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What Is Paid Media?

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Turning paid ads into profit is a proven path to scalable, predictable growth.

When you nail it, paid media gives you a steady stream of customers, without depending on Google’s latest update or social media’s shifting algorithms. In fact, digital ad spend hit $259B in 2024 and is expected to keep growing.

But which channels are right for you? How can you weave them together into an effective strategy? And what’s the best way to measure your performance?

Here’s what you need to know.

Key Takeaways

  • Paid media is any form of advertising you pay to place on platforms you don’t own, like Google ads, Facebook posts, banner placements, or influencer partnerships.
  • The big three categories are display ads (banners and videos that stand out), native ads (sponsored posts that blend in), and traditional media (billboards, TV, radio).
  • Search ads and influencer partnerships are the most trusted paid channels because they catch people with intent or leverage existing relationships.
  • A winning campaign has seven steps: get your team aligned, set specific goals, budget for real costs (not just ad spend), know your audience, pick the right channels, create compelling ads, and optimize relentlessly.
  • Track five key metrics: return on ad spend (ROAS), overall return on investment (ROI), cost per click (CPC), impressions, and click-through rate (CTR). These tell you whether you’re making money or just spending it.

Paid Media Basics

Paid media is any kind of promotion that meets two criteria: it happens on a platform you don’t own, and you pay for it.

Banner ads are everywhere, like the ones shown in the Wired article below. 

An example of a banner ad.

Paid media drives real revenue, whether you’re running a startup or managing a global brand.

In research from my team at NP Digital, we found that paid ads make up a meaningful chunk of revenue across businesses of all sizes.

A chart showing percentage of revenue from paid ads by company size.

Paid Media vs. Earned Media vs. Owned Media

Think of marketing like a three-legged stool. The three legs here are paid, earned, and owned media.

Understanding how they work and how they work together can help you build a strategy that covers your blind spots and scales over time.

As mentioned earlier, paid media is any promotional placement you pay for. Think search ads, social ads, banner placements, influencer partnerships, and more.

Earned media is unpaid publicity that your business receives from other people and websites. It’s what others say about your brand mentions in news articles, influencer shoutouts, customer reviews, backlinks, or viral social shares.

Owned media is the stuff you fully control. Your website, blogs, social media accounts, newsletters, and email list, fall into this category. You manage the content, the experience, and the message.

Here’s how they fit together:

  • Paid media helps you get visibility fast, especially when you’re just starting out or entering new markets
  • Owned media builds trust, it’s where your brand message lives
  • Earned media amplifies both. It kicks in when people start talking about what you’re already doing well

The best campaigns use all three. Paid gets attention. Owned keeps it. Earned multiplies it.

Categories and Examples: Paid Media in the Wild

Paid media is evolving fast. Search, social, video, and display are table stakes, but newer formats are gaining traction too, including ads inside large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT and Gemini.

Even with all this growth, most formats fall into three core categories: display, native, and traditional. There’s often overlap between them, but these labels help keep things simple.

  • Display ads: These are visually distinct image, video, and text ads that appear alongside content on the web. Website banners, YouTube ads, and interstitial pop-ups are all examples. 
  • Native ads: These are ads that fit within the flow of content and are often indistinguishable from it at first glance. Influencer recommendations, advertorials, and sponsorships are well-known forms of native advertising. 
  • Traditional media: Commercials, billboards, and direct mail are examples of traditional media. You don’t get the same tracking or targeting you’d see with digital, but these channels still play a role in large-scale brand awareness.

Now that we’ve covered the broad categories, let’s break down some of the most common paid media channels, and where each one fits.

Search Engine Advertising (Search Engine Marketing)

 Google, Bing, Yahoo, and even Amazon.

While Google Ads dominates the space, Bing Ads (now part of Microsoft Advertising) can offer lower CPCs (cost per click) and a different audience, especially for B2B brands. Amazon Ads also work well for product-heavy businesses.

We found that search ads across platforms drive some of the highest conversion rates in paid media, second only to channels like LinkedIn and influencer marketing.

A graphic showing average conversion rate by channel for ads.

Here’s what the advertising process looks like:

  • Open an account with the ad network (like Google or Bing)
  • Choose the keywords you want to appear for, such as “gardener in Arizona”
  • Set your maximum bid for those keywords (top bidders appear first)
  • Create your advertisement, which will be text-based
  • Launch your campaign and let Google serve your ad on relevant SERPs

The benefit of SEM is intent. You’re targeting users who are already searching for what you offer, which puts them closer to a buying decision.

And if you’re willing to bid competitively, your ad can appear above the organic result, even above your competitors.

Here’s an example of search engine ads for the keyword “paid media consultant.” Note the “Sponsored” label, which helps users distinguish paid ads from organic results.

Search engine ads for the keyword "paid media consultant."

Third-Party Banner Ads

Banner display ads are shown on a third-party online property, usually a website or app. 

Most people think banner ads only appear at the top of pages. Not true. Inline banner ads also show in the flow of content. A banner ad is simply a square or rectangular display ad (an ad that is distinct from surrounding content).

NP Digital research shows that banner ads are the least trusted of all paid media formats, underperforming search and influencer ads significantly. 

An NP Digital graphi showing trust in advertising by channel.

That said, banner ads are good at raising brand awareness. As customers see the same ad repeated across different websites, “brand memory” strengthens. The average person needs to see a brand at least seven times before they make a purchase.

Here’s an example of a fairly conspicuous banner ad on UK news site the Daily Mail: 

Daily Mail website example of an ad.

The Google Display Network, the world’s biggest display network, consists of over two million websites and mobile apps that businesses can display their ads on—reaching 90 percent of web users worldwide. When someone clicks on an ad, Google Ads and whoever hosted it share the spoils.

Paid Social Media Advertising

Social media advertising is big business. The global market was worth an impressive $252.95 billion at the end of 2024, and this is set to grow in the future.

According to NP Digital research, Facebook generated over $100 billion in ad revenue last year, making it the top-performing social ad platform. Instagram followed at $70.9 billion.

NP Digital graph showing ad revenue by social network.

Here’s an example of paid media advertising on Facebook. This sponsored post is by McDonald’s and appears in relevant customers’ newsfeeds, enticing them to try their $8 Chicken McNugget Meal. These ads blend into the feed but still offer clear calls to action.

McDonald's ad for chicken nuggets and fries.

And it’s not just for B2C. In the LinkedIn ad below, Microsoft targets professionals in banking with an ebook download offer.

Microsoft Cloud ad for AI for bankers.

Social ads work because they meet people where they’re already scrolling. Nearly 60 percent of the world’s population has at least one social media account.

Even better, social platforms give you advanced targeting tools. Most platforms let you target people by age, gender, and location, as well as their hobbies and other social media accounts they follow.

Video Advertising

Video content gets more engagement than static text or images. In fact, one NP Digital study found that short-form and long-form videos accounted for 31.38% and 15.51% of all engagement, respectively.

NP Digital graph showing the type of content that generates the most engagement.

That kind of engagement makes video a powerful paid media tool, especially on platforms like YouTube, Facebook, TikTok, and Instagram.

Video ads show up before or during content users are already watching.

What makes video ads effective is how they combine storytelling with visual cues. Create a stylish, funny, or cool video, and people will naturally want to discover your brand. Like display ads, videos are great for capturing people’s attention on mobile as well.

In-App Ads

In-app ads are paid placements that show up inside mobile apps while someone is using them. These can be banner ads, video ads, interstitials (full-screen takeovers), or rewarded ads where users watch a video in exchange for in-app perks.

You’ve probably seen these in gaming apps, news apps, or streaming services. They appear between levels, in feed scrolls, or before content loads.

An example of an in-app ad.

Source

These ads work well if your audience spends a lot of time on mobile, and even better if you’re targeting users by behavior, interest, or location. App data gives you targeting options you won’t always get on the open web.

Performance varies by industry, but in-app ads tend to perform best for consumer apps, entertainment, retail, and local services.

Digital Out of Home (DOOH) Ads

DOOH ads are digital billboards, transit screens, and signage in public spaces. You’ve seen them in malls, airports, gas stations, elevators, and even gym treadmills.

An example of Digital out of home ads.

Source: BMedia Group

Unlike traditional out-of-home ads, these use screens and software, which means you can update them in real time and target by location, time of day, or audience segment.

They’re a great fit for local campaigns, brand awareness pushes, or national advertisers who want visibility in high-traffic areas. You won’t get click data, but they can be effective for driving searches, visits, and offline conversions.

DOOH is especially useful when paired with mobile or geotargeted campaigns. Seeing a screen ad in a gym, then getting a related offer on your phone, is the kind of multi-touch experience that performs well.

Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) Advertising

Connected TV (CTV) and Over-the-Top (OTT) ads show up inside streaming content, on platforms like Hulu, Roku, YouTube TV, and Peacock. These are the ads you see while watching shows or movies on smart TVs, streaming boxes, or even mobile apps.

The big difference? CTV runs on television screens. OTT can run on any device.

An example of CTV and OTT platforms.

Source: Madhive

These ad formats are great for reaching cord-cutters who’ve moved away from traditional cable. They’re also more trackable than old-school TV ads, with options for targeting by location, device, behavior, and even interests.

CTV and OTT ads are especially useful for brand awareness, product launches, and retargeting. You can run short video ads in high-attention environments—and often get better completion rates than on social.

Large Language Model (LLM) Ads

LLM ads are an emerging format of paid placements that appear in large language model tools like ChatGPT, Google Gemini, and Perplexity. These ad types are still in the early stages, but they’re gaining momentum as AI assistants become part of everyday search behavior.

Right now, some platforms are testing sponsored response blocks or product carousels within AI-generated answers. These typically appear when users ask for recommendations, product ideas, or service comparisons.

For marketers, LLM ads offer a new way to show up during early-stage research, especially in verticals like travel, consumer products, software, and education.

Unlike traditional search ads, these placements are more dependent on content quality and relevance than keyword bidding. That gives brands with helpful, trustworthy content an advantage.

This space is still evolving, but it’s one marketers should keep a close eye on. Testing early gives you a head start as AI search platforms build out their ad offerings.

Sponsorships and Advertorials

Sponsorships, advertorials (paid articles), and influencer marketing are the most prominent examples of paid native advertising. 

These ads blend in with regular content.

Here’s an example: an article written by a company executive who’s part of Forbes Council, a paid program that entitles members to publish a set number of articles every year. It looks like editorial content, but it’s paid for, and the author gets guaranteed publishing rights.

An article written by a company executive that's a part of Forbes Council.

Sponsored posts are everywhere, especially on social. The Instagram post below is clearly labeled as a “Paid partnership with Gymshark.” This post feels authentic because it comes from a trusted influencer, not a brand’s ad account.

Along with that, since the influencer has a loyal, engaged following—the post has over 140,000 likes—the ROI will likely be positive for the advertiser. 

