
In addition, dynamic forms that adapt based on user input can also enhance engagement and personalization.
For example, tailoring follow-up questions when users select “Undergraduate” or “MBA” ensures that the form remains relevant to their needs, providing a more customized experience.
Finally, A/B testing different landing page strategies (i.e., comparing multi-step forms to single-step forms) helps determine which approach works best for your audience.
Platforms like Google Ads, Microsoft Advertising, and LinkedIn Ads offer built-in experimentation tools to make testing easier.
By leveraging these tools, marketers can refine their forms and landing pages to create a seamless, user-friendly experience that drives higher conversion rates.
Personalization is no longer a “nice-to-have” in CRO; it’s an expectation.
AI tools allow businesses to automate follow-ups by using the data collected from forms to deliver highly targeted actions, moving leads from marketing-qualified to sales-qualified.
Below are best practices for AI-powered follow-ups.
Instant responses
Outside of ensuring your webpage speed is optimized, try implementing AI-driven chatbots or automated emails to engage with leads immediately after form submission.
This prompt engagement can significantly enhance user experience and conversion rates.
Multi-channel outreach
Combine email automation with SMS or social media follow-ups to increase touchpoints and meet leads where they are most active.
This diversified approach can improve engagement rates and lead to nurturing effectiveness.
Hyper-personalization
Use AI to analyze user behaviors, preferences, and contexts.
This enables the delivery of highly personalized content and offers by leveraging tools such as heatmaps, live user tracking, and funnel analysis.
Behavior-based sequencing
If a user doesn’t engage with the first follow-up, AI can trigger tailored messages based on their behavior.
Use multi-channel outreach with AI automation to email follow-ups with SMS.
3. Beyond forms: Lead gen strategies without traditional forms
Not all lead gen businesses rely solely on forms.
Many companies operate in industries where forms aren’t the primary conversion tool.
Here’s how to optimize other lead collection methods:
Click-to-call campaigns: They are typically best for service-based businesses with clear “call now” CTAs in the ads and landing pages that use call tracking numbers to analyze ad performance.
Chatbots and conversational ads: Chatbots could be a supplemental move for ecommerce where a user may have quick questions in real time before making a purchase.
Paid social ads: Industries like education or business consulting, where simplicity is valued, can benefit from social ads on Meta or LinkedIn. These platforms allow users to submit their information without leaving the site, reducing lead friction. For international leads, click-to-WhatsApp messaging can minimize friction further.
While optimizing your forms and follow-ups is crucial, ongoing analysis of your campaigns is equally important.
This helps refine A/B testing strategies and continuously improve lead quality through:
Offline conversion tracking: Integrate CRM data into Google Ads to identify campaigns and keywords generating high-quality leads.
Qualifying fields: Add fields like budget or timeline to filter unqualified leads.
A/B testing: Test variations of form fields, layouts, and CTAs to improve conversion rates without sacrificing lead quality.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/How-to-optimize-PPC-forms-and-follow-ups-for-lead-gen-in-2025-800x450-Iqp2lF.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1450800http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-21 13:00:002025-01-21 13:00:00How to optimize PPC forms and follow-ups for lead gen in 2025
Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator and star of “Hamilton” and “In the Heights,” excels in acting, singing and dancing. Gene Kellywas a master of acting, singing and dancing, best known for films like “Singin’ in the Rain” and “An American in Paris.”
These artists are triple threats — literally one in a million. In fact, Miranda has talent that exceeds a triple threat as he is also a songwriter and producer, making him a quintuple threat.
Full stop.
Think about marketing and marketers. How many marketers do you know that are “triple threats?” These versatile professionals combine: 1) Data mastery, 2) Creative brilliance and 3) Optimization expertise. Many of us know very few triple threats. And it may have seemed impossible to do that – until now.
Powered by AI and genAI, marketers are no longer confined by traditional job descriptions or siloed responsibilities. Instead, they seamlessly transition between strategy, execution and analysis, embodying a new era of marketing leadership. We call these marketers Positionless.
