SEO Practices: Why Only A Great Website Won’t Give You Any ROI

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

If you want to get ROI from your website, keep this in mind: Your website’s SEO Practices is more important than design. There’s no dispute that a website should have the best website design, with a creative branding structure that really sells your business to web visitors. Right? No-one wants an ugly website.

However, you must complete that sexy design with a well-planned marketing strategy. And it includes your SEO and other important aspect of your business plan.

The online marketing industry has fallen into somewhat of a dangerous trap of creating websites that are gorgeous, yes. But at the expense of fundamental SEO Practices that actually bring visitors to your site from search engines.

In other words, we see a lot of websites with insane design that actually never get seen on the SERP. Then, all you do in terms of web design gets lost and you’re stuck with a website that can’t be found. And with websites being perhaps the most important online marketing tool under your belt, that doesn’t really help.

The SEO Of Your Website Is #1 Priority

The list of fundamental SEO practices for websites doesn’t actually run that long. But you’d be surprised at just how many of them business owners miss when they built their new website.

Really, it’s a blend of sacrificing these fundamentals for design elements- or billable hours being allocated towards the design rather than the skeletal framework of the site. Fundamental SEO includes factors like:

  • Keyword optimization
  • Title tags
  • Meta Descriptions
  • Alt tags
  • Site maps
  • Crawl accessibility
  • Snippers/schema markups
  • URL

These are all pretty non-negotiable when it comes to being seen on the SERP and taking a leading spot on page 1- but they seem to be common factors not quite hitting the mark on a lot of developed websites out there.

A Websites Design Doesn’t Boost Your SERP Ranking

But it does affect other analytics like bounce rate, page session and even conversion rate.

Which is why a harmonious blend of strong SEO Practices and visual design makes for the perfect website. It just seems that it’s one or the other out there with many web agencies.

It’s not an industry trend that we are happy to see.

Is SEO Practices More Important Than Design?

Short answer- yes.

Detailed answer? It’s not really that simple. Is getting seen online more important than how you are seen?

It’s a hard question to answer. One on hand, if no-one ever finds your website due to poor SERP ranking, that means no business for you. On the other hand, though, there are chances people find very easily on the SERP. But then, people bounce out of your site really quickly if your website isn’t visually appealing and user-friendly.

The most fair way to analyze these questions is to assess the goal of your website development in general. If you don’t feel the need to be seen on the SERP and execute alternative online strategies, design away. But most businesses want to be seen on search engines:

  • 62.9% of online users conduct searches for products and services on Google
  • 67% of online users only use Google to search for products and services
  • 51% of people convert after using Google to search for products and services

In that case, building a site that is perfectly optimized for search engines is crucial- and so yes, SEO triumphs web design to ultimately satisfy business goals. Building a skeletal framework that is strong, strategic and well executed will put you in a good spot for maximum exposure, and design elements can be created around the core of the site.

Don’t Forget- Website Design Still Matters!

We’ve truly noticed it’s one or the other, because we sometimes see sites that are beautifully optimized- but are downright ugly.

One of the hardest parts about online marketing is that you are creating content and elements that have to both appease search engine crawlers and real live humans. And that is difficult. Really difficult.

That’s why the design elements of your site still really matter, and why great website developers are hard to find- one with a perfect balance of technical and visual development. The design of your website speaks to your branding and the quality of your services, and remains the last step between a potential customer and confirmed lead generation.

It draws users in, and keeps them engaged with your brand. It’s like sticking a billboard up in the most high traffic area, but the billboard is comprised of cardboard and sharpie markers. People will see you, but they’ll drive right on by (or to another competitor in this case.)

Website Design & SEO Go (Almost) Hand In Hand

Like we said, great website design is difficult because it demands both a technical understanding of search engines and visual creativity. The two can very easily exist together (and should for that matter) but it takes finding a developer that builds with both in mind. Be sure to discuss your visual goals, but also inquire about the SEO framework these design elements are being built around. You’d be surprised at what may be missing.

How to Use Free Keyword planners for SEO and PPC Strategies

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

I know. I know. You’re freaking out at my headline because you know I hate pay-per-click (PPC), but don’t. I know what I’m doing. Let me explain How to Use Free Keyword planners.

So the reality is, no SEO strategy is going to get your website at the top of the search engine results page (SERP) in a short period of time. As discussed in other posts, SEO takes at least a couple months before you start seeing results. That being said, some new businesses do not have that luxury of time.

For them, PPC offers a few advantages SEO don’t, such as: position on the page (paid search dominates above-the-fold content. A user will always see the paid search Ads, even if they choose to scroll past them), improved Ads (PPC Ads are just that: advertisements.

Free Keyword Planners and PPC

As you can see, with PPC you have far more space for delivering your marketing messages), visual product Ads (Google provides the option of visual shopping Ads [Product Listing Ads, or PLAs] that can help a user see what they will be clicking on.

This kind of Ad can really improve the click-through rate by offering a feature not available in organic search). Other advantages include targeting (PPC provides a laser-targeted way to get in front of potential customers based on time of day, day of the week, geography, language, device, etc.) speed (PPC campaigns can be created in days and ramped up in weeks) and agility.

Speed provides agility. Want to test a new product? A new marketing message? You can get rapid feedback on a new product launch (or minimum viable product) by running a short PPC Ad campaign.

But whether you’re running an SEO or PPC campaign, one thing that is pertinent to both is keyword research. What Is Keyword Research?

SEO keyword research is the process of identifying what words and phrases people type in when they are trying to find information about a specific topic online” (DemandJump). It can give you insight into the demand for certain keywords, and what it takes to compete for the top position in SERP.

Why Do You Need A Keyword Research Tool?

In order to do keyword research, you need to use a keyword planner that will ***? And because I love my clients so much, I would never deprive them of any opportunity that could work in their favour. So that’s why I am going to show you how to use free keyword planners for SEO and PPC strategies. No client gets left behind.

First, you must understand that there are many keyword planners for SEO and PPC out there on the market. However, for the purpose of this article I will discuss the one most people are familiar with, i.e, Google Keyword Planner (an SEO keyword planner tool for PPC campaigns), along with a few others including Answer the Public and Google Keyword Planner.

Google Keyword Planner

According to Google, its Keyword Planner “helps you research keywords for your Search campaigns”. It provides another way to create search campaigns that are centred around in depth keyword research.

You can use this free tool to discover new keywords related to your business and see estimates of the searches they receive and the cost to target them. Not only is it free, but it is not difficult to use, especially as Google has an easy to read Guide.

You can use Keyword Planner to discover new keywords related to your brand. It will show you estimates of the searches those keywords receive along with the cost to target them. However, when creating an online campaign, you must know how to effectively use this free resource for successful outcomes. So how do you do that?