An Instagram post labeled as a paid partnership with Gymshark.

What makes these work? Trust. When the message comes from someone users already trust, it tends to land better, and perform better.

Benefits of Paid Media as a Marketing Channel

Here are some key benefits of paid media for marketers:

  • You have more control. As you pay to advertise, you get more say over your ad’s appearance. Conversely, if you submit a press release to a publication, they may edit it to suit their in-house tone of voice.
  • You get immediate visibility. Search engine optimization (SEO) costs less than paid media, but it can take three to 12 months to see optimal results. With paid media, if you’re happy to pay, you can appear in front of prospective customers immediately.
  • You can measure results. Paid ads platforms offer detailed analytics so you can see how your ads are doing. Some even provide a quality score so you know which campaigns you need to optimize.
  • You can tailor your ads. You can target your ads to specific groups of customers and even tailor content toward a location. This increases the chances of people responding positively to your advertisements. Similarly, you can advise who you don’t want your ad to show to.
  • You can implement automation. You can be as hands-on or hands-off with your advertising as you want. For example, Google Ads offers automated bidding where it automatically optimizes your bids to appeal to people more likely to help you achieve your goals.

Top 5 Paid Media Metrics for Paid Media

You could track dozens of metrics, but these five matter most.

List of key metrics for paid media success.

There are lots of metrics you can use to track the success of your paid media campaigns. The risk is that you get lost in a sea of data. 

I recommend a simplified approach. One that lets you hone in on channels with potential, drop those that aren’t working, and demonstrate a clear ROI throughout. 

Here are my top five metrics for paid media:

These give you a clear picture of performance and help you decide where to optimize or pull back.

  • Return on ad spend (ROAS): ROAS tells you how much revenue you’re generating for every dollar spent on ads. It’s important to measure this separately because it’s the first thing you need to remedy if you’re not achieving a positive ROI overall. If your ROAS drops, you may need to adjust your targeting, creative, or offers.
  • Return on investment (ROI): This is the big one. If you’re generating more from your paid media campaigns than it costs to run them, you’re on the right track. Account for everything—creative costs, time managing ad accounts, A/B testing, etc.—and not just the ad platform fees.  Paid media without ROI is just spend. Use this number to decide whether to scale or pause.
  • Cost per click (CPC): This is the average amount you pay whenever someone clicks on your ad. Ideally, this should be as low as possible. It’s a ripe area for optimization.  CPC is most useful when viewed alongside CTR and conversion rate. A low CPC doesn’t help if nobody converts.
  • Impressions: This is the total number of times users see your ads. A high reach shows that you’ve chosen a channel that gives you exposure to a large audience, which is important for brand building. Low impression count? It might be time to evaluate the reach of your chosen channel.  Impressions alone won’t drive results but they show whether your ads are getting visibility in the first place.
  • Click-through rate (CTR): This is the percentage of people who see and click on your ad. A high CTR shows that people find your ad interesting and valuable.

How to Create a High-ROI Paid Media Campaign: 7 Steps

Illustration of the steps to create a high-ROI paid media campaign.

Paid media can generate traffic, leads, and revenue, but only if you approach it with a clear plan. Skipping strategy and jumping into ad spend is one of the fastest ways to burn through your budget.

Because large amounts of money are involved, caution is your ally. Many businesses burn through cash before giving up on paid media, wondering what went wrong. 

Your paid media strategy should clearly cover the following:

  • Which internal stakeholders you need to include
  • Goals you want to achieve
  • Characteristics of your audience
  • Platform-specific budgets
  • Viable paid media channels
  • Products and services you want to promote
  • Metrics for gauging success 

The process doesn’t need to be complicated. These seven steps will help you build a campaign that’s focused, efficient, and ready to scale.

1. Obtain Internal Stakeholder Buy-In

Getting buy-in goes beyond simple approval. Your team needs to fully understand what’s happening, why it matters, and what role they play.

Start by identifying who needs to be involved. At a minimum, that usually includes:

  • Marketing leadership (budget, goals, channel mix)
  • Creative teams (ad copy, assets, landing pages)
  • Analytics (conversion tracking, attribution setup)
  • Sales (if the campaign impacts lead gen or pipeline)

Don’t wait until after launch to bring these teams in. Paid media works best when everyone is aligned from day one.

Set up a short kickoff meeting to walk through the campaign plan. Cover what you’re promoting, who you’re targeting, what platforms you’re using, and how results will be reported.

It doesn’t have to be a big formal process. A shared doc, quick sync, or even a Slack thread can go a long way.

The goal is to eliminate surprises and make it easy for other teams to support the strategy.

2. Set clear goals and KPIs

You need to know exactly what you’re trying to accomplish. Metrics are important (we’ll come to those later), but goals lay the foundation. 

If you don’t know what success looks like, it’s easy to waste money. That’s why clear goals are the first thing to lock in, before budgets, platforms, or creatives.

Start by asking one question: What do you need this campaign to accomplish?

This could include:

  • Lead generation
  • Product sales
  • Free trial signups
  • App installs
  • Event registrations
  • Traffic to a specific landing page
  • Brand awareness in a new market

Be specific, not general. “More leads” isn’t a goal. “Generate 250 demo requests this quarter at a CPL (cost per lead) under $80” is. Pass your goals through the SMART test: are they Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, and Timely? The more detailed you make the goals, the easier they will be to achieve.

After that, you can pick KPIs and metrics that match your objective, which we will be talking about in a little bit.

3. Determine budget

With paid media campaigns, it’s essential to set a budget and stick to it. Many paid media platforms let you set a definite upper limit for your ad campaigns. If you exceed this budget, the platform stops showing your ads.

Your budget isn’t just ad spend, but it fuels the entire campaign. Along with the baseline budget for your paid media ads, you must also consider additional costs. These include ad copywriting, graphic design, and videography. If you use an agency, you’ll have to cover ongoing account management fees.

Start by figuring out what success looks like. If your goal is to get 100 leads at $50 each, you’ll need to spend at least $5,000 in ad budget alone. That’s your baseline.

Then add in the supporting costs:

  • Ad creative (copy, graphics, video, landing pages)
  • Tracking and analytics setup
  • A/B testing budget to compare variants
  • Management costs if you’re outsourcing or using tools

Different platforms also have different minimums and cost expectations. Running paid social on Facebook or Instagram can be more flexible for smaller budgets. Search ads on Google or Bing often require more competitive bidding to see traction.

Don’t spread your budget too thin. It’s better to run fewer campaigns with enough spend to test and optimize properly, instead of trying to be everywhere with limited reach.

And whatever number you start with, keep a reserve. Paid campaigns almost always need tweaking in the first few weeks.

4. Know Your Audience

The more specific you get with your targeting, the less you waste on clicks that go nowhere. If you’re paying for media on a publication or newsletter, you can compare your ideal customer profile (ICP) to the audience specs.

Research all the following points for your ICP:

  • Industry or niche
  • Company size or household income
  • Job titles or demographics
  • Location
  • Pain points and goals
  • What platforms they use most
  • What influences their buying decisions

Here’s how your audience research translates into paid media results:

  • Ad platforms: Choose based on where your audience actually spends time
  • Creative: Match tone, visuals, and messaging to their mindset
  • Offers: Promote what solves their problem, not what you want to sell
  • Targeting settings: Use demographics, behaviors, and interests to narrow reach
  • Retargeting: Build separate campaigns for cold traffic vs. returning visitors

The goal is to reach the right people at the right stage and give them a reason to click.

5. Choose Channels

Not every platform fits every goal. The right channel depends on who you’re targeting, what you’re promoting, and how fast you need results.

Take the following into consideration when choosing where to advertise:

  • Use search ads (like Google or Bing) if you’re targeting high-intent keywords. People searching are already looking for solutions.
  • Use social ads (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn) to create demand or raise awareness. These platforms are great for targeting by interest, behavior, or job title—even if people aren’t actively searching yet.
  • Use display or retargeting to stay in front of people after they’ve engaged. These can bring users back to your site to finish what they started.

You can also learn a lot by seeing where your competitors are advertising. Tools like Meta Ad Library, Google Ads Transparency Center, and manual Google searches will show you what channels they’re using and how often they show up. Look at their messaging, creative, and landing pages. If it’s working for them, it might work for you.

Budget matters, too. Some platforms are better suited to lower ad spend. Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok can give you meaningful reach on a modest budget. Search or YouTube may require more competitive bidding to see real traction.

For smaller budgets, focus on one or two channels where your audience is most active. Don’t try to be everywhere if you can’t afford to run meaningful tests.

And don’t lock yourself into one format. The best campaigns evolve. Start with the highest-potential channel, then expand once you’re confident in performance.

6. Create Compelling Creative

Here are some of my top tips for designing paid media ads that drive clicks:

  • Don’t be afraid of being “loud”—you want an ad that customers stop and look at.
  • Keep your ad copy clear and concise. 
  • User-generated content and testimonials show prospects why existing customers love your brand.
  • If you’re using search advertising like Google Ads, take advantage of assets that tell customers more about your business for no additional cost. 
  • Run multiple variants of your ads from the get-go for some quick A/B test wins. 

But good creative is more than just how your ad looks, it also covers what you say and how fast you get to the point. Lead with the benefit, keep the message tight, and match your CTA to the user’s intent.

Make sure your offer matches the awareness stage also. A discount works well for bottom-of-funnel buyers. But for top-of-funnel, try a quiz, guide, or video to build interest first.

Finally, try to avoid launching with just one ad. Rotate in multiple headlines, formats, and visuals early so you can learn what actually converts before you scale spend.

In addition, some paid media platforms have ad libraries where you can see examples of paid media ads from your competitors. Meta (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok, LinkedIn, and Google Ads all have libraries. They’re fantastic sources of inspiration. 

7. Optimize Your Campaigns

Like all digital marketing campaigns, paid media is not something you can set and forget. When it comes to optimization, little and often wins the race. 

I recommend checking your paid media accounts at least once a week, even once a day if you’re running a short-term campaign.

Paid media is excellent for running multivariate and A/B testing. You can create multiple ad versions with small differences—such as CTA texts or color schemes—and test them against statistically significant sample sizes. 

But don’t stop at testing creative. Optimization includes your audiences, bidding strategy, landing pages, placements, and even campaign structure.

Here’s what to review regularly:

  • Which ads are getting clicks but not conversions? Pause or adjust those.
  • Which campaigns are spending without results? Reallocate that budget.
  • Are certain audiences or geos outperforming others? Double down where it counts.
  • Is your cost per result trending up or down? That’s your early warning system.

Document what you’re testing and why. Optimization doesn’t mean quickly reacting without thinking. Your team needs to learn over time and building a smarter strategy with every round.

