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PPC budgeting in 2025: When to adjust, scale, and optimize with data

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PPC budgeting in 2025- When to adjust, scale, and optimize with data

Budgeting for paid ad campaigns has long been a static process – set a monthly budget, monitor spending, and adjust incrementally as needed. 

This method works for industries with stable demand and predictable conversion rates but falls short in dynamic, competitive markets.

Still, static budgets aren’t obsolete. In industries with long sales cycles, consistent conversion trends, or strict financial planning – like B2B SaaS and healthcare – planned budgets remain essential.

The key isn’t choosing between static and dynamic budgeting; it’s knowing when and how to adjust PPC spend using data-driven signals.

The role of Smart Bidding and Performance Max in budgeting

Automation has changed our budgeting strategies, but it hasn’t eliminated the need for human oversight. 

While Google’s Smart Bidding and Performance Max (PMax) campaigns help optimize performance, they do not fully control budget allocation the way some advertisers may assume.

Smart Bidding: What it does (and doesn’t do) for budgeting

Smart Bidding (i.e., Target ROAS, Target CPA, Maximize Conversions, and Maximize Conversion Value) uses real-time auction signals to adjust bids but does not shift budgets between campaigns. 

If a campaign has an insufficient budget, smart bidding won’t automatically pull spend from another campaign; this still requires manual adjustments or automated budget rules.

To overcome the budget allocation limitations of Smart Bidding, use:

  • Portfolio bidding strategies: Setting bid strategies at the campaign level lets you use a common bidding approach (e.g., Target ROAS or Target CPA) across multiple campaigns. This enables more efficient spending across campaigns with similar goals without manual adjustments.
  • Shared budgets: Assigning a single budget across multiple campaigns ensures high-performing campaigns receive adequate funding while preventing overspending on lower-performing ones.

Dig deeper: How each Google Ads bid strategy influences campaign success

Performance Max: A black box for budget allocation?

PMax automates asset and bid optimization across multiple Google properties (Search, Display, YouTube, Discovery, etc.), but you don’t control which channel yorur budget goes to. 

Google’s algorithm decides how much to allocate to each network, which can sometimes result in excessive spend on lower-performing placements like Display rather than Search.

Instead of relying solely on PMax, run separate Search campaigns alongside it to ensure an adequate budget is allocated to high-intent traffic.

Dig deeper: How to make search and PMax campaigns complement each other

Balancing automation and control: Avoid these PPC budget pitfalls

While automation streamlines bidding, it can also lead to costly mistakes. 

Watch out for these common budget-wasting pitfalls and learn to stay in control.

Overspending on low-value traffic

Smart Bidding sometimes aggressively increases bids to meet a Target ROAS or Target CPA, which can inflate CPCs without increasing conversion volume.

Solution

  • Set bid caps when using Maximize Conversion Value to prevent excessive CPC increases.
  • Monitor search terms to ensure increased bids aren’t capturing low-intent queries.

Advanced tip

When setting a tCPA or tROAS, allow a 10-20% margin for flexibility to help Google’s algorithm optimize effectively.

For example, if your ideal tCPA is $100, setting it to $115 gives Google room to secure conversions that may exceed your target while still delivering strong performance. 

Since tCPA operates as an average, not every lead will cost the same amount.

Once you are consistently hitting your target, gradually lower the tCPA (or raise the tROAS) to improve budget efficiency without restricting conversions.

Underfunding efficient campaigns

If a campaign has a long conversion delay (i.e., B2B lead gen), Smart Bidding may incorrectly shift the budget elsewhere before enough data accumulates.

Solution

  • Extend conversion windows in Smart Bidding settings. The default is 30 days, but advertisers can adjust the window from one day up to 90 days. 
  • Manually monitor lagging conversions and adjust budgets proactively.

Lack of budget control in PMax campaigns

Performance Max doesn’t allow advertisers to set separate budgets for Search, YouTube, and Display. 

As a result, Google may (advertiser sentiment is that they do) favor low-cost clicks from Display rather than higher-intent Search traffic.

Solution

  • Run branded and high-intent non-branded Search campaigns separately to control budget spend on direct-response traffic.
  • Use brand exclusions in PMax to prevent Google from serving brand search queries within PMax, ensuring that branded traffic remains in the dedicated Search campaign.
  • Apply negative keywords via account-level negatives. While PMax doesn’t allow campaign-level negatives, account-level negative keyword lists can help block irrelevant or redundant queries. The maximum number of negative keywords allowed to be applied is 100. Google has stated that it created this limit because PMax isn’t meant to be a heavily restricted campaign type.
  • By monitoring your search impression share, you can identify when branded queries are slipping into PMax instead of the dedicated Search campaign. This will allow you to adjust bid strategies and audience signals accordingly. 
  • Use audience exclusions in PMax to prevent excessive Display spend on irrelevant audiences.

Advanced tip

Tools like Optmyzr can help advertisers determine how their budget is allocated in PMax with the PMax Channel Distribution feature. 

Although we may not have much control over the allocation, we can at least be aware of it. 

Dig deeper: How to manage a paid media budget: Allocation, risk and scaling

How to use first-party data to improve budget allocation

An underutilized strategy for improving budgeting is leveraging first-party data to allocate spend toward high-value audiences. 

As privacy restrictions tighten and tracking capabilities decline, it’s important to shift your focus from broad automated bidding to first-party audience targeting.

Use customer match to prioritize high-value audiences

Instead of spending equally across all users, advertisers can upload Customer Match lists (based on past purchasers, high-LTV customers, or CRM data) and adjust budgets accordingly.

Example

  • If historical data shows that repeat customers generate a higher ROAS than new users, more budget should be allocated to remarketing campaigns targeting Customer Match audiences.

Advanced tip

To maximize campaign efficiency, consider using value-based bidding (VBB) to ensure your budget prioritizes high-value conversions rather than just the volume of leads. 

By assigning different conversion values based on customer lifetime value (LTV), using Customer Match, GA4 insights, or CRM data, you can direct more spending toward audiences that generate the highest long-term revenue.

Changes to customer match lists

Google recently introduced two key updates to Customer Match lists that will impact how advertisers manage audience data.

To stay compliant and maximize audience targeting, be sure to regularly refresh your lists and align your data collection with Google’s updated policies.

Apply GA4 data for smarter budget scaling

Google Analytics 4 (GA4) provides insights into conversion paths, high-value audience segments, and multi-channel attribution. 

Instead of relying solely on Google Ads conversion tracking, use GA4 to determine which audience segments should receive higher budgets.

Best practice

  • Create custom lists/audiences around users with high engagement signals (repeat visits, add-to-cart actions, lead form interactions) and allocate more budget toward these users.
  • Create custom lists/audiences around low-intent users who bounce after viewing one page. To reduce wasted ad spend, decrease your bids or exclude them.

Dig deeper: How to leverage Google Analytics 4 and Google Ads for better audience targeting

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Budget scaling strategies: When and how to increase PPC spend

Scaling your PPC campaigns requires a structured, gradual approach. 

Increasing budgets too aggressively can cause Smart Bidding to overcompensate, leading to inefficient scaling and missed revenue opportunities.

Incremental budget scaling

Instead of doubling your budget overnight, it is better to gradually increase it by 10-20% daily. 

This gives Smart Bidding algorithms time to adjust without overspending or wasting budget.

This will also allow us better control as we can monitor performance changes due to budget shifts more closely.

Example

  • If a campaign is hitting its conversion goals consistently, increase the budget by 15% per week while monitoring conversion trends.

Cross-campaign budget reallocation

Rather than increasing spend across the board, shift budget strategically between:

  • Branded campaigns (lower-funnel, high-converting).
  • Non-branded search campaigns (high-growth potential).
  • Remarketing campaigns (high-value repeat customers).

Dayparting for more efficient spend

Instead of distributing the budget equally across all hours, allocate more to high-converting time periods.

Example

  • If the lead volume is highest between 8 a.m. and 2 p.m., increase bids and budget during these hours.
  • If your business hours are from 12 p.m. to 10 p.m., lower your bids during the hours you aren’t operating to prevent unnecessary ad expenses.

Industry-specific budgeting approaches

As we all know, no two industries are the same, so the approach to budgeting should also be different. Here’s how different business models should think about budget allocation:

B2B lead generation

Budgeting for B2B lead generation requires a long-term view. 

Unlike ecommerce, where purchases can happen quickly, B2B sales cycles can range from a week to over a year, depending on the contract size and decision-making process. 

As such, budget pacing should be planned over months. Don’t make frequent (i.e., daily or weekly) adjustments that could cause instability in the account. 

Because the cycle is longer, conversions often take some time to materialize, so conversion delays should be considered when evaluating Smart Bidding performance. 

If budgets are adjusted too soon based on incomplete data, campaigns may be underfunded before the true impact of conversions is realized.

Dig deeper: Paid search for lead gen: Tips for new accounts with limited budgets

Ecommerce

Seasonality plays a large role in budgeting decisions for ecommerce brands. 

Aggressively increase budgets ahead of major sales events, like Black Friday, Cyber Monday, and holiday shopping, to capitalize on higher purchase intent. 

Reacting to performance mid-season will likely result in missed opportunities if the budget is exhausted too early. 

Also, rather than spreading spend evenly across all potential buyers, prioritize high-LTV customers using Customer Match lists and past purchase data. 

This ensures that ad spend is directed toward audiences likely to generate repeat purchases and higher average order values (AOVs).

Dig deeper: Lead gen vs. ecommerce: How to tailor your PPC strategies for success

Local businesses

Budget allocation for local businesses should be narrowly geo-targeted. 

Instead of distributing spend evenly across an entire service area (although you should have some presence in the area), analyze past geographic conversion data to determine which locations typically generate the highest return. 

The budget should then be allocated accordingly, ensuring that high-performing areas receive the majority of ad spend.

Another important factor is setting up call tracking. 

Since many conversions happen over the phone rather than through online forms, integrate call-tracking data to identify which campaigns generate high-quality leads. 

By analyzing call duration, lead quality, and customer inquiries, you can refine budget allocation to optimize for calls that convert into sales or appointments.

Dig deeper: 9 essential geotargeting tactics for Google Ads

Each industry requires a different budgeting approach tailored to its sales cycles, customer behavior, and conversion patterns. 

Understanding these nuances ensures that your PPC budgets are allocated strategically for maximum impact, whether it’s long-term pacing for B2B, seasonal surges for ecommerce, or localized targeting for service-based businesses.

A smarter approach to budgeting

Budgeting for your PPC campaigns doesn’t involve choosing between static and dynamic models; it involves strategically using both.

  • Smart Bidding and PMax improve efficiency but require human oversight.
  • First-party data should play a bigger role in spend allocation.
  • Budget scaling should be incremental and structured.
  • Industry-specific needs should dictate budget pacing strategies.

The best budgets are adaptable, data-driven, and aligned with long-term profitability rather than short-term spend fluctuations. 

Those who master this approach will gain a competitive advantage in an increasingly automated advertising landscape.

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How to Improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in Under an Hour

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Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) is one of Google’s three Core Web Vitals.

Like the other two (Cumulative Layout Shift and Interaction to Next Paint), it’s not exactly clear what it means.

Lots of tools can show your LCP score and outline ways to improve it. But their tips are often generic, and lack the detail you need to actually take action.

So, in this guide I’ll walk you through actionable steps to improve your LCP. I’ll separate them by:

  • Their potential impact
  • The effort required to make the fix
  • Which specific aspect of your LCP score they help with

But first, let’s talk about what LCP actually means for your website (jump to this part for the fixes).

What Does Largest Contentful Paint Even Mean?

Largest Contentful Paint measures how long it takes for the main content of your webpage to appear on your user’s screen—whether that’s a hero image, heading, or block of text.

It’s not the most intuitive phrase, so let’s break it down word by word:

  • Largest: The biggest piece of visible content on the screen. This could be a large image, a big headline, or any major element that stands out.
  • Contentful: It’s something that has actual content—like text or an image—and isn’t just a background or frame.
  • Paint: This refers to how your browser “draws” (or renders) that element on your screen.

Largest Contentful Paint

For example, imagine clicking a link to read a news article.

The page might load various elements quickly, like the header menu at the top and placeholders for ads.

But if the article text takes five seconds to show up, that’s a poor experience. That delay is what LCP measures.

When you think about LCP, think about your visitors. It’s the difference between someone seeing your main product image or headline right away versus waiting and possibly leaving.

A faster LCP generally means a better user experience. And a better experience means happier visitors who trust your site and want to hang around (and potentially buy from you).

Further reading: For more on how loading speed can affect your website experience and optimization, check out our full guide to page speed and SEO.

What Is a Good LCP Score?

Google provides three scoring ranges for LCP:

  • Good: 2.5 seconds or faster
  • Needs Improvement: 2.5 to 4 seconds
  • Poor: Longer than 4 seconds

Google's largest contentful paint guidelines

These benchmarks serve as useful guidelines, but your users’ actual experience matters most.