Find Relevant Keywords

Google Keyword Planner can help you discover new keywords that your target audience uses when searching for brands like yours. You can find quality, relevant keywords you never thought of with GKP:

By filter: If your brand has a physical storefront and you want to target people searching around your area, you can use GKP’s filter that lets you see a keyword’s popularity based on location. While a specific keyword might have a high search volume in a wide area in general, this filter allows you to see if that same keyword is widely used in your targeted area by:

  • Keyword: If you already have a keyword that you know is solid, type in the keyword and GKP will generate several long-tail keywords from which to choose.
  • Landing page: if you type in the URL for any page on your website, the GKP will scan that page and create relevant keywords based on the content on that page.
  • Product category: If you pick a product category that best describes your brand, the GKP will help you discover keywords that are frequently searched for by users of similar brands.

Refine Your Keyword Search

As mentioned, Google Keyword Planner gives you options to filter for relevant keywords. You can also refine your budget and audience. Here are the choices for filtering when you are setting up your keyword plan:

  • Discover new keywords – lets you generate new keyword ideas by typing in a phrase or website.
  • Using multiple keywords lists lets you combine two individual lists to create new keyword combinations.
  • Get search volume and forecast – know trends by seeing the historical and trending data for keywords.
  • Review performance forecasts for clicks and costs to understand performance projections for a keyword list based on average bids and your budget.

After completing your filter and running the report, you still have another option to further filter based on data range, reach, monthly searches, keywords competitors looked at, etc.

See What Your Competitors Are Paying

Not only can Google Keyword Planner show you what keywords your competitors are looking at, but it can show you what they’re paying for these keywords. It can also assist you with finding effective keywords that fit your budget.

Keyword costs are often dependent on how competitive they are. I.e. depending on how many people are bidding on them, the competition level will be ranked low, medium or high. As you can imagine, the higher the rank the more costly the keyword. As such, it can be quite costly to rank at the top of SERP. That’s why the Google Keyword Planner is a handy tool to provide insights into keyword targeting.

However, although the GKP is a great free tool for PPC campaigns or getting started in SEO, in many ways it is still limited. For example, the GKP can only be used for specific purposes, so it requires SEO experts like myself switching between tools to meet all the needs of my clients.

AnswerThePublic

Another free keyword planner for SEO and PPC strategies is: AnswerThePublic
AnswerThePublic is a search listening tool that “listens into autocomplete data from search engines like Google then quickly cranks out every useful phrase and question people are asking around your keyword”.

It’s a treasure trove of useful information that can help you plan your SEO and PPC strategies. With AnswerThePublic you:

  • Meet your customers exactly where they are
  • Keep your finger firmly on the pulse
  • Uncover hidden treasures
  • Stop wasting time on gut-feel and guesswork
  • Make solid business decisions: take fewer risks
  • Streamline your content production

AnswerThePublic provides FREE searches (over 500k a month!). If unlimited searches is what you need, then you can upgrade to one of their pro or education plans. How else can you use AnswerThePublic for SEO and PPC strategies?

  • By tracking shifts in brand perceptions and spotting seasonal trends.
  • By easily comparing search behaviour changes over time in your research. Btw, did you know 20% of daily Google searches have never been seen before?
  • By creating folders to organise your search, i.e. Collections.
  • By exporting your results to CSV.
  • By producing high resolution images.

Conclusion

As I mentioned at the beginning, there are many free keyword planners for SEO and PPC strategies. Some are not totally free–you have to upgrade at some point. I didn’t even get to:

  • DemandJump’s SEO keyword research tool,
  • Keyword Magic tool,
  • Amazon Keyword tool,
  • Reddit’s KeyworddIt,
  • Ahrefs Keyword Generator, among others.

Instead, I showed you how to use Google’s Keyword Planner and AnswerThePublic as great starting points for your SEO and PPC strategies. Want us to go through some of the others? Let us know in the comments below. Know a few free keyword planners that have produced favourable results? Why not share with our audience?

Hi! I’m AJ… the Best SEO in Canada. Are you still unsure after reading How to Use Free Keyword Planners for SEO and PPC Strategies? Don’t worry. I’m here to help. My team and I have over 10 years of experience doing SEO. We can work with you to use any keyword planner to generate the most relevant keywords for your SEO and PPC strategy. Give us a call or send us an email. You’ll be glad you did.

How Do I Build Domain Authority with a New Site?

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

Working on a new site for it to rank on the first page of Google is no easy feat even for experienced developers who’ve done it countless times before. The scenario is the same, but newly-built business websites have unique needs and challenges to address. Then, the question remains for everybody: How Do I Build Domain Authority with a New Site?

Superb design, fail-proof content strategy, and a handful of marketing campaign ideas – you think you’ve got it all. But no, you haven’t touched the surface just yet. 

The objective of every new site is to rank high on search engine results pages for high-volume and high competition keywords. If you watch some videos that explain how this works, you probably think it’s doable. Yes, it is, but it will take some time. Don’t expect to achieve something overnight. It simply doesn’t work that way. 

A relatively new site comes with inherent disadvantages, including the lack of content history and backlink profile. Having a low domain authority is expected, and every other site out there has gone through this process, too.

The lack of domain authority makes it quite a challenge to keep up with the more established websites in the same niche or industry. But don’t lose hope. The reason why you’re here is that you intend to learn about building domain authority for your new site, and that’s what we’ll talk about for the rest of this blog. 

The Value of Domain Authority

Google does its job by deciding which pages to show first when someone types a search term, say for instance, “how to replace a roofing shingle.” This search returns hundreds of thousands of relevant pages that contain or target the keyword phrase.

Since Google and other search engines genuinely care about convenient user experience, they will rank websites based on content relevance and a cluster of other parameters. This is where the concept of domain authority creeps in. 

You won’t see your new site about roofing products/services on the first page of Google because there are older and more established competitors that rank for the same keywords. But since you are on the bottom, there’s no other way but up. 

Domain authority is never about the metrics. It is not something that the search engines use to rank websites for their SERP. Instead, it is more of a barometer that determines how well your new website is expected to perform against everyone else.

Increasing your site’s domain authority doesn’t affect whatever your competing sites are doing, but it increases your chances of ranking high in the SERPs. 

Ways to Build Domain Authority 

Building domain authority with a new site is an indirect route of increasing its potential of finding its way on the first page of Google. Before you commit to doing the things that we’re about to discuss, you must acknowledge that this will only work with time. In others, there’s a waiting game in place. Be patient, and your website get rewarded eventually. 

1 – Link Building

Google loves link building, and so you must embrace it, too. The rule is simple – have high quality and authority sites link to your website. If you’re successful at that, it creates an impression that those authority sites trust your brand or company.

It may sound cliché, but that is because it works since the search engines notice it right away. If you already did some link building before, be sure to perform a backlink audit. It gives you a clear picture of your backlink profile, including the existence of harmful backlinks. 

Don’t get too excited about link building; we’ve seen a lot of people overdo it. The last thing you want is to damage your website’s reputation by linking to shady sites.

Back in the day, private blogging networks were considered an authority, but that’s no longer the case. Google is quite strict when it comes to the practice of spamming your links. Adding harmful backlinks to your website will do more harm than good on your domain authority score. 

Focus on high authority sites and publications instead. You want to fill up your link building profile with wholesome and relevant links. 