Paid Media and AI: Trends You Need to Know

AI is already shaping how campaigns are built, optimized, and scaled. My team and I ran research looking at AI vs. human-generated ads, for example, and found that AI ads converted at 1.28%, less than half a percentage point below human ads, which converted at 1.54%. Yes, human ads performed better. But not by a huge margin. 

NP Digital graph showing the difference between AI-generated ads vs Human-generated ads and which converts better.

I would urge digital marketers to keep the following four points in mind when it comes There are already a growing amount of applications for AI in the world of paid media:

Marketers are using AI to:

  • Write ad copy faster (especially for high-volume campaigns)
  • Build and test ad creative using AI image and video tools
  • Generate audiences automatically based on existing customer data
  • Optimize budgets in real time across channels
  • Predict what offers or creatives will perform best, before spending anything

These aren’t experimental use cases anymore. They’re being built directly into the tools marketers already use.But things are changing fast. Here’s some key points to keep in mind:

  • Paid media isn’t going anywhere: Most paid media channels will remain viable. People will continue to read their favorite publications, open newsletters, follow influencers on social media, listen to podcasts, and so on. Even if traditional SEO and search ads vanish, LLMs like ChatGPT will need to monetize at some point. 
  • Revenue from ads provides stability: As AI changes the way people consume content online, revenue from ads can actually provide more stability. Unlike organic traffic, they’re not dependent on algorithms over which you have no control. 
  • Paid media helps you build brand citations: Branding will be more important than ever in the age of AI. Citations around the web are one of the ways LLMs identify and measure the relevance of your business to a particular query. For example, if “NP Digital” appears often in AI training materials next to “advertising agency,” my brand is more likely to be referenced in response to related questions. 
  • Now is the time to start experimenting with AI: As was shown in the research by me and my team, AI can perform nearly as well as humans. For a head start when AI is truly ready to assist with paid media campaigns, you should start experimenting and learning now. 
  • That said, AI is a tool, not a strategy. You still need strong positioning, good creative, and clear goals. But if you’re not testing AI workflows now, you’re going to fall behind the brands that are.

Should You Focus on One or All Channels?

Most marketers think they need to be everywhere. That’s usually wrong.

To be clear, I’m a big proponent of omnichannel digital marketing. 

When you’re everywhere, you reach more of your prospects. Yet you would be amazed at how many businesses fail to grasp this simple fact.

With that said, for paid, omnichannel may sound great, but isn’t always the right move.

With large amounts of money at risk, you need to do two things: research and test.  

If you’re just getting started with paid media, stick to one or two platforms where your audience is most active. That gives you enough budget and data to learn what works without spreading yourself too thin.

Once you’ve found a winning message and offer, then it makes sense to expand. You can start repurposing creative, retargeting across platforms, and building a true full-funnel system.

Here’s the truth: omnichannel paid marketing only works when you have the team, budget, and systems to support it. Otherwise, it turns into a mess of disconnected campaigns.

Ask yourself:

  • Do you have the creative capacity to build for multiple formats?
  • Do you have enough budget to collect meaningful data across platforms?
  • Can you track performance in a way that ties everything together?

If the answer is yes, go for it. If not, focus and scale intentionally. The best paid media campaigns start small, then scale up.

FAQs

What is paid media?

Paid media refers to any marketing or advertising content a brand pays to place on a third-party platform. Common examples include search engine ads, social media ads, display banners, video ads, influencer sponsorships, and traditional placements like radio, print, or TV.

The key benefit of paid media is the ability to generate visibility and traffic quickly, often with precise targeting and measurable results. Brands typically use paid media to reach new audiences, promote offers, or support other marketing efforts. It works best when paired with earned and owned media in a broader strategy.

How often should you evaluate your paid media budget?

Most brands should evaluate their paid media budget weekly. This allows time to monitor spend, performance, and early signals on what’s working.

For short-term or high-investment campaigns, daily budget checks are recommended to catch issues before they impact results.

Monthly or quarterly reviews are useful for larger budget adjustments, channel planning, or reallocation based on return.

Consistent monitoring ensures your budget is supporting your goals and allows for real-time optimizations, rather than reactive fixes after performance dips.

How do you build a paid media strategy?

A strong paid media strategy starts with setting a clear objective, such as lead generation, product sales, or brand awareness.

From there, define your target audience and select platforms that align with where they spend time. Creative should match the platform and campaign goal, while KPIs like ROAS, CPC, or conversion rate help track progress.

Budget should be allocated based on priorities and expected return, with room for testing.

Successful strategies are built on iteration—launching, analyzing, and optimizing based on what the data shows.

What’s the difference between earned media and paid media?

Paid media includes advertising you pay for, such as social ads, search ads, sponsored content, and display banners. It gives you control over placement, timing, and messaging.

Earned media refers to organic exposure you don’t pay for—such as press coverage, backlinks, user reviews, or social shares.

While paid media drives immediate visibility, earned media builds trust and long-term authority. Most marketing strategies benefit from a mix of both, with paid media often used to accelerate early reach.

Conclusion

Most marketers treat paid media like throwing money at a wall and hoping something sticks. That’s expensive and frustrating.

The brands winning with paid media treat it like a system. They start with one platform, nail their message and targeting, then scale what works. They track the right metrics, test relentlessly, and aren’t afraid to kill campaigns that aren’t delivering.

If you’re just getting started, pick Google Ads or Facebook—whichever platform your audience uses most. Set a budget you can afford to lose while you learn. Create multiple ad variants from day one so you can see what resonates.

Want to see what’s coming next? Check out the latest paid media trends shaping the industry.

Read more at Read More

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We’re excited to announce the beta release of Yoast AI Brand Insights, available as part of the Yoast SEO AI+ package. This new tool helps you understand how your brand appears in AI-powered answers, and where you can improve your visibility. Ideal for bloggers, marketers, and brand managers, Yoast AI Brand Insights gives you an overview of your brand presence across tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini.

For years, Yoast has helped you get found in search engines. Recently though, search is changing. People aren’t just using Google anymore, they’re turning to AI tools like ChatGPT for answers. Those answers often mention brand names as recommendations. So here’s the big question: when AI tools answer questions in your niche, does your brand show up? Our new tool, Yoast AI Brand Insights (beta), helps you find out. 

Yoast AI Brand Insights lets you see when and how your brand appears in AI-generated answers and helps you understand where you need to focus your effort to improve your visibility. 

Why Yoast AI Brand Insights matters, now 

AI-powered answers are shaping customer decisions faster than ever. Visitors from AI search are often more likely to convert than those from regular search. It’s no surprise, because asking an AI-powered chatbot can feel like getting a personal recommendation. Afterall, word of mouth remains one of the most powerful ways to build trust and spark interest. 

Most analytics tools can’t tell you how your brand appears in AI answers, or if it’s mentioned at all. With more people turning to tools like ChatGPT, Perplexity, and Gemini for advice, that’s a big blind spot if you are trying to get your name out there. 

Yoast AI Brand Insights aims to close that gap. You’ll see when and how your brand appears, what’s being said, and where the information comes from, so you can take action to ensure your brand is part of the conversation. 

See how you stack up against other brands mentioned in your prompts

With just a few clicks, you can: 

  • Check if your brand is mentioned in AI-generated answers for relevant search queries 
  • Benchmark against competitors: see how often your brand comes up 
  • Understand the sentiment connected to your brand: positive, neutral, or negative 
  • Find the sources AI tools use when they mention you 
  • Track your progress over time so you can respond to changes quickly 

Pricing & getting started 

Yoast SEO AI+ is priced at $29.90/month, billed annually ($358.80 plus VAT). The plan includes one automated brand analysis per week per brand, so you can track and compare how your brand is showing up in AI-powered search over time. With each purchase of Yoast SEO AI+ you recieve one extra brand.

With this package you also get the full value of Yoast WooCommerce SEO, which includes everything from Yoast SEO Premium, News SEO, Local SEO, and Video SEO, in addition to one free seat of the Yoast SEO Google Docs add-on.  

For marketers, this means you no longer need to patch together separate solutions for on-page SEO, ecommerce optimization, content creation, or LLM visibility. Everything you need to analyze, optimize, and grow your brand presence is included in one complete package. 

How to get started

  1. Login with MyYoast: secure, single sign-on for all your Yoast tools and products. 
  2. Open Yoast AI Brand Insights: You can find it near the Yoast SEO Academy
  3. Set up your brand: add your brand’s name and a short introduction to your business 
  4. Run your scan: we’ll find relevant AI search queries for you, you can use them or tweak them to your liking. 
  5. Review your results: see relevant mentions and their sources, your brand sentiment, and the AI Visibility Index in an easy-to-read dashboard

Want more details? Check out the full guide to getting started. 

Launching in beta

Yoast AI Brand Insights is now available in beta as part of Yoast SEO AI+. This is your chance to be among the first to explore how your brand shows up in AI-powered search. We’d love your thoughts as we refine the tool, your thoughts here.

See how your brand appears in AI search today 

Get Yoast SEO AI+ today to start your first brand scan. See if and how AI tools are talking about you. 

The post Introducing a new AI-powered package: Track your brand in AI search  appeared first on Yoast.

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Why A Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP) Is Crucial In A Privacy-First Mobile Ecosystem 

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The app marketing space is hugely competitive, and at the same time, data privacy has become the defining challenge for marketers. From Apple’s App Tracking Transparency (ATT) to Google’s Privacy Sandbox, user-level tracking is harder than ever. To stay competitive, you need partners that give you visibility while keeping you compliant. Among these, one of your most important allies is your Mobile Measurement Partner (MMP). MMPS play a central role in any app’s marketing strategy, both for user acquisition and retention. 
 

Key Takeaways

  • MMPs unify your data: They consolidate insights across paid, owned, and earned channels in one dashboard. 
  • True performance visibility: Go beyond just installs by tracking cost per impression, click, install, and deeper engagement metrics.
  • Better budget allocation: Identify which channels deliver real value and optimise spend accordingly. 
  • Unlock user insights: In-app event tracking shows not just where users come from, but what they do after downloading. 
  • Essential for privacy-first marketing: MMPs help navigate iOS privacy changes and ensure accurate measurement. 
  • Stay scalable: They simplify your tech stack, replacing multiple SDKs with a single, integrated solution. 
     

What is an MMP?

App marketers typically run user acquisition (UA) campaigns across multiple platforms and channels, including: 

  • Paid – Meta, Google, Snapchat, TikTok, Apple Search Ads, etc. 
  • Owned – Website, blog, email 
  • Earned – App reviews in independent magazines and review sites 
Search Ads on Apple.

Source: Apple Search Ads  
 

All this activity should lead to people downloading and installing your app, all of which is great, but also meaningless if you can’t track which activity generated each download. And in today’s privacy-first ecosystem, that visibility is harder to achieve than ever. With Apple and Google limiting user-level tracking, attribution can feel like a black-box.  

