Search Engine Journal Show

Search Engine Journal
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Search Engine Journal Show

Welcome to The Search Engine Journal Show! This is the official podcast of Search Engine Journal. We talk all things SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and digital marketing with the top industry experts and authorities. Your host will be Loren Baker.

  1. SEP 16

    SEO Experts Gather for a Candid Chat About Search

    We're excited to bring you the SERP's Up podcast on the SEJ Show channel! Join Wix for their landmark 100th episode, as their experts & guests take a deep dive into the world of SERPs. If you’re frustrated by how broken the SERPs feel, don’t worry…they’re getting honest and covering the reasons. In this candid discussion, they’re also breaking down what’s currently going on with local SEO, the effects of the Google August Update, and of course…they’re talking all things AI. Celebrate Wix’s 100th episode with this powerhouse panel, as Mordy Oberstein & Crystal Carter of Wix are joined by SERP experts like Kevin Indig, Barry Schwartz, Chima Mmeje and more to let loose on issues search marketers are facing right now. If you haven’t experienced a SERPs Up episode before, you should absolutely take a listen to experience the full effect of Mordy and Crystal’s banter. The SERP’s Up podcast is brought to you by Wix Studio.

    1h 4m

  2. JAN 30

    Local Strategies - How Better Online Reputation Drives Revenue with Raj Nijjer - EP329

    Join us as we look at how your online reputation and local marketing strategies can drive revenue for your business, while avoiding pitfalls along the way. With guest Raj Nijjer of Edge, we’ll dive into the revenue impacts that your online reputation can have, and why this reputation building should be crucial in your planning. Join your host Loren Baker, as he and Raj discuss how to avoid wasteful strategies of local marketing and multi-location businesses, plus a couple tips on how a good reputation can help attract and retain top talent. [01:14] - Raj's Background and Journey to Edge. [02:44] - Edge's Concept of Employee-Driven Growth and Its Connection to Google Reviews. [10:34] - How Reviews Contribute to Local SEO. [11:27] - Customer-Facing End: In-Depth Reviews and Personalization. [13:24] - Standing Out in Cutthroat Competition: Franchises and Service Businesses. [14:37] - Motivating Employees and Transparent Recognition Through Reviews. [20:49] - Reputation Management and Injecting Employee Recognition. [45:06] - Employee Retention During Challenges Like The COVID-19 Pandemic. We encourage businesses to amplify positive reviews and learn from the negative reviews. - Raj Nijjer, 5:34 Now not only does the brand win and the business win, but employees can feel great or a person can feel great about the job that they've done. - Raj Nijjer, 9:21 Positive reviews are so important. There's one stat I read on your site…53% of customers won't go to a business rated under four stars. - Loren Baker, 15:21 I think the injection of motivating and recognizing your employees while they're doing this service is something that we're very proud of, because we can see which employees are doing really well. And then you can duplicate that. - Raj Nijjer, 21:44 Our goal is to marry the marketing with operational excellence. You want to hold people accountable, especially if you're rewarding them. - Raj Nijjer, 30:53 I think one thing COVID taught every business owner is employee retention and how hard it's been to find people and when a displacement happens, it really jeopardizes your business if you don't plan it well. So you want to keep your superstars, don't ever lose your superstars. - Raj Nijjer - 41:10 Resources Mentioned: Edge Connect With Raj Nijjer: Raj is Head of Marketing for Edge, an employee-driven growth platform for service brands. Previously, he was the CMO of Refersion (acquired), and held executive marketing roles at Yotpo and Yext (IPO in 2017). Raj also spent over nine years at Godaddy (IPO in 2015) in leadership roles launching innovative product lines with over ten patents issued and leading to a PE buyout and an IPO. Raj is also fractional CMO to early and mid-stage technology startups. Raj received his Bachelors of Science degree in International Management and his MBA from the W.P. Carey School of Business at Arizona State University. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/rajnijjer/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/RajNijjer Connect with Loren Baker: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