A visually rich photography portfolio might take longer to load but still satisfy visitors. Meanwhile, a simple text-based article that loads in three seconds might frustrate users who
expect instant access.

So, focus on your audience’s expectations and behavior. Check your analytics to see if slower LCP correlates with higher bounce rates or lower conversion rates.

These numbers tell you more about your site’s real performance than any benchmark can.

If your conversion rate is 10x the industry average, it likely won’t make a massive dent in your bottom line if you improve your LCP score.

But if people aren’t staying long on your important pages, improving your LCP score could help boost your site’s performance. This, in turn, can lead to better results for your business.

How to Measure Your LCP Score

There are lots of tools you can use to measure your LCP. But you don’t want to just get your score.

You also want to learn these two things:

  • What your LCP element is
  • Which stage of your LCP is longest

Finding these two pieces of information is key for prioritizing which methods you should use to improve your LCP.

For example, you could spend hours minifying your code, inlining your CSS, and deferring JavaScript. But it won’t make much of a difference if your LCP element is a hero image you just

haven’t optimized yet.

As for the stages:

LCP is made up of four stages:

  1. Time to First Byte (TTFB)
  2. Resource load delay
  3. Resource load time
  4. Element render delay

Each stage is affected by different factors (and methods of optimization). So, if you can identify which stages of your LCP are taking the longest, you can prioritize your fixes accordingly.

Here are two ways to find this information.

Note: With many tools, you’ll get different LCP scores depending on whether you check the mobile or desktop version of your site. Optimizing for both helps improve your experience for all users.

Google PageSpeed Insights

Google’s PageSpeed Insights (PSI) is a popular choice if you want a simple, web-based report.

Just plug in your URL, and you’ll get a quick overview of your Core Web Vitals, including LCP.

Pagespeed Insights – Backlinko LCP

PSI is great if you’re not a big fan of digging around in complex dashboards. It gives you clear visuals and actionable tips without much fuss.

It also has a handy diagnostics section which tells you some of the main ways you can reduce your score. Just make sure you select the “LCP” option next to “Show audits relevant to.”

Pagespeed Insights – LCP Audits

Click the “Largest Contentful Paint element” option to see which element on that page is the LCP element.

Pagespeed Insights – LCP Element

It also shows you the breakdown (as a percentage) of each stage of your LCP. From the example above, you can see the vast majority (88%) of our LCP time comes from the render delay stage.

Knowing this lets us focus our efforts on the methods in the next section that specifically help reduce that stage of the LCP score.

Chrome DevTools

Chrome’s DevTools can give you detailed, real-time feedback on various aspects of your page’s performance.

It’s especially useful for testing changes on the fly, but it might feel a bit overwhelming if you’re completely new to web development.

Access it in Chrome on any webpage by right clicking and selecting “Inspect.”

Backlinko post – Inspect

In the interface that appears, head to the “Performance” tab.

(You can select the three dots next to the cog icon and change where the dock goes—I find horizontal is best for analyzing LCP.)

This view shows your LCP score. If you hover over the “LCP element” underneath the score, you’ll see which part of the content is the largest contentful element.

Chrome – Performance LCP – By phase

Then, get a breakdown of the LCP stages by clicking the “Record and reload” button. This will run the performance checks again on the page, and you’ll see more information along with a
waterfall chart.

Ignore that for now, and instead click the “LCP by phase” drop-down. This breaks the LCP down into its four constituent parts, showing the actual time for each stage along with a percentage.

Chrome – Performance LCP – By phase

As before, you can use this information to prioritize your optimization efforts and more effectively improve your LCP.

How to Improve Your LCP

You can improve your LCP in several ways, and some methods will help you more than others.

The table below sorts the methods by impact, also indicating the effort level each one requires and which stage of your LCP it’ll help reduce.

Method Impact Helps Reduce
Use a CDN High Resource Load Time
Optimize Your Images High Resource Load Time
Use WordPress Plugins High Potentially all stages
Implement Caching High Time to First Byte
Use a Faster Host High Time to First Byte
Minify Your Code Medium Resource Load Time
Optimize Your Fonts Medium Resource Load Time
Avoid Lazy Loading Above the Fold Medium Resource Load Delay
Remove Elements You Don’t Need Medium Element Render Delay
Use Defer/Async for JS Medium Element Render Delay
Inline Critical CSS Medium Element Render Delay
Switch to SSR Medium Element Render Delay
Preload Important Resources Medium Resource Load Delay

These values are all relative.

Your own skill level, your website’s setup, and your budget will affect how easy or cost-effective these changes are for you.

I’ve taken each method in isolation, as the relative impact of each fix may decrease as you implement each one.

For example, if you implement lots of these methods but don’t use a CDN, your LCP score will likely improve to the point that using a CDN might not make much difference to the score
(although it may still improve your user experience).

Finally, a few of these might help reduce different stages of your LCP. As with every change you make to your website, there’s usually a bit of overlap in terms of what it’ll affect.

I’ll explain more of the nuances and who each fix is best suited to below.

Free Resource: Stay on top of your LCP optimization efforts with our free LCP progress tracker.

Use a CDN

Impact: High | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Time

A Content Delivery Network (CDN) stores (cached) copies of your content across servers around the world. When people visit your site, they’re served files from the closest server to them.

That means faster load times for your users.

Implement a CDN

If you’re running a small local blog, you might not absolutely need a CDN. But if you have visitors from all over, a CDN can boost your LCP by reducing the travel time for your data.

This is most impactful for:

  • Websites with visitors from multiple regions
  • Sites with lots of large images or media files
  • Anyone wanting to improve global load times without lots of coding

How to Implement This

You can sign up for a CDN service like Cloudflare, KeyCDN, or StackPath. They’ll provide instructions for changing your domain’s settings to route traffic through their servers.

Once set up, the CDN will serve your website files to users from the server that’s physically located closest to them.

There are cheap and free options, but it can get expensive for larger sites with lots of traffic.

If you use WordPress or a similar content management system (CMS), there are often plugins that make the setup process even smoother.

Optimize Your Images

Impact: High | Effort: Medium | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Time

Large image files are a common reason for poor LCP scores. This is especially true if you use a large hero image at the top of your pages or blog posts.

By compressing images before uploading them, you reduce their file size to make them load faster.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites with lots of large product or blog images
  • Photographers or ecommerce stores with high-res visuals
  • Anyone looking for a straightforward way to speed up load times

How to Implement This

You can optimize your images using online tools, and there are lots of free options. Or you can use plugins that auto-compress images when you upload them to your content management system.

Squoosh is a free tool that lets you tweak the optimization settings, choose a format to convert to, and resize the image:

Squoosh – Editor

To do this in bulk, you can also use a tool like TinyPNG:

TinyPNG – Homepage

Just keep an eye on quality—if you compress too much, your images might look blurry. But most of the time, you can shrink them a lot without anyone noticing.

Pro tip: Beyond images, it’s usually best to avoid having a video above the fold. This can lead to poor LCP scores.

Use WordPress Plugins

Impact: High | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Potentially all stages

For many WordPress users, plugins are the easiest way to speed up your site and fix LCP issues with minimal effort. They can handle image optimization, caching, code minification, and
more—all from a simple dashboard.

The caveat is that the best ones aren’t always free. So you’re often paying a convenience cost. But there are still some unpaid options out there.

Another downside is the risk of plugin “bloat,” which can slow your site if you install too many or choose poorly optimized ones.

Compatibility issues may also pop up, especially if you try to use multiple optimization plugins at one time.

But as long as you don’t have hundreds of plugins, and check for compatibility, I find the benefits typically outweigh the downsides here.

Note: If you use a different CMS, like Shopify, there are likely apps or add-ons that can help with your LCP score.

Shopify app store – Page speed

This is most impactful for:

  • WordPress users without technical know-how
  • Anyone who wants a quick fix for multiple performance issues
  • Those willing to spend a bit of money to solve a lot of issues at once (although there are free options)

How to Implement This

There are lots of WordPress plugins that are great for improving your LCP in particular, and your page speed in general.

One example is WP Rocket. It’s a paid WordPress optimization plugin that does a lot of the things on this list for you.

Including:

  • Image optimization
  • Code minification
  • Preloading/prefetching resources
  • CDN implementation
  • Caching

WP Rocket – File Optimization

There are lots of customization options, making this a useful plugin a quick and fairly easy solution to improve your LCP.

Autoptimize is a free WordPress plugin that does a lot of the same things as WP Rocket.

It does lack a few features, like generating critical CSS and caching. But it’s a good starting point for beginners on a budget with a WordPress site.

Autoptimize – WP Plugin

Implement Caching

Impact: High | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Time to First Byte

Caching stores parts of your site on your user’s browser so it doesn’t have to request them from scratch every time they visit the site.

Activate browser caching

This can speed up your LCP because your server won’t need to work as hard to deliver the key page elements the next time the user visits.

Caching makes load time much quicker for second visits

Many hosting providers include caching by default.

You can also install plugins that handle caching for you.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites with repeat visitors (e.g., blogs, online magazines)
  • Websites on platforms that generate pages dynamically (like WordPress)
  • Sites experiencing slow server response times

How to Implement This

If your host offers caching, enable it in your hosting dashboard. Otherwise, consider a caching plugin.

If you use a CDN, it already relies on caching to serve your content to users with faster load times.

Note: You only need to use one effective caching setup or plugin at a time. Using multiple can lead to no performance improvements at best, and various compatibility issues at worst.

Use a Faster Web Host

Impact: High | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Time to First Byte

Switching to a more powerful hosting plan or provider can make a big difference in how quickly your site’s main content loads.

That’s because your web host’s speed is going to have the largest impact on your Time to First Byte.

How does webhosting works?

This is often the simplest route if you don’t want to tinker with technical details. However, premium hosting can be expensive.

If you have a small site or a tight budget, you might find it hard to justify the cost for LCP gains alone. But for large businesses or sites that generate a lot of revenue, investing in better hosting can pay off.

Note: This is also unlikely to put a dent in your LCP if your host is already pretty quick. I’d generally only recommend considering this option if your Time to First Byte is exceptionally long. Or if you’re noticing other performance issues or extended periods of website downtime.

This is most impactful for:

  • High-traffic sites that need consistent speed
  • Businesses with a budget to invest in premium hosting
  • Sites that have outgrown their current hosting plan

How to Implement This

When upgrading your web host, look for:

  • Reliable uptime
  • Scalability
  • Good support
  • Security features
  • Robust backup options

Migrating your site can be as simple as using a migration plugin if you’re on WordPress, or asking your new host for help.

It’s usually fairly straightforward if you’re staying with your current host and just upgrading your plan. But moving hosts can be a little more effort-intensive.

Further reading: Website Migration Checklist: Essential SEO Steps for Success

Minify Your Code

Impact: Medium | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Time

Minifying code involves stripping out anything “unnecessary,” like extra spaces or new lines, from your site’s HTML, CSS, and JavaScript files. This makes them smaller and faster to load.

Minifying code to reduce load times

If you’re not a developer, you can still do this using tools or plugins that automate the process (like WP Rocket mentioned above).

Just be sure to back up your site or test it in a staging environment. Sometimes, minification can cause layout or script issues.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites with lots of CSS and JavaScript files
  • Pages that rely on multiple libraries or frameworks

How to Implement This

You can minify your code with free tools like Minifier:

Minifier – Homepage

If you use a CMS like WordPress, use plugins (e.g., WP Rocket, Autoptimize) that automatically shrink your CSS, JS, and HTML.

Here’s how it looks in the “File Optimization” screen of WP Rocket:

WP Rocket – Minify

Most plugins let you choose which files to minify, so if you see any issues, uncheck or exclude the problematic file and test again.

Alternatively, reach out to a developer to help with this instead.

Optimize Your Fonts

Impact: Medium | Effort: Medium | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Time

Fancy fonts can look great, but they can also slow down your page.

Custom fonts often have to be downloaded from a separate server. If you optimize or host them locally, you reduce delays that stop your text (like big headlines) from being visible.

You do want to maintain your site’s style, so it’s a balance between looking good and loading fast. Some sites solve this by using system fonts that don’t need extra downloads.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites using multiple custom fonts or large font families
  • Design-heavy pages with fancy typography
  • Anyone noticing a “flash of invisible text” when pages load

How to Implement This

Hosting fonts locally is often faster than pulling them from external servers. If you use Google Fonts, you can download them and serve them from your own domain.

But honestly, this just won’t be necessary for most site owners. While it might reduce your LCP, it’s unlikely to be a massive gain and may not be worth the effort.

Alternatively, let a plugin handle font optimization for you. Minimize the number of font weights you use—if you only need bold and regular, don’t load the entire family.

