The ultimate guide to UTM tagging

How to Craft a Brand Manifesto [Guide + Examples]

In Simon Sinek’s famous Ted Talk “How great leaders inspire action”, he fleshes out a concept that some of the most inspiring leaders and organizations -- specifically Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers -- leveraged to build loyal followings. It’s called Start With Why.

Start With Why suggests that if your brand truly wants to inspire an audience to follow you, your core message should focus on your organization’s purpose -- not how you make your product or what your product is. Spotlighting why people should care about your organization is how Apple, Martin Luther King Jr., and the Wright Brothers ultimately built a body of support for their causes, even though they all faced fierce competitors.

Simon Sinek’s notion that people buy the “why” behind your organization, not the “what” or “how”, isn’t some idealistic trend catching fire in the business world today. It’s actually rooted in human biology. To explain further, the most primal part of the brain is called the limbic system, and it controls all decision making. It also happens to control all of our emotions and feelings.

So, resonating with your audience will also appeal to the part of the brain that’s responsible for action. In other words, if you can evoke emotion, you can drive behavior. If you can’t do the former, though, you’ll struggle to build a loyal following, let alone sell them anything.

But how do you discover the “why” behind your organization? How do you actually connect with an audience and inspire them to follow you? One of the best places to start is by writing a brand manifesto.

What is a brand manifesto?

A brand manifesto describes why your organization exists, its purpose, and why people should care about your brand. It’s typically an emotional story that captivates your audience, emotionally connects with them, and persuades them to support your brand. Not only can it build a loyal customer base, but it can also attract top talent to your organization.

5 of the Best Brand Manifesto Examples

1. Nike

Image Credit: Pinterest

Even though Nike endorses some of the biggest names in sports, like LeBron James, Cristiano Ronaldo, and Serena Williams, they never boast about how the best athletes in the world use their equipment. Instead, they stick to what has skyrocketed them to the top of the sports equipment industry -- emotional resonance.

Nike wants people to understand that success doesn’t mean becoming the greatest of all time. It means you did everything you could to become the best possible version of yourself. And that’s the “why” behind their brand -- to empower every athlete, regardless of their talent or ability, to reach their potential and achieve their own greatness.

2. Fiat

Image Credit: Pinterest

Fiat isn’t just selling a sleek, Italian car. They’re selling a lifestyle. In their brand manifesto, you get a glimpse of the life they want to offer to their customers -- a life that they can live with burning passion and thrilling excitement.

However, Fiat doesn’t want its customers to live recklessly. They actually want them to treasure the little things in life just as much as the big things. So the “why” behind Fiat’s brand isn’t really changing their customers’ lifestyle -- it’s changing their attitude toward life. And that’s a compelling mission to have.

3. The North Face

Image Credit: Pinterest

Most travel equipment brands focus on how their products can enable you to travel and explore your surroundings, which is engaging on the surface. But, in The North Face’s brand manifesto, they go another layer deeper by diving into why we explore.

By describing how exploring helps us understand ourselves better, The North Face’s purpose is crystal clear -- they not only want to help us explore more, but they also want to help us change for the better, lead more fulfilling lives, and cherish what we have.

4. Apple

Image Credit: Pinterest

For almost his entire career, Steve Jobs was considered crazy. His bitter disdain for the status quo compelled him to shatter conventional wisdom whenever he could, driving such a large wedge between him and his colleagues that they forced him out of the company he founded.

Despite all his controversy, though, Steve Jobs’ ability to think differently was what fueled Apple’s innovation and transformed it into the most valuable brand in the world. Steve Jobs’ story is the driving force behind Apple’s purpose. If they can inspire people to think differently and challenge the status quo, then they can help propel society forward and change the world -- just like Steve Jobs did.

5. Levi’s

Image Credit: Pinterest

No one wants to coast through life. But, a lot of times, we drift away -- and we don’t even notice it happening. To help catch yourself settling in life before it’s too late, Levi’s crafted a brand manifesto overflowing with so much purpose that it could convince Eeoyre from Winnie-the-Pooh to go make his mark on the world.

By asking their audience whether they’ve made the world any better and telling them that all they need is their gut instinct and the clothes on their back to make that impact, Levi's conveys a brand purpose almost everyone would passionately follow for the rest of their lives -- don’t ever settle.

How to Write a Brand Manifesto

1. Identify your organization's "why".
2. Write in second- or third-person to place your audience into the story you're telling.
3. Describe how your brand's purpose will improve people's lives.

1. Identify your organization’s "why”.

Your brand’s purpose drives your entire brand manifesto. Without presenting a clear and convincing purpose, your manifesto will seem like an inauthentic, emotionally manipulative sales pitch. Your audience wants to know why they should care about you -- and your product’s “best-in-class” features has never been a compelling enough reason to support a business.

To uncover your organization’s "why”, consider asking your founders why they started the company. What problem were they trying to solve? Why did it bug them so much? And why do they want to keep growing the company? You’ll most likely find your organization’s purpose within those answers.

2. Write in second- or third-person to place your audience into the story you’re telling.

In each of the brand manifestos above, you’ll notice that the copy pulls you in by including the words "we” or "people”. That’s because Nike, Fiat, and The North Face all know that their audience primarily cares about how the brands can help them, so using pronouns like "you”, "we", and "them” (when referring to their own customer base) can engage people on a personal level and place them in the narrative the brands are crafting.