2 – Content Remains King

Content marketing is and will always be the foundation of a website. It’s an indispensable component of building your domain authority. The role of content is to keep the landing page in order while you simultaneously inject new stuff.

Google loves it when you regularly incorporate fresh content that is not only relevant to your niche but something that attracts prospective customers. Furthermore, adding new content provides new opportunities for backlinks and added keywords. 

Don’t fall for automated or spun content to fill some pages of your new site. Everything must be new, original, and unique. Come up with something that Google sees as something that bears no resemblance of published content on the web. 

3 – Social Media Boost

We’re not just talking about creating social media profiles and linking them to your new site.

To successfully build domain authority with a new website, you must up the ante by keeping those social platforms active. Google is on the lookout for social signals, i.e. shares, likes, and retweets of your content. These are invaluable things that Google uses in evaluating both page and domain authorities of new sites. 

Come up with a strategy that will increase social proof of your content. It drives traffic to your pages and will eventually boost your authority score. We don’t have to tell you how crucial social media presence is in terms of driving online traffic. 

Wrapping It Up

The pain of seeing your new website make slow progress must serve as a motivation. Don’t feel bad if your site isn’t on top of Google at the moment; we’ve all been there. As mentioned earlier, it takes time for results to come in, but don’t remain idle. Some people don’t see progress because they lack consistency. Put in the effort and time in building domain authority because it gives you proven results. 

2021 SEO Changes

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

In this comprehensive Local SEO guide, we’re going to show you how you can win at search ranking in 2021.

Small and medium-sized businesses rely on local search more than ever. Seven out of 10 consumers search Google to obtain local information. So, if your business website isn’t optimized for local search, you’re likely missing out on more than half of your prospective clients.

With so many changes every year, you feel a ton of pressure to update your SEO strategy. But it won’t matter if you’re not into local SEO.

You lost some ground last year, but this year is your chance for redemption. Build upon local SEO to keep your brand relevant, and this article serves as your comprehensive SEO guide.

Good Local SEO Practices

Start with Google My Business listing – If you haven’t done so, set up a Google My Business listing. It’s the digital equivalent of the Yellow Pages. If you intend to rank in the local search, a GMB listing makes perfect sense.

There’s no reason to skip this step – it carries weight in local SEO, plus setting it up takes minutes. See to it that you put all the details about your business.

This must include your products/services, the main business category, and the secondary business category. Filling out the subcategory is critical in your Google Maps rank.

List your business in online directories – GMB isn’t the only listing out there. List your business in other relevant online directories, but don’t overdo it.

The key term is “relevant” since all the others are trash and won’t do your business any good concerning local SEO. Focus your effort and time on these directories:

  1. Angie’s List
  2. Yelp
  3. Bing Places
  4. Foursquare
  5. Super Pages
  6. Yellow Pages

Review your NAP information – Be consistent with the business information you put on your listings, especially the name and place. Google wants the information to be accurate for it to trust your business.

Even an honest mistake on inputting the wrong phone number could become a red flag for Google, giving it a reason to stop displaying your listing. Even the smallest details must be consistent, like how you write abbreviations and company suffixes. If you prefer “inc.” instead of “incorporated,” do it in all your listings.

Focus on local keywords – Shift your attention to local keywords this year, but don’t ignore the value of long-tail keywords for your business, too. If you didn’t climb up to the SERPs last year, you might have undermined keyword research value.

This time see to it that you compare search volumes for a couple of almost similar search terms. You may feel like there’s no point in it, but there’s a significant difference in impact for “roof repair, Vancouver” versus “roof repair, VBC.”

Rethink your SEO strategy by using local keywords – Once you’ve figured out a new set of local keywords, the next step is to optimize your business website with them.

This isn’t a newfound strategy, yet it’s still as useful and indispensable this year as it was a decade ago. Optimizing your site is no cakewalk as it involves several components that are worthy of a separate discussion.

Anyhow, the fundamental rule is for your homepage and the product/service pages to showcase the local keywords, specifically in the following:

    1. Heading
    2. Meta description
    3. Title tags
    4. Body
    5. Footer

Gone were the days when you can insert keywords while ignoring the natural flow of content. Google hates keyword stuffing and unnatural placements, so see that you’re putting value to your content by flawlessly incorporating the local keywords.

Create local content – It only makes sense to fill your pages with local content since you’re shifting to local SEO this year. Unfortunately, your current content marketing strategy is all but local.

You’ve learned a while back that non-local content reaches a broader audience (and supposedly more web traffic), but you can’t take full advantage of it since you’re a local business. Maximizing your efforts in content marketing for an improved lead generation means creating local content.

Create a mobile-friendly website – You may skip this part if you’ve done this already, and we’d be surprised if you haven’t. You know how impactful a mobile-friendly website is for SEO in general, and it’s essential for local SEO, too.

Almost 40% of mobile searches are location focused. It means that almost half of consumers who stumble upon your site via a local search are using their mobile devices. Imagine the number of opportunities you’re missing out if your site isn’t mobile responsive. That’s scary.

Place value on inbound links – Inbound links boost local SEO when you know how to do it right. Put some effort in building those links this year but focus on the proven strategies.

Come up with a list of acquaintances who are in some way related to your business, i.e., wholesalers, contractors, business partners, and suppliers. Search for relevant pages on their respective websites where you’re allowed to place contextual links.

You’ll use this link to contact those businesses and then recommend the link placements. Aside from this strategy, you can also generate inbound links via guest posting. Offer to write content for related businesses with the condition that you place a link to your site.

Create location pages – If you happen to have branches of your business, then you must rank in local searches in those areas, too. The most convenient way to do this is by creating location pages.

Come up with a service page for each city instead of having just one service page for all your branches. You may optimize these pages for local search terms. But be sure that you use unique content for each page. The last thing you want is for Google to see it as duplicate content.

Final Thoughts

Though you’re setting your sights on local SEO for 2021, don’t turn your back on traditional SEO. Remember that Google factors in your website’s ranking in organic SERPs in local SEO.

The lack of implementation of some of the components of traditional SEO may even adversely affect local SEO.

Take this SEO guide and make the best of simple practices to make a profit of your website… but if you don´t have time, experience or any other related, then call us. Best SEO in Canada is here to help you out.

 

Why It’s Important To Keep SEO Momentum Going

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

It’s a great accomplishment when you reach the first page of Google. You probably have an influx of clients and a boost in revenue. All those blogs, white papers, website links, and digital marketing efforts are finally paying off. You’re successful enough that you don’t have time, or perhaps the will, to market yourself. After all you’re a success so that means you can take your foot off the pedal, right?

WRONG!

Keyword Stuffing Is an SEO Killer

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

Keyword Stuffing Is an SEO Killer (And Here’s Why)

Guys- keyword stuffing kills your SEO.

SEO and keywords go hand in hand. Arguably one of the most important aspects of sound SEO, keywords play an insanely vital role in your search engine placement.

They are the link between what your potential clients are searching for, and when/how thy view your business online.