Avoid Lazy Loading Above the Fold

Impact: Medium | Effort: Low | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Delay

Lazy loading is a feature that only loads images when you scroll down to them. In other words, images only load when they’re in the user’s “viewport” (on their screen).

Lazy loading images to improve page speed

It’s great for boosting page load time, and is typically regarded as a best practice for fast websites.

But if you lazy load images that are right at the top of your page, your visitors will see a blank space before anything else pops in. That can really hurt your LCP.

The idea behind lazy loading is to not load images the user doesn’t need to see yet. But when it’s the first image you want a user to see as soon as they land on your page, clearly you don’t want to delay loading at all.

So, it’s usually best to load above-the-fold content right away, then lazy load what’s below.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites that lazy load everything by default
  • Above-the-fold areas with key images or banners
  • Pages where the main header image is crucial for user engagement

How to Implement This

Many lazy-loading tools let you exclude certain images. Find the settings or plugin option that specifies “above the fold” or “first contentful paint” images, and disable lazy loading for those.

In WP Rocket, you do that in the “Media” area:

WP Rocket – LazyLoad

If you’re not using a CMS like WordPress, just make sure the LCP image’s HTML looks like this, with either loading=“eager” or no loading attribute (“eager” is the default):

Image loading – Eager

Rather than like this, with the loading=“lazy” attribute:

Image loading – Lazy

Remove Elements You Don’t Need

Impact: Medium | Effort: Medium | Helps Reduce: Element Render Delay

Every script, image, or widget on your site adds to the time it takes for your page to fully load. So you need to think carefully about what appears above the fold.

If there’s a huge banner, multiple images, or extra code that doesn’t add real value, consider removing it or placing it below the fold.

Just make sure you don’t strip away elements that are crucial for your users or your brand message.

This is most impactful for:

  • Content-heavy sites filled with widgets or ads
  • Homepages stuffed with multiple banners, slideshows, or animations
  • Anyone looking to simplify their design without sacrificing core features

How to Implement This

Audit your site’s above-the-fold area and ask, “Does this element help my user right away?”

If not, move it below the fold (or remove it entirely).

Think about collapsing large sign-up forms or extra images.

Removing unnecessary scripts, like old tracking codes, can also help. To pinpoint snippets you might want to remove, look out for the “Reduce unused JavaScript” opportunity in PageSpeed Insights:

Pagespeed Insights – LCP Reduce JavaScript

Use Defer/Async for JS

Impact: Medium | Effort: Medium | Helps Reduce: Element Render Delay

JavaScript files can block the rendering of your page if they load first. By deferring or asynchronously loading scripts, you let your main content appear before any heavy scripts run.

This helps your LCP because the biggest chunk of your page shows up without waiting for all your JS to finish loading.

The main reason you’ll likely want to look into async and defer is if the tool you’re measuring your LCP with says you have render blocking resources.

Like this:

Pagespeed Insights – Eliminate render blocking resources

Basically, without any attributes, the browser will attempt to download and then execute your JavaScript as it encounters it. This can lead to slower load times, and longer LCP times if it blocks the LCP element from loading.

With async, it won’t pause parsing (breaking down and analyzing) of the HTML during the download stage. But it still pauses as the script executes after downloading.

With defer, the browser doesn’t pause HTML parsing for the download or execution of your JavaScript. This can lead to lower LCP scores, but it means your JavaScript won’t execute until the browser has finished parsing the HTML.

Async vs defer JavaScript

You might need a developer’s help if you’re not sure which scripts to defer or load asynchronously, or how to do it.

Some optimization plugins for platforms like WordPress can also handle this for you.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites that rely on several JavaScript libraries
  • Pages slowed down by loading scripts too early
  • Website owners looking for a middle-ground solution without full SSR (more on that below)

How to Implement This

If you’re on WordPress, look for an optimization plugin that includes deferring or async-loading scripts.

In custom setups, you’d add attributes like “defer” or “async” to your script tags in the HTML.

Script – Defer type

Just make sure you don’t delay any critical scripts (like core functionality) too much.

Inline Critical CSS

Impact: Medium | Effort: High | Helps Reduce: Element Render Delay

Inlining CSS means putting small blocks of CSS code right into your HTML, so your page doesn’t need to fetch a separate file for that part.

It can speed up how quickly your main elements appear. But you can’t inline everything, or you’d end up with a massive HTML file that defeats the purpose.

This method can be helpful for critical (above-the-fold) styles, but it shouldn’t replace your entire stylesheet.

Plus, the Chrome team’s official guidance on this is that:

“In general, inlining your style sheet is only recommended if your style sheet is small since inlined content in the HTML cannot benefit from caching in subsequent page loads. If a style sheet is so large that it takes longer to load than the LCP resource, then it’s unlikely to be a good candidate for inlining.”

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites with a small amount of critical CSS for the header area
  • Minimalist designs that don’t rely on big external stylesheets
  • Anyone looking to shave off small load delays

How to Implement This

Identify the essential CSS you need to style your page’s top section, and place it directly in the HTML <head>. This can reduce the time it takes to render the crucial above-the-fold part.

Keep the rest of your CSS in external files to avoid bloating your HTML. Some performance plugins can automate this “critical CSS” approach for you.

Autoptimize offers a cheap solution, while it’s baked into plugins like NitroPack and WP Rocket.

While there are also dedicated critical CSS plugins, I’d generally recommend going for a more feature-rich option for a bit of extra money (if you have the budget). You’ll typically get more value than spending $10 a month on one feature that may have limited impact on your LCP.

Switch to SSR

Impact: Medium | Effort: High | Helps Reduce: Element Render Delay

CSR (Client-Side Rendering) means your user’s browser does a lot of the work to build the page.

SSR (Server-Side Rendering) means most of the work happens before the page hits the user’s browser.

SSR can help LCP for sites heavy in JavaScript, because the biggest content is already “pre-built” for the user. But switching from CSR to SSR can be a big project if you’re not familiar with it.

For some sites, it’s overkill. For others, it’s the key to big performance gains.

Server side vs client side rendering

This is one method where you really need to weigh up the benefits and how they might apply to your specific situation:

  • Run a fairly standard blog, service website, or ecommerce store? Switching to SSR might bring noticeable performance gains.
  • Got a highly interactive web app? You might want to stick with CSR for a better user experience.

Generally, if you implement other methods like caching and using a CDN, you’ll see performance benefits with SSR that outweigh the potential server load increase.

This is most impactful for:

  • JavaScript-heavy web apps (e.g., React, Vue)
  • Sites noticing a significant delay before content appears
  • Advanced users or teams that can handle more complex architecture

How to Implement This

Switching from Client-Side Rendering to Server-Side Rendering (or a hybrid approach) typically involves using frameworks (like Next.js for React) that pre-render your content on the server.

This can speed up LCP since the browser receives a ready-made page. However, it’s a bigger project requiring code changes and a good understanding of your tech stack.

If you’re not comfortable with that, you might need to hire a developer or agency.

Preload Important Resources

Impact: Medium | Effort: Medium | Helps Reduce: Resource Load Delay

Preloading tells the browser which files it should grab or prepare in advance.

It can shave off a bit of loading time and help your main content appear slightly faster. For many small sites, these optimizations won’t create dramatic changes.

But on bigger sites or those with lots of images and unique fonts, it can make a difference.

This is most impactful for:

  • Sites that rely on off-site resources (e.g., fonts or images)
  • Those comfortable editing HTML headers or using plugins that can do this at scale

How to Implement This

You can preload fonts and images by adding special link tags in your site’s <head>. They tell the browser to grab or prepare certain resources before they’re actually needed.

You simply add rel=“preload” to the <link> tag. Like this:

Link rel – Preload

How much effort this requires depends on your specific setup and how many pages you want to deploy it on. But it’s a fairly simple process that can help reduce your LCP score.

Note: As with a lot of the other methods on this list, WordPress plugins can help here too.

Boost Your Rankings by Improving Your Page Experience

Improving your LCP is one way to boost your overall page experience for users.

In turn, this can actually end up having an impact on your rankings beyond Google’s page experience signals.

Check out our guide to user behavior and SEO to learn how the way your users behave on your website could potentially impact how Google ranks your site.

(It makes optimizing for factors like LCP and the other Core Web Vitals A LOT more important.)

The post How to Improve Largest Contentful Paint (LCP) in Under an Hour appeared first on Backlinko.

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How to find your next PPC agency: 12 top tips

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How to evaluate your next PPC agency

With so many PPC agencies claiming to be experts, how do you separate true performers from the ones who just talk a good game? 

This guide walks you through a no-nonsense evaluation process to find an agency that delivers real results.

1. Define your goals first

Before reaching out to agencies, have a clear understanding of what you want to achieve with PPC. 

Are you looking for lead generation, ecommerce sales, local service inquiries, or brand awareness? 

Knowing your objectives will help you ask the right questions and assess whether an agency is a good fit.

Also, factor in your budget constraints and expected ROI. 

A good agency should work within your financial limits while setting realistic performance expectations.

Dig deeper: How to set and manage PPC expectations for teams and stakeholders

2. Assess their industry experience

Not all PPC strategies work across every industry. 

Look for agencies that have experience managing campaigns in your specific vertical. 

Ask for case studies or examples of past success in your industry, especially in:

  • Ecommerce.
  • Local services.
  • B2B lead generation.
  • SaaS.
  • Healthcare.
  • Finance.

Agencies with industry expertise will understand common challenges and effective strategies unique to your business type. 

They should also demonstrate an ability to adapt to changes in industry regulations and trends.

3. Understand their approach to strategy and optimization

A good PPC agency should have a structured approach to campaign strategy, including:

  • Account structure: How do they build and organize campaigns?
  • Keyword strategy: Do they effectively use broad, phrase, and exact match?
  • Bid management: Are they using automated bidding, manual strategies, or a hybrid approach?
  • Ad copy and creative: How do they optimize messaging and testing?
  • Landing page optimization: Do they provide insights or recommendations?
  • Conversion tracking and attribution: Can they track conversions accurately and integrate with your CRM?

A truly data-driven agency should also be A/B testing different elements, using insights from past campaigns to improve performance, and continuously optimizing for better results.

4. Ask about their reporting and transparency

A top-tier PPC agency should provide clear and actionable reporting. Look for:

  • Regular reports: Weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly reporting with key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • Transparency: Do they provide full access to the ad accounts, or do they keep you in the dark?
  • Actionable insights: Reports should not just be data dumps but should include insights and recommendations.
  • Real-time dashboard access: Can you see your ad performance whenever you like?

Additionally, ensure they use third-party analytics tools like Google Analytics 4 or other attribution models to verify data accuracy and avoid misrepresenting results.

Dig deeper: How to approach weekly, monthly, quarterly and annual PPC reporting

5. Understand their pricing model

PPC agencies use different pricing structures, and understanding them is key to making a cost-effective decision. 

Common models include:

  • Percentage of ad spend: Typically 10-20% of your monthly budget. Good for scaling but can lead to overspending if not managed properly.
  • Flat monthly fee: A predictable expense, but ensure they have clear deliverables.
  • Performance-based: Payment is based on lead volume or ROAS. This can align incentives but may not work for all businesses.
  • Hybrid model: A combination of the above.

Ask about additional costs for services like ad creative development, landing page optimization, or advanced analytics to avoid unexpected fees.

6. Check for red flags

Be cautious of agencies that exhibit the following warning signs:

  • Guaranteed results: No agency can guarantee specific PPC results.
  • Lack of transparency: You should have access to your ad accounts and full visibility into performance.
  • Cookie-cutter strategies: Every business is unique. Beware of agencies that use the same approach for all clients.
  • No focus on tracking: They aren’t serious about results if they don’t emphasize accurate tracking and reporting.

Additionally, be wary of agencies that avoid discussing long-term strategies or only focus on short-term wins without considering sustainable growth.

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7. Evaluate their client communication and support

Great PPC management requires ongoing communication. Ask:

  • How often will we have meetings?
  • Who will be our main point of contact?
  • How quickly do they respond to emails or support requests?
  • Will we receive proactive recommendations, or need to ask for updates?

Also, evaluate their level of customer support. 

An agency that prioritizes proactive communication and offers dedicated account managers can be more effective in optimizing your campaigns.

Dig deeper: 8 tips to craft clear and impactful client communication

8. Understand their onboarding process

A smooth onboarding process sets the foundation for a successful agency partnership. Ask:

  • What does the onboarding process look like?
  • What information and assets will they need from you?
  • How long does onboarding usually take?
  • What key milestones should you expect in the first 30, 60, and 90 days?

A well-structured onboarding should include an initial strategy session, access setup (Google Ads, analytics, CRM), and alignment on key metrics and reporting expectations.

Dig deeper: Client onboarding and offboarding: The PPC agency’s guide

9. Assess their team structure and stability

Understanding who will manage your account is critical for a long-term, successful relationship. Ask:

  • Who will be directly managing your PPC campaigns?
  • How is their PPC team staffed?
  • What level of experience do their account managers have?
  • What is their turnover rate? How often do they replace account managers?