3. Describe how your brand’s purpose will improve people’s lives.

Most people aspire to transcend their current identity and lives. Self-actualization is a universal goal that almost everyone wants to achieve. And the smartest brand marketers understand this about the human condition.

For instance, did you notice how each of the brand manifestos above is essentially a life mantra that can improve your life? Nike -- define and meet your own greatness. Fiat -- enjoy life to the fullest. The North Face -- never stop exploring. Apple -- think differently and challenge the status quo. Levi’s -- don't ever settle in life.

By describing each brand's purpose in a such genuinely selfless fashion, each company's brand manifesto can prompt their audience to imagine a future with their product or service bettering their lives.

Start With Why

Your brand’s purpose is one of the most challenging things to pinpoint and communicate. But if you want to craft a compelling brand manifesto that will engage an audience and persuade them to support your brand, you must be able to clearly convey the reason you exist and why anyone should care. Only then will you be able to build the loyal following that every brand craves.

Affordable, Stat-Based Retail Strategy For Your Agency’s Clients

Link building for bloggers

As your blog grows, the situations you’re dealing with seem to become harder. Whoever says blogging is for the lazy, has not dealt with optimization for search engines, the ever-changing algorithms of Facebook and Instagram, the best practices of Pinterest or the ever dreaded link building.

What is link building?

Link building means, in short, that you’re getting links from other websites to your own blog. It helps your posts to rank. Link building is not an easy task, as you are depending on third parties to link to your website. And not only that, you don’t want a link from every website. Spammy websites or websites that have little to do with your niche, are not valuable at all. I’ve tried link building, the holistic SEO way, and will share my experiences here. If you want to learn more about this, read this article Marieke wrote about link building from a holistic SEO perspective.

Asking for relevant links

To get relevant backlinks, you should know the websites you would like to get a backlink from. Send them a polite email requesting to place a link to your content, if it’s relevant to their audience as well. Please note that often, you will not get a reply at all. To improve your chances of getting a link to your website, your content should really be unique. Trying to get a link for a blogpost that is extremely basic and could’ve been written by anyone, is less likely to succeed than when you provide some very good content: content people can only find on your website. If you, for example, are a planner guru or the nation’s funniest mom blogger, it’s way easier to get a link to your website than if you just started out.

Facebook Groups

Do your hands get sweaty by the idea of having to email your fellow bloggers to ask for links? Fear not! Luckily, there are a lot of Facebook Groups, where bloggers post they might be working on a blog post that, for example, collects the best recipes for Easter, the best bullet journal tips or something different. You can often drop your link in the comments if you’ve written about the topic requested and with a little bit of luck, you’ll be featured in a blog post. It depends on your country which Facebook groups could be suitable, so ask your fellow bloggers or look around on Facebook.

Guest blogging

Another option to get links to your website, is through guest blogging for other blogs. Often, blogs are looking for input from fellow bloggers and in return will let you link to your own content. You’ll not only get a link to your website from a relevant website, you’ll get attention from the readers of that particular blog as well. Visit your favorite blogs and check to see if they accept guest submissions. They’ll usually mention this on their contact page or their collaboration page. Please note that a website could have certain guidelines before they accept your guest blog. It has to be unique content, but it also has to be in line with that website.

Do your thing

Link building for bloggers can be hard. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. When you’re already working on optimizing your posts, finding your voice and creating original blog posts, you might not want to add another massive project to your list. Because that is what link building is: it is not something you do just once. That’s why I’ve decided to quit my attempts at link building. I find it removes the focus from my blog entirely and turns into a popularity contest, at least in my mind. Not only that, I am not someone who finds it easy to reach out to other bloggers to request links in their content.

Instead, I’ve decided to focus on my own website and on helping others. I’ve found that I’ve received backlinks whenever I give a talk at a conference or after I helped someone with their website. This is not something that I take for granted, but when it happens, I realize why I’ve spent a few hours helping a blogger out with a bug on her website. For me, this means that I stay true to my own beliefs without having to focus on an entire strategy that is not my thing. And I found out that this is a link building strategy in itself: it helps my reputation as a blogger in the Dutch community. Find whatever works for you. And if you are actively building links, could you tell me your strategy?

The post Link building for bloggers appeared first on Yoast.

How to Find your Dream Job in 2019

I remember sitting in one of my career classes in college listening to my professor tell the class how long it can take to find a job.

“Sometimes you’re completely qualified for the positions in which you’re applying for, yet it can take several months to find the right position,” he said.

My professor wasn’t kidding. I started applying for my first job six months prior to graduation, and it took me all six months to find one I was excited about accepting. Then, when I began the search for my second job, it took me closer to nine months from the moment I decided it was time to start searching for new roles to the call I received with the job offer I accepted.

Long story short — searching for a new job isn’t always an easy process. It has the potential to become stressful, time-consuming, and frustrating. But no fear! We’ve created this guide to help you through the process and make it a bit less intimidating. We’ll review the first 10 things you should do when you begin your search, where you can find job listings of interest, how to prepare for an interview, and the ways in which you can accept a job offer.

Let’s dive right in.

Depending on your specific situation, you may not need to walk through each of the following steps. This list is here to simply guide you through the beginning stages of your job hunt, so feel free to modify it as needed.

1. Consider your personality.

Your personality tells you a lot about yourself — what you enjoy doing, what makes you happy, how you like to communicate, and even the types of jobs you’d likely be really great at. There are a number of ways to incorporate your personality traits and characteristics in your job search. You can take one of the many online personality tests to learn more about your specific traits and discover various types of work and tasks you’d be a good fit for. This information is also helpful when thinking about the type of work environment you’d be most productive in. 