An MMP helps you cut through the complexity by attributing, collecting, and organizing app data in a privacy-first way, delivering a unified view of campaign performance across channels, media sources, and ad networks. It gives you this visibility of which channels are performing, and which aren’t.  

For each channel, it will deliver metrics such as: 

  • Cost per impression 
  • Cost per click 
  • Cost per install 
  • Cost per acquisition 

These insights enable you to optimise your marketing spend towards the best-performing channels so that you can scale up your UA activities most efficiently. This is particularly important when you consider that app user acquisition costs have increased by 60% in the last five years, reaching an average of $29 per user in 2024, according to research from SimplicityDX, reported by Business of Apps. Understanding where your budget delivers the best results is essential for staying competitive.  

But it doesn’t stop at downloads. The data MMPs generate enables you to dig deeper into the value of each install by looking at what happens “down-funnel” by setting up in-app events. 
 

Use In-App Events to Generate Valuable Insights from your MMP 

In-app events allow you to track what users do in the app after installing it. Each event is a key conversion point in the user’s journey through the app. They will differ depending on the type of app, but will typically include things like: 

  • User registration 
  • Newsletter sign up
  • Clicks on a push notification 
  • Makes a purchase  
  • Join your loyalty program 

You can set up the in-app events that are most relevant to your app and most useful in understanding the value of each user. Your MMP then enables you to track these back to where the install came from. This might reveal, for example, that Meta generates twice as many installs as Apple Search Ads, but that the users who install after clicking on an Apple Search Ads spend three times more in the app than those who came in via Meta.  
 

A graphic showing the value of different channels.

Simplified Reporting in one Dashboard

An MMP delivers all these insights in one unified dashboard, across all the platforms you use to find new users. It’s a far easier way to get a consolidated, real-time view of what’s happening. Even if you’re only active in one or two channels, the insights an MMP delivers into things like Customer Lifetime Value, churn, and conversion against the in-app events you set up far exceed what each platform will typically offer in terms of reporting. 

An MMP dashboard.

The Benefits of Using an MMP

In summary, the key benefits of using an MMP are: 

  • Unified reporting across all platforms in one dashboard 
  • Granular insights into cost per impression/click/install, customer lifetime value, churn, conversion in in-app events 
  • Insights that enable you to optimise your marketing spend and better allocate your budget. 
     

Why Skipping an MMP is a Risky Move

Falling Behind in Privacy Compliance 
With iOS privacy updates transforming the landscape, MMPs are critical for adapting to new tracking systems and ensuring accurate data collection. They provide the agility needed to stay ahead in a rapidly changing privacy environment. 

Misleading Performance Data 
Without an MMP, you’re forced to rely on self-attribution from platforms like Google, which often overinflate their numbers. We’ve seen examples of platforms over-reporting key metrics like installs, leading to inaccurate performance insights. This kind of misreporting can lead to budget misallocation and misguided strategy decisions. 

Missing out on Critical Insights 
MMPs allow you to measure and optimise performance beyond just installs, providing a more comprehensive view of user behavior and value. Leveraging MMP data can reveal that a lower CPI doesn’t always translate to higher-quality users. By analyzing the relationship between CPI and downstream metrics like trial start rates, marketers can refine their bidding strategies to drive better results. Without an MMP, such nuanced insights, and the resulting optimizations, wouldn’t have been possible. 
 

Overcomplicating your Tech Stack 
Skipping an MMP requires integrating multiple SDKs, such as Meta, which not only complicates the setup but also raises significant data and privacy concerns. 
 
 

Setting up your MMP for Success: Best Practices 

Most of the main MMP providers will have integrations across your tech stack, but this is a point worth checking with them when you are assessing providers. If the MMP is integrated across your tech stack, it will be easier to set everything up and gain the insights that will feed your app’s success. For example, if you have already set up in-app events in an in-app analytics tool such as Mixpanel, these can be carried across to the MMP platform to avoid duplicating effort. 
 

1. Define the In-App Events to Optimize Towards

The first step to maximizing the investment in your MMP is to define the in-app events you want to track. The chosen events should reflect meaningful interactions that signal user engagement or progression toward higher-value actions. It’s vital to define these events, not only to monitor when and how frequently they occur, but also to optimise your user acquisition campaigns to align with each funnel stage. Once the user completes an event, i.e.., installs or registers, the point of optimization within the campaigns may change to encouraging conversion to purchase, for example. 
 

2. How many In-App Events should I Track?

It’s not possible, or even desirable, to track everything that happens in your app. We normally recommend around 5-10 in-app events. These should be the key points you want users to convert against, and the ones you can optimise your campaigns towards. Events should describe an action a user takes and should be a combination of a verb and noun, for example: 
 

  • Registration Completed 
  • Watched Video 
  • Product Page Viewed 
  • Purchase Completed 
  • Subscription Purchase Completed 
     

Event names should be easy to read and not overly descriptive. Upper/lower casing is supported, and it is recommended that the verb should be in the past tense (see the example below). 

Top Events Charts.

 
Once you have defined the in-app events, create a tracking plan that details the naming convention for each event (e.g. subscription purchase completed); the point where it triggers (once a user selects the ‘confirm payment’ button on the billing page); and any parameters that provide more detail on that event (e.g., ‘monthly’, signaling that it is the monthly subscription they’ve purchased), then pass that onto your developers to in build as part of the SDK setup. Now you’re ready for testing. 
 

3. Test Everything to Ensure Success

Testing is vital to ensure that your app behaves as it should and that the in-app events are triggered correctly. Once the in-app events are set up, set up an app testing account to simulate the potential user journey and ensure the events show within the MMP testing environment. Use this account to complete each in-app event, ensuring that: 

  1. The events are triggered at the appropriate points 
  1. The tracking is functioning properly 
  1. The data returned is accurate and reliable. 
     

How to Choose the Right MMP to Boost your App’s Growth

A graphic showing how to choose the right MMP.

Choosing the right MMP to work with is all about finding one that is best aligned with your needs and expectations. Choosing the best mobile attribution platform is a detailed process, but essentially this breaks down into four key areas: 
 

  1. Cost and scalability – When allocating your budget for an MMP, you need to look at the bigger picture. As you expand your marketing efforts using an MMP, the associated costs are likely to rise, not just from increased spending on channels but also due to the higher volume of reported conversions within the platform. Remember to evaluate these costs and ensure they remain within your budget as your campaigns grow. 
  1. Functionality – Ask yourself, does the MMP do everything you need it to do? For example, does it provide a holistic view across multiple traffic sources and in terms of the granularity of data you require to understand each channel’s performance? Or, can it show you how much it’s costing you to acquire a click and a conversion? 
  1. Support level provided – Are you looking/able to run everything on the MMP platform yourself, or do you need the support of a managed service? Consider the level of support the MMP offers, especially for troubleshooting setup challenges or addressing questions about the data displayed in the platform.   
  1. Tech stack integration – Consider what level of integration the MMP offers with your existing tech stack, including in-app analytics tools, CRM tools, and DMPs (Data Management Platforms), and any other tools that you rely on to market and sustain your app. 
     

Final Word: Making the Smart Choice

Even the best app needs a constant influx of new users to replace those who churn and deeper engagement with loyal users. Your MMP is key to achieving this, offering a unified view of marketing performance across platforms. It reveals how many installs each platform drives, their cost, and long-term value. Without an MMP, you’re marketing blind as ASO’s future rapidly evolves. 

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Google Ads tests new Labs hub for experimental features

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Inside Google Ads’ AI-powered Shopping ecosystem: Performance Max, AI Max and more

Google is piloting a Labs section inside the Google Ads platform, giving advertisers a centralized place to access early-stage experiments and tools.

Why we care. Instead of quietly testing features across scattered accounts, Google appears to be consolidating experiments into a single hub, making it easier for advertisers to discover and try new features before full rollout.

Details.

  • The Labs section shows up at the bottom of the left-hand menu in select accounts.
  • Early tests include features like “missed growth opportunities,” which highlight potential campaign improvements through bid or budget adjustments.
  • Not all advertisers will have access to it.

First seen. The update was first spotted by Vojtěch Audy, PPC specialist at Na volné noze.

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Google adds ROI insights to Meridian marketing mix model

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Google is enhancing Meridian, its open-source Marketing Mix Model (MMM), to help marketers make smarter, more precise budget decisions.

Why we care. Understanding ROI across channels is increasingly critical. These new Meridian updates allow for a more precise understanding of what drives sales, factoring in both media spend and non-media variables like pricing and promotions.

The big picture. Here’s what’s new:

  • Non-media variables: Marketers can now include pricing, promotions, and other business levers to measure their impact on sales more accurately.
  • Channel-level contribution priors: New features let you guide the MMM with your own business knowledge, improving the relevance of insights.
  • Longer-term effects: Enhanced binomial adstock decay functions track how upper-funnel media influences purchases weeks later.
  • Optimized spending: Marginal ROI (mROI) priors help pinpoint where the next dollar delivers the highest return, using past campaign performance.

Support and community. Meridian now has 30 certified global partners and an active Discord community, offering guidance to deploy the tool effectively and translate insights into business growth.

The bottom line: These updates aim to transform Meridian from a measurement tool to a strategic partner for budget allocation. This means Meridian can help marketers optimize spend across immediate conversions and longer-term brand impact.

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Thriving in AI search starts with SEO fundamentals

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Thriving in AI search starts with SEO fundamentals

The history of search offers clues about where we’re headed in the AI era – but there’s more to learn and more to do to move forward with practical steps.

AI changes the way people search. Instead of short queries that once required digging through blended results, users can now ask complex questions and get direct answers.

Much of the work to optimize for AI, though, overlaps with what SEO professionals have been doing for years. Our community is already adapting and well-positioned to take on this shift.

This article outlines practical steps to navigate the evolving landscape.

SEO, AEO, GEO: Defining the new terms

Before diving in, it’s worth addressing the terminology. It’s still new, and no single label has fully crystallized for this AI layer on top of SEO.

Two terms have gained traction:

  • AEO (answer engine optimization), which focuses on optimizing content so it’s chosen as the answer in AI-driven results like Google’s AI Overviews.
  • GEO (generative engine optimization), which describes a broader approach across generative AI platforms.

Neither feels perfect. AEO is a bit clunky, and GEO risks confusion with geography and local search. 

Still, these are the terms currently in use. For simplicity, I’ll use GEO in this article.

Dig deeper: The origins of SEO and what they mean for GEO and AIO

How GEO extends SEO

While tools like ChatGPT are undoubtedly cool – and early adopters, myself included, are spending a lot of time tinkering – the broader story is different.

For most people, AI will matter less as a standalone tool and more through its integration into phones, web browsers, and search engines.

GEO is a new layer that sits above SEO.

Often, tools like ChatGPT will search and compile information.