A high staff turnover can lead to inconsistencies in account management, so it’s important to partner with an agency that retains experienced professionals.

10. Request case studies and references

A reputable agency should have a portfolio of successful campaigns. Ask for:

  • Case studies: Examples of past campaigns, including challenges and results.
  • References: Client testimonials and contacts for past or current clients.

Look for verifiable success stories that align with your industry and goals. 

If possible, reach out to their past clients to gain insight into their experience with the agency.

11. Test with a trial or audit

If you’re unsure about committing, consider starting with a:

  • Short-term contract: A three-month trial period to assess performance.
  • PPC audit: Have them audit your existing campaigns and provide recommendations.

An audit should provide a comprehensive analysis of campaign structure, keyword effectiveness, ad performance, and tracking setup. 

The agency’s recommendations should be data-driven and actionable.

12. Ensure cultural and goal alignment

Choose an agency that aligns with your company’s values, communication style, and growth objectives. A strong partnership is key to long-term PPC success.

Consider factors like:

  • Do they understand your brand’s mission and voice?
  • Are they flexible and open to collaboration?
  • Do they have a track record of long-term client relationships?

An agency that shares your vision and integrates well with your team will be more effective in achieving your marketing goals.

Dig deeper: 4 tips to build a data-centric culture in your agency

Final thoughts

Evaluating a PPC agency takes time, but choosing the right partner will maximize your advertising investment. 

By focusing on experience, strategy, transparency, and results, you’ll be well-equipped to make an informed decision and drive meaningful business growth through paid search and social campaigns.

The right agency does more than manage your PPC campaigns.

They act as an extension of your team, providing expert insights and continuously optimizing for long-term success.

Dig deeper: 5 essential PPC skills every agency pro must have

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How to prevent PPC from cannibalizing your SEO efforts

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How to prevent PPC from cannibalizing your SEO efforts

If you manage both SEO and PPC, striking the right balance is key to maximizing efficiency and ROI. 

When paid search campaigns compete with high-performing organic listings, brands end up spending more while gaining little additional traffic. 

Keyword cannibalization dilutes search performance, inflates costs, and reduces overall marketing effectiveness.

This guide will help you recognize the warning signs of PPC cannibalization, test its impact, and implement strategies to ensure both channels work together for optimal results.

Signs your PPC campaigns are cannibalizing your SEO rankings

Declining organic click-through rates

If your organic rankings remain stable but CTRs are dropping, your paid ads might be stealing traffic from your organic listings. 

This is usually the result of branded or high-ranking keywords being simultaneously targeted in PPC campaigns.

It’s also important to note that additional SERP features, ad placements, and AI-driven search results have contributed to a general decline in organic CTRs across the board.

Increased PPC clicks with no overall traffic growth

If PPC campaigns drive more paid traffic, but total website visits remain unchanged, your ads may be diverting clicks that would have otherwise come from organic search.

Google Analytics 4 (GA4)’s Traffic Acquisition Report makes identifying this issue easier. You can compare period-over-period traffic changes by channel side by side.

GA4 Traffic Acquisition report

Organic conversions declining while paid conversions increase

If paid search conversions are rising but overall conversions remain flat or decline, PPC may be cannibalizing organic conversions rather than expanding your reach.

This is especially common with Performance Max (PMax) campaigns, which often prioritize branded terms for their higher ROI. More on that later.

Dig deeper: How to maximize PPC and SEO data with co-optimization audits

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3 steps to prevent PPC from cannibalizing your SEO

1. Audit PPC and SEO keyword overlap

Not all overlapping PPC and SEO keywords cause cannibalization. 

However, to safeguard your top-ranking keywords, exclude them from your PPC campaigns.

To speed up your analysis, filter organic search terms where your website ranks position 4 or below – since most clicks go to pages ranking in positions 1-3.

Additionally, sort search terms by click volume to identify phrases most susceptible to cannibalization. 

Then, cross-reference your organic search terms with your Google Ads Search Terms report to pinpoint where you’re paying for traffic you’d otherwise get for free.

2. Use negative keywords to exclude strong SEO performers

If certain terms already perform well organically, you can use negative keywords to prevent them from triggering paid ads. 

By applying exact-match negative keywords, you avoid cannibalization while still targeting related peripheral phrases in your ads.

Google Ads Negative Keyword tool

Dig deeper: How to use negative keywords in PPC to maximize targeting and optimize ad spend

3. Refine brand bidding strategies and implement brand exclusion lists

Bidding on branded terms is often unnecessary since users searching for a brand already intend to visit its website.

Paying for traffic that would otherwise be free is rarely a good investment.

However, PPC brand bidding becomes essential when competitors target your brand.

In such cases, recapturing your brand space is a necessary expense – but fortunately, it’s much cheaper than bidding on a competitor’s brand.

The importance of brand exclusion lists

Brand exclusion lists help prevent wasteful spending on branded queries where organic listings already dominate. 

This ensures PPC budgets are focused on non-branded, high-intent searches rather than duplicating organic traffic. 

This is especially critical for PMax campaigns, which aim to drive positive ROI, often through low-cost branded visibility with high conversion potential.

One example of branded cannibalization my team identified involved a branded PMax campaign that inadvertently paid for an estimated $500,000 in organic revenue. 

Since PMax campaigns receive premium visibility – even in areas where results may not be highly relevant – this campaign bid on nearly every branded term, running unchecked.

A major issue arose when a shopping carousel for the company’s two most-searched branded phrases appeared above all other SERP features. 

This pushed the usual search ad lower on the page and forced the organic homepage listing completely out of view without scrolling. 

As a result, impressions dropped by 12%, and organic clicks fell by 33%.

If you haven’t yet taken steps to prevent your campaigns from bidding on your brand, make sure to check Google’s guide to brand exclusions. 

Benchmark your SEO performance on branded terms before launching PMax campaigns to make identifying cannibalization easier.

Dig deeper: Google brings negative keyword exclusions to Performance Max

Special considerations for Performance Max campaigns and targeting options

PMax campaigns use AI-driven automation to serve ads across Google’s entire inventory, including Search, Display, YouTube, Discover, Gmail, and Maps. 

Unlike traditional PPC campaigns, PMax lacks detailed keyword-level control, making it difficult to prevent overlap with organic rankings.

How PMax can cannibalize SEO traffic

  • Broad matching across multiple channels: PMax may automatically target keywords where your brand already ranks well organically, leading to unnecessary ad spend.
  • Limited transparency on search terms: Without keyword-level reports, identifying overlap with organic rankings is challenging.
  • Competing with organic listings: PMax can push organic results further down by occupying both paid search and shopping ad placements.

Dig deeper: Performance Max vs. Search campaigns: New data reveals substantial search term overlap

Mitigating SEO cannibalization in Performance Max

  • Use account-level negative keywords: Google now allows negative keywords for PMax – exclude high-performing organic keywords to reduce redundancy.
  • Optimize asset groups and search themes: If certain categories already perform well organically, ensure PMax focuses on different product lines or services. Since PMax is designed for maximum reach, precise targeting is essential.

Tests to confirm PPC is cannibalizing SEO

  • Run a PPC pause test: Temporarily pause PPC ad groups or use exact-match negative keywords for strong organic terms. If organic traffic, CTR, and conversions improve, PPC may be cannibalizing SEO.
  • Compare pre- and post-bid adjustments: Lower PPC bids on high-ranking organic keywords and track shifts in paid and organic performance.
  • Analyze assisted conversions in Google Analytics: Determine whether PPC ads drive conversions that organic search alone wouldn’t achieve. If not, adjustments may be needed.
  • Monitor organic CTR changes: Use Google Search Console to analyze CTR fluctuations for top organic keywords before and after PPC campaigns launch.

Aligning PPC and SEO requires careful keyword management and strategic bidding

Reduce ad spend where possible and avoid paying for traffic that would otherwise be free.

For Performance Max campaigns, mitigating SEO cannibalization through negative keywords and refined targeting ensures a balanced approach. 

A well-coordinated PPC-SEO strategy improves efficiency and maximizes the value of digital marketing investments.

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Why traditional keyword research is failing and how to fix it with search intent

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Why traditional keyword research is failing (and how to fix it with search intent)

After 25 years of working in SEO, I’ve seen firsthand how traditional keyword research methods fail to keep up with Google’s advancements. 

In my SMX Next presentation, I challenged SEOs to go beyond outdated keyword methodologies and embrace an intent-driven approach. 

Here are six key insights from that session.

1. Traditional keyword research is failing us

Traditional keyword research is no longer enough. 

We’ve relied on tools that provide data on competition, search volume, and relevance, but they don’t uncover the hidden context behind searches.

For years, SEOs have prioritized high-volume, low-competition keywords, assuming this would drive results. 

While this may have worked for the simpler, lexical-based Google algorithm of the early 2000s, this approach falls short because it ignores search intent.

For example, a keyword like “solar panels” may have high search volume. 

But without context, it’s impossible to determine whether users are looking for products, financing options, or general information. 

Without understanding intent, marketers risk attracting traffic that never converts. 

Today, success depends on moving beyond search volume and focusing on search intent.

Dig deeper: How to optimize for search intent: 19 practical tips

2. Google is an AI search engine

Google isn’t one monolithic AI algorithm – it’s a collection of AI systems working together to:

  • Understand queries.
  • Classify content.
  • Deliver the best results.

Here’s what’s changed:

  • Google has improved its understanding of keywords and content.
  • There is a strong emphasis on user experience, with Google prioritizing content that is easy for users to consume.
  • Google ranks pages based on relevance to intent, even if the exact keywords are missing.

For SEOs, this means that content must align with search intent – not just keywords. 

Well-structured, high-value content that directly addresses users’ questions will outperform pages optimized solely for keyword density.

Dig deeper: Content mapping: Who, what, where, when, why and how

3. The best way to uncover intent? Read the SERPs

The number one way to understand search intent is to study the search engine results pages (SERPs).

Rather than guessing what a keyword means, analyzing what Google is already ranking provides a clear picture of the dominant intent behind a query.

For example, I once worked with an ecommerce company selling biscotti cookies. 

Initially, they targeted high-volume keywords like “chocolate biscotti,” expecting strong results. 

However, a quick SERP analysis revealed that most top-ranking results were recipes, not product listings.

This indicated that searchers weren’t looking to buy biscotti – they wanted to bake it. 

Instead of chasing high-volume terms with mismatched intent, the company shifted its focus to lower-volume keywords with strong purchase intent, ultimately improving conversions.

Blindly following keyword tools without SERP analysis can lead to content that attracts traffic but fails to convert.

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4. Prioritize search intent over keywords

The real question isn’t just what keywords people are searching for – it’s why they’re searching.

As Google increasingly prioritizes intent over keywords, SEO strategies must evolve accordingly. A three-step process can help align keyword research with search intent:

Identify target intents

Before diving into keyword research, define 5-6 core search intents that align with business goals. Examples include:

  • “Compare mortgage rates” (for financial services)
  • “Best protein powders for weight loss” (for fitness brands)

Filter keywords by intent

Rather than focusing solely on search volume and competition, filter keywords based on clear purchase or action intent. 

This approach refines traditional keyword research to focus on what actually drives conversions.

Choose content formats that match intent

Content should match the searcher’s intent, which often requires moving beyond standard blog posts. Some high-performing content formats include:

  • Comparison articles (“Best budget vs. premium running shoes”)
  • Niche buying guides (“How to choose an ergonomic office chair”)
  • Interactive tools (e.g., mortgage calculators, pricing estimators)

By aligning keywords with intent and content formats, SEOs can dramatically improve engagement and conversion rates.

Dig deeper: Rethinking your keyword strategy: Why optimizing for search intent matters

5. Invest in content formats that convert better

Middle-of-the-funnel content – like comparison pages, niche buying guides, and Q&A pages – tends to rank better and convert more effectively than generic blog content.

With AI-driven search results delivering direct answers, traditional educational blog posts are losing traction. 

To stay competitive, marketers must create high-value content that serves the searcher’s next step.

Some of the best-performing content types include:

  • Comparison content (“Best DSLR cameras under $1,000”).
  • Niche buying guides (“Ultimate guide to ergonomic keyboards”).
  • Interactive tools (e.g., ROI calculators, pricing estimators).
  • Video-first content, which improves engagement and differentiation.

Shifting to intent-driven content formats can significantly boost both rankings and conversions.

Dig deeper: Writing people-first content: A process and template

6. Use AI wisely, but prioritize customer insights

AI tools are valuable for analyzing SERPs and understanding search intent, but they are not a substitute for real customer insights.

The best way to understand what searchers want is to talk to actual customers. Conversations, chat logs, and feedback from sales teams offer deeper intent insights than AI alone.

For those who don’t have direct access to customers, speaking with sales representatives can be just as effective. 