Singular words, or phrases- keywords help connect search engine users to your online content. Keywords are found everywhere within your online strategy- social media, your website, PPC and even Youtube!

Too little, or the wrong keywords? You may as well be sleeping on the Internet.

With that being said, it would make sense to choose a few top performing keywords and use them everywhere and as much as possible. The more the merrier, right?

And the more anchors you have to your line content from each search, the more you will be seen.

Well, no. Not at all actually. The intelligence of search engines far surpasses shoddy practices like keyword stuffing- among others, like backlink farming, spam ads and duplicate content.

What Is Keyword Stuffing?

Funnily enough, keyword stuffing used to be considered a leading SEO practice.

Loading the same keywords into every area of your online content- both the front and back end – used to gain an unfair rank advantage in search engines. The top SEO experts would stuff the same few keywords in their meta tags, content, backlink anchor text, alt images etc. for simply better SERP rankings.

But even back in the days where it was acceptable, it was still spammy and annoying- but Google and other search engines found it downright devious in a world where transparency and genuineness is heavily demanded online.

You will 100% be penalized for keyword stuffing, but it doesn’t mean that content curators out there don’t do still do it for rankings until they are caught.

Why Does Keyword Stuffing Kill Your SEO?

The minute Google noticed the amount of keyword stuffing going on out there, they were quick to crack down and implement strict guidelines on how repetitive you could actually get when curating content.

Seriously, they wrote an article about it.

And why goes Google care so much about keyword stuffing? The answer to that lies in the user experience. Google wants to uphold themselves as the search engine that delivers valid and helpful answers- if they can’t, people will just use other sources.

To increase the quality of each searchers experience, Google updated their algorithm to scan and point out keyword stuffing. If you’re manipulating your SERP rankings, rather than earning it, your content will be penalized.

And really, it’s not all about Google and SERP rankings. Don’t forget, actual humans read your content- and it’s them that will be the true qualified leads and sales. Keyword stuffing can never sound natural, and it will never sound genuine. To the average human, it will read as robotic and repetitive and that’s bad online marketing all around.

How Do I Know If I’m Keyword Stuffing?

Of course, there is no easy answer to this question. It’s a total grey area.

Keyword stuffing vs. keyword optimization is a tricky thing for even SEO experts to master. The execution of just the right amount of keywords and strategic placement is an art in itself.

At the end of the day, you’re satisfying the need for transparent and genuine content for the user with the demands of a robotic search engine.

And that’s tough. But what you’re aiming to achieve is health keyword optimization, working natural and true content around a few keywords that accurately describe your business.

Healthy keyword optimization does not force content based on leading searches- it will mirror what your business offers and what your specific market is searching for.

Your content should also provide helpful, relevant content specific to your business as a primary goal, with strategic placement of relevant keywords as a second goal.

There’s a Formula To Avoid Keyword Stuffing

As with a lot of content creation, there isn’t a black and white rule to avoid keyword stuffing. At RAD, we do use a benchmark that  helps us create natural, engaging content. Without the use of repeated keywords every two sentences.

We write with keyword density in mind.


Keyword Density =
(Number of words in copy) / (Number of times keyword appears in copy)
Best practice is to remain around the 2% mark. This indicates your copy is natural but contains enough keywords to help positively boost your SERP ranking.

There are some companies (and sadly, agencies) that will try and by-pass this by putting text on the page that is the same color as it’s background. Readers can’t see it, but search engine crawlers can.

PSA- Google knows, and you’ll be penalized.

Others repeat keywords in comments, reviews, in the sites code and more to again, trick the search engine crawlers but not interrupt the user experience.

Again, Google is smarter than most of us and will catch it.

The best way to avoid keyword stuffing is by curating raw, real and smart content. That engages readers on a natural level. Your website will rank higher on the SERP engine- and stay there- by appeasing Google AND your readers. Yes, it will take longer- great SEO is gradual and requires consistent work. If your work is wholesome and true, your place on the SERP will be as well.

shopify SEO

Why Is Shopify’s SEO Bad?

by Ecommerce TipsMarketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO TipsWordPress Tips

Shopify, not to be confused with Spotify– the world’s largest music streaming service provider, is an eCommerce platform “for online stores and retail point-of-sale systems. The Shopify platform offers online retailers a suite of services including payments, marketing, shipping and customer engagement tools,” (Wikipedia). 

In other words, the Shopify platform  “helps people achieve independence by making it easier to start, run, and grow a business”. Over 1,700,000 businesses in more than 175 countries are powered by Shopify.  Same, it “creates the best commerce tools for anyone, anywhere, to start and grow a business”, (Shopify.com). The platform is simple, sleek and integrates well with many different apps at just the click of a button.

Plus, you don’t have to take out your wallet to start. This means, they allow you to set up your store for free, and try their service for 14 days before you’re asked for your credit card. Did I tell you that they are also headquartered in Ottawa, Canada? Nice! However, not everything shines when it comes to Shopify. So, the next question is, what’s not to love? Their SEO.

Obviously, if SEO is critical to your business, you need to read this article as I try to answer the question: Why is Shopify’s SEO bad?

Can you do SEO with Shopify?

First of all, let’s be clear, you can do SEO with Shopify. But it’s limiting. Here are many quick, technical wins.

If you are new to eCommerce and just looking for a place to start, then Shopify is the perfect place for your online store. However, once your business starts to take off that’s when you start to see how Shopify actually holds you back.

Look at it this way: 

You can become 80% competitive on Google’s search engine using Shopify, but that’s it. It won’t get better. If you know what you’re doing and put in the effort, you may even rank on less-competitive searches. However, profitable rankings are extremely competitive, so trying to make up for that last 20% of lost performance will over time become frustrating.

Now that I’ve got your attention, let Best SEO in Canada show you five problems with Shopify’s SEO that might make you think twice about choosing their platform. You might even become motivated to migrate to BigCommerce–our go-to eCommerce plugin for all things WordPress.

1. Canonical URLs

The first problem is Shopify’s Canonical URLs. Canonical issues are all about copies of the same content getting spat into Google.

If you asked them, Shopify would say that they solved the problem using the rel=”canonical” HTML tag, but they would be wrong. It’s not that they’re using the code wrong (I actually love that they make it so easy). Rather, they’re simply expecting this HTML tag to do something that it was not meant to do.

For example, Northcutt, based out of Chicago, had a Shopify client with the following URLs all visible in Google when they searched for site:theirdomain.com:

searched for site:theirdomain.com; proving that all four copies were indeed in Google’s index:

/products/Batteries

/products/batteries

/products/batteries/

/products/BATTERIES/

>Their “batteries“>” product page contained the rel=”canonical” tag. So what happened?

By Google’s own definition, the rel=”canonical” tag is a suggestion. In my experience, they’ve only occasionally followed their own suggestion.

And if you tried patching things together using Shopify’s redirect tool, you would find that this doesn’t work either. At least not if the page to which you are redirecting technically exists.

We still recommend rel=”canonical” HTML tags, but it is unreliable in this situation. The role of this tag is entirely different — perhaps we’ll do another article on that at a later date. Note that in this case, too, JavaScript redirects cannot be relied upon.