    49 min

  3. JAN 19

    Avoid The Noise: How To Prove That Your SEO Matters with Dan Taylor - EP328

    Join us as we explore how to prove that SEO matters to resistant stakeholders and C-suite executives, along with ways to combat the external noise affecting the outlook on SEO efforts. Dan brings his experience as a leading SEO consultant for top companies to this exclusive interview. He and Loren navigate the complexities of the shifting SEO landscape, and how to set realistic expectations in your business.  They also dig into the potential risks and opportunities of AI in search, and what these drastic changes mean moving forward. I think oftentimes in a lot of organizations, everyone's time poor, everyone has their own set of KPIs and objectives moving towards that bigger goal, and oftentimes SEO is trickled through. - Dan Taylor, 1:53 I think through that communication system framework, however you want to go around it or phrase it, it's about getting that shared buy-in. - Dan Taylor, 8:24 We have people planning their budgets and their SEO plans already, but with a little bit of a turbulent economy, sometimes it's a little bit of a question mark. - Loren Baker, 1:18 [00:43] - Dan's background and expertise [01:53] - SEO planning and visibility tips. [03:18] - Recommendations for visibility in SEO. [04:14] - Managing expectations with AI. [07:02] - Addressing SEO performance comparisons. [08:24] - Effective communication for executive buy-in. [11:17] - Combatting SEO Misinterpretations. [15:52] - Personal Touch in Client Interactions. [26:48] - Adapting SEO to Rich Media in Search Results. [32:06] - Adaptations in the travel industry. It’s having sincerity and it's actually having a human touch. - Dan Taylor, 14:40 Essentially that kind of battleground which we previously had in search is sort of being lost. Now it's understanding what the impact of that's going to be, whether or not it's going to be a major impact, minor impact, or if the impact overall is going to be redistributive. - Dan Taylor, 18:19 It's about trying to bring in what unique modifiers we can into the actual product pages themselves...So how can we create a differentiator? It was this concept we had called champion products. - Dan Taylor, 21:03 Resources Mentioned: Mirador Local Connect with Dan Taylor: Dan Taylor is a recognized SEO professional, having worked with a number of companies in strategically helping them increase their organic market visibility and overcome technical challenges. Having consulted and worked with companies like Cloudflare, Proton, and China Southern Airlines, Dan has been featured in the leading SEO publications, as well as spoken at a number of SEO and marketing conferences in Europe, North America, the Middle East, and online. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/danielrwtaylor/ Follow him on Twitter: https://twitter.com/taylordanrw Connect with Loren Baker: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker  Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

    46 min

  4. 12/15/2023

    Navigating Publisher Policies: Insights from Google's Trust & Safety Expert with John Brown - Special Episode

    In this must-listen episode, join us for a sit-down with John Brown from Google's Trust & Safety team. With his rich background in building ad networks and more, John offers exclusive insights into Google's efforts to educate publishers globally. Discover critical differences between publisher policies and demand restrictions, explore the evolving role of UGC, and learn about Google's initiatives to support publishers. As you navigate the complexities of policy compliance, you won't want to miss John's expert perspective, honed through years of leadership and mentorship in this realm. We don't want to misinform folks or trick folks or anything like that. We provide clear narratives around the policies, why do we create it? Where does it fit within the ecosystem? - John Brown 03:46 Really, it's the ease of use for the user because everything that's in the website, or mostly everything that's in the website without some editorializing, it is things that could be found elsewhere on external Google pages. - John Brown, 08:01 That was the number one concern going into this is not just to launch and then leave alone, but to launch and iterate and make sure it's fresh. - John Brown, 09:44 I learned early on at Google, traveling globally and speaking on stage globally, that different users across the world consume information differently. So we can't just have a help center with text and localize it and hope that people understand. - John Brown, 13:30 [00:00] - Introduction to John Brown, Google's Policy Transparency Lead. [01:57] - Significance of John Brown's role in ecosystem health. [02:45] - Overview of transparency.google's key features. [09:44] - Keeping transparency.google current in the digital landscape. [23:02] - Google’s Fair Policy Appeals process: Google highlights fairness and transparency in the policy appeal process. [37:28] - Google's dedication to a mission-driven nature of trust and safety teams. Resources Mentioned:  Google Transparency Center Make sure you meet people who need the information, and give them the information that they want to consume in their format that they most prefer. - John Brown, 16:29 There's a dedication there. There's a mission that you probably don't find in other parts of organizations just because other teams, not just within Google, but elsewhere. It's quarter to quarter revenue, things like that, trust and safety. - John Brown, 37:28 Connect with John Brown: John is part of the Trust & Safety team at Google, and leads a team that is focused on educate publisher partners globally on policies, enforcement actions, and best practices to remain policy compliant.  Prior to Google, John built two Ad Networks, has served on two IAB working groups, managed qualitative data for over 90 ad networks, and has mentored dozens of startups through his Techstars accelerator affiliation. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jbrown74/ Connect with Amanda Zantal-Wiener: Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/Amanda_ZW Connect with her on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/amandazantalwiener/