Sales teams repeatedly hear the same customer questions, making them an excellent source of content ideas and keyword strategy insights.

Dig deeper: How to optimize your 2025 content strategy for AI-powered SERPs and LLMs

[Watch] Next-generation SEO keyword research: Shift from traffic to search intent

Want to take your SEO strategy to the next level? Watch my full SMX Next 2024 session here.

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Technical SEO post-migration: How to find and fix hidden errors

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Technical SEO post-migration: How to find and fix hidden errors

Website migrations are one of the most challenging aspects of SEO.

No matter how much experience you have in technical SEO, how detailed your plan is, or how thorough your checklist may be, unexpected issues can still arise. 

That’s why post-migration monitoring is just as crucial as the migration itself – especially in the first month when hidden problems are most likely to surface.

This article tackles some of the most surprising post-launch errors I’ve encountered, along with practical tips on how to identify and resolve them before they cause serious damage.

Random 404 pages

This issue drove me crazy. It’s a nightmare for SEO testing because it skews every tool and report we rely on. 

When you can’t trust the data, it’s impossible to know what’s actually broken or how it impacts performance.

During the post-migration phase of updating our JavaScript library, we noticed random 404 errors in our SEO tools and Google Search Console. 

The strange part? 

The affected pages weren’t consistent, and every time we checked manually, they loaded fine with a 200 status. 

As a result, all other reports became unreliable, making proper analysis nearly impossible.

These random 404s often stem from server-side issues such as rate limiting, where the server denies access to bots after too many requests. 

Other potential causes include:

  • Misconfigured caching.
  • Inconsistent DNS resolution.
  • Load balancer errors that occasionally route requests to an unavailable server.

Identifying the root cause requires detailed server log analysis to track bot request and response patterns. 

And here’s the biggest lesson I learned: Without access to server logs, you’re fighting this battle blind.

Ensure your SEO team has access to the necessary server log tools and, at the very least, understands the basics of how they work. 

Monitoring bot activity logs can help you demonstrate the issue to developers. Without them, you risk getting stuck in endless debates over the accuracy of SEO tools.

Dig deeper: Website migration checklist: 11 steps for success

Random 500 pages

At first glance, this error looks similar to random 404s, but the cause is usually entirely different and just as difficult to diagnose. 

Even SEO tools like Lumar and Screaming Frog can inadvertently trigger these 500 errors while crawling.

Years ago, one of the websites I worked on had a strict rule: no crawling on weekends and no exceeding three URLs per second. 

Every time we increased our crawling limits, the database server struggled, slowing down the entire site – or worse, crashing it.

These errors often result from complex database queries overloading the server or improperly configured caching. 

Without proper caching, each request is processed individually, compounding the strain and leading to slow load times or intermittent crashes.

And once again, the solution starts with server log access. Without it, you’re just guessing.

Incorrect resource loading

This was one of those moments where I felt like a digital Sherlock Holmes. 

The migration had been completed before I joined the company, and I first noticed the issue during an initial technical audit.

The first clue? 

A mysterious drop in rankings and traffic shortly after the migration. 

There had been a Google update around the same time, so I couldn’t immediately link the decline to the migration. 

To complicate things further, this wasn’t a full migration, just a design revamp.

On the surface, everything seemed fine. Pages loaded correctly, and styles and JavaScript worked perfectly for users. 

Yet, in Google Search Console’s inspection tool, the same pages often appeared broken and unstyled. 

The issue was inconsistent, making it nearly impossible to replicate in front of the dev team. 

As a new team member still building trust, convincing them there was a deeper problem wasn’t easy. 

In hindsight, my mistake was not checking the browser console earlier.

Three months later, a single browser console message finally revealed the root cause: a script was loading out of order.

Due to caching, Googlebot sometimes saw the website correctly and other times didn’t, explaining the erratic behavior.

It was a tough reminder that small technical details – like the sequence of resource loading – and overlooking an obvious diagnostic step can significantly impact SEO performance.

My key tip: Check your website in different browsers and carefully review the error and warning messages in the console. 

If you’re unfamiliar with developer terminology, consult an independent expert or even multiple AI tools for explanations.

Non-existent URLs

While investigating those frustrating random 404 errors, I stumbled upon another issue almost by accident. 

While reviewing Google Search Console’s report on pages discovered but not indexed, I noticed an unusual pattern – several non-existent URLs appearing under certain sections, marked as duplicate content.

Instead of returning 404 errors as expected, these URLs resolved as normal pages with a 200 status code.

This type of error presents two major risks:

  • From an SEO perspective, search engines treat these URLs as legitimate, potentially indexing irrelevant or duplicate pages, wasting crawl budget, and harming rankings. 
  • From a security standpoint, it creates a vulnerability – malicious actors could generate thousands of random URLs, overloading the server.

Unfortunately, this issue is difficult to detect before it becomes a real problem. In my case, I was just lucky.

Don’t wait to stumble upon it. Make sure to:

  • Regularly check whether sections of your site allow non-existent URLs to resolve with a 200 status.
  • Build a list of key sections and test them monthly with your crawler. Even minor backend changes – not just full migrations – can trigger this issue.
  • Prioritize pages generated programmatically or dynamically, as they are the most common culprits.

Hreflang tags or canonical tags to non-existing URLs

Managing hreflang tags on a multilingual website is challenging, and even small mistakes can cause big issues. 

On one website I worked on, we typically created pages in English first and then localized them. 

However, in some cases, only a local version existed, and the hreflang x-default was mistakenly set to an English page that didn’t exist.

Incorrect hreflang tags confuse search engines, which rely on them to identify the correct language or regional version of a page. 

When these tags are wrong, search engines may struggle to understand the site’s structure or ignore the hreflang implementation entirely.

Normally, we would have caught this in our migration checks. 

But at the time, we were buried in troubleshooting random 404 errors. 

We also made the mistake of not manually testing localized pages across different templates.

To prevent this in future migrations:

  • Make a detailed list of site-specific checks. Generic migration checklists are a good starting point, but they need to be customized for the website and CMS.
  • Manually test localized pages across different templates to ensure correct hreflang and canonical tag implementation.

Dig deeper: How to run a successful site migration from start to finish

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JavaScript rendering failures

JavaScript-driven content that users can see but search bots can’t is a common and often overlooked issue. 

This typically happens when widgets or content sections rely on JavaScript to render, but the scripts aren’t fully crawlable or properly executed by search engine bots. 

(Google offers a great resource to help you understand JavaScript basics.)

If you’re unsure how a widget works, use this simple test: 

  • Does it display the full content immediately, or does it require user interaction? 

If it’s the latter, it likely relies on JavaScript, meaning search and AI bots might not see everything.

To catch this issue, run both a JavaScript-enabled crawl and a pure HTML crawl, then compare the results. 

A quick manual test can also help. 

  • Search for a specific sentence or element from the widget in your rendered HTML source. 
  • If it’s missing, search bots are probably missing it too.

Resolving this often requires improving server-side rendering or ensuring that scripts load properly for both users and crawlers.

Since website migrations often leave little time for testing, make it a priority to run these two crawls post-migration to identify and fix any rendering issues.

Dig deeper: A guide to diagnosing common JavaScript SEO issues

Loss of tracking data

Tracking data loss can be a subtle yet costly post-migration issue.

In one real-world case, everything initially appeared fine. Analytics data was flowing and visits were being logged.

However, after a few days, it became clear that users arriving via paid ads were losing their tracking parameters as they navigated the site.

This meant subsequent pageviews within the same session were no longer attributed to the original paid campaign, disrupting remarketing efforts.

The cause? 

Improper handling of URL parameters during the migration.

Website migrations require cross-team monitoring, not just from the SEO team. 

While this issue didn’t directly impact SEO rankings, it still had major consequences.

Before migration begins, triple-check your plan to ensure all relevant teams are involved. 

Migration testing should go beyond SEO, incorporating analytics, development, and marketing teams to safeguard tracking parameters and user attribution. 

Each team should have pre-migration reports for comparison after launch.

While planning may not fall under SEO’s direct responsibility, identifying gaps in the project plan and raising concerns is essential.

Dig deeper: 12 SEO pitfalls to avoid during a website platform migration

Disappeared pages

This case is a perfect example of why having pre-migration data is crucial.

Everything appeared flawless during testing. 

The site functioned as expected on staging and even in production with internal DNS switched. 

But as soon as external DNS was activated, a third of the blog posts disappeared. 

The rest of the site remained intact, making the issue easy to overlook.

With all teams focused on testing tracking, forms, redirects, hreflang tags, and canonicals, no one initially noticed the missing pages. 

Ironically, it wasn’t an SEO tool or a developer check that caught the problem, but a regional manager. 

A few days before migration, she updated a blog image and wanted to verify that the change had transferred. 

Not only was the image missing, but the entire blog post was gone.

I’ll admit, I can’t explain exactly what caused this from a technical perspective. 

But the takeaway is clear: always conduct a full audit before migration begins. 

Using a crawler’s comparison mode can quickly highlight discrepancies like this before they become major problems.

Impact on admin settings

Not every issue affects SEO, but that doesn’t mean it won’t cause problems.

During a backend update, we encountered an unexpected challenge: Lumar and Screaming Frog were overwhelming the CMS admin panel. 

Each time a crawl was initiated, the surge in requests made it nearly impossible for editors to update content or make changes.

It’s important to remember that you’re not the only one using these tools. 

Crawlers are frequently employed for competitor analysis, meaning your website and CMS must function properly even under heavy crawling pressure.

In some organizations, SEO teams don’t have direct access to the CMS or manage content updates. 

If that’s the case, ensure content teams go through their usual workflows with test pieces after migration. 

Coordinating this with SEO crawls helps assess how resilient your system truly is.

The biggest mistake: Underestimating post-migration monitoring

Website migrations, revamps, redesigns, updates. Whatever you call them, they’re always complex. 

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is underestimating the challenges involved. 

Any change carries the risk of something going wrong.

Some errors, like broken redirects or missing pages, are immediately noticeable. 

Others, such as tracking failures or JavaScript rendering issues, may take time to detect. 

That’s why post-migration monitoring is just as critical as the migration itself.

The best way to mitigate these risks is to:

  • Create a detailed project plan covering all potential issues.
  • Document everything.
  • Run audits before and after migration.
  • Collaborate across teams.

A successful migration isn’t just about making the switch; it’s an ongoing process of monitoring, testing, and improving.

Dig deeper: How to speed up site migrations with AI-powered redirect mapping

Read more at Read More

Google bug cause reviews to drop out of local listings

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If you noticed that your local business listing on Google is showing fewer reviews, you are not alone. Since Friday, tons of reviews have been disappearing from the local listings within Google Search and Google Maps.

More details. On Friday, I reported on the issue on the Search Engine Roundtable, not knowing if it was a bug or a feature. I noticed dozens and dozens of complaint threads popping up in the Google Business Profiles forums from concerned small businesses and local SEOs.

Some businesses say they lost only a few reviews, while others say they lost dozens of positive reviews.

Some say the count of reviews is not adding up and the reviews themselves are not missing.

Likely a bug. Joy Hawkins, a local SEO and Google top contributor, later said this is a bug that Google is working to fix.

Why we care. If you noticed that you lost a lot of reviews on your local listing, you should know that you are not alone. It seems to be impacting many Google Business Profile listings and hopefully Google will restore those reviews soon.

Google has not commented on the issue.

Update – Google comment. Victoria Kroll from Google posted a statement in the forums saying:

We’re aware of an issue affecting some Google Business Profiles, causing some profiles to show lower-than-actual review counts due to a display issue. The reviews themselves have not actually been removed. We’re working hard to resolve this and restore accurate review counts as quickly as possible. We appreciate your patience and will share updates on this thread as they become available.

Before reporting missing reviews, please note that there are several reasons why reviews may be removed from maps. Usually, missing reviews are removed for policy violations like spam or inappropriate content. Read more about our Review policy guidelines here before proceeding. You can also refer to the Help Center Article for more information.

Read more at Read More

Best WordPress plugins to improve SEO by Kinsta

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Your WordPress site might be packed with great content and stunning visuals, but without proper search engine optimization (SEO), it could be hard to find. 

SEO ensures your site gets noticed, eventually driving traffic to your content and boosting engagement.

Thankfully, SEO doesn’t have to be complicated. 

Many WordPress plugins simplify key tasks like optimizing content, structuring your site, and improving performance, all of which contribute to better rankings. 

Below, we’re exploring reliable and widely used SEO plugins that can help your site stand out and attract the audience it deserves.

Here at Kinsta, ranked as G2’s top WordPress hosting provider, we have a unique perspective on plugins favored by our customers in the premium hosting space and installed on more than 120,000 websites. So, we’ll include some data on our own customers’ SEO preferences in this overview.