Their triple-threat capabilities are being made possible by AI and genAI technology. Here’s the composite of the Positionless Marketer:
1. Data Power: The analyst extraordinaire
Positionless Marketers wield data like an actor commands the stage. They analyze customer behavior in real time, using predictive insights to improve audience segmentation and tailor messaging. No longer reliant on specialized data teams, these marketers harness AI to make data-driven decisions on the fly, ensuring every campaign resonates with the right audience at the right moment.
2. Creative Power: The visionary artist
Creativity is no longer limited to design teams or copywriters. Positionless Marketers leverage tools like genAI to generate campaign assets — whether it’s stunning graphics, personalized emails or dynamic website content. They can ideate and execute creative concepts instantly, ensuring brand messaging is always fresh, relevant and aligned with customer preferences.
3. Optimization Power: The real-time director
Like a director refining a performance in real time, Positionless Marketers use AI to optimize campaigns on the go. Self-optimizing capabilities allow them to adjust messaging, offers and channels dynamically based on customer interactions. This ensures that campaigns remain agile, relevant and impactful, driving exceptional results without manual intervention.
Why it’s critical to be a Positionless Marketer in 2025
To meet the expectations and demands of consumers, marketers need to respond in real time. Essentially, they need to emulate a great in-person sales associate in a digital world.
Customers demand hyper-personalization, real-time engagement and seamless omnichannel experiences. Only the Positionless Marketer can thrive in this environment, mastering the tools and technologies that make such experiences possible.
Key trends like AI-driven hyper-personalization, zero-party data strategies and accelerated marketing execution are driving this transformation. The Positionless Marketer is uniquely equipped to leverage these trends, balancing creativity with data insights and operational efficiency.
Just as the “triple threat” sets the gold standard in entertainment, the Positionless Marketer is becoming the benchmark for marketing excellence. They are versatile, adaptive and empowered by cutting-edge technologies, unlocking new levels of impact and efficiency.
This isn’t just about doing more; it’s about doing better—delivering campaigns that are not only effective, but also meaningful. The Positionless Marketer can move at the speed of a customer’s interaction with the brand ensuring that marketing remains a human-centered, value-driven discipline.
The future belongs to the Positionless Marketer
The Positionless Marketer embodies the future of marketing—one where data, creativity and optimization work in perfect harmony.
In this new era, the Positionless Marketer isn’t just a role; it’s a trend. And just like the most celebrated actors who can captivate audiences with their versatility, these marketers are redefining what’s possible, creating a world where marketing not only meets expectations but exceeds them.
The new great marketers have stepped into the spotlight as Positionless Marketers.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Optimove-temp-20250121-qvSb14.png?fit=1920%2C1080&ssl=110801920http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-21 12:00:002025-01-21 12:00:00Like Lin-Manuel Miranda or Gene Kelly; Marketers can now be triple threats by Optimove
Do you keep a manual spreadsheet that you update diligently every day? Maybe you only have access to weekly data?
Neither option is ideal, especially when you want to track a large volume of keywords, competitors and SERP features across multiple clients and different search engines.
SERP tracking tools allow you to enter all the keywords you want to monitor, along with their respective SERP features.
No more manual (and probably inaccurate) spreadsheets. And no more waiting for fresh data.
In this post, we’ll explore the key features to look for in SERP tracking software, and look at a shortlist of tools to consider and how they stack up against each other.
The best SERP Trackers:
AccuRanker – fastest and most accurate standalone daily SERP tracker, but more expensive.
Semrush Position Tracker is an accurate daily SERP tracker that’s part of a leading all-in-one SEO platform. The SERP Gap Analyzer app can analyze multiple data points across thousands of SERPs to identify existing and new content opportunities and provide actionable recommendations for improving rankings.
Disclosure: There are some affiliate links in this article. If you decide to purchase a tool through one of those affiliate links, I will receive a commission at no additional cost to you. Thanks for your support.
Why Should You Invest in SERP Tracking Software?
One of the leading indicators to validate your efforts, and justify an investment in SEO, is the ability to accurately track the movements of your SERP features and positions across different search engines, locations, and devices.
You need to be able to show progress. And the right SERP tracking software can help you do that at a granular level, and tie it back to key business objectives (more on this later).