Your personality will help you narrow your search in other ways too — for example, if your results come back with details about you being more shy, introspective, and reserved, you can research ideal jobs for introverts.

2. Think about your skill set.

Your skill set is a list of your abilities — such as communication, decision making, and ability to work under pressure. These are often listed on your resume, so they’re important to consider for that reason as well as to help you determine the type of role you’d be successful in. You can learn more about your skill set and how it plays a part in the type of career you’d be an ideal fit for by taking a career aptitude test.

3. Reflect on your background.

Your previous work experience and education, or your background, are also great ways to determine a career path you’d be suited for.

For example, I studied journalism in college and worked at a news station after graduation, yet wanted to leave the TV industry. My background, which was tailored towards writing jobs and content-heavy positions, made me an ideal candidate for a blog writer position at HubSpot.

If your background doesn’t align with your newfound career interests that’s alright too! This may require a little more research on your end about whether or not you’ll need to go back to school for a masters degree, get a certification of some kind, or work in an entry-level position in your new field of interest.

4. Brainstorm your career goals.

Brainstorm your personal and career goals to help you determine the right job for you. Think about things like work-life balance, salary, and what you can envision yourself doing in 5-10 years. This will help you narrow down your search as different industries and positions have a range of standards when it comes to factors such as career flexibility and growth.

5. Create a list of your dream companies.

Whether or not you’re sure about the actual position you’re looking to get into, you should create a list of your dream companies to work for. This is a great way to keep track of the companies you’re most interested in, remain goal-oriented, and remember to continually check their job listings to ensure you’re not missing the perfect opening. You can then tailor your cover letter and skill set on your resume to fit these target companies’ candidate requirements and expectations.

6. Consider companies similar to your dream companies.

Be sure to consider companies comparable to your ideal companies as well. For example, if you’re hoping to work for a major company like Nike, you might also consider a smaller but quickly growing company in the same industry such as NOBULL. By being open-minded and realistic about how you’re going to reach your end-goal, you avoid locking yourself into one, narrow career path option.

7. Network professionally.

Whether you’re looking to stay in your current industry or pave a completely new path in another, professional networking is critical. These days, over 70% of job offers at companies, or at least get interviews, as a result of networking. Networking can help you get your foot in the door at a company of interest, gain a new and valuable reference, and determine whether or not you really want to move into a specific type of role.

8. Clean up your social media accounts.

These days, recruiting managers, hiring teams, and other people at the companies you’re applying to will often look you up on social media as part of their candidate search and screening processes. This means you should either make sure all of your social media accounts are not public, or remove every picture, video, or comment that may lead a potential company to believe you’re not mature or professional enough to join the team. The last thing you want a hiring manager at your dream company to do is take you off their list of potential candidates because of something on your Instagram or Facebook profile.

9. Update your LinkedIn profile.

Did you know there are over 6.1 million users on LinkedIn? That includes people like yourself looking for new jobs, people who are content in their current jobs, and people who are looking to recruit for and fill various openings at their companies.

That’s why ensuring your LinkedIn profile is up-to-date when you begin your job search is critical. Be sure to describe in detail all of your relevant, past work experience including promotions and notable mentions, as well as your education, awards, certifications, and anything else you feel is worth sharing. Make your profile look even more professional by accepting and initiating connections with people you know so you’re more likely to receive endorsements for your skills, experiences, and traits.

Recruiters, hiring managers, and employers who find you on LinkedIn will see you as a competent, impressive, and qualified candidate who’s taking the hiring process seriously.

Learn how to use LinkedIn for professional networking, business, and marketing.

10. Prepare your resume.

You must prepare your resume at the beginning of your job search for the same reason you need to update your LinkedIn profile — to ensure all of your latest and most relevant experience is available to recruiters and hiring managers so they can determine whether or not you’d be a good fit for the role you’re applying for.

Without a strong and updated resume, the companies you apply to won’t have any reason to take you seriously. Pay attention to the small details, such as your resume font and the skill set you choose to share. After all, this is how you’re going to make an impactful first impression.

(When in doubt, you can always update your resume using a template to ensure a professional look and feel that will blow hiring managers away.)

How to Find and Apply For Your New Job

Now that we’ve reviewed which steps to take in the first stages of your job search, you might be wondering how to find a job you want to apply for and make yourself stand out as a candidate. We’ve created this collection of tips and tricks involving job search sites, cover letters, and interview prep to help you do just that.

Job Search Sites

Today, job search sites — also known as job search engines —are one of the most common ways to find a new job. These sites provide you with valuable information on companies, location, industry, salary, qualifications, company reviews, and more.

Other benefits to using a job search site are the ability to upload your resume and cover letter for quick and easy application submission and the option to be alerted when a new job listing is posted based on criteria you provide. 

There are a number of popular job search sites that are used by millions of people around the world — so which ones should you use? Below we list six of the most common options.