These tools provide a layer of abstraction and do much of the grunt work.

They still scan the digital world and then collate that information to simplify things for the user, while search engines like Google continue to provide the best overall digital map of the world.

If traditional SEO was about matching keywords, AEO is about being the best answer – and the easiest to integrate into an AI response.

GEO: Strategic foundations 

There’s no firm consensus on GEO tactics, but most of what’s recommended is simply good SEO.

That said, tactics that lost ground in the zero-click landscape may regain utility in AI Mode, where the AI does the deep dive and collates information for users.

Here are some basic strategic foundations to put in place to set yourself up for visibility in AI tools.

1. Focus on your customers

I’ve long championed bringing traditional marketing thinking into SEO, and GEO is the natural evolution of that approach.

Know your audience. Create personas, gather feedback, and define their goals, pain points, and the jobs they rely on your product or service to support.

Customer insight is key to building a customer-first strategy that helps you stand out in the age of AI.

2. Real expertise wins

The web is full of derivative content that does little to stand out. This creates a problem for AI. 

Model collapse happens when AI keeps training on AI-generated content without new signals, leading to increasingly stale and inaccurate results.

The solution is what humans are still best at – fresh insights from: 

  • Interviews.
  • Original research.
  • Proprietary data

These provide AI with something new – and worth citing.

That’s an opportunity. Have a voice, and bring something original to the table.

Frameworks like the Value Proposition Framework and SCAMPER can also support your SEO content marketing process here. 

3. Branding is key

Homepage traffic is up as a result of mentions in AI tools.

Recent studies show engagement from AI-driven traffic may even surpass organic, long the gold standard for user engagement.

Make sure your branding is strong. 

Create unique names for your products and services so they’re easy to reference in AI tools and simple for users to search.

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.

See terms.

4. Your website is important

Your website remains critical in the age of AI.

Anything you publish will likely drive brand searches and send people to your site. 

Structure it so visitors landing on your homepage can quickly explore and find more detail.

Dive into your customers’ wants, needs, and pain points – and answer the questions that matter most to them.

The ALCHEMY website planning framework can help guide this work.

5. Conversational content works

Think beyond static blog posts. Consider:

  • FAQs that are detailed and rooted in customer insight.
  • Step-by-step explainers.
  • Long-form guides that anticipate follow-up questions.

Structure your content to cover all your customers’ questions and concerns. 

Remember, many will turn to AI to learn more about you.

6. Beyond Google

Gen Z already uses TikTok and Instagram as search engines. 

YouTube remains the second-biggest search platform globally. 

AI-powered tools are simply the next step in the ongoing fragmentation of upper-funnel discovery.

Your approach should be to diversify your content so it surfaces wherever people look:

  • Your own website.
  • Third-party sites and industry publications.
  • Social platforms like TikTok and Instagram.
  • Search engines such as Google and Perplexity.
  • Video and professional platforms like YouTube and LinkedIn.

Think of modern AI SEO as search everywhere optimization.

Dig deeper: What’s next for SEO in the generative AI era

What to do next: Practical steps for marketers

AI is helping people research and make purchase decisions. Your role is to be part of the discussion.

Modern SEOs are in good shape – much of what AI requires builds on the strategic SEO work we already do.

Add in some PR, social media, and content creation (which often sit under the SEO umbrella), and you’re well on your way to a functional GEO strategy.

Getting started is crucial. To stay ahead:

  • Create content worth quoting: Write the piece an AI (or a human journalist) would want to reference. That means clear answers, evidence, original insights, and a point of view – not filler.
  • Anticipate the full conversation: Don’t just answer the first question – answer the follow-ups, too. If someone asks, “How does AI change SEO?” they’ll also want to know, “What should I do about it?” Build that into your content.
  • Structure for machines and humans: Use headings, lists, FAQs, and concise summaries to help AI parse your work. But don’t forget the narrative depth that keeps people reading.
  • Diversify your discovery footprint: Don’t rely on Google alone. Research your audience, understand their hangouts, and publish in the formats and places where they ask questions today: LinkedIn, YouTube, podcasts,and industry forums. AI tools crawl all of it.
  • Focus on authority signals: Show the human behind the content. Add author bios, cite sources, and link to your work elsewhere. AI engines, like search engines before them, lean on trust and authority.
  • Experiment, measure, refine: Try different formats, test and measure how your content shows up in AI summaries, track brand mentions, and adapt. SEO has always been iterative – this new era is no different.

The opportunity in the chaos

As SEO evolves into GEO – or whatever it may end up being called – this really is the best approach.

There’s no doubt a lot of change is happening. 

But much of it is part of the same gradual evolution we’ve seen before, where clicks declined and Google started answering questions directly.

AI now makes it even easier for customers to find the information they’re looking for. 

They may not read it on your site – at least not initially – but the AI will, and that’s the point.

Another strength we have as SEOs is that change is constant. 

If you’ve been in SEO for any length of time, you’ve lived through Panda, Penguin, Mobilegeddon, BERT, helpful content updates – the list is long (and may cause PTSD for many of us).

The key is to treat this as the next evolution. AI is being integrated into search, and it will likely become the way the masses adopt the technology.

Don’t see this as the death of SEO. 

Instead, view SEO and AI (or GEO/AEO, etc.) as close, contributing partners, and evolve your plan to match the changing landscape.

Your job as a marketer is to feed these tools the information they need to point customers to you and your clients.

This shift will likely mean fewer short-term manipulations and tactical opportunities – but better results for businesses that do the basics well. 

At its core, good SEO/GEO is just good marketing: understanding your customers, meeting their needs, and communicating clearly.

Amid the chaos lies opportunity. For those willing to embrace the challenge, experiment with new tools, and keep going.

That’s what we’ve always done as SEOs, which is why we’re best positioned to embrace this new world.

Dig deeper: SEO at a crossroads: 9 experts on how AI is changing everything

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AI Max in action: What early case studies and a new analysis script reveal

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AI Max testing

Google’s AI Max for Search campaigns is changing how we run search ads. 

Launched in private beta as Search Max, the feature began rolling out globally in late May, with full availability expected by early Q3 2025. 

But will AI Max actually drive incremental growth or simply take credit for conversions your existing setup would have captured anyway? 

This article:

  • Breaks down the key metrics to track in AI Max.
  • Shares early results from travel, fashion, and B2B accounts.
  • Includes a Google Ads script to make analysis faster and easier.

Understanding AI Max

Think of AI Max as Google combining the best parts of Dynamic Search Ads and Performance Max into regular search campaigns. 

It does not replace your keywords. Instead, it works alongside them to find more people who want what you’re selling.

AI Max does three main things.

  • Finding new search terms your keywords might miss, using search term matching.
  • Writing new ad headlines and descriptions that match what people are actually searching for.
  • Sending people to the best page on your website instead of just the one you picked.

The real game changer came in July 2025, when Google began showing AI Max as its own match type in reports. 

Before this, figuring out what AI Max was doing felt like looking into a black box. 

Now, we can finally see the data and make smarter decisions.

Evaluating AI Max: Metrics that matter

When you’re looking at AI Max performance, start with the basics. 

Open your search term tab and look for the Search terms and landing pages from AI Max option. 

This lets you see AI Max results separately from your exact match, phrase match, and broad match keywords.

Compare conversion share and budget share

The first thing to check is how many conversions come from AI Max versus your regular keywords. 

If AI Max is bringing in 30% of your conversions but eating up 60% of your budget, you know something needs attention. 

Look at the cost per conversion, too. 

AI Max might cost more at first, but that’s normal while Google learns what works for your business.

Look beyond cost – focus on conversion rates

Don’t just focus on the cost. Pay attention to conversion rates. 

AI Max often finds people who are ready to buy but use different words than you expected. These new search terms can be gold mines if you spot the patterns.

One of AI Max’s biggest benefits is finding search terms you never thought to target. 

Look at your search terms report and filter for AI Max queries. You’ll probably see some surprises.

Let’s say you sell running shoes and target “best running shoes.” AI Max might show your ads for “comfortable jogging sneakers” or “shoes for morning runs.” 

These are people who want the same thing but use different words. The smart move is to add these high-performing terms to your regular keyword lists.

Identify irrelevant traffic 

If you’re getting clicks from people searching for “cheap shoes” when you sell premium products, add “cheap” as a negative keyword. 

AI Max respects negative keywords, so use them to guide the system toward higher-quality queries.

Dig deeper: Google’s AI Max for Search: What 30 days of testing reveal

Tracking the learning process

Every AI system needs time to learn, and AI Max is no different. 

Plan for a learning phase

The first few weeks often look expensive because Google is still figuring out what works. Don’t panic if your costs jump initially.

Track your performance daily during the first month

As AI Max learns your patterns, you should see costs stabilize and conversion rates improve. If things keep getting worse after three weeks, then it’s time to make changes.

Keep an eye on the types of search terms AI Max finds over time

Early on, you might see lots of random queries. As the system learns, the terms should become more relevant to your business goals.

Get the newsletter search marketers rely on.

See terms.

When things go wrong

The biggest mistake people make is changing too much, too fast. 

AI Max needs data to work properly, and constantly adjusting things prevents the system from learning.

That said, some problems need quick fixes. 

  • If AI Max is spending money on completely irrelevant searches, add negative keywords immediately. 
  • If the AI creates ads that violate your brand guidelines, remove those assets right away.

Watch your overall account performance, not just AI Max numbers. 

Sometimes, AI Max might look expensive on its own, but it actually helps your other campaigns perform better by capturing different types of traffic.

Planning for the future

AI Max is still evolving, and Google keeps adding new features. 

To adapt:

  • Build reporting systems that can grow with these changes. 
  • Set up automated reports for the metrics that matter most to your business.
  • Don’t try to control everything. 

The businesses seeing the best results from AI Max are the ones that:

  • Set clear goals.
  • Provide good data.
  • Let the system do its job. 

Your role shifts from managing keywords to managing strategy.

Start testing AI Max on a small scale if you’re nervous about it. For example:

  • Create one campaign with AI Max enabled and compare it to your existing campaigns.
  • Run an AI Max for Search campaign experiment and let Google evaluate if the experiment is statistically valid. 

Once you see how it works for your specific business, you can decide whether to expand.

Case studies: AI Max in action

These are early results from a limited data set and shouldn’t be viewed as statistically significant. 

I’m sharing them to illustrate what I’ve seen so far – but the sample size is small and the timeframe short. Take these numbers with caution.

Case 1: Tourism and travel

This advertiser already had a solid search setup and was seeing good results. 

Growth, however, was difficult because of heavy competition and the fact that strong keywords were already in play within a modern search structure.

Match type Avg. CPC (€) CVR (%)
AI Max €0.11 1.47%
Broad match €0.09 3.79%
Exact match €0.53 9.00%
Exact match (close variant) €0.22 7.11%
Phrase match €0.16 6.25%
Phrase match (close variant) €0.11 3.27%

AI Max generated additional conversions, but relative to the existing setup the impact was limited. 