SERP trackers will enable you to:
Monitor rankings across devices, locations, search engines and intent buckets.
Notify you when your ranking drops, so you can react quickly and fix any problems.
Track competitor performance, so you can identify their strengths and weaknesses.
Track where you are gaining and losing visibility across a range of SERP features – featured snippets, carousels, videos and more.
Show the correlation between rankings, traffic, and conversions/ revenue.
And a lot more.
9 Features to Look for in SERP Tracking Software
In this section, we’ll highlight the essential features you need to consider when looking for the best SERP tracking software.
#1. Access accurate on-demand ranking updates
SERP positions change fast, so you’ll need a SERP tracker that’s frequently updated with the latest accurate ranking data. You don’t want to have to wait days for tools to update. You need access to real-time on-demand data.
AccuRanker (aff) is a leader in this category. The software updates your keyword sets automatically every 24-hours, and if you want, you can refresh the rankings data on-demand with the click of a button:
#2. Monitor performance across SERP features
When you’re looking to rank in Position #0 or grab a specific SERP feature – AI Overviews, featured snippets, PAAs, video carousels, knowledge cards, etc – you first need to know which keywords trigger them and then find out which actions are needed to steal them from the competition.
For instance, keywords with existing top 3 rankings often only require minor content updates to grab a SERP feature.
With AccuRanker’s SERP Analysis tool, you can track the movement of 50+ different SERP features across all of your keywords in a single view, so you know exactly where all the opportunities are and how to capitalize on them.
AccurRanker’s dashboard will show you how many SERP features you’ve gained over time, and provide a filterable breakdown of the different types.
#3. Track SERP movement across all major search engines
Many SERP tracking tools will only allow you to track keyword rankings on Google.
But if you want to monitor your SEO correctly, especially if you have clients in countries like China and Russia, then you’ll need to track SERP movement across all the major search engines.
AccuRanker (aff) lets you choose from Google, Bing, Baidu, Yandex, and YouTube search engines:
#4. Granular tracking (by location and device)
You’ll also need to look for SERP tracking software that offers granular details as well as a high-level dashboard.
For example, you may want to track SERP movements for international or national campaigns, and all the way down to the zip code level so you can serve local clients.
Semrush (aff) lets you track keyword rankings at country, state, or city level, and compare keyword positions for desktop and mobile:
#5. Map SERP movements to traffic and revenue/ conversions
Tracking changes in your SERP positions is absolutely necessary. But how do you correlate higher rankings with traffic, conversions and revenue?
AccuRanker’s Landing Pages report helps you find out which URLs are driving the most traffic and revenue for your business.
AccuRanker integrates with Google Analytics or Adobe Analytics to provide deeper insights into landing page performance.
The Landing Pages report combines AccuRanker data – keywords, search volume, Share of Voice etc – with Google Analytics data – organic visitors, bounce rate, goals, revenue, load time etc – into one report so you get a complete picture of how SERP movements are affecting your bottom line:
#6. View historical rank performance
Most SERP trackers will only provide a “point-in-time” rankings update.
But with a tracker like AccuRanker, you can view the full rank history of a given term to see how performance has been trending over time, and compare rankings against your competitors:
#7. Run competitor comparisons
Rankings are always fluctuating, so it’s crucial to be able to track where you are gaining and losing ground to your competition to identify threats and opportunities.
Semrush distributes keywords into groups or buckets by position – e.g. 1-3, 4-10, 11–50, etc. – so you can track progress and compare ranking distribution against competitors:
Editor’s Note: My agency uses Databox to bring in rank distribution data from tools like Semrush to show the impact SERP movements are having on organic traffic and converions:
#8. Tag and segment rankings data
Most SERP tracking tools include keyword tagging functionality. But not all keywords are created equally, so you need to be able to view SERP performance by topic, funnel, content/ asset types, and devices.
AccuRanker allows you to segment and analyze SERP data across a host of metrics, including Share of Voice, Search Engine, Location, Rank Change, and a list of others:
#9. Generate white-label reports
Aside from accessing on-demand SERP data, you’ll also want to be able to put together an easy-to-digest report that clearly shows progress, either natively or through a third-party connection with a tool like Google Data Studio or Databox.