1. Indeed provides you with access to new job listings, company reviews, and accurate salary information. The site also allows you to post your resume so recruiters and employers can easily reach out you.
2. CareerBuilder gives you the opportunity to search for a new job based on specific criteria, including your experience, location, or skill set. You upload your resume so employers can recruit you and the site will also review your profile and recommend jobs to help you find the right match.
3. Monster allows you to upload your resume for a free assessment to ensure everything looks perfect. The site has a variety of other resources like opportunities to receive professional advice and interview tips, as well as to access to the latest (and most popular) job listings, salary information, and company reviews.
4. LinkedIn isn’t just a networking site — it’s also a job search site. The site will take you through a series of steps to help you begin your job hunt. You can then view position openings and employers can read your resume (as well as easily view your LinkedIn profile). LinkedIn also allows you to search for jobs according to your specific career interests to narrow down your options.
5. Craigslist is a very straightforward and simplistic job search site. Employers post their latest job listings and you can search through them by location and/or one of the site’s 20+ industry types.
6. Glassdoor gives you access to the latest job listings, employee reviews, interview tips, and salary information. You can post your resume for hiring managers to contact you and the site also has a feature to view the types of interview questions specific companies tend to ask so you can prepare to the best of your ability.

Once you’ve determined which job search sites you want to use, it’s time to begin preparing your cover letters to send along with your resume to your prospective employers.

Unique Cover Letters

In a job application, your cover letter accompanies your resume and persuades an employer to interview you. It should describe the reasons why you’d be a great fit for the position you’re applying for — and when paired with your resume, the employer should clearly understand what makes you qualified for the opening.

Save time and use templates to create the perfect cover letter.

Not all companies require cover letters. Some make cover letters optional and some choose not to accept them at all. If cover letters are optional for the positions you’re applying for, sending one in is really up to your discretion as there are a range of opinions about their importance. However, if you’re required or choose to include a cover letter, you’ll want to make sure it’s concise, well-written, and stands out against those of your competition. 

Discover everything you need to know about crafting the perfect cover letter.

Interview Preparation

Needless to say, nailing your interview is critical if you want to receive a job offer. Although interviews are often high-pressure experiences for job-seekers, thoroughly preparing for them is a great way to relieve some of the stress.

Here are some commonly asked interview questions you can review and think about in preparation for your next interview. You can click the links to learn how to answer these common questions.

• Tell me about yourself.
• What are the reasons for leaving your last job?
• Where do you see yourself in five years?
• What motivates you?
• What makes you unique?
• What is your greatest weakness?

You can also use other resources for prep like Glassdoor’s past-interview-question feature, blogs about the job search process in your industry of interest — like this guide about marketing jobs — or ask the people you network with about their past interview experiences.

Accept A Job Offer

The last aspect of the job search process is the most exciting — accepting an offer!

Once you receive a job offer, be sure to get all of the important position details regarding salary, benefits, expected start date, and anything else you’re looking for clarity on. Remember, it’s normal — and expected — to ask for some time to think about the offer so you can review it before officially accepting. The hiring manager may give you a day, two days, or even a full work week to do this if you ask.

Don’t be afraid to decline the offer if the job isn’t the right fit for you. Other offers will come around — be patient and wait for the one that makes you excited. Also, you may choose to negotiate the salary upon receiving your offer. There are professional and realistic ways to negotiate a salary you’ll want to follow to ensure this process goes smoothly.

Lastly, you’ll need to give your current employer your two weeks’ notice to let them know you’ll be leaving the company so they can begin preparing to find a replacement or make any other necessary adjustments to your team and/ or department.

Learn about how you can prepare for your new job once you’ve accepted an offer.

Start Your Search

Beginning the job search process can be an overwhelming one. But following this guide and thoughtfully determining the exact type of role and company you’re looking for is a great way to make it less daunting. Remember to use job search sites to your advantage and prepare for your interviews so you’re ready to impress anyone you meet — get started searching for your next position today.

How We Grew Our Organic Reach 185% on Facebook

In 2018, Facebook enacted some algorithm changes that negatively impacted a brand's ability to reach its audience organically.

HubSpot's Latin America & Iberia Marketing team were no exception to this.

Despite having half a million Spanish-speaking fans on our Facebook page, we realized we were barely able to reach one percent of them -- which is pretty shocking, if you think about it.

That meant, despite years of work building up our Facebook audience on the platform, that we weren't even able to communicate with our fans when we had something interesting to say.

Unless, of course, we paid.

But, from our perspective, paying to talk to people who already know about HubSpot, and presumably already like us, didn't sound the right thing to do. It also didn't seem to align with our goal of creating sustainable, genuine connections with our audience.

After months of suffering a down-trend on our Facebook numbers, and finding out about an increasing number of Facebook updates, we reached a turning point when we realized we needed to change our social strategy -- and, more fundamentally, the way we thought about Facebook.

Here, we're going to explain the six fundamental changes we made to our Spanish-speaking Facebook strategy to increase our organic reach over two and a half times.

How To Increase Organic Reach Despite Facebook's Algorithm Changes

1. Think of Facebook as a publishing platform.

Traffic was one of the main metrics we used to measure our Facebook performance in the past. As many brands do, we saw Facebook as a portal to our website -- a channel to obtain traffic.

In fact, Facebook has traditionally be one of the most important sources of traffic for many businesses … so it would be foolish not to tap into it, right?

Unfortunately, that was the case for the old Facebook. In the last couple of years, however, Facebook has carried out many updates for the same underlying goal -- to keep users on Facebook longer, and increase engagement on the platform itself. As a consequence, external links are not held in very high regard.

Now, brands that only use Facebook as an amplifying channel for their websites, or blog, are going to suffer the most from the algorithm changes.

We were part of that group.