The conversion rate was much lower than other match types. 

Because the average CPC was low, there was no cost spike, but performance still lagged.

Broad match – also known for surfacing broader, newer queries – had an even lower CPC (€0.09) and a conversion rate more than twice that of AI Max. 

In this account, AI Max’s contribution was minor.

Search term overlap analysis showed AI Max had a 22.5% overlap rate, meaning 77.5% of queries were new to the campaign. 

That’s a fairly good sign in terms of query discovery.

Case 2: Fashion ecommerce

This account focused on women’s clothing and already had a well-optimized campaign. 

The goal was to expand reach during the competitive holiday season, when exact match keywords became increasingly expensive.

Match type Avg. CPC (€) CVR (%)
AI Max €0.08 2.15%
Broad match €0.12 2.89%
Exact match €0.67 8.45%
Exact match (close variant) €0.28 6.78%
Phrase match €0.19 5.92%
Phrase match (close variant) €0.14 4.11%

AI Max performed well here, delivering the lowest CPC at €0.08 and a respectable 2.15% conversion rate. 

Although conversion rates were lower than exact and phrase match, the cheaper clicks kept cost per acquisition competitive. 

AI Max also captured fashion-related long-tail searches and seasonal queries that the existing keyword set had missed.

Notably, AI Max outperformed broad match with both lower costs and better conversion rates. 

This suggests its ability to better understand product context and user intent – especially important in fashion, where search terminology is diverse.

Search term overlap analysis showed only an 18.7% overlap rate, meaning 81.3% of queries were completely new. 

That level of query discovery was valuable for extending reach in a highly competitive market.

Case 3: B2B SaaS

This account promoted project management software and had a mature strategy focused on high-intent keywords. 

Conversion tracking was strong, measuring both MQLs and SQLs. 

The client wanted to test AI Max for additional lead generation opportunities.

Match type Avg. CPC (€) CVR (%)
AI Max €0.89 0.76%
Broad match €0.72 1.23%
Exact match €1.84 4.67%
Exact match (close variant) €1.22 3.91%
Phrase match €1.05 3.44%
Phrase match (close variant) €0.94 2.88%

In this case, AI Max struggled. Despite a reasonable CPC of €0.89, the conversion rate was just 0.76%. 

That pushed CPA well above the client’s target, making AI Max the worst-performing match type in the account. 

It tended to capture too many informational searches from users not yet ready to convert.

Even broad match, typically associated with lower-intent traffic, outperformed AI Max with a 1.23% conversion rate at a lower CPC. 

The complexity of the B2B buying cycle favored exact and phrase match keywords over AI Max’s broader interpretation.

Search term overlap analysis showed a 31.4% overlap rate, leaving 68.6% of queries as new. 

However, these were mostly low-intent informational searches that didn’t align with SQL goals – underscoring the importance of high-quality conversion tracking when evaluating AI Max.

Wider industry sentiment

Advertiser feedback so far mirrors these mixed results. 

In a recent poll by Adriaan Dekker, more than 50% of respondents reported neutral outcomes from AI Max, while 16% saw good results and 28% reported poor performance.

Tips to analyze AI Max search terms

You can analyze AI Max queries in Google Sheets using a few simple formulas. If your search term report has the term in column A and match type in column B:

  • To check whether a search term appears in both AI Max and another match type:

=IF(AND(COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2;$B:$B;"AI Max")>0;COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2;$B:$B;"<>AI Max")>0);"Overlap";"No Overlap")

  • To count how many match types trigger a given term:

=COUNTIFS($A:$A;A2) can be used to count how many match types trigger on that search term.

  • To measure query length with an n-gram analysis:

=(LEN(A1)-LEN(SUBSTITUTE(A1," ","")))+1

These checks show whether AI Max is surfacing unique queries, overlapping with existing match types, or favoring short-tail vs. long-tail terms.

Because AI Max is still in early stages, it’s hard to draw firm conclusions. 

Performance may improve as the system learns from more data, or remain flat if your setup already covers most transactional queries. 

That’s the question advertisers will answer in the coming months as more tests and learnings emerge.

So far, results can be positive, neutral, or negative. 

In my experience, neutral to negative outcomes are more common – especially in accounts with strong existing setups, where AI Max has fewer opportunities to add value.

A Google Ads script to uncover AI Max insights

To make analyzing AI Max performance easier, I created a Google Ads script that automatically pulls data into Google Sheets for deeper analysis. 

It saves hours of manual work and includes the exact formulas mentioned earlier in this article, so you can immediately spot overlap rates and query patterns without manual setup.

The script creates two tabs in your Sheet:

  • AI Max: Performance Max search term data with headlines, landing pages, and performance metrics.
  • Search term analysis: A full comparison of all match types, including AI Max, with automated formulas.

The analysis covers:

  • Overlap detection between AI Max and other match types.
  • Query length analysis (short-tail vs. long-tail).
  • Match type frequency counts to identify competitive terms.
  • Automatic cost conversion from Google’s micro format into readable currency.

How to use it:

  • Create a new Google Sheet and copy the URL.
  • In Google Ads, go to Tools > Scripts.
  • Paste the script code and update the SHEET_URL variable.
  • Run the script to automatically populate your analysis.

With this setup, you can quickly calculate the same metrics I used in the case studies – like the 22.5% overlap rate in the tourism account or the 81.3% new query discovery in fashion. 

The automated workflow makes it easier to see whether AI Max is surfacing genuine new opportunities or simply redistributing existing traffic.

Read more at Read More

Google AI Mode gets more visual, including inspirational shopping responses

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Google AI Mode is getting more visual by providing a more graphical response to some of your queries, including your shopping search queries. Google can do this by using its new visual version of the query fan-out technique it has used with AI Overviews and AI Mode.

Google AI Mode, for certain queries, particularly those related to shopping, will respond with images and graphics. These are aimed at sparking inspiration, Robby Stein, VP of Product Management at Google Search, told Search Engine Land.

AI Mode will be able to not just understand your query in a text-based manner, but also understand your query visually and respond with both textual and visual responses. It is a new and updated fluid, ongoing conversation in AI Mode that “sparks inspiration,” Google said.

Visual search fan-out technique. Google’s fan out technique is able breaking down your question into subtopics and issuing a multitude of queries simultaneously on your behalf. Now, Google can also do this visually by looking at the image and text query input for query analysis and various image region analysis, including meta data and context around the image. Then Google AI Mode can render a visual grid of responses to your query.

“This means AI Mode can perform a more comprehensive analysis of an image, recognizing subtle details and secondary objects in addition to the primary subjects – and then runs multiple queries in the background. This helps it understand the full visual context and the nuance of your natural language question to deliver highly relevant visual results,” Google wrote.

AI Mode is more visual. Now when you search for some queries in AI Mode, the responses will be much more graphical and visual, right up front. Yes, AI Mode may have responded with images before, but now the images are higher and more prominent in some of the responses.

Plus, you can conduct follow up questions on the visual responses.

“You’ll see rich visuals that match the vibe you’re looking for, and can follow up in whatever way is most natural for you, like asking for more options with dark tones and bold prints. Each image has a link, so you can click out and learn more when something catches your eye. And because the experience is multimodal, you can also start your search by uploading an image or snapping a photo,” Google added.

Shopping in AI Mode. Lilian Rincon, VP Product Management Google Shopping, told us one of the best places for a visual experience is with shopping in Google Search. A more visual AI Mode helps you shop conversationally with fresh shopping data, can lead to a better shopping experience.

With the addition of Google’s Shopping Graph of 50 billion product listings, where 2 billion products are refreshed daily every hour, the responses are not just inspirational but detailed and helpful.

AI Mode for Shopping can not just give you ideas on what to put in your living room but also help you find the perfect article of clothing, in your color, style and fit.

Here is a video of this in action:

More details. This is launching today in Google AI Mode in the US in English. These are free listings, not shopping ads, and currently have no paid model, including no affiliate model. While Google has ads in AI Overviews, Google is only experimenting with ads in AI Mode, and there are no more details on ads right now for this experience.

Agentic experiences, like helping you buy and find what your looking for, is here for some areas now in Search Labs. But Google said they want the final purchase to happen directly on the retailer’s site.

Why we care. A new, more visual and graphical experience in AI Mode, may be a better search experience for some searchers and for some queries. Google is experimenting with a lot of changes to Google Search and is rapidly trying new interfaces and technologies.

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A checklist for effective SEO QA

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ChatGPT Image - SEO QA checklist

Engineering teams usually have a quality assurance (QA) process.

Without it, they risk releasing work that hurts the user experience and creates unforeseen technical issues – including major SEO problems.

That’s where SEO QA comes in. Adding SEO-specific checks to existing QA protocols helps teams catch and fix issues before they go live.

But this step is less common than you’d think. Too often, it’s overlooked.

This article outlines what it takes to build an effective SEO QA discipline and provides a checklist SEOs and QA engineers can use to cover their bases.

Why SEO QA gets overlooked

Unless SEO is fully integrated with engineering, SEO-specific QA often gets overlooked.

As a result, SEOs may not flag problems until a tech audit – or worse, when they show up as organic KPI declines. 

This is especially common when SEO teams sit under marketing instead of product or engineering, since they’re excluded from regular milestones and lifecycle meetings. 

That makes it harder to communicate SEO’s importance, win buy-in, and establish it as part of everyday development.

Having a QA team within engineering is also no longer a given.

In agile environments, some teams prioritize speed over fully clean rollouts.

Others rely on AI tools to automate QA or monitor for technical issues, instead of employing dedicated QA engineers.

In short, there are plenty of reasons many teams lack a well-developed SEO QA practice.

What are the benefits of SEO QA?

For SEOs to be able to proactively find and resolve issues before they go out into the world, they need two things on a regular basis:

  • Opportunities to view upcoming engineering tickets and flag any that may have potential SEO impact. (A great reason for an SEO representative to be a part of sprint planning meetings.)
  • A chance to QA any of the flagged tickets before they hit production.

This has a few key benefits for the business:

  • Minimize the chances of deploying code that hurts SEO.
  • Catch and correct errors that hit production before they register with search engines.
  • Capitalize on SEO opportunities related to engineering work that’s already slotted for development.

The last bullet is just as much of a reason to implement SEO QA as the first two. 

It’s not just about catching bugs, it’s about maximizing value while minimizing resources. 

When SEOs have a chance to see what’s coming up, it allows them to connect the dots between SEO roadmap items and upcoming engineering initiatives to find potential areas of overlap. 

In turn, the business reaps the SEO benefits of work that’s already in motion, rather than spending additional resources to achieve the same goal later. 