AccuRanker includes native white-label reports that can be scheduled to out to clients:
And also integrates with third-party tools like Google Data Studio:
“The thing that really got me using them heavily in the last month or two is their Google Data Studio connector.
Combining the tag feature, as well as the Share of Voice metric from AccuRanker has been a big help in making these reports immediately digestible.”
Ian Howells Co-Founder, Traffic Think Tank
7 Best SERP Tracking Tools to Consider in 2025
There’s countless SERP tracking tools on the market. But we’ve done the research to provide a shortlist of the best SERP trackers that provide most, if not all, the features listed above.
In this section, we’ll take a look at three dedicated SERP trackers, as well as three SERP tracking tools that are part of leading all-in-one SEO platforms, in case you don’t want to pay for a separate SERP tracker.
#1. AccuRanker
AccuRanker (aff) is a standalone SERP tracking tool used by SEO agencies and consultants to track rankings, monitor the competition and tie movements back to the traffic and conversions with the fastest and most accurate SERP data.
Over 32,000 companies trust the platform, including HubSpot, IKEA, and Kinsta.
“It’s by far the best keyword ranking tracker in the market and has a ton of great reporting functions. If you want visibility on large volumes of keywords housed within a nice dashboard – this is for you.”
MATTHEW HOWELLS-BARBY Co-Founder, TrafficThinkTank
Best SERP Tracking Features
AccuRanker has all the typical SERP tracking features, but it stands out from most other tools, as you can:
Run accurate on-demand updates of ranking data.
Assess market performance with its Share of Voice (SoV) metric.
Track rankings across all major search engines, including Google, Bing, YouTube, Baidu, and Yandex.
Track 50+ SERP features available for all of your keywords with the aggregated SERP analysis.
View historical rank performance (most just give a point in time snapshot).
Integrate with third-party software to allow you to bring traffic, goal, and revenue data into your ranking reports, and then visualize it beautifully in native reports or tools like Google Data Studio.
Agencies, SEO professionals, enterprise businesses and brands who need the most up-to-date and accurate ranking data, competitor monitoring, SERP analysis, and API access across all locations, devices and major search engines.
Pricing
AccuRanker has a range of subscription plans (aff) based on the number of keywords you want to monitor, starting at $116/month for up to 1,000 tracked keywords.
#2. Semrush Position Tracker and SERP Gap Analyzer
Semrush (aff) is an all-in-one SEO toolset for digital marketing professionals. Over 10 million users from leading brands such as Samsung, Vodafone and Booking.com use the platform.
Its Position Tracking Tool allows you to monitor SERP movements from an international level down to the local map pack across all device types.
Semrush boasts one of the most accurate daily rank trackers, making it easy to track competitors, monitor which URLs are gaining visibility in the SERPs, and segment ranking performance across tags, devices, location, and different SERP features.
Best SERP tracking features
The accuracy of Semrush’s Position Tracker rivals all the standalone SERP trackers, which is impressive considering it’s just one of the platform’s many SEM tools.
Monitor national, regional, and local search engine positions for any keyword.
Check the Visibility index (based on the average position of the domain’s ranking pages) to gauge how your target keywords perform.
Run side-by-side competitor comparisons.
Set a date range of 7, 30, 60, or 90 days to view historical rank changes.
Monitor SERP feature movements – videos, reviews, snippets, knowledge panel and more – and quickly spot new opportunities.
Collect accurate daily SERP ranking data of domains, subdomains, subfolders, or URLs for any keyword, including desktop and mobile rankings.
See the complete list of keywords appearing in the local pack of the SERPs.
Analyze your video rankings to instantly spot gains and losses in your YouTube SEO campaigns.
Generate branded or white-label SERP tracking reports.
Bonus SERP analysis feature:
SERP Gap Analyzer (aff) can be accessed in the Semrush App Center. The app scans Google’s SERPs for a topic and finds under-optimized content that you can improve on.
You can also enter your domain and scan thousands of SERPs to quickly uncover keywords that could benefit from optimized content. This can save you hours on manual keyword research and SERP analysis.
