This unit will dig into the importance of getting your business recognized digitally, and introduce some important options to enhance your website and its visibility on search engines for free.
- ZMOT/Google
- SEO, SEM, Search Ads
- Keyword research and bidding
- Website Design & Development
- UX/UI
- Content marketing (Shift from outbound to inbound)
Winning the Zero Moment of Truth
by Jim Lecinski
2011
“Every so often, something comes along and changes the rulebook.
A few months ago I stayed in a rather large hotel in New York City. On the way up to my room I saw a lobby poster: “See the Max Weinberg Band in the ballroom tonight at 8 p.m.
Now, I happen to like Max Weinberg. So this was a classic marketing situation: The stimulus is the poster — “see Max Weinberg!” — and my response is obvi- ously to go down to the ballroom at eight, buy a ticket and see the show…” Read More
The Beginners Guide to SEO
by Moz.com
Search engines have two major functions: crawling and building an index, and providing search users with a ranked list of the websites they’ve determined are the most relevant.
Imagine the World Wide Web as a network of stops in a big city subway system.
Each stop is a unique document (usually a web page, but sometimes a PDF, JPG, or other file). The search engines need a way to “crawl” the entire city and find all the stops along the way, so they use the best path available—links…” Read More
My Single Best SEO Tip for Improved Web Traffic
by Cyrus Shepard
January 27, 2016
“After more than 5 years — including an 18-month hiatus as a Moz associate — tomorrow marks my last day working as a Mozzer.
Make no mistake — I love this job, company, and community. Moz has taught me to be a better marketer. Both Rand Fishkin and Sarah Bird (and many others) have taught me more about emotional intelligence and how to treat others than I thought possible of myself. Moz has introduced me to amazing coworkers and industry folk around the world. I’m truly grateful for this experience…” Read More
How Search Works
by Matt Cutts
March 4, 2010
Lecture Slides
Lecture Transcription
Keyword Research Assignment
Choose a business. It can be a company you work for, a business that interests you, or a business you’d like to start. The goal of this assignment is to develop and prioritize a list of keywords that you think the business should target in both their paid search advertising and organic search engine optimization.
Part One: Keyword Discovery
Use what is discussed in lecture slides, Chapter 5 of the SEO Moz Guide, and Chapter 6 “How to Win at ZMOT” as well as the tools listed below to create a list of at least 25 keywords (or keyword phrases) that you believe potential customers are using to find the business. Put these in an excel spreadsheet.
Part Two: Keyword Ranking
Prioritize your keyword phrases based on volume, competition, and price. Now that you’ve developed a list of 25 keywords you think would be good to target, we are going to look at some more data from Google that allows you to prioritize them further. We will be logging into Google AdWord’s Keyword Planner. You need an AdWords account to do so. If you don’t have an AdWords Account, you can create one for free here.
- Step 1: Log on to Google Adwords Keyword Planner
- Step 2: Click on the second option “Get search volume data and trends” for list of keywords or group them into ad groups.
- Step 3: Paste your 25 keywords into the “Enter Keyword” text box. If you want to target geographically, you may do that, but it’s not necessary. Click “Get search volume.”
- Step 4: Look at the metrics “Average Monthly SearchesIndicates how many times those keywords were searched throughout the month,” “Competition Describes the level of competition from other advertisers who are using AdWords and bidding on those same keywords. ,” “Suggested BidIndicates how much Google thinks you should bid on a click from those searches”.
- Step 5: With the additional data you have, reprioritize your keywords.
Hubspot: Inbound Marketing and Web 2.0
by Thomas Steenburgh and Jill Avery and Naseem Dahod
May 2009
“This case introduces the concept of inbound marketing, pulling customer prospects toward a business through the use of Web 2.0 tools and applications like blogging, search engine optimization, and social media. Students follow the growth of HubSpot, an entrepreneurial venture which, in its quest for growth, faces significant challenges including the following: developing market segmentation and targeting strategies to decide which customers to serve and which to turn away, configuring pricing strategies to align with the value delivery stream customers experience, and determining whether inbound marketing programs can generate enough scale or whether traditional outbound marketing methods need to be employed to accelerate growth…” Purchase Now
Follow-up Questions
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Do you agree with HubSpot that the “rules of marketing” have changed? If so, how? Is inbound marketing the answer? Why or why not?
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Is HubSpot finding and serving the right set of customers? Given its position as a start-up company, should it widen its focus to serve any customer that comes its way? Or narrow their target, by focusing exclusively on either Owner Ollies or Marketer Marys? Or by focusing exclusively on either B2B or B2C customers?
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HubSpot has begun to differentiate its products as it has learned more about its customers. Should it do more? Should its pricing strategy change too? Does the software-as-a-service (SaaS) pricing model work for both Marketers Marys and Owner Ollies? Should HubSpot try to immediately capture more value for either of these customers?
- 1. What is the difference between organic search results and sponsored search results?