Once we realized our old strategy wouldn't work on the new Facebook, we knew we needed a mindset change -- something many brands are likely unwilling to do.

To succeed on Facebook, we began thinking of Facebook as a publishing channel. This fundamentally meant creating quality content to be consumed directly on Facebook -- no links.

Okay, I know what you are thinking now: What happens with my traffic then? How do I convert all those people?

This is what scares most people -- you don't. You grow your brand awareness, and grow your reach. People may not be on your website, but they are still seeing your content and your brand, so when they are ready to buy or need something from you, they will remember you. You will be top of mind.

And magic will happen.

2. Play by Facebook rules (engagement, engagement, engagement).

Facebook's algorithm favors certain types of content. And those algorithm-favored pieces of content are put in front of more people -- and, as a result, get more engagement.

Of course, those favored content types are constantly evolving at Facebook, as the company continues to try to improve the engagement of its users. So it's critical you remain flexible and willing to experiment with content types as you enact your own Facebook strategy.

For us, videos have been our best bet over the past year, and have worked wonders for us -- once we recognized the power of video, we moved from less than 10% video content to 50% video content, which consistently gets higher reach than any other type of content.

3. Break up with paid boosting.

Along with the change to our organic strategy, we also changed the way we approach boosting posts on Facebook.

We came to the conclusion that boosting is not a sustainable strategy to get people's attention on Facebook. We slowed down our spending to focus on organic-only, and to understand which type of posts work for us -- and which didn't.

Once we started to see improvements in our organic reach and were happy with our overall strategy, we started investing again on boosting posts but, unlike in the past, we now only boost high-performing posts to generate extra engagement and reach, not clicks.

This approach reinforces our overall strategy and allows us to spread our net wider when it comes to brand awareness.

Additionally, it's important to note we keep our paid social strategy completely separate from our organic strategy, since those teams have varying tasks and goals.

4. Change the way you measure success.

A year ago, we used number of likes as our main growth indicator for social -- now, we see that number is meaningless.

Measuring the number of likes a post gets is no longer a good metric to determine the success of your Facebook strategy. There is no point in having 500K fans if your posts are being seen only by 5K. I'd rather have 100K fans, and have most of them see my posts regularly -- wouldn't you?

As a consequence, we came to the conclusion that we should move away from likes, and instead adopt a reach metric to measure our performance.

Of course, total reach can be easily manipulated by playing with frequency -- but a metric like Average Reach per Post is something we felt could help us most accurately measure our performance, and how many people are exposed to our brand regularly.

5. Keep it organized.

Giving some structure to your social posting might sound like a basic tip, but it really gave us the consistency and focus we needed for Facebook.

We implemented a detailed social calendar and divided the posts by categories, allowing us to be more effective when creating content. It also enabled us to work better as a team. For instance, we allocate some weekly slots to areas of the business we want to surface, such as the Flywheel or Academy, and created social content with that in mind.

This structure also helps us to better analyze which posts perform best, and adapt our social calendar on an ongoing basis.

6. Consider alternatives.

Not everything works as planned. We have tested some ideas that have failed -- alternatively, good-performing ideas have lost momentum.

#MartesEnVivo, a weekly Facebook Live broadcasting series, was our Tom Brady for months. Every week, it would be our top-performing post, driving up engagement and reach numbers.

But nothing lasts forever. When introducing more and more video content as part of our social content, we noticed that #MartesEnVivo was losing momentum, and the performance was not good enough for all the effort we were putting into it.

However, the content we shared in #MartesEnVivo was unquestionably valuable for our users, so we recently decided to spin the series and relaunch it on YouTube with a different name and different format.

The plan with this is to take advantage of YouTube search nature to make the lifespan of these videos longer -- and, also, to free up some precious slots on Facebook for ephemeral videos that perform better there.

This will happen to you as well, so it's always a good idea to keep in mind that Facebook is not the only social network that businesses can use.

There is always a channel for good content.

Our Results

The results have been surprising, even for us. We knew this was the right approach, but we never anticipated such a big improvement in our metrics in only five months.

Ultimately, we saw an average 185% increase per post. We also saw a significant increase in all the metrics related to video-viewing on Facebook.

Over the next year, we are going to strive to push these numbers even further by continuing with this strategy, and trying new formats that can give us an extra push.

Facebook Stories, for instance, is receiving a lot of attention from the Facebook community -- so it's definitely something on our radar.

Ultimately, Facebook's algorithm changes can be scary and frustrating for your company, but it can also serve as a major opportunity for new growth. By changing your Facebook strategy to respond to Facebook's changes, you just might find new avenues to reach, and impact, an even larger audience.

How to Run LinkedIn Ad Campaigns: A Beginner's Guide

LinkedIn is a highly valuable tool to network with like-minded professionals. But here's something we don't talk about as much as we should: LinkedIn is also a highly useful inbound marketing platform.

It might seem a little bit intimidating. You have enough on your plate … do you really need to figure out another way to create targeted content? Actually, yes. You have more power at your disposal with LinkedIn than you might realize.

That's because LinkedIn has a powerful ads platform. If you're already using pay-per-click (PPC) techniques to power your presence on Facebook, Twitter, or Google, consider yourself lucky — you can add LinkedIn to that list, too.

Download our free two-week planner on running LinkedIn Sponsored Content campaigns.

But if you're new to LinkedIn ads, fear not — we've put together a step-by-step guide to setting up your first LinkedIn ad campaign. Bookmark this post and refer to it when you're ready to get started.