After submitting your domain with a seed topic, the app will return insights related to:
Ranking difficulty
Keyword suggestions
Weaknesses of competing websites
You can then expand on sections to uncover the specific weaknesses of competitors:
The SERP Gap Analyzer also integrates with Google Search Console to quickly uncover low-hanging fruit keywords and, based on the analysis of multiple SERP data points, provides actionable recommendations for optimizing content to improve rankings.
Semrush’s SERP Gap Analyzer is a unique app that goes beyond standard SERP tracking. It will identify areas to improve existing content, add new content, and provide actionable recommendations based on in-depth SERP analysis. This app could save your team hours on tedious manual analysis each month.
Who is it for?
Digital marketing professionals, SEO agencies, ecommerce brands, and large enterprises looking for a cost-effective all-in-one SEO platform that also provides an accurate, scalable SERP tracking solution.
Pricing
Semrush’ SEO platform has a range of subscription plans (aff), starting at $139.95/month.
Track rankings across most major search engines, including Google, Yahoo, Bing, YouTube and listings on Amazon.
Analyze the Top 100 SERP results for any of your keywords.
View historical data and assess competitor performance.
Track videos on YouTube and Google Videos.
Track ecommerce sites/products on Amazon.
Generate a variety of reports, including current ranking, progress, comparison, and benchmarks.
Who is it for?
SEM agencies, international companies, ecommerce brands and video marketers who want to get accurate SERP data across any location, across all devices in multiple different languages.
Pricing
ProRankTracker has a selection of pricing plans, starting at $39/month.
Advanced Web Ranking (AWR) is a standalone SERP tracker used by thousands of SEOs and brands such as Microsft to track SERP movements across devices and locations, plus build customized white-label reports.
Best SERP tracking features
Get fresh, accurate keyword rankings across all major search engines – Google, Yandex, Baidu, DuckDuckGo, Amazon, YouTube and more- in 170+ countries on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis.
Track SERPs regardless of niche, location, or device.
Measure market share and perform in-depth competitor SERP analysis.
Monitor the aggregated list of websites you’re competing against for each keyword.
Segment data and build in-depth, white-label reports.
Integrate SERP data with third-party tools, such as Google Data Studio.
Who is it for?
In-house teams, agencies, and enterprises who want reliable SERP tracking data, competitor rankings, and comprehensive reports use AWR.
Pricing
AWR has a range of subscription plans, starting at $99/month.
SERPWatcher (affiliate) is the SERP tracking tool from Mangool’s all-in-one SEO platform. It is an affordable, easy-to-use tracker that is trusted by some of the world’s largest brands, including airbnb and adidas.
Best SERP tracking features
SERPWatcher’s Performance Index shows your website’s organic traffic potential across all tracked keywords, in addition to ranking and volume metrics.
Use SERPWatcher to:
Get daily ranking updates and check them in the SERP previews.
Track historical data by any time frame, such as weekly, monthly, and quarterly.
Get notified of all important rank changes via email alerts.
Track rankings in 52,000+ locations (states, cities, counties, DMAs), on any device.
Share interactive reports with clients and colleagues, plus schedule reports and set event-based alters via email.
Editor’s note:
The Mangools toolset also includes SERPChecker, a SERP analysis tool that helps you:
See all strengths and weaknesses of your competitors with 45+ SEO metrics.
Evaluate SERP positions.
Compare your website with competitors.
Scan Local Search results for 50,000 locations.
Detect Google SERP features influencing organic search results.
Who is it for?
Agencies, SEO professionals, startups and small business owners who want simplified SERP tracking and other easy-to-use SEO tools in one package use SERPWatcher by Mangools.
Pricing
Mangools has a range of subscription plans starting at $29.90/month.
SE Ranking is an all-in-one SEO toolset with a Position Tracking Tool that monitors keyword rankings in all the major search engines, across all locations and all devices.
Best SERP tracking features
SE Ranking claims to collect and store 100% accurate data by simulating user behaviour in a particular search engine and for a precisely targeted location.
You can use SE Ranking to:
Track SERPs in Google, Yahoo, and Bing for any location and device.