These problems can only be solved by using .htaccess or vhost files. Period. And you cannot access these files on Shopify. They know this. Shopify Plus support confirmed this problem, but were unwilling or unable to fix it.

2. Breadcrumb URLs

The second problem is a variant of problem #1: Shopify creates breadcrumb URLs of products beneath categories. What that means is that you will often find two copies of the same page in Google’s index:

/collections/collection-title/products/product-name

/products/product-name

So using MinistryofSupply.com (a clothing store) as an example, Shopify’s default canonical behaviour will state that only the second URL should get indexed. I.e. /products/product-name:

However, a search on Google proves this suggestion often just doesn’t work:

shopify SEO

This, right here, is just foolish behaviour. What is the purpose of creating so many conflicting URLs with the same content? None. There is no benefit. Worst of all, like problem #1, Shopify will not provide access for you to solve this problem.

3. No Plusses, Please!

The third problem with Shopify’s SEO is the inability to modify the indexing file, which contains the + sign that must be deleted in order for search engines to crawl the site. Let me explain. There is a file named robots.txt that sends signals to Google about how to index your site, and all other sites. On Shopify, you cannot edit this file. Here’s what’s inside by default:

# we use Shopify as our ecommerce platform

//User-agent: *

//Disallow: /admin

//Disallow: /cart

//Disallow: /orders

//Disallow: /checkout

//Disallow: /3092321/checkouts

//Disallow: /carts

//Disallow: /account

//Disallow: /collections/*+*

//Disallow: /collections/*%2B*

//Disallow: /collections/*%2b*

//Disallow: /blogs/*+*

//Disallow: /blogs/*%2B*

//Disallow: /blogs/*%2b*

//Disallow: /*design_theme_id*

//Disallow: /*preview_theme_id*

/Disallow: /*preview_script_id*

//Disallow: /discount/*

//Disallow: /apple-app-site-association

//Sitemap: https://ministryofsupply.com/sitemap.xml

//# Google adsbot ignores robots.txt unless specifically named!

//User-agent: adsbot-google

//Disallow: /checkout

//Disallow: /carts

//Disallow: /orders

//Disallow: /3092321/checkouts

//Disallow: /discount/*

//Disallow: /*design_theme_id*

//Disallow: /*preview_theme_id*

//Disallow: /*preview_script_id*

//User-agent: Nutch

//Disallow: /

//User-agent: MJ12bot

//Crawl-Delay: 10

//User-agent: Pinterest

//Crawl-delay: 1

Most of these instructions are useful. However, these default instructions also cause problems. Not least of which is that products and vendors that contain a plus (+) or a space character will be blocked from crawling. Take a look again at the instructions. Do you see those lines that contain a “+”, “2B”, or “2b“? Those “instructions” keep those pages from being added to Google’s index. They also disrupt Google’s crawl pattern, which can lead to other indexing problems.

4. That Blog… It’s No WordPress

The fourth problem with Shopify’s SEO is its blog. Indeed, every eCommerce site should have a blog for content marketing. Not doing content marketing? Why ever not? Don’t you know it is always better to own attention rather than rent? In order to thrive, mature brands must become natural link-earning machines.

But let’s be real: Shopify is an eCommerce platform, not a content-marketing platform.

I mentioned WordPress at the beginning of the article with good reason. WordPress is the number one content management platform on the planet. According to the latest statistics. as of March 11, 2021 some 455,000,000 websites are using “>WordPress right now! That means around 20% of all self-hosted websites use it, too.

Shopify has a default blogging engine, but there are too many issues and limitations that are beyond the scope of this article. Suffice it to say, the solution would naturally be to install WordPress in a subfolder on the site for your blog. Sounds simple enough, right? Wrong. Shopify does not allow you to install anything in a subfolder on their site. You will have to host the blog somewhere else and then point the subdomain there, like content.yoursite.com.

In SEO, a closer affiliation is implied when your content shares the same subdomain (such as “www”). This is why it is a part of our best SEO practice to host your blog, news, ebooks, infographics, etc, in a subfolder. However, on Shopify, you can’t do that.

5. The Rest

If by now you are not convinced Shopify’s SEO is bad, then it makes no sense to continue, so we’ll just lump all the other problems as “the rest”. Moreover, I’ve given you a taste of how limiting Shopify’s SEO capabilities can be. But it doesn’t get better. It gets worse; especially once you get into creative keyword architecture, segmentation for account-based marketing, performance tweaks, and other situational fixes (the rest).

Conclusion

Shopify is a great eCommerce platform–for beginners and nontechnical users of the Internet. However, if you are a developer, SEO expert, or a business person with a huge eCommerce store, be aware of what you’ll never be able to do with Shopify’s SEO:

  • First, customize robots.txt
  • Second, customize web server headers
  • Third, customize URL handling and subfolders
  • Four, install the world’s greatest content management system for your link-earning endeavours.

Those aren’t just unsolvable problems. They’re three categories of problems and then some. For these, there are no hacks or workarounds. So, if SEO is critical to your business, Shopify is not for you. Why is Shopify’s SEO bad? In a nutshell: There’s no room for growth–your growth!

At Best SEO in Canada, AJ Frey wants to see you grow. He wants to help your business to scale up. As an SEO expert, he knows how to get your business ranking on Google’s page one, using only organic search strategies, because he hates PPC.

“So whether you’re an enterprise company or a small independent business, your success online depends largely on ensuring your target audience finds you on Google” through SEO. AJ Frey offers an extensive range of SEO services, exclusively for driving traffic in order to meet your lead, acquisition or sales objectives. So are you ready to make that move? Give AJ Frey a call at  250-801-6588 or drop him a

So, did we answer the question, “Why is Shopify’s SEO bad”? We surely hope so. Let us know in the Comments box below.

The Top Pricing For SEO Audit Services In Canada Ranked

by Ecommerce TipsMarketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

Updated: Nov 28, 2022
Originally Published: Sept 30, 2021

The Top Pricing For SEO Audit Services In Canada Ranked

An SEO >audit refers to a full analysis of all the factors that affect a website’s visibility in search engines. It determines the strengths, as well as the weaknesses of your website when it comes to SEO. Let’s find out below about top rank pricing for SEO audit services in Canada.

An SEO audit can give you insight into the challenges you’re facing, why you may not be achieving your SEO goals and also realise the strategies your competitors are using to be successful. Based on the results from the SEO  audit, you receive a list of recommendations from an SEO expert like AJ Frey (Rad Websites – Best SEO in Canada), who further implements these recommendations on your behalf, if you do not have your own SEO team.

There are many articles on the Internet for DIY website owners on how to conduct an SEO audit. However, if you’re not tech savvy, or have the time to do a thorough audit, enlisting the services of an SEO expert is the best gift you could give yourself. But how much should you be doling out to an expert to audit your site?

In this article, we are going to list the top rank pricing for SEO audit services in Canada. Check No. 5.