How LinkedIn Ad Campaigns Work

Advertising on LinkedIn is a two-step process: first, setting up your LinkedIn campaign and then, creating your ad(s). In this section, we walk through how to set up a campaign and build your ad(s) — plus some best practices and tips for each.

Step One: Setting Up Your Campaign

Your LinkedIn advertising campaigns will live on a platform separate from the LinkedIn you see every day — the LinkedIn Marketing Solutions platform. Visit this page to get started with your campaign, and select "Create Ad."

From there, you'll be prompted to create a LinkedIn Campaign Manager account (if you haven’t yet). Make sure you enter your associated LinkedIn Company Page if you have one.

Next, you’ll be taken to your member dashboard. If you haven’t entered your billing information, you’ll need to do so to unlock your account. (Don't worry — you won't be charged until your campaign is live, and from there, you'll be charged periodically for ad clicks and other engagements.)

On your dashboard — or "Campaign Manager," as it's formally called — you'll see a call-to-action (CTA) to “Create campaign.” Click that button, and you'll be redirected to a page where you can start setting up your campaign.

Note: As of February 2019, LinkedIn introduced a “new objective-based campaign creation experience”. We’ll be covering that new process in this article — to learn more, check out this page.

First, indicate a Campaign Group and name your campaign. Campaign Groups help you organize your campaign. You can leave the Default Campaign Group as-is, or create a new Group.

As for the campaign name, these are only visible internally, so we recommend you choose a highly informative name — especially if you have a few different folks working on the campaign.

For example, if I was doing a test to determine the best type of demographic targeting, I might use the title, "Unicorn Food Ad Test — North America, 18 to 24, Female." That name describes exactly who I'm targeting, without having to view its details. Compare this to something like "Unicorn Food Test 1," which doesn't indicate anything about who the ad is targeting.

Once you choose your Campaign Group and name, you can start setting up your campaign.

1. Objective Selection

First, choose your campaign objective. Your objective is what you want people to do when they see your ads. According to LinkedIn, choosing an objective helps them “customize your campaign creation, deliver the best ROI for your stated goal, and show you relevant reporting.”

There are three overarching campaign themes: Awareness, Consideration, and Conversions. Under those themes, the available campaign objectives are:

• Website visits will drive traffic to your website and landing pages. According to LinkedIn, this type of campaign will also boost brand awareness (at least while that objective option remains unavailable).
• Engagement will increase engagement on your content and boost followers on your LinkedIn Company Page.
• Video views will increase exposure of your videos to people who are likely to engage with them.
• Lead generation will show a LinkedIn lead generation form with pre-filled LinkedIn profile data to those LinkedIn users most likely to engage with the form.

Note: LinkedIn is still releasing a handful of features as part of their new campaign creation experience, including a handful of objective options. Check back for some exciting updates!

2. Audience

Next, choose the parameters of your target audience. Targeting who sees your ad can help it fulfill its campaign objective — the more specific and relevant it is to your audience, the better it’ll perform. LinkedIn allows you to target according to a few different categories, which we've outlined below.

You don't have to use all of these options, but the more specific your targeting criteria, the more relevant it's likely to be to the audience you select — and, therefore, the more likely you are to have a better ROI.

First, answer a few basic questions, like the language in which you'd like your ad to appear. It can be written in any of the 20 languages LinkedIn supports, including Spanish, French, and German.

You must also select at least one location for your ads. Depending on your business, more specific targeting may be helpful. You can select a location as broad as North America, or as specific as the San Francisco Bay Area. Consider excluding any nearby locations from your campaign so your budget isn’t wasted on locations where your ad isn’t relevant.

Next, click “+ Add new targeting criteria.”

Company

If your target audience has a certain employer, you can target it directly — even by name. You don't need to have specific names in mind, though; LinkedIn allows you to also target companies based on the industry (like Legal, Non-Profit, or Finance) and company size.

Demographics

If your audience is heavily skewed toward one gender and/or age group, target your ad toward them.

Education

If you are looking to target people who have a particular educational background, you can target your ads based on schools. For example, perhaps you're trying to target a certain alumni association — you can reach out to it through a LinkedIn ad. You can also customize the targeting according to the field of study and degree.

Job Experience

If your product or service is best for CFOs, targeting only people with "CFO" in their titles will increase your conversions, and, ultimately, save you money. You can choose specific job titles or choose from job functions, seniority, and years of experience. From the CEO of manufacturing companies to the entry-level associates at an accounting firm, you can target a specific group of people for your ads.

Your target audience may also have a certain skill set, such as email marketing, financial planning, or risk management. Think about what your target audience does well or where it aspires to excel. Then, use the ad to target people with similar capabilities.

Interests

One of LinkedIn's best attributes is the ability to join groups with like-minded professionals in which you can discuss industry trends and topics. If your audience is very vocal on a topic, or you're trying to gain thought leadership in a certain area, this type of targeting might be a good option for you.

Once you establish your ad targeting criteria, you can save it as a template for future campaigns. You can also enable LinkedIn to expand your audience to include people similar to your target audience.

3. Ad Format

Next, choose your ad format. There eight different types of LinkedIn ads you can create as part of your campaign.