Best practices: The 4 Ws of SEO QA

Alright, now that we’ve established why brands need SEO QA, let’s get into the logistics.

Who should perform SEO QA?

Ensure QA is performed by:

  • A technical SEO.
  • Or an engineer equipped with clear criteria shared by an SEO.

What should they check?

Define a checklist of core, critical SEO items that should be a part of QA for any ticket flagged as having potential SEO impact.

  • Refine this checklist on an ongoing basis, tailoring it to the nuances of your web stack, so no one makes the same mistake twice.
  • Automate “always-on” checklist items as much as possible to ease the resource burden over time. 
  • Supplement your checklist with any additional, project-specific SEO considerations outlined in product requirements documentation. 
  • Always check tracking, so no data is lost if GA4 or GTM issues arise.

When should SEO QA happen?

The cadence for SEO QA should mimic the site’s development release cycle and existing engineering QA processes. 

For instance:

  • If your site deploys code on two-week sprints, SEO QA should follow the same cadence.
  • After each release, run a crawl with JavaScript enabled.
  • Sites on platforms like Shopify or WordPress may release – and QA – less often.

Where should QA happen?

Test in staging before anything goes to production. 

Some elements might need to be tested in production if they affect indexing or crawlability of content. 

  • Example: The staging site might have the robots.txt set to disallow all URLs, since you don’t want staging to get indexed.

Implement monitoring tools as a safeguard that helps catch any errors that somehow make it to production.

  • Google Search Console: Make sure your account is set up, notifications are coming through, and check for issues weekly. 
  • Third-party crawlers: Set up a weekly crawl in any SEO tool, such as Semrush, Ahrefs, or Sitebulb.
  • Dedicated SEO monitoring toolsets: If you have the budget, certain third-party tools provide real-time auditing and monitoring. 

Building an SEO QA checklist

When SEO requests development work, they write the acceptance criteria in the product requirements and review the work before release.

But not all tickets that affect SEO go through that process, which makes an SEO QA checklist essential.

The checklist can be used by any SEO or QA engineer on any release flagged for SEO impact.

It’s a comprehensive list of core items, organized by category, to ensure issues don’t reach production.

Issue categories for SEO QA

Crawling

For pages to get indexed, search engines need to access URLs, crawl the content, and use it as context. 

That’s pretty fundamental to SEO, and a big reason we start here.

Note: Crawl issues often impact large swaths of the site because changes can occur across an entire page template or subfolder.

Crawling and indexing
  • Robots.txt: New or removed disallows that might impact URLs you do or don’t want crawled.
    • Are crawlers blocked from the site?
    • Are there any subfolders or parameters blocked that shouldn’t be? 
    • Are images or resources like JavaScript blocked?
  • Meta robots tags: Unintended changes from index to noindex, standard to nofollow, or vice versa.
  • Canonical tags: Were canonical URLs added, removed, or changed in ways that will cause issues?
    • For example:
      • Did Page 2+ of paginated listing pages canonicalize back to Page 1? 
      • Are filtered URLs properly canonicalized based on whether you want them indexed?
  • HTTP status codes: 3{xx} (redirect), 4{xx} (not available), or 5{xx} (server) errors resulting from changes
  • URL path: Changes to existing URLs that were not previously discussed with the SEO team.
  • Redirects: Are new redirects working properly, or did something break existing redirects?
  • Internal links: Are they coded using an <a href> tag, so crawlers can identify them?

Content changes

Are all of the following still available and correct?

Content changes
  • Navigation and footer.
  • Breadcrumbs.
  • SEO titles.
  • Meta descriptions.
  • Headings and other on-page copy.
  • Internal and external links.
  • Images, videos, and other media.
  • Related and recommended items widget.
  • User-generated content (especially reviews).
  • E-E-A-T signals, including author bylines and bios.
  • Hreflang and internationalization features.
  • Structured data: Is it crawlable, parsable, accurate, and reflecting visible information on the page? (Note: Google’s Schema Markup Testing Tool won’t work on staging URLs since crawlers are (hopefully!) blocked.)

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See terms.

JavaScript and CSS

You can see CSS issues because they visually impact the page. 

For JavaScript issues, you’ll need tools to understand whether crawlers can access critical content. 

Unless you’re already running a sitewide crawl with JavaScript enabled, test one or two pages from the affected template (i.e., blog, listing, product detail) using a tool like Rendering Difference Engine.

JavaScript and CSS
  • Page elements applicable to the template are available and functioning as intended, including pop-outs, filtering, sort function, and pagination.
  • Any page content that loads after a user interaction is available in HTML that search engines can crawl.
  • If the site serves source HTML, are key elements of the page different in the rendered HTML, such as:
    • Meta robots.
    • Canonicals.
    • Titles.
    • Meta descriptions.
    • Page copy.
    • Internal links.
    • External links.

Mobile

Google crawls mobile-first. So if you’re only checking on desktop, you’re skipping SEO QA.

Mobile
  • Does it look and function as it should? 
  • Are there any accessibility issues on a smaller screen? 
  • Is there consistency between the desktop and mobile versions of the site?

Tracking

If it’s not part of QA, broken tracking is a recipe for panic. 

The team will not find the issue until they see KPIs like organic traffic decline. 

Even worse, until it’s fixed, that’s historical data that you won’t get back. 

Tracking

Before launch on staging, check if:

  • All pages and templates have tracking code available.

The day after launch, verify that:

  • Internal analytics platform doesn’t show significant declines in KPIs or discrepancies with external reporting tools (e.g., GSC).

Optional: A/B testing

Not all A/B testing tools distinguish the control and variant for crawlers. 

They’re usually served one or the other version of the page randomly, which means your variant could impact SEO.

A/B testing
  • Aside from the variable, the pages should be identical to a crawler.

Refine over time

With every round of QA, engineers and SEOs will learn nuances and find new connections. 

You’ll discover that certain types of updates are more likely to cause certain types of SEO issues, certain plugins are linked to certain types of problems, etc.

Your SEO QA checklist is a living, breathing document and a place to document all of this to make SEO QA more effective – and avoid repeating mistakes – no matter who’s carrying it out. 

Start with the list below and make it your own over time.

SEO QA checklist

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How to Build High Quality Backlinks (2025)

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Wondering why your site’s not ranking or showing up in large language model (LLM) results, even though your content is solid?

The answer might be backlinks. Specifically, the lack of high-quality ones.

Tools like ChatGPT and Google’s AI Overviews are starting to summarize answers without always linking to a source. That means fewer clicks, more brand mentions, and a big shift in how SEOs need to think about authority.

It’s important to remember, though, quality backlinks are still one of the strongest signals of trust and relevance even as search evolves. They play a key role in how Google evaluates which brands earn visibility and can increase the chances of a source being cited or surfaced in AI-generated answers.

If you want to show up in AI Overviews, earn brand mentions, or rank higher in organic search, you need a solid backlink strategy: one that’s built on quality, not shortcuts.

Let’s break down what that looks like in 2025, and exactly how to do it.

Key Takeaways

  • High-quality backlinks still matter, even in an AI-driven search world.
  • One link from a trusted, relevant source beats 100 weak ones.
  • Quantity and quality both have a place in your strategy, but quality should lead.
  • You can earn strong links through content, partnerships, and digital PR.
  • Smart SEO means earning links by adding value, not tricking Google.

Why Building Backlinks Is Important

Backlinks are votes of confidence for your site. Each tells Google, “Hey, this content’s worth checking out!”

Sites with more (and better) backlinks tend to rank higher. In fact, a study from last year noted that over 96% of websites ranking in Google’s top 10 positions had more than 1,000 backlinks from unique domains.

But—and this is a big one—not all backlinks are created equal.

Low-quality links from shady sites can hurt your content more than help. What you want are editorial, relevant, and trusted backlinks that align with your content and brand. These quality links can:

With that in mind, how do you know the difference between a high-quality backlink and a poor one? 

What Makes A Quality Backlink?

High-quality backlinks check three boxes:

  1. Relevance: The linking site is topically related to yours. Backlinks from respected tech blogs to your AI tool are good as gold.
  2. Authority: The linking domain has strong credibility and trust. Think of industry publications, .edu sites, or even top-ranking competitors.
  3. Natural placement: You’ve earned this link editorially. No one paid for it or jammed it into a comment thread.

As Alex Horowitz, Digital PR Specialist at NP Digital, explains: “A good backlink comes from a site with solid domain authority (DA 35+), consistent organic traffic of at least 1,000 visitors a month, and content that’s trustworthy and relevant to the client. A poor backlink opportunity usually is on sites with little to no traffic, low authority, or content that feels spammy or off-topic. If the link won’t add value for readers or align naturally with the brand, it’s likely not worth pursuing.”

There are other bonus factors to consider, too. Keyword-rich anchor text, used sparingly, can help. So does placement high in the page’s content. The signals are even better if the page linking to you has strong traffic or links.

Getting these links takes work, but the payoff lasts for a long time.

The Quality vs Quantity Backlink Debate

How many backlinks do you need?  This is a common question, and the answer is every SEO’s favorite:

“It depends.”

Do you need hundreds of backlinks? Not really.

Would you like to earn hundreds of great backlinks? Absolutely.

Quality and quantity both matter, but quality always wins. Quantity helps build a diverse link profile, especially from mid-tier, niche, or enthusiast sites. Quality delivers the real authority, trust, and rankings boost.

The problem is when people and marketers chase quantity for the sake of it by buying links, trading links, or spamming blog comments. That behavior isn’t just unsustainable, it’s unwelcome. It’ll tank your reputation among those sites you want cachet from and won’t help your rankings long-term.

Tips to Build Quality Backlinks

We know backlinks matter. We know good backlinks matter. How do we get them?

Never fear. These 14 tried-and-true strategies can help you earn high-quality backlinks in 2025 and beyond.

1. Emphasize What Benefits the Site Gets

Asking specific sites to link to you can work, but it requires being strategic. When reaching out, make it about them, not you. Instead of asking, “Can you link to my blog post?” you might try a message like, 

“Your readers might find this guide helpful. It includes a breakdown that expands on your section about [topic].”

Show them the value their audience will get. If it plugs into content already performing well for them, even better.

2. Write Relevant and Competitive Content

People don’t link to average content. They link to the best. That means standing out among the crowded pack. What does that look like?

  • Go deep. Cover the topic more thoroughly than your competitors.
  • Add visuals, statistics, and original research.
  • Include expert quotes or insights.
  • Match search intent. Don’t write a blog post when searchers want a product comparison.

No matter what you create, ensure your content reflects E-E-A-T: experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.

You should be able to find several ways to make your content stand apart from the existing results, whether that’s creating a more in-depth and actionable article or citing research no one else has. 

That’s the exact approach my digital marketing agency used to get 20 top-tier media links like CNBC and Retail Wire for one of our clients in the personal finance industry. 