Track Google SERP features, Maps results, and Google Ads positions.
Perform side-by-side comparisons of your rankings with up to 5 competitors.
Get a visibility rating with all your search competitors (sorted by visibility score) based on your keywords.
Get a retrospective view of the Top 100 search results and features.
Share rankings with clients via a custom domain labeled with your brand.
Who is it for?
Digital agencies, SEO professionals, and small business owners who want accurate SERP tracking and other SEO tools in one package use SE Ranking.
Pricing
SE Ranking has a range of subscription plans, starting at $52/month. (Based on daily SERP updates for 500 keywords).
Nightwatch is one of the most accurate daily SERP trackers and is trusted by companies of all sizes, including Shopify, Scotiabank, and Coinbase. The tool lets you discover your exact search engine rankings from 107,296 locations worldwide.
Best SERP tracking features
Track your critical keywords in 107,296 locations worldwide across the search engine results page and map pack.
Track local SERP and map pack rankings down to a zip-code level with daily updates.
Access any Google Data Center on the planet for accurate local rank tracking.
Keep an eye on daily rankings on all the major search engines, including DuckDuckGo and Bing.
Track your SERP features and discover placements to rank globally and locally.
Identify decaying content and “low-hanging fruit” ranking opportunities using custom segments.
Analyze the performance of transactional keywords, groups of pages, and more.
Import data from Google Analytics and Search Console to bolster reporting.
Create eye-catching, easy-to-interpret white-labeled reports using the drag-and-drop editor.
Who is it for?
Nightwatch has three different plans – Starter, Optimize and Agency – that cater to the needs of companies of all sizes, from freelancers and SMBs to agencies and larger enterprise businesses.
Pricing
Nightwatch offers a 14-day free trial, and paid plans start at $32/month for up to 250 keywords.
Which SERP Tracking Tool is Right for Your Business?
SERP tracking software is essential for monitoring your SEO performance, competitors, and spotting new organic growth opportunities.
We looked at the seven top SERP tracking tools – four standalone trackers, plus three SERP trackers that are part of all-in-one SEO toolsets.
My recommended standalone SERP tracker is AccuRanker (aff). But if you’re looking for a solid tracker that’s part of a leading all-in-one SEO platform, I recommend Semrush (aff).
At a minimum, when you’re evaluating a SERP tracking solution, remember to check for these key features:
Access accurate on-demand ranking updates
Track SERP movement across all major search engines
Granular tracking (by location and device)
View historical rank performance
Run competitor comparisons
Tag and segment rankings data
Generate white-label reports
Let us know in the comments which SERP tracker you’re using.
Savvy PPC marketers often praise LTV:CAC as a superior KPI for measuring profitability and guiding budget decisions.
While insightful, correctly leveraging LTV:CAC is far more complex than it seems – and certainly not as straightforward as ROAS, which itself can be misleading.
To avoid missteps, it’s crucial to understand when LTV:CAC is useful, its limitations, and how a poorly calculated metric can lead you to the wrong north star.
If your agency recommends increasing your PPC budget based on a “great” LTV:CAC ratio, be cautious. There may be critical nuances (or even conflicts of interest) at play.
This article breaks down the fundamentals of LTV:CAC, including:
What LTV:CAC is and why it’s important.
Common pitfalls when using the metric.
How to refine LTV:CAC, plus alternative KPIs.
What is LTV:CAC?
LTV:CAC (customer lifetime value to customer acquisition cost) measures the relationship between the value a customer brings to a business over time and the cost of acquiring that customer. It’s calculated as:
LTV:CAC = LTV / CAC
This ratio helps businesses assess whether their customer acquisition efforts are profitable.
A higher LTV:CAC indicates that customers generate more revenue than their acquisition cost, while a lower ratio could signal inefficiency or unprofitable marketing.
Breaking down the components
LTV (customer lifetime value) represents the total revenue a customer generates throughout their relationship with a business.
Formula:
LTV = (Average order value x Total transactions) / Unique customers
CAC (customer acquisition cost) is the average cost incurred to acquire a new customer within a specific period.