• Text ads show up on the right column or top of the page on LinkedIn. They feature text only.
• Single image ads feature one image and show up on the LinkedIn newsfeed along organic content.
• Carousel ads feature two or more images and show up on the LinkedIn newsfeed along organic content.
• Video ads feature one video and show up on the LinkedIn newsfeed along organic content.
• Follower ads promote your LinkedIn Company Page and use LinkedIn profile data to personalize each ad. They’re only visible on the LinkedIn desktop platform.
• Spotlight ads promote a special offering and use LinkedIn profile data to personalize each ad. They’re only visible on the LinkedIn desktop platform.
• Job ads promote open jobs and use LinkedIn profile data to personalize each ad. They’re only visible on the LinkedIn desktop platform.
• Message ads are delivered to your target audience’s LinkedIn inbox.

When you toggle between the ad types, you’ll see that the Forecasted Results box on the right-hand side will change. This feature analyzes your campaign parameters (bid, budget, targeting, start/end dates, etc.) and takes into account similar campaigns and advertisers. It also simulates the ad auction to generate the numbers displayed.

Keep an eye on this box as you choose your LinkedIn ad type. If you're first starting out, deciding what ad type to choose might come down to your budget. Outline your priorities, and then you can decide which type works best for you.

Additionally, some ad types require you to link your LinkedIn Company Page, and some tap into LinkedIn translation services.

4. Placement

Next, decide whether you want your ad to be displayed on the LinkedIn Audience Network, which gives your campaign more reach and exposure among LinkedIn’s third-party platforms and sites. Note: This option isn’t available for every ad type.

You can also choose to exclude or block certain categories, applications, and sites in the Network if you so choose.

5. Budget & Schedule

Next, set up the budget, scheduling, and bidding options that work best for you.

Budget

Set a daily budget for what works best for your company's marketing spending. Before investing a lot into one campaign, test and measure the success of each campaign and ad variation. You don't want to put thousands of dollars, for example, into an ad that doesn't resonate with your target audience.

Let's say you're the VP of Marketing at a high-end floral company. You assume that most of your target market is made up of soon-to-be brides, so you direct your LinkedIn ads to bridal groups. But after spending thousands of dollars, you only generate 10% of the leads you were hoping for. Your subsequent research shows this was the wrong move, and you later learn that people near your store who are on LinkedIn are actually looking for flowers for corporate events. It would have been nice to know that before spending a large amount of your budget on LinkedIn ads, right?

That said, because of its extensive targeting opportunities, LinkedIn ads can successfully target niche markets. But the cautionary experimentation is crucial to do early on — if you observe a campaign performing well, then you can put a larger budget toward it.

Schedule

Choose a date for your campaign to start. You can indicate for your campaign to be shown continuously or ‘til an end date.

Bid Type

In this section, the three options you have are:

• Automated bid, which allows LinkedIn to determine what amount will maximize your campaign objective and whatever option you choose (Clicks, Impressions, or Conversions).
• Maximum cost-per-click (CPC) bid, where you'll be charged each time someone clicks on your ad. LinkedIn will suggest a bid range depending on your budget and the competition for your ads — the more advertisers bidding on a similar campaign, the higher your bid will need to be. This bid is the maximum you will be charged. If the current rate is lower than your max bid, you will only be charged the current rate.
• Maximum pay-per-1,000 Impressions (CPM) bid, where you’ll be charged a certain amount each time your ad is viewed by every 1,000 people on LinkedIn. This option is unavailable if you’re using the LinkedIn Audience Network option.

Deciding on the best maximum bid can be tricky. When deciding between CPC and CPM, think about your end goal. Are you trying to get as many people as possible to see your ad to help with something like a branding campaign? If so, CPM might be your best option.

On the other hand, if you want more people to click on your ads to drive traffic to your website or generate new leads, CPC might be better for you.

As for your optimal maximum bid, some trial and error might be necessary. LinkedIn will give you a suggested bid, which is a good place to start. Then, think about when your audience is most likely online. You'll want to bid higher during that particular time to be sure that your ads are the ones being seen. And make sure LinkedIn is actually the best place to reach them, too — different populations use different types of social media. Play around with your bids and see when you get the most return for your dollars spent.

6. Conversion Tracking

Lastly, you have the option to set up conversion tracking for your LinkedIn campaign, which will track and measure the actions people take after clicking on your ads.

Conversion tracking is an optional part of setting up your LinkedIn advertising campaign but is highly valuable for your business.

If you choose to set up conversion tracking, click “+ Add conversions.” A new window will pop up, where you’ll name your conversion, choose your conversion settings, and decide how you’ll track the conversions. Note: The information on the right-hand side of the window is super helpful — it’ll answer any questions you have and walk you through the process.

For more help on implementing and managing your LinkedIn Conversions, visit their help page here.

Bravo! You’ll officially set up your LinkedIn advertising campaign … but you’re not done yet. When you’re ready to move on, click “Save.” Beware: Your objective and ad format cannot be changed once you save, so be sure about your choices before moving forward.

Step Two: Setting Up Your Ad(s)

This section corresponds to what type of LinkedIn ad you chose for your campaign. Once you establish the basic parameters for your ad in step one, you'll be prompted to start building it and choose how LinkedIn will display and rotate your ad variations — if you create more than one.

To get started, click “Create new ad.”

A screen will pop up with the title “Create a new [Your chosen ad type] for this campaign” on which you'll create the copy for your ad, pair it with an image, and preview the different layout options.