    42 min

  5. 12/11/2023

    PPC Strategies For 2024: Insights From Over 16,000 Businesses with Jacques van der Wilt - Sponsor Spotlight

    We're diving into insights from over 16,000 ecommerce businesses, showing the trends that shaped PPC advertising in 2023, and how to use them to move forward into 2024.   In this insightful interview with Jacques van der Wilt, he and Loren examine highlights from DataFeedWatch's powerful Multichannel Marketing Report. They take a look at which PPC strategies stood out the most and which channels provided the best return, along with big changes coming next year.   Using these insights, they also explore the most common challenges in ecommerce PPC campaigns, and what leading brands are doing to succeed right now.   We looked into the feeds of 15 to 20,000 online stores in all of those countries, and that means that's such an incredible volume that what we see basically is an almost exact picture of what is happening in ecommerce advertising. - Jacques van der Wilt, 2:20   Obviously Google is still the largest channel. Almost every retailer is using that. However, we can see that social is beginning to eat their lunch. - Jacques van der Wilt, 6:06   I think Amazon has a big influence on everything. They're probably market leader in ecommerce, so their impact must have been big. Yet I think that it's not primarily driven by Amazon. - Jacques van der Wilt, 11:59   [0:00] About Jacques van der Wilt [2:11] DataFeedWatch's Multichannel Marketing Report [6:06] Marketing channel trends [9:14] Growth of TikTok [13:42] The 3 largest barriers to PPC growth in 2024 [16:58] Other challenges retailers are facing [21:40] Best tactics for PPC practioners to use in 2024 [25:02] Challenges for retailers with large inventories   Resources Mentioned: Multichannel Marketing Report 2023: https://www.datafeedwatch.com/multichannel-marketing-report  DataFeedWatch homepage:  https://www.datafeedwatch.com/  Creating or modifying images with AI is super easy. Imagine you're unhappy with your images as a retailer, but you have images for 10,000 products. It's horrible. So you can do that much quicker. It's a big time saver. - Jacques van der Wilt, 16:02 Connect with Jacques van der Wilt: Jacques is a shopping feeds industry leader, start-up mentor, and entrepreneur. He's the founder of DataFeedWatch (acquired by Cart.com in 2022): a leading global feed management and optimization company that helps online merchants optimize their product listings on more than 2000 shopping channels in over 60 countries. Before founding DataFeedWatch, Jacques held leadership positions in the US and Europe. He is also a seasoned guest speaker at industry events and a mentor at Startup Bootcamp. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vanderwilt/ Connect with Loren Baker: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker  Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