Formula:
CAC = Total marketing costs / Number of new customers
Note: Always calculate both metrics using the same time period to avoid skewed results.
Why is LTV:CAC important – and how can it be dangerous?
LTV:CAC serves one core purpose: ensuring profitability.
This KPI is critical for a company’s future because it measures whether the value generated from newly acquired customers justifies the cost of acquiring them.
It’s often compared to return on ad spend, or ROAS, (revenue generated by ads / ad costs) but goes a step further.
While ROAS focuses on immediate returns, LTV:CAC considers the long-term revenue potential of a customer.
This broader view can encourage marketers to lower ROAS targets and increase budgets, assuming future revenue will balance acquisition costs over time.
For example, imagine a marketer spends $30 to acquire a new customer who generates $30 in immediate revenue (100% ROAS).
Based on historical data, the finance team predicts that this customer will make three additional purchases of $30 each, totaling $120 in revenue over their lifetime.
Total revenue = $30 (initial purchase) + 3 x $30 = $120
LTV = $120
CAC = $30
LTV:CAC = $120 / $30 or 4:1
This 4:1 ratio might suggest strong profitability and justify increased spending.
However, it can be dangerous.
Profitability metrics like LTV:CAC often require deeper financial oversight, yet marketers may lack visibility into key cost components, such as payback periods, retention variability, and operational costs.
Misunderstanding these factors can lead to overestimations of profitability and misguided budget increases.
Let’s break down some of the common traps that make LTV:CAC a potentially misleading metric.
LTV:CAC is often praised by top marketers as a superior KPI, which might tempt you to adopt it too.
While it can be valuable in scenarios with high retention and repeat purchase rates (like SaaS), it’s not always reliable.
Before using LTV:CAC, run a retention analysis to answer: “How many times do my customers purchase on average over a set period?”
In ecommerce, customer retention is typically around 30% at best.
Using the earlier ROAS example, if you spend $30 to generate $120 in revenue (400% ROAS), you might assume retention will increase total revenue by 30%, raising it to $156. This would suggest a higher 520% ROAS.
While appealing, it’s far from transformative enough to justify dramatically increasing your budget.
2. Overlooking payback period and cash flow
Even if your retention is strong enough to justify using LTV:CAC as your north star metric and your ratio slightly exceeds the standard 3:1, increasing your PPC budget blindly can be risky.
Why? Because LTV:CAC doesn’t account for the payback period – the time required to recover CAC expenses, or how long it takes for revenue to break even with acquisition costs.
If your payback period is 12 months, customers won’t become profitable until the 12-month mark.
During that time, your balance sheet remains negative, putting strain on cash flow and limiting your ability to reinvest in PPC campaigns or other growth strategies.
To scale faster, you need cash on hand since existing funds are already tied up in customer acquisition.
Options include raising capital or improving fundamentals (e.g., lowering CAC, raising prices, or encouraging prepayment).
Bottom line: A positive LTV:CAC doesn’t guarantee you can safely scale your budget.
3. Misunderstanding marketing LTV vs. finance LTV
Marketers often calculate LTV using basic metrics like revenue – sometimes even pre-tax figures – resulting in inflated and misleading values.
Naturally, both LTV and CAC should accurately reflect the balance sheet, but this is where many marketers go wrong.
Finance teams often step in to correct these calculations, which can lead to uncomfortable conversations if marketers lack financial literacy.
To avoid this, marketers need to understand finance-level metrics and how their stakeholders calculate profitability.
LTV is fundamentally a finance KPI. Some finance teams calculate it using gross profit margin (COGS), while others factor in operating expenses (OPEX), making it closer to an EBIT-based KPI.
Ultimately, it’s not about challenging their process but aligning with it.
To collaborate effectively, marketers should understand key cost components like:
Support.
Infrastructure.
Materials (for physical products).
Sales and marketing expenses.
Development costs.
Other operational expenses.
By aligning with finance teams and using accurate metrics, LTV:CAC can become a far more reliable KPI.
4. Miscalculating CAC by ignoring non-marketing customer sources
PPC, marketing, and other customer sources are critical when assessing CAC and its impact on LTV:CAC.