Why the right SEO plugin makes a big difference

SEO plugins can simplify tasks that would otherwise require significant effort and offer features that address key aspects of optimization. 

You can expect to find features like these in high-quality SEO plugins:

  • On-page optimization: Some plugins help you fine-tune meta tags, analyze keywords, and improve readability. That way, each page meets search engine standards.
  • Site structure improvements: Automatically generate XML sitemaps, add breadcrumbs, and optimize navigation.
  • Integration with search engine tools: Connect your site with Google Analytics and Search Console to track performance and gain insight into what needs fixing.
  • Enhance page speed and performance: Some plugins include features like caching or image optimization, which indirectly improve SEO by boosting load times and user experience.

When choosing the right SEO plugin, consider your site’s needs and the skill set you’re bringing to the table. Beginners may prefer tools with simpler interfaces, while advanced users might want more customization options.

Focus on essentials to prevent your site from slowing down or becoming overly complex. If one plugin does the job of three, then it’s usually best to go with the single plugin.

The importance of plugin security

Security might not be the first thing you think of when choosing an SEO plugin, but it plays a vital role in maintaining your site’s search engine rankings and overall health. Poorly secured plugins can open the door to vulnerabilities that expose your site to threats. 

Here’s a quick look at why plugin security matters:

  • Outdated plugins create vulnerabilities: Hackers often target outdated or poorly maintained plugins. Once compromised, your site could be infected with malware, phishing scripts, or other malicious code.
  • Hacked sites face SEO penalties: Search engines prioritize safe browsing experiences. If your site gets flagged for malicious activity, it could be removed from search results or labeled as unsafe, resulting in a sharp drop in traffic.
  • Proactive protection is essential: Regularly updating your plugins and choosing ones from reputable developers help reduce risks. Look for plugins with consistent updates and strong user reviews.

Managed WordPress hosting providers like Kinsta offer additional layers of security by performing regular plugin scans, flagging vulnerabilities, and making plugin updates easier.

Top 9 SEO plugins for WordPress

Choosing the right SEO plugin requires more than just downloading the first highly-rated option you find. For this list, we’ve evaluated plugins based on the following criteria:

  • Popularity: Plugins with high ratings and a significant number of global installations are often trusted by the WordPress community.
  • Features and ease of use: Whether you’re managing on-page optimization, generating sitemaps, or improving site speed, the plugins listed here offer useful features without unnecessary complexity.
  • Regular updates and compatibility: Plugins that receive frequent updates are more likely to remain secure, compatible with the latest version of WordPress, and equipped with new features.

Let’s explore the SEO plugins we recommend and see how they can elevate your WordPress site in search.

1. Yoast SEO

Yoast SEO for everyone

Global installations: Over 10 million
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 51%

Yoast SEO is one of the most popular SEO plugins (and used by fully half of Kinsta’s customers), offering a comprehensive set of tools to improve your site’s on-page SEO. Known for its beginner-friendly traffic light system, it evaluates your content’s readability and optimization levels so you can create pages that real human beings and search engines enjoy.

Features:

  • Traffic light system for on-page optimization.
  • XML sitemap generation for better site indexing.
  • Schema.org integration to enhance search visibility.
  • Readability analysis to improve user engagement.

2. Rank Math

Rank Math - The Swiss Army Knife of WordPress SEO

Global installations: Over 3 million
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 18% 

Rank Math is the only SEO plugin that comes close to Yoast SEO’s popularity among Kinsta’s sophisticated customers. It’s a growing choice because of its advanced features and lightweight design. Rank Math offers powerful tools like rich snippet support, keyword analysis, and Google Search Console integration.

Features:

  • Detailed keyword optimization with support for multiple keywords.
  • Rich snippet integration for better SERP visibility.
  • 404 error monitoring and redirection tools.
  • Easy integration with Google Search Console.
  • Setup wizard for a hassle-free configuration process.

3. All in One SEO

All in One SEO

Global installations: Over 3 million
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 3.4%

All in One SEO has been a trusted SEO plugin for over a decade, known for balancing ease of use with useful features. It’s designed to meet the needs of everyone and offers tools for meta tag management, sitemaps, and even WooCommerce optimization.

Features:

  • Meta tag customization for improved on-page SEO.
  • Support for XML and RSS sitemaps.
  • Built-in tools for social media integration.
  • Advanced options for WooCommerce SEO.
  • Local optimization for businesses targeting specific regions.

4. SEOPress

SEOPress - On-site SEO

Global installations: Over 300,000
Average rating: 4.8 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 2.7%

SEOPress offers a clean, ad-free interface while packing advanced features that appeal to advanced users. It includes everything from unlimited keyword optimization to redirection management, making it a strong contender for anyone looking to enhance their site’s SEO.

Features:

  • Unlimited keyword optimization to target multiple phrases.
  • Redirection management to fix broken links and improve SEO.
  • Integration with Google Analytics for better performance tracking.
  • Customizable titles and meta descriptions.
  • Schema support for enhanced rich results.

5. The SEO Framework

The SEO Framework - Fast, Automated, Effortless.

Global installations: Over 200,000
Average rating: 4.9 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 1.8%

The SEO Framework is a minimalist plugin that focuses on automation and simplicity. Unlike other plugins, it’s ad-free and offers pre-configured settings, so those who want powerful SEO features without unnecessary distractions will benefit the most.

Features:

  • Automated SEO settings for hassle-free optimization.
  • Local SEO options for businesses targeting specific areas.
  • Built-in spam comment protection to safeguard site health.
  • Extension manager for adding specific functionality as needed.

6. SEO Plugin by Squirrly SEO

SEO plugin by Squirrly SEO

Global installations: Over 100,000
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 0.1%

Squirrly SEO is perfect for beginners who want guided assistance with their SEO efforts. It provides real-time suggestions and detailed advice while creating content, making the optimization process feel intuitive and approachable.

Features:

  • Real-time SEO advice during content creation.
  • Keyword research tool to identify high-value phrases.
  • Weekly SEO audit reports for ongoing improvements.
  • SERP checker to monitor your rankings over time.
  • Integration with popular tools like Google Analytics.

7. Broken Link Checker

Broken Link Checker

Global installations: Over 600,000
Average rating: 3.8 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 2.2%

Broken Link Checker helps maintain your site’s SEO health by identifying and managing broken links. Broken links make for an unpleasant user experience and can damage your SEO. 

Features:

  • Monitors for broken links and missing images.
  • Prevents search engines from following bad links.
  • Allows you to edit links directly from the plugin dashboard.

8. W3 Total Cache

W3 Total Cache

Global installations: Over 1 million
Average rating: 4.4 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 0.47%

W3 Total Cache isn’t a traditional SEO plugin but can help improve your site speed. Faster load times can lead to a better user experience and search engine rankings, making it an essential plugin for performance optimization.

Features:

  • Page and database caching for faster load times.
  • CDN integration to deliver content quickly to global audiences.
  • Minification of CSS, JavaScript, and HTML files.
  • Browser caching to improve repeat-visitor load times.

W3 Total Cache and other plugins in this category are rarely used by Kinsta customers because our own Cloudflare integration provides CDN, edge caching, and one-the-fly image optimization for free.

9. Internal Link Juicer

Internal Link Juicer: SEO Auto Linker for WordPress

Global installations: Over 60,000
Average rating: 4.7 out of 5 stars
Footprint on Kinsta-hosted sites: 0.26%

Internal Link Juicer is a specialized plugin that automates internal linking. This improves your site structure and can help search engines better understand your content.

Features:

  • Automates internal linking based on keywords.
  • Customizable anchor text options for better targeting.
  • Link statistics to track performance.
  • Blacklist and whitelist features to control link placements.

Summary

SEO plugins do the heavy lifting to help your WordPress site rank higher, load faster, and stay optimized. Whether you’re fine-tuning a growing site or just getting started, the right plugin makes all the difference. Check out the options listed here to find the best fit.

And if you want a hassle-free experience with top-tier security and performance, Kinsta’s managed hosting ensures your site is running at its best.

Read more at Read More

The latest jobs in search marketing

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Search marketing jobs

Looking to take the next step in your search marketing career?

Below, you will find the latest SEO, PPC, and digital marketing jobs at brands and agencies. We also include positions from previous weeks that are still open.

Newest jobs in SEO, PPC and digital marketing

Sr. SEO Strategist/Account Manager, PureSEM (Remote)

  • Salary: $70,000 – $100,000
  • You’ll be responsible for driving strategy and communications for 5-7 clients and will manage a team of SEO specialists to deliver the work driving their continued success.
  • Your growing team will include a technical analyst, content manager, tracking specialist, multiple writers, and link developers.

SEO Lead, Fella Health (Remote)

  • Salary: $50,000 – $80,000
  • You’ll work closely with our Head of Growth to pioneer an AI-enhanced SEO strategy that drives exponential organic growth across our brands (Fella and Delilah).
  • You’ll take full ownership of our SEO function, using AI tools and automation to supercharge our capabilities across technical audits, content creation, and link building.

SEO Associate, Merkle | Cardinal Path (Remote)

  • Salary: $65,000 – $80,000
  • Lead SEO team tasks to fulfill client audits and ongoing SEO monitoring.
  • Manage a roster of clients using best practices for client and project management.

SEO Director, Constant Contact (Remote)

  • Salary: $137,200 – $171,500
  • Develop and execute a comprehensive global SEO strategy to increase organic traffic, user engagement, and conversions across the US, UK, Canada, and Australia.
  • Identify and prioritize opportunities to target SMBs in each region based on market trends, verticals, search behavior, and competitive analysis.

SEO Manager, Cars.com (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,500 – $110,800
  • Conduct a monthly review of Accounts KPIs, strategies and deliverables to ensure they’re up to the highest possible standards of excellence, providing feedback to Strategists on areas of growth or opportunities.
  • Serve as second escalation step for client issues, concerns or other account-related critical situations, exercising sound judgement in communication, response and escalation.

Search Engine Marketing Manager, Edmunds (Santa Monica, CA)

  • Salary: $111,000 – $114,000
  • Responsible for revenue growth while maximizing ROI through paid search (GoogleAds, BingAds) and display advertising programs
  • Develop, test and implement digital marketing strategies to drive revenue growth individually and as a team

Director of Performance Marketing, Primis (Remote)

  • Salary: $160,000 – $170,000
  • Own paid user acquisition strategy across channels (Meta, TikTok, Google, Apple Search Ads).
  • Drive organic growth through ASO, content optimization, and referral programs.

Performance Marketing Lead (Mobile-App Growth), Storm4 (Remote)

  • Salary: $130,000 – $160,000
  • Develop and execute mobile app marketing campaigns aimed at driving installs, user engagement, and app usage.
  • Implement targeted campaigns on platforms like Google Ads, Facebook, and other mobile ad networks to grow the app user base.

VP of Digital Marketing, Onward Search (Hybrid, San Diego County, CA)

  • Salary: $170,000 – $210,000
  • Leverage research and data analytics to define, execute, and evaluate both strategic and tactical marketing and public relations plans.
  • Identify growth opportunities within franchisees and customer segments to drive acquisition, conversion, and retention efforts.

Sr. Marketing Manager, Paid Advertising, Pilot (Remote)

  • Salary: $127,000 – $215,000
  • Own Paid Media Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive paid advertising strategy across platforms like Google and Bing Ads, LinkedIn, Meta and Reddit to drive leads and revenue.
  • Campaign Management & Optimization: Launch, monitor, and optimize campaigns to hit performance goals, staying within budget and maximizing ROI.

More SEO jobs

Sr. SEO Manager, Okta (Remote)

  • Salary: $250,000 – $224,000
  • Report directly to the Director of Digital Acquisition within our Digital Team
  • Create and communicate SEO strategy roadmaps with stakeholders and marketing leadership

Sr. SEO Director, Ignite Visibility (Remote)

  • Salary: $100,000 – $140,000
  •  SEO Director will be responsible for input on initial high-level SEO strategy recommendations for client campaigns. 
  • Director will be responsible for quarterly reviews of campaign progress via ranking reports, Google Search Console, and analytics data. 

SEO Manager, Black & White Zebra (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $110,000
  • Meticulously plan and prioritize the cluster development for specific publications
  • Develop, execute and map keyword plans for those clusters that map to our internal customer journeys (factoring potential and business impact).

Sr. SEO Content Strategist, Smartsheet (Remote)

  • Salary: $120,000 – $157,000
  • Help to define and execute Smartsheet’s global SEO strategy.
  • Conduct comprehensive opportunity analyses, including keyword research, query intent mapping, competitive assessments, and SERP landscape evaluations, to prioritize initiatives that drive traffic and conversions.