    36 min

  6. 12/08/2023

    How To Secure And Defend Your SEO Budget For Executive Buy-In

    In an increasingly difficult economy, do you know how to prove the value of your SEO and remain efficient, while maintaining the SEO budgets you need to succeed? Will Critchlow, CEO of SearchPilot, joins me on the SEJShow to examine actionable strategies to doing more with less and maintaining the freedom to test, all while proving the positive impacts of your SEO work.  Using insights from marketing leaders, SEO specialists, and senior executives, you’ll hear Will and Loren break down the skills you need to keep your CFO happy while driving efficiency. If you’ve found yourself having to defend your budget, pitch harder than ever, and work more to prove your results, then you won’t want to miss this episode. There's more pressure on ROI calculations, there's more scrutiny on all of those decisions. SEOs are often shy of taking on targets, quotas, goals and so forth. But even forecasting is something that I think the industry is too naive about. –Will Critchlow, 06:04 Big companies are spending tons of money on this stuff. The fact that you are out there asking for a quarter of a million dollars, half a million dollars, whatever it might be, that's actually totally achievable. –Will Critchlow, 09:38  Speaking of the funnel, we all know that SEO is not a direct response marketing technique. It's not search keyword, find site buy done. There's all kinds of touch points throughout the funnel, multi-touch attribution, which is massive. –Loren Baker, 16:16  [00:00] - Will's background and expertise. [08:44] - Integration challenges in long-term planning. [12:30] - The importance of planning when dealing with CFOs. [13:18] - Tracking multiple attribution points. [16:16] - Google algorithm updates and their impact on forecasting. [21:05] - Forecasting challenges influenced by various factors. [23:32] - Beta testing's effects on search results. [26:41] - The evolving impact of AI-powered tools on search queries. [29:28] - Strategies for SEO teams to improve forecasting. Resources Mentioned:  SearchPilot www.searchpilot.com Intro to SEO testing [PDF] Get on the email list to get new SEO test results in your inbox  SEO as a product discipline is something that we are seeing. And what that often means is squads of product managers, engineers, designers, all aligned to that objective. –Will Critchlow, 13:18  I think almost every SEO is testing beta testing, Google, SGE, and we have in our heads that when that query is done, everything's going to be pushed down. There's going to be an article, there's going to be this, there's going to be that, but we tend to forget that we're the ones beta testing it, right? –Loren Baker, 23:07 And so the other reason that I'm bullish on there being organic links is I think there have to be ad links because I don't think Google is going to turn off 98% of their revenue overnight. And I think they're not going to go with only ad links because I think that's a degraded user experience. So I think there's going to be a combination of advertising links and organic links, and our job is to win the organic just as it always has been. –Will Critchlow, 27:37  Connect with Will Critchlow: Will Critchlow is the founder and CEO of SearchPilot, a company dedicated to simplifying and improving SEO testing processes for large websites. He co-founded the SEO agency Distilled in 2005 and played a key role in expanding its services and the SearchLove conference series to the US, establishing offices in Seattle and New York.  In February 2020, he spun out SearchPilot as an independent business while Distilled was acquired by Brainlabs. Will is recognized for his expertise in SEO and digital marketing and often shares his insights through various platforms. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/willcritchlow/ Connect with Loren Baker: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker  Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

    36 min

  7. 11/29/2023

    How To Create High-Impact Content In A Changing Landscape with Purna Virji - EP326

    In an era of user-generated, human-generated and machine-generated content, mistakes are increasingly costlier to make. Learn the ways to revitalize and future-proof your approach to content marketing with Purna Virji, globally recognized content strategist and bestselling author of "High-Impact Content Marketing". She and Loren will uncover the common mistakes content marketers make, and how you can avoid them as you plan your marketing strategy. Tune in and hear strategies for creating genuinely inclusive and relevant content that audiences will actually want to consume, so your content strategy won't go the way of the dinosaurs. What we want to think about is what are we solving for. What roles do we play? How are we engaging with the audience and giving them what they are interested in, what they need, and what would be of value to them? – Purna Virji, 03:00 You always want to give your audience something to do next. It all comes down to this concept called backward design. – Purna Virji, 08:58 We found that we get the most social interaction and the highest quality traffic from social media. LinkedIn has just become the most engaged platform there is within social media, and it's been a complete 360 over the past three or four years. – Loren Baker, 27:30 [00:00] - About Purna. [02:41] - Strategies for intentional content creation. [08:58] - How to ensure content effectiveness. [14:41] - Best practices for content promotion. [18:01] - How to create content for various audience awareness levels. [20:13] - Importance of company representation in content marketing. [23:41] - LinkedIn's content promotion capabilities. Resources Mentioned: High Impact Content Marketing Take an idea before you even create the content and think about different ways you'll use that idea. – Purna Virji, 17:13 The members on LinkedIn tend to see their time on LinkedIn as an investment in themselves professionally and personally. They're here to learn, grow, share, and put their best foot forward. – Purna Virji, 30:18 Try to understand what makes you money and for that, who are the types of the cream of the crop? Customers who spend a lot are loyal are referring you to others. – Purna Virji, 03:53 Connect with Purna Virji: Purna Virji, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, is a celebrated content strategist and marketer, currently the Principal Content Solutions Consultant at LinkedIn. Her career spans leading roles at Microsoft, and diverse experiences in social media, search advertising, and television, giving her a unique perspective on content marketing. Recognized as an Adweek Young Influential and Search Personality of the Year, she's also a top-rated international speaker and an advocate for women in technology. Virji is the author of the best-selling book "High-Impact Content Marketing," showcasing her expertise and influence in the field. Connect on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/purnavirji/ Connect with Loren Baker: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/lorenbaker Connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lorenbaker