Lowering CAC is an obvious way to improve the LTV:CAC ratio, but it can complicate calculating CAC accurately.
A common issue is calculating CAC by dividing total marketing costs by total new customers, disregarding other customer sources.
In some businesses, where marketing drives about 95% of customer acquisition, this approach might not significantly affect the LTV:CAC ratio and simplifies the calculation.
However, this often overlooks non-marketing customer sources like word of mouth, viral organic content, or baseline growth.
This inflates the customer count, artificially lowering CAC and boosting LTV:CAC, creating a misleading impression of growth.
In the long run, this can lead to structural issues.
While some argue that word of mouth stems from branding or top-of-funnel campaigns, this is only sometimes true.
Many customer sources, such as referral programs, sales initiatives, or product-driven growth, are independent of traditional marketing or PPC efforts.
Assuming all customers are equal can lead to inflated LTV:CAC ratios and dangerous strategies.
You might attempt to boost LTV and make LTV:CAC look better quickly, but this approach can be misleading.
A common mistake is calculating LTV as total revenue divided by total customers over a period, creating an average that hides differences between customer segments.
Not all customers contribute equally in terms of revenue and retention.
For instance, if the average LTV is $480, it likely doesn’t reflect the actual distribution of customer value:
60% of customers spend around $280.
30% of customers spend around $600.
10% of customers spend around $1,300.
If you aim for a 3:1 LTV:CAC ratio based on the $480 average LTV, you would set a target CAC of $160.
However, for 60% of your customers, who only generate $280 in LTV, the sustainable CAC should be $93 ($280/3).
This highlights a significant gap, as the average target would be too high for most customers.
Additionally, the top 10% of customers with a $1,300 LTV likely aren’t acquired through marketing, which complicates the calculation further.
Each of these components is dynamic and depends on the company’s ability to maintain or improve its fundamentals:
MRR: Can you cross-sell or upsell effectively?
GPM: Can you enhance overall efficiency?
Cancellation rate: Are new competitors entering the market? Is the market shrinking?
For example, HubSpot reportedly tripled its LTV in just 18 months. Now, imagine a smaller company experiencing the opposite trend.
Bottom line: LTV is a forecast, not a certainty. Don’t place too much confidence in LTV or your LTV:CAC ratio.
7. Treating LTV as a strategy
While this might seem slightly off-topic for PPC practitioners, it’s crucial to grasp when collaborating with stakeholders.
Holding the LTV flag high without fully engaging with others can lead to issues.
Imagine you secure additional budget for performance marketing – great news!
But as spending increases, CAC rises, making the LTV:CAC ratio worse.
In response, you might raise prices to boost LTV.
Problem solved?
Not quite.
Higher prices may lead to increased monthly cancellations. Even worse, the new customers acquired with that extra budget might be of lower quality, spending less and churning faster.
The customer support team steps in, confident they can resolve these issues by expanding their efforts, which increases costs and strains cash flow.
This scenario highlights how LTV is deeply interconnected with various aspects of the business.
Mistaking this metric for a stand-alone strategy can lead to missteps. It’s essential to use LTV as a tool, not a strategy in itself, to ensure sustainable growth.
How to ‘fix’ LTV:CAC, plus alternative KPIs
LTV:CAC can be a useful metric, but its complexity and potential for misinterpretation mean it requires careful handling.
To make the most of this KPI and ensure it accurately reflects your business’s health, consider the following tips.
Low retention? Don’t use LTV:CAC
In ecommerce, if your repeat purchase rate is around 30%, LTV may not be a relevant metric from a marketing perspective.
Instead, focus on CAC alone and aim to be profitable from the first order.
This approach, though tougher, is more sustainable and reflective of genuine growth – think ROAS.
Improve retention through upselling, cross-selling, customer support, or product enhancements.
https://i0.wp.com/dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/LTV-CAC-explained-Why-it-isnt-the-ultimate-KPI-800x450-Z6OGSQ.png?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1450800http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png2025-01-14 14:00:002025-01-14 14:00:00LTV:CAC explained: Why you shouldn’t rely on this KPI