SEO Consultant, Botify (Remote)

  • Salary: $130,000
  • Engage in discovery sessions to learn about customers’ businesses, their strategic initiatives, goals, and progress towards achieving the goals
  • Carry out detailed site audits and propose and present SEO strategies and roadmaps

Sr. SEO/CRO Strategist, Orbit Media Studios (Remote)

  • Salary: $75,000 – $90,000
  • Lead an overall SEO and CRO strategy for up to six great brands
  • Act as a trusted advisor, partner, and friend in these relationships

Sr. SEO Specialist, Tinuiti (Remote)

  • Salary: $70,000 – $80,000
  • Lead the development, execution, and optimization of sophisticated SEO campaigns, from initial research and strategy through implementation and analysis. 
  • Oversee all aspects of on-page, off-page, and technical SEO to achieve and exceed client objectives.

Sr. SEO Product Manager, Redfin (Remote)

  • Salary: $156,200 – $234,000
  • Set our technical SEO roadmap by conducting thorough audits and evaluations of our website relative to competitors
  • Work directly with other product managers and engineers to maintain SEO hygiene, implement changes, and ensure new features meet requirements

SEO Content Manager, Modernize (Remote)

  • Salary: $60,000 – $70,000
  • Support content publication and optimization across organic domains with a sharp focus on search engine performance and propelling channel growth.
  • Implement AI-driven solutions to streamline SEO processes, scale content opportunities, and enhance efficiency.

Search Marketing Manager, Gainor Staff (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $115,000
  • Develop, ideate and optimize high performing Paid Search campaigns across platforms (Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360, Optmyzr).
  • Communicate paid search performance, industry trends, and answering client questions with expertise.

SEO Strategist, RicketyRoo (Remote)

  • Salary: $72,000 – $84,000
  • SEO analysis and strategy. You excel at transforming raw data into actionable insights that align with both short- and long-term goals.
  • Report on client strategy. You’ll report on results to your clients regularly.

SEO Specialist, Alexander Shunnarah Trial Attorneys (Remote)

  • Salary: $85,000 – $95,000
  • Develop and execute comprehensive SEO strategies across technical, on-page, and off-page optimization
  • Lead technical SEO initiatives including site architecture, schema markup, and structured data implementation

Principal SEO Manager, Tenable (Remote)

  • Salary: £136,500 – $181,800
  • Develop and execute a comprehensive SEO strategy that aligns with business goals across multiple products, regions and languages.
  • Establish a shared SEO-driven growth strategy by collaborating with company stakeholders to build a consensus on priorities

Sr. SEO Product Manager, Upwork (Remote)

  • Salary: $151,500 – $183,000
  • Develop and execute a global SEO strategy that balances user experience with traffic growth objectives.
  • Lead PRD (Product Requirements Document) creation and management for SEO initiatives, ensuring clarity and alignment with cross-functional teams.

SEO Tech Lead, Tripadvisor (Remote)

  • Salary: $150,000 – $215,000
  • Build and drive a technical roadmap for our SEO platform
  • Design solutions to business problems by building new tools and/or processes

More PPC jobs

Vice President , Paid Search, MODCO Media (Remote)

  • Salary: $150,000 – $200,000
  • Defines the go-to market performance strategy cross-channel to drive accelerated growth and how we implement a rigorous test & learn agenda to refine and enhance media
  • Define how we stay abreast of the latest trends & advancements to maintain a competitive edge

Senior SEM Specialist, Canva (San Francisco, CA)

  • Salary: $113,000 – $172,000
  • Campaign Management & Optimisation: Manage and optimize SEM campaigns—analyzing performance data, writing ad copy, reviewing search term reports, and more.
  • Take ownership of global SEM projects in close collaboration with cross-functional teams, stakeholders, and external partners.

Paid Advertising & Performance, Robert Half (Howell, NJ)

  • Salary: $100,000 – $120,000
  • Oversee and manage all paid media efforts across Meta, TikTok, and Google platforms to drive customer acquisition and revenue growth. Ensure efficient allocation of budget across channels.
  • Lead and manage the overall paid media content strategy, collaborating with internal production teams and external content agencies

Manager, Paid Search (eCommerce), Kinesso (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $95,000
  • Manage eCommerce Associates on the team and take ownership / drive their career development
  • Cross-Brand oversight of all eCommerce campaigns, including coordination of planning, activation, and reporting

Performance Marketing Manager, Sigma Computing (New York, NY)

  • Salary: $130,000 – $155,000
  • Manage our digital advertising platforms such as Google Ads, Linkedin, 6Sense, and more: Includes in-platform management and optimization such as keyword research, ad copy writing, campaign creation, budgeting, pacing, optimization, assistance in tagging management and more
  • Collaborate with the organic content team to build and evolve the keyword strategy for both paid and organic

Senior Growth Manager, Paid Acquisition, Stepful (New York, NY)

  • Salary: $120,000 – $160,000
  • Drive Paid Acquisition growth and efficiency through creative testing and effective budget management.
  • Run experiments across the sign-up funnel to increase web page visitors to lead & lead to signup conversion rates.

Sr. Marketing Manager, Paid Advertising, Pilot.com (Remote)

  • Salary: £127,000 – $215,000
  • Own Paid Media Strategy: Develop and execute a comprehensive paid advertising strategy across platforms like Google and Bing Ads, LinkedIn, Meta and Reddit to drive leads and revenue.
  • Campaign Management & Optimization: Launch, monitor, and optimize campaigns to hit performance goals, staying within budget and maximizing ROI.

Search Marketing Manager, Gainor Staffing (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $115,000
  • Develop, ideate and optimize high performing Paid Search campaigns across platforms (Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360, Optmyzr).
  • Communicate paid search performance, industry trends, and answering client questions with expertise.

Sr Director, Head of Paid Search, PHD (Hybrid, New York, NY)

  • Salary: $180,000 – $250,000
  • Paid Search Strategic Planning: Develop long-term execution plans that align with client business and agency objectives. Implement these plans and track key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
  • Paid Search Data Analysis: Demonstrate analytical skills to extract meaningful insights from data. Relate these insights back to business goals and identify actionable recommendations.

Manager, Paid Search, Gainor Staffing (Remote)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $115,000
  • Develop, ideate and optimize high performing Paid Search campaigns across platforms (Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360, Optmyzr).
  • Communicate paid search performance, industry trends, and answering client questions with expertise.

Paid Media Manager, 10X Health System (Aventura, Fla.)

  • Salary: $75,000 – $95,000
  • Oversee the entire paid media campaign process, from concept development, creative ideation, and audience targeting, to execution, launch, and proactive optimization.
  • Monitor campaign spending and performance metrics to ensure campaigns meet or exceed key metrics such as ROAS, CPA, and conversion rates.

Manager, Paid Search, Gainor Staffing (New York City area)

  • Salary: $90,000 – $115,000
  • Develop, ideate and optimize high performing Paid Search campaigns across platforms (Google Ads, YouTube Ads, Microsoft Ads, SA360, Optmyzr).
  • Communicate paid search performance, industry trends, and answering client questions with expertise.

Director, Paid Search, Digital Matter (New York City)

  • Salary: $136,000 to $165,000 (annual)
  • Manage execution and performance of search, shopping, display, and video advertising campaigns through the full account management life cycle
  • Serve as the key player in kick-off meetings, client relationship management, ad-serving, tech stack implementation, campaign optimization, and quarterly business planning.

Are you looking to hire?

You can submit your job listing details here for free. Please include:

  • Job title.
  • Company.
  • Job listing URL.
  • Date when the job listing closes.
  • Where the position is located (e.g., remote, city, country).
  • Salary range (we will not include job listings in this article unless they include this).

Note: We update this post weekly. So make sure to bookmark this page and check back.

Read more at Read More

How to Build a Competitive Intelligence Strategy from Scratch

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Competitive intelligence (CI) gives you the clarity to make the right moves for your business—whether that’s meeting customer needs, finding new opportunities, or outsmarting competitors.

Marketing agency Thrive proves this perfectly.

I spoke to Aaron Whittaker, the VP of Demand Gen and Marketing at Thrive, to understand how they use CI.

His team gathered intel to solve a specific challenge. Prospects were choosing AI marketing solutions over traditional agencies.

“We monitored our competitors’ customer reviews and social media mentions. Our takeaway was that clients often felt disconnected with AI-based marketing strategies. This insight led us to develop what we call “Transparent Strategy Sessions.” This is unique to us since we combine AI efficiency with human strategic oversight.”

The team used these insights to create battlecards, increasing the win rate by 35%.

In this article, I’ll explain the key components of a competitive intelligence framework.

I’ll also break down four phases for conducting competitive intelligence research.

Download our competitive intelligence research checklist to follow along.

What Is Competitive Intelligence?

Competitive intelligence is the process of turning raw competitor data into actionable insights.

This helps your business make strategic decisions and stay ahead in the market.

A competitive intelligence report helps you answer three critical questions:

  1. Where are your competitors heading?
  2. Why and how are they making these moves?
  3. How can you respond effectively to stay ahead?

CI research works on two levels: tactical and strategic.

Competitive intelligence

Tactical intel focuses on improving your short-term strategy.

This includes decisions related to new launches, marketing campaigns, and more.

Strategic intel shapes your overall business strategy.

It helps you understand your market better, so you can make smart choices about where to focus and how to stand out.

Competitive Intelligence vs. Market Research

Competitive intelligence and market research are both important methods of gathering data to make smarter business decisions. But they work in different ways and have unique goals.

CI research tracks your competitors to find growth opportunities and predict market shifts.

The goal?

To strategically gain an advantage and stay ahead in a rapidly changing market.

On the other hand, market research studies:

  • Consumer behavior
  • Market conditions
  • Demand patterns
  • Growth trends

It analyzes the current market to discover gaps you can fulfill.

These insights support tactical decisions in product development, marketing, and other goals.

Here’s how competitive intelligence differs from market research:

Market research

3 Key Components of a Competitive Intelligence Framework

A strong competitive intelligence framework boils down to three essentials: find the right data, analyze it effectively, and put it into action.

Let’s discuss each component in detail.

Data

Collecting relevant, targeted data is the first step in CI research.

Start with secondary sources to get a broader view of the competitive landscape.

Check out competitor websites, help portals, and industry reports.

I chatted with Stanislav Khilobochenko, the VP of Customer Services at Clario, about CI data sources.

He explains how he uses platforms like G2 and Trustpilot to capture the voice of the customer:

“Monitoring customer reviews highlighted how a competitor’s customers complained about hidden subscription fees. This insight led us to emphasize transparent pricing in our marketing campaigns. We saw an increase in our new customer acquisition rate.”

Analysis

Look closely at your data to extract meaningful insights and find growth opportunities. This can help you confidently choose the right next steps for your business.

The real value is in analyzing multiple data sources in parallel. Think web research, customer feedback, and sales conversations.

Each source provides a different perspective, and combining them creates a fuller picture.

Here’s how the process might look if you own a project management platform:

  • Goal: Help sales reps close more deals
  • Analytical insight: Customer reviews reveal a need for niche integrations, while sales conversations highlight lost deals due to limited integrations
  • Business decision: Plan your product roadmap to build more integrations

So, your sellers can use this information to attract more customers. Information they wouldn’t be able to use without analyzing the right data.

Activation

Once you complete your analysis, share your findings with relevant stakeholders.

You can choose different formats, such as battle cards, competitor profiles, and meetings. More on that later.

The activation phase is all about using competitive intel to plan ahead.

I wanted to understand this phase better, so I spoke to Federico Jorge, the founder of Stack Against. He creates search-optimized comparison pages for SaaS companies based on in-depth competitive intel.

In one of his projects, he helped a client gather intel on a small competitor that was acquired by a large company.

Overnight, this competitor went from being an ankle biter to a huge threat that started to go after his client’s share of the market.

“One of the main assets we built was a battlecard to arm sales with new talk tracks whenever they went against this competitor in a new deal or a renewal project. The battlecard proved effective to position my client’s product in a more favorable light, after the acquisition. It also increased seller confidence by giving account executives an updated understanding of the competitor’s strengths and weaknesses.”

How to Collect Competitive Intelligence in 4 Phases

Fast-moving markets. Evolving customer preferences. Unexpected competitor moves.

You need competitive intel to survive and thrive in the face of these challenges.

Let’s cover a 4-phase framework for conducting competitive intelligence research based on experts’ advice.

Phase 1: Goal Setting and Preparation

In the first phase, you have to prepare the groundwork for your competitive intelligence research.

This involves outlining why you need this intel and who you’re competing against.

Define Why You Need Competitive Intelligence

Without a defined purpose and scope, competitive intelligence data is just noise.

Setting a clear “why” saves you from wasting time on irrelevant information.

The result?

You get insights directly aligned with your business goals to guide your decisions.

So, start by outlining your core problem or growth opportunity.

Do you want to:

  • Enter a new market?
  • Find key differentiators?
  • Improve your brand positioning?
  • Make product enhancements?

Along with your goals, think of specific questions you want to answer with this data. Also define the key stakeholders who will use this intel.

For example, let’s say you want to finalize a new pricing structure for your software product.