SEO Audit Services In Canada

1. Arhefs

At the top of the list is Ahrefs –a well-known toolset for SEO analysis. Though based in Singapore, Ahrefs is worldwide, including in Canada. They make the top of the list because their prices range from US$99 – 999/month, with a wide array of services, including their SEO site audit tool for DIY web owners.

An SEO site audit tool automatically audits a page on your website — all you have to do is enter your Url. The tool then “crawl” your site before generating a report, which highlights the strengths and weaknesses of a webpage. Other SEO audit tools on the market include Moz,  Semrush, Alexa, Serpstat, to name a few.

Most SEO audits have two things in common: They’re too technical and they take DAYS (or even WEEKS) to complete! Ahrefs SEO audits take hours. They do have a caveat: If your website is HUGE, i.e. hundreds of thousands, or even millions of pages—it may take longer than a few hours. However, for most small to medium-sized sites, this should be doable in hours rather than days.

They also give you a breakdown of their SEO audit process:

  • Steps 1–4: check for BIG issues (that may be holding your site back)
  • Steps 5–9: uncover easy-to-fix on-site problems;
  • Steps 10–12 analyze organic search traffic (and find low-hanging opportunities);
  • Steps 13–14 backlink analysis (VERY important!);
  • Steps 15–16 content audit AND “content gap” analysis.

As well as the “tools” they use during the audit process:

Ahrefs reports usually include recommendations for optimizing your webpage’s SEO.

2.  Webfx

According to Webfx, whether you’re a small-to-midsize business (SMB) or established enterprise, you can expect to pay between $650 and $14,000 for an SEO audit. Granted, if you’re a larger company with a bigger website, you will have higher SEO audit costs than a startup with a small site.

Like the size of your website, several factors affect the price of your SEO audit. Their figures quoted are also one time prices–but again, depending on the size of the website and other factors. WebFX also provides SEO services to clients around the world! So whether you needSEO in Boston, orSEO in Charlotte, or Canada, they’ve got you covered.

3. Neil Patel

Well-known marketing expertNeil Patel comes in at #3 because his website generates millions of organic search traffic—about3.5 million 3.5 million. No ads, only through SEO-optimized content marketing. That qualifies him as an expert on SEO marketing. 

He states that at a minimum, a technically sound website should be secure, quick to load, easy to crawl, have clear and actionable navigation actionable navigation, and not contain any duplicate links or content. It should also have systems in place to engage users even if they do hit a dead end, such as content created for 404 errors and 301 redirect pages

Finally, a site should have structured data to help search engines understand the content. This can come in the form of
schema graphs and XML sitemaps
His SEO Analysis doesn’t just point out errors, he says, but gives you step by step instructions on how you can fix each of them. Each SEO report contains video tutorials to step by step instructions.

His prices come with two options: a 30-day money back guarantee on a one-time lifetime payment ranging from $120 – $400 or a $12 – $40/month with a 7-day free trial. 

4. Semrush

Semrush is a SaaS platform used for keyword research and online ranking data. It’s SEO audit tool can do a full website scan in minutes. If your website is under 100 pages you get your audit free. Their audit report includes Intuitive charts, instructions and directions for:

  • Loading speed
  • Crawlability
  • Content issues
  • Meta tags
  • HTTPS security protocols
  • Internal linking
  • JS and CSS errors
  • AMP implementation

With their SEO checker, you get a quick report card on how your site’s doing from an SEO perspective. That report can serve as a handy resource when discussing with decision makers why a professional SEO audit is necessary.

Their pricing ranges from $119.95/mo for marketing newbies, to $449.95/mo for large agencies and enterprises. Bear in mind, Semrush is a tool, not a person like No. 5. 

Which brings us to:

5. Rad Websites / Best SEO in Canada / AJ Frey

SEO expert AJ Frey starts his audit with a web crawl. This procedure is so important that you need to run it first before you do the other steps, he says. Why is this important? Because this is where you identify your website’s problems for example:

  • duplicate contents
  • low word count
  • unlinked pagination pages
  • excess redirects
  • Loading speed
  • Crawlability
  • Content issues
  • Meta tags
  • HTTPS security protocols
  • Internal linking
  • JS and CSS errors
  • AMP implementation

AJ Frey’s professional SEO audit focuses on in-depth, customized assessment of your entire website by his experienced team of digital marketers. And AJ 100% agrees with Neil Patel on the many aspects he considers when performing a technical SEO audit. These include:

  • mobile optimization
  • page load speed
  • link health
  • duplicate content
  • schemas
  • crawl errors
  • image issues
  • site security
  • URL structure
  • 404 pages
  • 301 redirects
  • canonical tags
  • XML sitemaps
  • site architecture

    •  

For Audits they use Moz and Spyfu as their primary tools. Other tools to produce a comprehensive audit report include:

  • Google Search Console
  • Google Page Speed Insight
  • Google Analytics
  • SpyFu
  • CrazyFrog

An SEO audit by the Best SEO in Canada delves deep into your marketing data to analyse the meaning and implications of the site’s SEO performance. What you will end up getting is valuable insights, historical contexts (past and present performance) and meaningful recommendations from AJ Frey for what to do next.

If you do not have your own SEO team, AJ Frey offers his at competitive packages to meet every budget. The Best SEO in Canada prices range from CA$699 (for those on a budget)  to CA$2499–their best value is the local Rad package at CA$1499. 

6. OuterBox

If you’re an online retailer, the team atOuterBox has extensive Ecommerce expertise and can deliver one of the most detailed and comprehensive Ecommerce SEO audits available. The audit will help you be more prepared and eliminate unknowns when heading into a full comprehensive SEO campaign. Outerbox also offer a free SEO audit quote.  

Their SEO audit process begins with their team analyzing your website content, code, structure and more to determine the strengths and weaknesses. They’ll also review your competitors to see what they are doing well and reverse engineer their strategies.

Their SEO audit final report will include all findings along with recommendations and how to find the problems. Their SEO audit process typically takes between 4-6 weeks. However, throughout the process you will work with various team members at OuterBox. 

7. SEO North

SEO North has been in the industry for close to a decade, which means they have the experience to create a unique service and withstand the new regulations set by major search engines that may hinder your site’s high ranking.

Also, they base their SEO audit on the developed algorithms, strategies, and links. The digital marketing services allow them to work remotely, and their clients have the option to contact them anytime.Their main tasks in the audit process involve:

We check and identify the highest performing content.
Check for any website errors and identify each comprehensively.
Develop solutions and seamlessly implement them on the site

Markedly, technical SEO Audits are designed to identify technical barriers in the way of your content ranking higher in search results is what their site states. However, what can one get for CA$100– their one-time fat rate? 

8. Optimized Webmedia Marketing

And finally, Optimized Webmedia Marketing is also based in Canada. They offer a “Free” SEO Audit, but by their own admission, nothing is truly free and there’s no such thing as “cheap SEO”–you get what you pay for. They’re on the list because they do offer good SEO Audits based on their testimonials–but it costs $150 per hour, which is more realistic than SEO North’s one-time fee of $100.

