Fratzke Insights: Google Core, Search Console Insights, & Google Ad Alternatives

When marketing your midsize business, it’s essential to be up-to-date with the latest trends and insights. From SEO to social media, we’re in an age of digital marketing that evolves at lightning speed. 

Our team of marketing consultants at Fratzke aim to make digital marketing your competitive edge. Each week, we’ll give you an inside look into the latest news and digital media strategies to give your midsize business a leg up on the competition. 

For an in-depth look into your digital marketing performance, schedule your free consultation today!

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Pivoting Blog Content for SEO: The June Google Core Update

Between June 2nd and June 12th, Google launched a Core Update that impacted the search engine rankings and results for numerous midsize businesses. The Fratzke team watched as some of our clients’ blog traffic dropped, but others’ rose. 

Blogs with Long-Winded Intros Fell in Search Engine Rankings

Our clients weren’t alone: Digital leaders like Neil Patel experienced a drop in blog traffic too. A common thread between Neil and our clients with a traffic decrease included blog introductions that focused on audience engagement through storytelling rather than jumping straight into an answer. 

Blogs that Jumped Straight to the Point Increased in Traffic

In comparison, client blog posts that experienced a rise in traffic answered commonly asked questions at the top of their posts. 

Put yourself in the shoes of someone searching for an answer on Google. You click a link and if you don’t find your answer after skimming the first few paragraphs, you move on to the next one, right?

Google’s algorithm seeks to reward quality content that succinctly answers users’ queries. 

Recommendations for Midsize Business Blogs

1. Review your blogs’ traffic for sudden changes between June 2nd and 12th
2. Ensure your posts give users what they want ASAP
3. Save storytelling or superfluous content until the end of the post
4. Continue to monitor search engine results as Google releases another update in July

Google’s Search Console Insights Provide Next-Level Analytics for Free

Now part of the Google Search Console, Search Console Insights helps midsize businesses better understand content performance and audience analytics.

While competitors like SEMRush and Moz provide similar data metrics, Google’s Search Console Insights emphasizes its simpler, easy to use features to track your content’s progress. This free resource can help you monitor and adjust to what your audience does and doesn't like with an easier analytical process. 

Discover How Your Content Performs 

Anyone with a verified Google Search Console property can use this tool. Search Console Insights can answer these questions you may have about your content: 

1. What are your best performing pieces of content?
2. How are your new pieces of content performing?
3. How do people discover your content across the web?
4. What people search for on Google before they visit your content?
5. Which article refers users to your website and content? 

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‍What Does The Future Hold? 

At Fratzke, we believe that Google’s long-term strategy is to replace Software as a Service (SaaS) offerings like SEMRush and Moz with their own offerings. We’ve shared this theory for a few years now, and Google's recent investments in enhancing free software like Google Search Console only seem to reinforce that thought. 

Recommendations for Midsize Business Content Marketing

1. Link your site's Google Search Console property with your site's Google Analytics property for better insights.
2. Make informed decisions about what content brings audiences to your site.

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Exploring the World of Digital Advertising outside of Google Ads

When you think of digital advertising, the first name that usually comes to mind is Google Ads. Google Ads is a great digital advertising tool you can use to get your product or service in front of the consumer because it is tied to the largest and leading search engine: Google. 

But there are other digital advertising tools that provide new ways to reach your target audience. More importantly, they can provide you with ways to reach untapped audiences.

Are Google Ads Worth the Investment for Your Midsize Business?

Still debating whether or not to include Google Ads in your midsize business’ digital marketing strategy? Here are a few points to consider:

Impressions

When evaluating your Google Ad metrics, if your midsize business continually ranks at 100% in the Search Impression Share metric, you’re not reaching any new audiences. 

In other words, the audience searching for that keyword or phrase has already seen your ad - no new leads are being generated. It’s time to strategize and determine how new audiences can discover your content. 

Untapped Audiences 

Believe it or not, there are more search engines out there than Google. By tapping exclusively into Google Ads, you’re cutting out potential leads left and right. 

According to Oberlo, the top five worldwide search engines in 2021 by market share are: 

1. Google - 92.18%
2. Bing - 8.04%
3. Baidu - 7.34%
4. Yahoo! - 3.39%
5. Yandex - 1.53%

Budget

With costs per click (CPCs) on the rise, the cost to use Google Ads may max out a midsize business’ advertising budget. It can also become less beneficial as more of your competitors begin to leverage Google Ads. The likelihood of your ad showing up over a competitor’s ad will diminish over time. 

A closer look at the Digital Advertising Alternatives

With audiences using a variety of platforms to search for their next purchase, midsize business marketers have an array of options to choose from. At Fratzke, we agreed with this list compiled by Search Engine Journal. Here are the key takeaways: 

Microsoft Ads

• Lower CPCs and competition
• New organic traffic opportunities
• LinkedIn Integration available 

Quora Ads

• Q&A platform positions brands as thought leaders
• Utilize contextual and behavioral targeting
• Great for B2B or B2C midsize businesses

Adobe Advertising Cloud

• All-in-one platform for Search, Display, Social, and more
• Share audiences across platforms
• Easily compare data platform-to-platform

LinkedIn Ads

• B2B companies find more qualified leads on LinkedIn
• Target specific industries, jobs, skill sets, and more
• Choose from newsfeed ads, message ads, and conversation ads

Quantcast

• Advanced targeting and retargeting capabilities
• Track audience behavior with Quantcast Measure
• Incorporate programmatic advertising 

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Looking for a digital marketing partner to elevate your midsize business strategy?

Schedule your free consultation with one of our experts today!