Poor goal-setting:

“We need to know how our competitors are pricing their products.”

Good goal-setting:

  • Goal: Build a well-informed pricing strategy
  • Questions: How have our top three competitors priced their enterprise plans? What changes have they made to their plans in terms of price point and capabilities?
  • Stakeholders: Product and sales leadership

Map Your Competitive Landscape

With your goals in place, you now need to identify:

  • Direct competitors: Businesses offering the same products or services as you
  • Indirect competitors: Businesses offering products or services that act as a substitute for yours

Start with a simple Google search to find your direct competitors.

Let’s say you run a local bakery.

Search for keywords like “custom cakes near me,” “wedding cake shops,” or “best bakeries in [your city].”

You’ll find direct competitors ranking well in organic search, like the ones visible here:

Google SERP – Wedding cake shops

Then, go a step further with a tool like Semrush’s Organic Research to find more competitors.

Add your domain (or a competitor’s website) and hit “Search.”

Semrush – Organic Research

In the “Competitors” tab, you’ll find the Competitive Positioning Map.

It highlights your biggest competitors based on traffic volume and number of keywords.

Organic Research – Sugar and Salt RVA – Competitors

Scroll down to see a more extensive list of organic competitors.

You can analyze competitors with metrics like competition level, shared keywords, and organic traffic.

Organic Research – Sugar and Salt RVA – Organic Competitors

Use this exercise to prepare and maintain an active list of your primary competitors.

Expand this database with indirect competitors and create these tiers:

  • Primary: Direct head-to-head competitors
  • Secondary: Occasional overlap in market/customers
  • Tertiary: Indirect competitors with substitute solutions

Identify competitors for competitive intelligence

Phase 2: Collect Data Systematically in Stages

Once you have locked in your list of competitors, it’s time to collect data.

Here are some of the most popular data sources you can use:

Data sources for competitive intelligence research

But random data won’t cut it.

I chatted with experts, and they recommend collecting data systematically in four stages.

Stage 1: Analyze Online Presence

Start with the easiest layer—your competitors’ online presence.

You can use tools to see exactly what’s working for your competitors online, from their top pages to their content strategy.

Edward White, Beehiiv’s Head of Growth, shared how he used Semrush to perform an SEO competitive analysis:

“We undertook an initiative to analyze 3,000 articles from 9 competitor blogs. We aimed to reverse-engineer the SEO strategy within a competitive mature market. I used Semrush to dig deeper into these competitors and evaluate each blog.”

24 months later, Beehiiv’s website went from ~0 to 1 million clicks/year.

To get started with your own similar analysis, go to Semrush’s Domain Overview and add one of your competitors’ websites.

(I’ll use the furniture rental site Fernish as an example.)

The Domain Overview report shows this site has an authority score of 31 and nearly 12K backlinks.

The tool also reveals Fernish’s organic and paid traffic over the past two years.

It also shows me that the majority of Fernish’s traffic comes from the U.S., followed by Indonesia and Canada.

Lots of useful data, but we want to go deeper.

Domain Overview – Fernish – Overview

The “Compare domains” tab provides a deeper analysis of Fernish’s top four competitors.

I compared three competitors on their authority score, traffic, and backlinks.

The report also showed the traffic share among the four brands, with Fernish getting 13% of the total traffic.

Domain Overview – Fernish – Compare domains

Once you’ve identified your top competitors in organic search, go to the Organic Research tool to find more information about each competitor.

I focused on this report for Inhabitr, one of Fernish’s top competitors.

This report tells me the keywords where Inhabitr is ranking well and attracting organic traffic.

It also categorizes these keywords by search intent to help me understand Inhabitr’s SEO strategy.

Domain Overview – Fernish – Keywords

I can see the top pages driving the most traffic to this site.

This report also shows the type of keywords each page targets and how much traffic it gets.

Organic Research – Inhabitr – Pages

Looking at the SERP Features Trend report, I realized that Inhabitr’s content strategy focused mostly on local SEO.

However, the brand now also seems to be leveraging image SEO to improve its organic search performance.

Organic Research – Inhabitr – SERP Features

These kinds of competitive insights can help you adapt your own strategies based on what’s working well for your rivals.

Note: A free Semrush account gives you 10 searches in these tools per day. Or you can use this link to access a 14-day trial on a Semrush Pro subscription.

Stage 2: Understand Market Context

Learn how the market perceives your competitors with:

  • Social listening tools: to monitor brand mentions and perform a social media competitor analysis
  • Analyst reports: to understand how competitors fit into the broader competitive landscape
  • Review platforms: to collect customer feedback and discover their challenges and unmet needs

For public companies, annual reports provide valuable insights into operations and financials.

Aaron Whittaker of Thrive Internet Marketing Agency shared an interesting insight to expand your research scope.

He explained how his team went beyond visible metrics (like pricing and features) to gain an edge over competitors.

“Our breakthrough came when we started mapping less obvious patterns. For example, we tracked a competitor’s job postings over six months. It revealed they were quietly building an AI team. This gave us early insight into their future direction.”

Stage 3: Conduct Field Research

Use hands-on research to find insights that aren’t available through external analysis.

Sign up for trials, purchase products, and document the entire marketing funnel.

Pay attention to your competitors’ sales process, customer support, and overall user experience.

This is where you’ll find opportunities for differentiation.

Stage 4: Gather Network Intelligence

Collect data through a network of buyers, employees, and vendors.

Check your win/loss reports or sales calls. They’ll show you the competitors you’re losing to.

Interview these buyers to find out why they chose a competitor over you.

Sam Niro, Senior Manager of Competitive Intelligence at Talkdesk, shares her best practice:

“I review press release feeds, social media, and industry media outlets to keep up with bigger storylines. However, my “secret weapon” is buyer interviews. They show the customer’s unfiltered voice. Use them to validate your differentiators, pricing, and sales process.”

Consider historical context throughout your data collection process.

Pro tip: Look at your competitors’ performance when they were at the same stage as your company.


If you’re a two-year-old company competing with a five-year-old brand, check their metrics from three years ago.

This provides more relevant benchmarks for your growth trajectory than their current performance might suggest.

Phase 3: Analyze Data and Extract Meaningful Insights

Now, you’re ready to dig into the data and connect the dots to find actionable insights about your competitors.

Data Organization

Raw data alone doesn’t drive decisions—analysis does.

You have to clean, organize, and validate data before extracting actionable insights.

I asked Federico Jorge, the founder of Stack Against, to share his best advice for this phase of CI research.

He emphasized the importance of keeping the bigger picture in mind during analysis:

“It’s critical to see through individual intel to form a bigger idea that’s sustainable for your product in the long-term. Before acting on any piece of intel, evaluate how it fits into your broader market strategy and customer needs.”

Data Analysis

Let’s break down three methods to analyze data:

Trends Analysis

Analyze your competitors’ actions over time to find patterns in their behavior. Like product launches, pricing changes, positioning changes, and more.

As trends emerge, you can predict your competitors’ next moves and adapt your strategy.

It also allows you to spot gaps and undiscovered opportunities in the market.

Picture this:

You run a meal-delivery business.

Trend analysis tells you:

  • Two competitors added plant-based options in the last quarter
  • Five of them started a weekend-only delivery service
  • Many highlight “locally sourced” in their content

These patterns indicate customers prefer plant-based options and care about food sourcing. There’s also a demand for weekend-only plans.

You can use this information to add to or improve your own services. And reduce the risks of being left behind in the market.

Strategic Group Analysis

Use strategic group analysis to understand the competitive landscape at a macro level.

In other words: don’t view each competitor in isolation.

Instead, find the challenges and opportunities for each group.

It reveals what makes each competing group successful or vulnerable.

For example, the analysis below covers different types of competitors for the coffee brand, Starbucks.

I analyzed each group’s varying tactics, strengths, and vulnerabilities.

Group Competitors Key Tactics Strengths Vulnerabilities
Premium Cafes Starbucks, Blue Bottle High-quality beans, customized drinks Brand recognition, customer loyalty High prices limit customer base
Fast Food Coffee McDonald’s, Dunkin’ Convenient locations, low prices Speed, affordability Lower perceived quality
Local Independent Cafes John’s Cafe, The Bean Lounge Community focus, unique atmosphere Personal service, local loyalty Limited resources for growth

SWOT Analysis

SWOT analysis adds more depth by examining a company’s:

  • Strengths: What they do well
  • Weaknesses: Where they struggle
  • Opportunities: External factors they could use to grow
  • Threats: External factors that could harm them

Here are some questions to consider for applying this method (you can perform this on your own business/website and on your competitors):

How to do a SWOT analysis

This approach gives you a complete picture of your competitors’ positions.

Use these insights to make smart decisions for investing your resources.

Here’s an example SWOT analysis of automotive brands:

Brand Strengths Weaknesses Opportunities Threats
Toyota Strong global presence; Leader in hybrid technology Dependent on global supply chains Increasing demand for EVs Intense competition in EV market
Ford Strong brand recognition in America; Investments in autonomous vehicles Struggles with profitability internationally Growth in EV and autonomous vehicle sectors Competition from traditional and new auto manufacturers
Volkswagen Strong focus on R&D; Significant global footprint Emissions scandal has damaged reputation Growth opportunities in new markets like Africa Regulatory challenges and fines

The real value comes from connecting these analyses to action.

This phase should tell you where competitors are today and where they’re heading.

Phase 4: Activation and Implementation

In the final phase, you have to convert insights into meaningful resources for all stakeholders.

You also need to plan the way forward and decide the next steps to update this intel.

Create Useful Deliverables

Here are a few deliverables to create to share your CI findings with relevant stakeholders:

Battle Cards

Prepare visual one-pagers to emphasize areas where you outshine the competition.

Add talking points to counter each competitor and help sellers confidently handle objections.

Here’s a battle card template to follow:

Battlecard template

Centralized Hub

Document all of your CI findings on platforms like Notion or Confluence.

Categorize the resources by teams and make this hub searchable for easy access.

Competitor profiles

Create in-depth profiles analyzing a competitor from all aspects.

Marketing and product teams can use them to plan their campaigns and plan the roadmap.

Here’s an example of the beauty brand Glossier’s competitive profile:

Glossier competitive profile

Implement a Distribution Plan

Create a dedicated Slack channel to share real-time insights. It helps in quickly sending updates about competitor moves to plan ahead.

Here are a few other ways to effectively distribute your research insights:

  • Weekly messages with updates from social media and your competitors’ latest campaigns
  • Monthly emails reviewing intel related to changes in pricing, features, and more
  • Quarterly meetings with each department to discuss key intel and reassess key competitors

You can also set up alerts about significant events, like acquisitions, leadership changes, and more.

Monitor and Update Your Strategy

Remember that markets and competitors constantly evolve.

Don’t take a one-and-done approach to competitive intelligence research.

Instead, you need workflows to regularly monitor and update your intel.

Schedule regular check-ins with your sales, marketing, and customer success teams to get constant feedback about your competitors.

Key Applications of Competitive Intelligence

Ready to see competitive intelligence in action?

Here’s how different teams can use competitive intelligence research.

Sales Enablement

Sales teams use CI to study competitors’ sales tactics and buying experience.

78% of CI pros translate these insights into battle cards.

As a result, sellers can deliver a strong pitch, handle objections effectively, and present social proof.

This intel also highlights key differentiators against every competitor.

Product Development

CI data helps product teams keep tabs on competitors’ new launches. It also collects customer feedback to map user expectations.

These insights help teams prioritize new features to outpace the competition.

You can also use this data to plan your product roadmap based on unmet customer needs.

Aaron Whittaker (Thrive) shared a great example of using CI data for product development:

“Competitive intelligence helped us spot a gap in the market. As competitors rushed to add AI features, we saw a demand for simpler, human-readable reports. This led us to develop streamlined dashboards that became a major selling point.”

Market Positioning and Strategy

Competitive intelligence research examines a competitor’s positioning, target audience, and overall marketing strategy.

You can learn how competitors position and differentiate themselves in the market.

Use this analysis to take a fresh approach in your messaging and resonate with your buyers.

It also helps identify underserved markets that you should target.

Pricing and Revenue Optimization

Pricing intelligence data goes a long way in building your pricing strategy.

Collect intel about competitors’ pricing models to optimize your pricing structure.

Check this data against factors like perceived value and customer loyalty. Then, plan your pricing model to maximize revenue.

Use Competitive Intelligence to Stay Ahead of the Curve

Competitor intelligence turns data about your competitors into strategic decisions for business growth.

As you build your CI research process, keep three principles in mind:

  1. Set clear goals before collecting data
  2. Focus on actionable insights rather than random data
  3. Share findings in relevant and easily accessible deliverables

The real value of competitive intelligence comes from studying the right competitors.

Before diving into research, do a thorough market analysis to find which brands impact your market.

Use our full guide to learn how to conduct market analysis to build a strong foundation for your CI efforts.

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