We can only surmise though that if they\re offering “free audit”, then they are using the foot-in-the-door technique. If so, you can expect to pay anywhere between $650 (low end), $2000 (average) to $5000+ (high end) on a monthly basis, or $100 to $300+ on an hourly basis.

Don’t expect to spend less than $650 if you choose the monthly plan, for according to OWM, they don’t do “Cheap SEO”. Cheap SEO is considered to be anything less than $650 per month and provides the level of “skill, time, and customization that is unique for every single website”.

What An SEO Audit Services Means

It was tough putting this list together because of each’s uniqueness and the wide range of prices offered by each. In most instances it was not a case of which was “cheaper”. But which is more aligned with your goals for your website.

The top rank pricing for SEO Audit services in Canada tried to find the best SEO audit service whether by a team or a SaaS platform.

Unlike many of our competitors, we did not rank ourselves first

–as we so easily could.
We believe AJ Frey at Rad Websites is the Best SEO in Canada because he provides top notch SEO service that places you on page one for your search term. Not many agencies can say that based on their own placement on the search engines.

Important to realize, Ahrefs and Neil Patel offer the best organic results. Semrush will get you on page one with paid SEO, and Semrush is an SEO tool.

Final Thoughts

Optimized Webmedia Marketing gives more flexibility by offering both hourly and monthly rates, but there’s a grey area, as they offer a “free page audit”, while stating on their blog that the “cost for a manually created audit varies from $1,500 to $10,000, with the average cost in Canada being $2,500”. You decide if this is a foot-in-the-door technique. You decide also if we were fair in our assessment by ranking ourselves No. 5. 

Notwithstanding, whether we’re Noi. 5 or No. 1, at Best SEO in Canada, we don’t depend on cheap sales tactics to lure our customers. Our work speaks for itself. The fact you are here means you found us on Google’s page one.

We have done the same for all of our clients. AJ Frey is the best SEO in Canada. If you want him to  carry on SEO audit services  and optimize it for the search engines, just drop us a line via email, or call us at 1 250 801 6588. You won’t regret it!

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2020 SEO Trends – Why Backlinks Need To Comeback

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Yearly ChangesWordPress Tips

Improve your SEO with Backlinks

As if there wasn’t enough to add to SEO best practices, we want to touch on backlinks.
Okay, no- we really want to dive into backlinks, because they are just that important.
As Kelowna’s leading premier WordPress marketing agency, we work around the clock to boost our clients search engine ranking. Our toolbox is full – website development, content creation, keyword research, social stacking- but backlink building is always directly on our radar.
We’re not going to lie to you; even as SEO professionals, backlink building is hard. Backlinks are a huge part of SEO best practices, but take time and knowledge to build.

What are backlinks?

Referred to as “online citations”, backlinks are simply links to your website, or web resource, from an external website, or web source. Web sources can mean articles, directories, online archives etc. They act as a vouch of confidence for your website and content, both to users and search engines.
Backlinks are typically the hyperlinks you see in articles (you know, the clickable text underlined in blue) but can also be image tags, social stacking or listings.
Rad- we’ve got the textbook definitions out the way.
Now let’s talk about how backlinks are super essential for your website- and why.

Do Backlinks Improve SEO?

Yes. 100% they do.
Good quality, reputable backlinks boost your SERP pretty aggressively and actively contribute to your overall online marketing.
That’s why prior to Google’s Penguin algorithm update, SEO professionals around the globe were doing anything they could to gain backlinks.
Take a wild guess how Google felt about that. Let’s back up a little.
The obsession with backlinks began in response to Larry Page’s algorithm contribution- PageRank. This particular algorithm basically determined the order of search results- so who would show up or not. PageRank was the first algorithm ever used by Google to index sites and use this index to determine websites rankings.
Guess what PageRank focused super, super heavily on?
Backlinks. Once the cat was out of the bag, the frenzy of every SEO professional around to get as many backlinks as possible to boost their SERP ranking began.
It was seriously like wildfire. Experts starting bypassing the natural requirements of the algorithm- clean, quality backlinks, and creating backlink farms (as we cover later.)

So, how do backlinks help your SEO?

They are a prime example of speaking both to the user and search engines.

Backlinks and Linkjuice

Backlinks indicate trust, relevancy and authority to search engine crawlers. By another reputable site linking to yours, they are vouching for your site and letting Google know that “hey, they’re great.” It accelerates your exposure to Google bots and get your site indexed faster. Good quality backlinks produce “linkjuice” which is credible equity from one site to another. The more juice you have given to you, the stronger your site will perform in search results.
Kind of like, Redbull giving you wings. Popeye and spinach. You get the idea.

Boost Referral Traffic with Backlinks

Backlinks provide you with referral traffic. And who doesn’t want extra traffic to their website? Better yet, the traffic coming from these high quality backlinks is going to be pretty targeted and relevant to you. Free traffic is pretty rad. Search engines think so too- the more quality traffic you drive to your site, the more they notice you and the more likely they are to index you with a little love.

Rank Higher for Keywords with Hyperlinks

Hyperlinks, our little blue text links (or anchor links) even help with your specific keyword ranking. Google crawlers go as far as to see how much “support’ you have for any given keyword on your website’s pages. If they find your keyword relevant to the rest of you, it will boost your exposure on that single key term as well.
Backlinks aren’t all for the search engine though. Remember- there’s a user on the other end of the computer.

Backlinks Help You Get Seen

Backlinks give you great brand recognition and exposure. They act as somewhat of a review- a link to your site from a credible site will not only promote your brand but also – again- vouch to the user that your website is A-Okay. Repeated mention of your website throughout credible sources just adds to brand recognition; people see your brand and begin to recognize it within their online experiences.

Don’t Resort to Backlink Farming

Backlink farming is the very reason Google’s Penguin update ever came into effect.
Like we mentioned earlier, SEO experts were desperate to get hundreds of backlinks for their site once the ball dropped on PageRank- Google’s first algorithm for ranking that focused lots on backlinks.
Of course, deceptions of this algorithm were pretty easy to brew up (likely why Google stays so hush-hush about their algorithms nowadays.) By creating networks of spam websites and directories with the sole purpose of all linking to each other, paying your way into hundreds of unearned backlinks became a widely used tactic in every level of SEO out there.
That’s where the ability for site crawlers to determine the quality of the links, not just the number of them, was born.
And it’s fair. Reputable backlinks are built on trust, relationship building and genuine online presence.
Backlink farming is still a grey area. While giant networks and rings are easy to define as backlink farms, there are operating businesses out there that offer backlinks in return for pay. Crowned “black hat SEO”, buying backlinks poses as “backlink strategy growth” and still remains…..questionable.
Buying backlinks might grab you some short term SERP rankings. You might even get away with it for a while and see a huge change in your website analytics and rankings. But once Google figures you out, you can kiss goodbye to your growth – buying backlinks is a direct violation of Google’s advertising code.
Listen, don’t shoot the messenger, ok? Buying backlinks is so much easier than organically building them and can seem like a great option for those wanting to really boost their site.
We get it, honestly we do. But it’s really not worth it.
Organically growing backlinks takes time and effort, but it will pay off.