    39 min

  8. 11/17/2023

    Google Ranking Factors: What Really Matters Right Now with Ben Steele - EP324

    The most important thing you can do if you are worried about ranking is write content that satisfies intent and fulfills the aspirations of E-E-A-T. –Ben Steele, 09:11 Join us as we talk about the biggest updates to Google Ranking Factors this year, and what that means for you as we head into 2024.  Our very own senior editor of ebooks, Ben Steele, gives you the behind-the-scene scoop on what factors really matter now. More than 200 hours went into researching and gathering our findings on the signals that have been officially declared, at one point or another in time, as Google ranking factors. Ben brings you the impact behind the BIG updates made this year: E-E-A-T, Google's redefining of page experience, the developments around systems and signals, and more. Listen in as Ben and host Loren Baker, two of SEJ's brightest SEO professionals, talk Google Ranking Factors. Discussion designed for search professionals and marketing managers planning for next year.   Notable: Suppose you do build content that is comprehensive enough to display authority in your experience. In that case, the aspiration is that content will float to the top regardless of more manipulative tactics. –Ben Steele, 10:14 When people have asked me what's our secret to ranking content at SEJ, I've always told them the publish button because we've been building this brand, this entity, and this trust for 20-plus years. –Loren Baker, 13:48 Google is evaluating links more qualitatively. Keywords are still huge, but the number doesn't matter anymore. It's about the way you use them. –Ben Steele, 22:30 [03:30] - Google ranking factors 2023: What's changed and what remains? [10:14] - Keywords and links vs. content and E-E-A-T in today's SEO. [22:30] - Google's qualitative approach to evaluating ranking factors. [27:39] - Building E-E-A-T for smaller sites to compete with big brands. [29:42] - Generative AI content's ranking performance post-updates. [37:24] - Long-term success with E-E-A-T and user intent. [43:27] - Curation as a strategy against generative AI in SEO. [46:52] - How to access the Google Ranking Factors ebook. Keeping your nose clean, don't engage in the quick win strategies that are technically spam because Google has come out and straight up said if it's defined as spam under our guidelines, relevancy doesn't matter. –Ben Steele, 33:33 Curation is something you can lean into as a small business. There is still going to be a demand for human curation. –Ben Steele, 43:27 You can become a trusted source of curation for your audience... that's one thing that language models are not good at: being a source of well-curated information that you need right now. –Ben Steele, 44:29 Those factors of E-E-A-T  will be critical for inoculating your business from the negative impacts of AI implemented by big platforms... the experience and the trust. –Ben Steele, 45:53   Resources: Get the Ranking Factors ebook: https://bit.ly/3tFXB53 Subscribe to our newsletter: https://bit.ly/3Q64Cni    Connect with Ben Steele: Ben Steele, the Senior Editor at SEJ, boasts profound expertise in digital content. Though he didn’t initially aim to become an SEO strategist, the skills he acquired for his role, combined with his self-initiated research into digital marketing, unveiled his genuine passion in this field. His experience in professional theater not only refined his work ethic and leadership abilities but also fostered other invaluable attributes such as creativity. Now, at SEJ, Ben contributes to their ebooks, consistently providing fresh perspectives and strategic content advice. Through his SEO endeavors, he artfully weaves the nuances of human experiences, journeys, and expressions into enlightening lessons for others. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/writerbensteele/    Connect with Loren Baker, Founder of Search Engine Journal: Follow him on Twitter: https://www.twitter.com/loren

    53 min
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4.3
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About

Welcome to The Search Engine Journal Show! This is the official podcast of Search Engine Journal. We talk all things SEO, PPC, social media, content marketing, and digital marketing with the top industry experts and authorities. Your host will be Loren Baker.

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