We created a data-driven asset that resonated with a large audience and was different from anything else out there. This allowed us to pitch to dozens of relevant media outlets that were more than happy to give us a link in return for a good story.

A personal finance case study from NP Digital.

3. Prove Your Site Is Legitimate

Getting links is a lot easier if your website positions you as a professional, trustworthy, and legitimate organization.

There are several elements that signify trust, and I recommend including as many of them as possible:

  • HTTPS certification (as well as other certificates)
  • A branded domain
  • High-quality web design
  • Links to your social profiles
  • Contact information, including the address of your company 
  • E-E-A-T signals like an about page, editorial standards, and author bios.

You can see I’ve got almost all of these elements in place in my website’s footer:

The Neil Patel website footer.

4. Make Your Pitches Short

Want to increase the response rate of your pitches? Practice brevity to make it easy for recipients to understand your pitch. 

Take a look at an example of a pitch:

An example of a backlink pitch.

There are many single lines, and it’s easy to find and click on the links. The email is to the point, and there’s no question what it’s about.

Here’s my advice for making your pitches concise and clear:

  • Keep paragraphs to two sentences or fewer
  • Write no more than five sentences
  • Use bullet points and bold font to make it easy for readers to spot the key points
  • State what you are asking for clearly 

5. Leverage Digital PR

Digital PR (DPR) may initially feel like a focus on building a personal brand, but that’s not the real focus. Instead, consider creating newsworthy stories for journalists, bloggers, and industry outlets to cover and link to.

This matters because PR campaigns can often land backlinks from the highest-authority sites; places like Forbes, TechCrunch, or industry trade publications are significant wins. Those links carry way more weight than dozens of smaller blogs.

Here’s how to use it:

  • Data-driven stories: Package up survey results or industry insights. Journalists love citing fresh numbers.
  • Expert commentary: Offer quick takes on trending news. Tools like HARO or Qwoted connect you with reporters in real time.
  • Unique hooks: Tie your brand to bigger conversations. For example, a fintech startup might publish a “State of Student Debt in 2025” report.

High-quality backlinks come when your story provides genuine value to readers and publishers. A strong DPR campaign earns more than mentions. You get citations that boost rankings.

6. Do an Original Study

Original research is often a backlink magnet. Why? Because everyone needs data to support their content, and they’d rather cite your study than come up with their own.

You don’t need to be a research firm to pull this off, though. Here’s how:

  • Run a survey with your customers or audience.
  • Use public datasets and analyze them in a new way.
  • Combine anonymized data from your own tools (if applicable).

For example, look at my agency’s route when building links for a logistics client. We used multiple, varying datasets to see how different roadside restaurants in America compared to one another for truck drivers and roadtrippers.

The trick is to tell a compelling story with your data, the kind journalists will want to write about. In our case, every driver wants to know the best place to stop, and the geo-specific nature of the report meant local news outlets could report on truck stops in their state. 

As a result, we garnered over 1,400 shares, likes, and comments across social media, a massive amount for such a niche industry. We also won a host of new rankings like “best truck stop food”.

A logistics case study from NP Digital.

7. Create an Infographic or Original Image

Infographics aren’t dead. They’re just evolved. In 2025, they’re bite-sized knowledge hubs that provide real value to readers.

These visuals are often easier to share, embed, and link to than walls of text. A great infographic travels across social media and blogs and can even get picked up by news outlets.

Here’s how to do it right:

  • Use tools like Canva or Venngage to create professional designs.
  • Focus on one core statistic, process, or concept. Don’t cram everything in.
  • Include embed codes so other sites can easily share and link back.

Look at this infographic example from Venngage that talks about the psychological impact of font choices on audiences. It’s a pretty robust dive into the typography of several popular Netflix shows and how title choices can play with mood and genre:

A Netflix infographic on font psychology.

Source: Venngage

8. Write Testimonials for Other Websites

This one’s simple, but it works. Companies love showcasing happy customers. When they feature your testimonial on their site, they usually link back to you. Here’s how to make it happen:

  • Reach out to SaaS tools, agencies, or vendors you use.
  • Offer a detailed testimonial that highlights specific results.
  • Make sure to include your full name, role, and website.

See examples below from MarketHire:

Testimonials from MarketHire.

These links aren’t just filler. They come from trusted, established brands that want to show off real customer success. That credibility makes them high-value backlinks, and all you did was share your experience.

9. Link Externally and Then Reach Out

Linking out to other sites doesn’t mean you’re giving away visibility. The trick is to follow through. Here’s how this works:

  1. Write a blog post and naturally link to a relevant site, tool, or expert.
  2. Reach out to the site or personality and tell them they’ve been included.
  3. Start a conversation. Eventually, they may return the favor with a backlink.

You can strengthen this strategy with your own internal linking. Google sees that your page is well-connected both internally and externally, boosting your crawlability and authority.

This is not an overnight backlink hack. Instead, it’s a trust-building move that snowballs into collaborations, mentions, and citations from quality sites.

10. Comment on Other Relevant Blog and Social Posts

Comments on blogs and social media posts are a great way to build relationships with people in your industry and occasionally snag yourself a backlink.

But before you start passionately commenting on posts and throwing out backlinks everywhere, let me explain something.

You might occasionally have an opportunity to include a backlink in your comment. However, the comment should primarily focus on building a mutual relationship with the author:

  • If you don’t know what to say, make the author’s day.
  • If you want to share a bit more, you can add some meaningful insight into the topic at hand.
  • If you want to craft a comment that merits a response from the author and helps build the relationship, add your own commentary to the discussion.

Here’s an example from Leanne Wong on how a comment can start a conversation that might lead to a backlink:

A comment conversation from Leanne Wong that could lead to a backlink.

Source: Leanne Wong

Whatever you do, add value with your comment. The more value you can add, the stronger your relationship will become— and that’s a recipe for a future backlink if ever I saw one.

11. Align Social Signals

If you’re serious about building out your link building strategy and rising through the ranks, then aligning social signals is a must.

Social signals communicate to search engines how active and updated your website is. The more active your website, the better your rankings. You’ll notice I link to all of my social profiles in the footer of this website and keep them all updated:

Neil Patel's social symbols in the footer.

You may not have the time to leverage every single social platform. In that case, choose one or two that you can keep up with, and post at least once a day on the platforms you’ve chosen.

Neil Patel's Instagram page.

Check that all of the information on your social profiles matches the information on your website. The company name, address, and phone number need to be aligned to communicate to search engines that your website is up to date.

This is a simple but effective way to build your rankings with very little extra work.

12. Find What’s Newsworthy

Timing is everything. If you can tie your content to breaking stories or trends, you can increase your odds of earning backlinks from journalists and bloggers covering it. Seek out opportunities in the following spots:

Picture this: Google rolls out a major algorithm update, and an SEO agency could publish a quick analysis within 24 hours. Journalists writing about the update may cite that content, earning authoritative backlinks.

Prefer a real life example?

My agency used this tactic to get backlinks from sites like The New York Times and The Atlantic for our client in the entertainment industry. Competitor research told us that a rival website had a lot of high authority backlinks to a page where fans could watch a trending television show from our client. But the link sent users to a broken page. 

An entertainment case study from NP Digital.

Our strategy was simple. We contacted every linking publisher and asked them to swap the broken link for our client’s, letting fans actually watch the show.

13. Find Brand Mentions

People may already be talking about your brand but not linking to it. That’s low-hanging fruit.

Use tools like Mention, BuzzSumo, or Ahrefs Alerts to track unlinked mentions. Then reach out:

“Hey [Name], thanks for mentioning us in your piece on [Topic]. Would you mind adding a link so readers can easily find the resource?”

These links are easy wins. The writer already trusts you enough to mention your brand—now you’re just helping readers (and your SEO) with a clickable source.

14. Look At Competitor Backlink Profiles

Your competitors’ backlinks are a roadmap for your strategy. If it’s working for them, it could work for you. But how do you start and what should you look for?

  • Use Ubersuggest, Ahrefs, or Semrush to pull competitor backlink reports.
  • Examine their homepage links, most-linked blogs, and referral domains.
  • Identify patterns: Are they earning links from industry directories? Guest posts? Data-driven reports?

Once you know what they’re doing, ask the big question:

Can I create something better?

If your competitor earned a link for “2024 Social media Trends,” why not publish a deeper “2025 Social media Playbook?” Provide more value. Pitch it to the same sites.

Competitor backlinks are more than insights. Use them as valuable opportunities for growth and wins.

Writing the Pitch to Get Your Backlink

Your content or idea may be strong, but the pitch determines whether you actually earn that backlink.

Today’s editors, journalists, and site owners are bombarded with outreach. Generic templates don’t cut it. A valuable pitch is:

  • Short and personal: Under 100 words, customized for the recipient.
  • Value-driven: Show how your resource improves their article or helps their readers.
  • Clear: Include the exact link and context—don’t make them dig.
  • Credible: Reference your expertise, unique data, or why you’re a trusted source.
  • Timely: Tie your pitch to something current—like a trending topic or recent update.

Here’s an example of a pitch that works in 2025:

Hi [Name], I really enjoyed your recent piece on [Topic]. I noticed you mentioned [related stat], and we just released a new study with fresh data on this in 2025. I thought it might add value for your readers. Here’s the link: [URL]. Would you consider including it?

This kind of outreach blends relevance, authority, and timeliness: the same qualities that make backlinks valuable in the first place.

FAQs

How to get quality backlinks?

Use digital PR, original studies, expert content, and smart outreach strategies. Focus on building real relationships and offering value, not tricks.

How many high quality backlinks do I need?

For those in competitive spaces like finance or software, more high-quality backlinks will help you stand out. But it’s not just about the overall total. A good benchmark for many key pages is 20-30 strong backlinks. This number can make a real difference. Even five to 10 backlinks from top-tier domains can beat out hundreds from low-authority sources.

What is a high quality backlink?

It’s a link from a trusted, authoritative site relevant to your content and placed editorially.

How can I leverage social media to build backlinks?

Promote your content, join conversations, and tag influencers. When people see and share your content, backlinks tend to follow.

Is it okay to pay for backlinks?

Technically, it’s against Google’s guidelines. Tread carefully and focus on sponsored content, not spammy link buys.

How do I approach website owners to request backlinks ethically?

Be personal, brief, and helpful. Show them why linking to your resource benefits their readers.

How can I identify websites that are relevant and authoritative for link building?

Look for sites in your niche with real traffic, strong content, and domain authority (DA). Tools like Ubersuggest or Ahrefs help.

Conclusion on How to Get Backlinks

If you focus on creating content worth linking to and getting it in front of the right people, you’ll earn links that matter. These links improve rankings, boost traffic, and build long-term authority.

Want help building your backlink strategy? Check out how NP Digital can support your SEO goals. And if you’re new to this, view your backlinks today with our free backlink checker.

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