How to Build Backlinks- Naturally

Now, we can’t let our own cat out of the bag and give away all the secrets.
But, here’s some practices you can undertake to start building an army of reputable backlinks:
Add links on all your social media profiles – (hey, social stacking!)
Monitor your best performing posts and pages, and expand them routinely.
Create content that is useful and exciting to a reader- content that helps them solve a problem and share it among their networks for the same reason
Off page, build relationships with influencers, industry leaders and bloggers to trade valuable backlinks. Believe it or not, you can also strategically work with your competitors to do the same thing!
Monitor your competitors backlinks, and look to see if you can also be placed within those sources as well.

COVID-19 Pandemic and The Internet

by Marketing Strategy TipsOnline Marketing TipsSEO Tips

What the COVID-19 Pandemic Means for Online Businesses (And Tips to Adapt)

There is no shortage on fear, panic and anxiety surrounding COVID-19 and the halting affects this pandemic has had on our everyday communities. As the world dwindles down to ordered self isolation and essential services only, many business owners are left wondering how they can start planning ahead to survive post COVID-19.

The virus has either slowed or shut down almost every industry out there, leaving local businesses unsure of how to proceed in these times of major uncertainty. For many, the online space can provide relief by providing a platform in which they can continue operations.

See how this webmaster built a platform that allowed food truck owners to keep making money during COVID-19 Pandemic.
Many businesses are turning to the net- scrambling up advertising campaigns, websites, online stores etc. To help continue driving sales within communities that are practically in hiding. With critical emphasis on no human contact, the online space has become the only way to safely shop, communicate and keep up to date with the world.
And while we live in times where the Internet seems to rule the world, it isn’t until it’s our only option that things begin to change. In the case of COVID-19 Pandemic, the Internet is certainly not immune- and the digital space has shifted massively in the last few weeks.

The team here at RAD shares the five biggest impacts that COVID-19 Pandemic has had on the online space. And some suggestions on how to cope.

How COVID-19 Has Shifted the Digital Marketing Space

COVID-19 Has Dominated Google Search

Not surprisingly, the virus is a leading search term on Google. In fact, Google is calling it the biggest search term trend in searching history- and that’s a pretty big title to have.
Direct searches about the virus have increased an average of 4000% each day. But the influx of searches related to the virus has presented our team with a different set of data than we’re used to seeing.
Our PPC Queen, Alex, has seen a massive increase in searches not common to our everyday lives. The term “national emergency” has spiked 1950% in less than six hours, while there have been similar increases in terms like:
“what fast food restaurants are open ?”
“will grocery stores be open tomorrow?”
“is the housing market going to crash?”
“when are taxes due Canada 2020?”
What does this mean for businesses?

It means that people’s focus really isn’t on much else right now.
Rightfully so, the panic has shifted a huge chunk of daily searches to the virus and everything surrounding it. And the noise of the virus is drowning out a lot of businesses looking to thrive online.
Alex shares that there isn’t really a whole lot you can do in terms of redirecting focus. Rather, you should look at how you can direct your business into the line of focus. Monitor search term reports, actively add to your negative keyword list & adopt those long-tailed keywords in your campaigns!
Mobile Search Traffic Has Dropped 25% (h3)
It’s been a while since desktop searches have grown, but with everyone stuck at home, it seems the mobile phones have been put down.

Website Optimization:

For us, it means two things. Alex mentioned that the costs of PPC advertising may rise, as mobile traffic is generally cheaper than desktop.
However, the biggest concern lies in website optimization. And how a shift of what the user sees- will affect conversions during this time.
Because mobile has led the majority of web traffic for the past few years, mobile optimization has been a hot, hot topic. But websites have almost been over-optimized for mobile, leaving the desktop experience falling short in comparison.

AJ, our SEO & Web Development Boss, shares that a websites design and content should be reviewed and modified to ensure a positive desktop experience for the user.
Example? The CTA rich pop ups you banned from your site to improve mobile experience? Those could make a comeback as you revert back to different conversion paths.

What You’re Reading Everyday Has Changed

Centre content around leading search terms.
Sounds like the classic principle behind online content creation, right?
It is- but when the entire Internet has shifted their focus to something a little out of the ordinary. It can be difficult to align content with what’s popular at this moment.
But if you can, you should. Just as with more routine content marketing, don’t create completely irrelevant content in the hopes of joining the masses of similar content.

Our content expert, Joel, suggests incorporating the COVID-19 virus and it’s effects into your content if you can naturally do so, and

keeping the following in mind:

Use your content to keep people informed. The community expects a response from your business, during these times. They are seeking security and comfort, and that includes being kept in the loop by familiar faces- and brands. Use this time to try and instill well being into your customers, fostering and nurturing relationships with them as you remind them that you are beside them in these times as well. Provide relevant policy updates, proactive measures you’ve taken or hours of operation etc.

Don’t add to the panic! Be a credible, reliable and neutral source- even as a company. Avoid spreading anything but pure facts, and watch your language; it can be easy to talk in an alarmed or dramatic tone.
Convey empathy, compassion & humility. People will remember who and what helped them during these times- be a positive voice amongst the negativity when creating content at this time.
There is no level of tact that’s acceptable- at this time, anyway. “HOT COVID-19 Sales!” -Don’t do that.
Social Media Usage is Through the Roof Not surprising.
Scrolling the ‘gram really does help pass the time of quarantine boredom, but communities are also turning to social media for help, answers and- shopping?

Yep, that’s right- online shopping and particularly on social media, is up by 35%.
Call it impulse buying, boredom shopping or catching up on purchases they haven’t had time to make in store. Whatever it is, businesses are finding some relief in the increase in online shoppers.
With social media usage being sky high, it also gives you a great opportunity to keep your brand and business relevant. Use this platform to introduce reformed content (see Joel’s suggestions above) but to also stimulate conversions using organic or paid initiatives.

Remember though, content for social media differs. Having a sound social media strategy and lots of visuals will help drive engagement with an audience that’s listening more than ever.
Organic Web Traffic Has Decreased In Almost Every Industry (h3)
We’re talking like a decrease of 25% on average, over all industries- with only four seeing increases (healthcare, finance, food & media.)

The biggest? With a near 50% drop in organic traffic, the travel industry is suffering during this.
And let’s be real here- we can’t really counteract this. There’s going to be a drop in traffic, sales and business. These are scary times, and people rightfully are focusing on other certain things.
This won’t change for a while, but you can look at ways to drive as much traffic as you can during this time. Here’s what has worked for our clients lately:

Content!

Create content that supports people at this time. Create content that gently reminds users of your brand and your mission. Use this time to separate yourselves from the vultures of the net. Those that exploit and capitalize on the fear and panic of COVID-19.

Promotions and offers.

People are still shopping, just in a different format. To help drive conversions, consider promotions and offers to add. That further incentive shoppers may need- and to help generate a buzz.

Join in the Conversation.

Offer support, offer sympathies, share valid information and helpful content. Immerse yourself in the current conversation, instead of trying to create a new one.