Of course, there are a few guidelines around the copy that we suggest:

• Ad image, which is the artwork or graphic that your audience will see for your ad. It must be 100x100 pixels and uploaded as a .jpg or .png file that is 2MB or smaller.
• Ad headline, which is the main message your audience will see. It cannot be more than 25 characters.
• Ad description, which is the body of your ad. It can be up to 75 characters long and should be relevant both to the person viewing the ad and the offer or page to which you're sending them.
• Destination URL, which is where your audience will go when they click your ad. Double check that the URL is accurate.

Once you input this information, you’ll see it reflected in the Preview box to the right.

Once you click “Create,” you’ll be directed back to the previous Campaign Manager screen. From there, you can create more ads and, eventually, review and submit your order. Note: LinkedIn does review every submitted campaign order, so don’t expect to see your ads published right away.

To see the best results for your ads, consider creating a different ad for each of your buyer personas and tweak the copy accordingly. For example, when promoting a book to college professors, leading the title with the words "College Professor's Guide to …” may generate a higher CTR than generic, un-targeted headlines and copy.

Here are a few of our best copywriting tips for LinkedIn ads.

Call-to-Action (CTA)

Including an actionable CTA within your ad copy will also help you improve your ad's click-through rate (CTR). Consider asking people to "Download your e-book now," or "Click now for free samples" instead of writing copy that's devoid of actionable next steps.

Value

Incorporate your value proposition into your ad copy — this can make people more likely to click on your ad. By boasting something like "20% off your first purchase" or "Clearance sale ends today — Shop now," you're sending a clear signal of what someone will specifically gain when he or she clicks your ad.

Testing

Don't be afraid to test your ad copy. You can create multiple variations of your ad in each campaign, which allow you to test different images and copy within ads to find what works best for your audience.

How to Analyze Your LinkedIn Ad Campaign

Congratulations! You've officially launched your LinkedIn Ad campaign!

Now, for the best and debatably most important part of campaign marketing — analytics. LinkedIn makes it easy to track your progress in the Campaign Manager dashboard (under “Campaign Performance”), where you'll see various charts that measure performance like clicks, expenditures, and CTR. You can also keep track of conversions in the graphs toward the bottom of the dashboard.

When you finish setting up your first campaign, you'll see a lot of "0"s at first. Don’t worry, that's only because your campaign is new (and don’t forget that LinkedIn usually has to approve your ads before they go live).

LinkedIn Ads is now LIVE within all HubSpot Marketing Hub Professional and Enterprise accounts! Track visitor and contact engagement, run reports on closed-loop marketing, sync leads from LinkedIn lead generation forms, and MORE — all within your HubSpot account.

How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Ad Campaigns

Social ad campaigns can always be improved. Remember, your audience and content are always changing as well as the platform itself. Here are some ways to optimize your LinkedIn ad campaign.

Optimizing Under-Performing Campaigns

If your campaigns aren’t performing as well as you’d hope, here are a few measures you can take to optimize your campaigns. Tip: Set a reminder for yourself to check and optimize your campaigns each month.

Look at each campaign click-through rate.

Is one campaign out-performing the other(s)? If so, you may want to pause the less successful campaign(s). LinkedIn will automatically display less successful campaigns with lower frequency, so it makes sense to minimize any resources spent on them. Instead, putting more resources into successful ad variations and campaigns is more likely to accomplish your marketing goals.

Tweak one variable at a time.

Just because your ad is under-performing doesn’t mean you need to scrap the whole thing. Test different variations of the same ad to see what factor is contributing to or hindering its success. Edit the copy in your headline, change your feature image, tweak the target audience attributes, or update your bids — just don’t do these all at the same time or you won’t know which one is the fix.

Get — and stay — familiar with your audience.

Take a refresher on your target audience every month. Check out your buyer persona and conduct new research on the audience attributes that might need to be tweaked on your campaign. Update these attributes regularly so the very best people are always seeing — and hopefully engaging — with your ads.

Qualifying LinkedIn Ad Leads with Post-Click Reporting

Once your ads are running and people begin clicking on them, it's time to determine if they're actually driving qualified traffic to your website. That isn't something LinkedIn can tell you, so you’ll need to do some closed-loop reporting on these campaigns to get more details on the makeup of this traffic.

How can you figure that out? It's all about "gated" offers and forms — when someone clicks on your ad and lands on your website, “gating” the content you are offering with a lead form will help you collect data that qualifies that person as a good lead (or not). Connect that lead capture form to your customer relationship management (CRM) software, so that once the information is imported, your sales team can act upon them.

Need a CRM to capture, track, and nurture your leads … for free? Check out Hubspot’s CRM software. It’s 100% free, forever.

But don’t neglect your LinkedIn ad campaigns in favor of the landing page form data in your CRM. Is the traffic to your website generated by LinkedIn ads qualified? Is it generating customers? If not, you might need to further optimize your campaigns.

For example, if your LinkedIn ads are targeting people in companies with 1 to 10 people, but you find that the majority of your closed deals are from leads with companies with 100 to 200 — stop paying to target those smaller companies on LinkedIn.

The targeting options we covered above allow you to change any of your criteria, so use it to your advantage.

Ready to Try a New Ad Strategy?

With the right amount of patience and strategy, LinkedIn ad campaigns can be a huge factor in your company's marketing success. LinkedIn has a very powerful advertising platform; don’t leave this off your social campaign marketing list. A well-researched, optimized campaign has the potential to bring in thousands of new leads — and sales.

What has your experience been with LinkedIn Ads? Let us know in the comments.

Editor’s Note: This post was originally published in January 2013 and has been updated for accuracy and comprehensiveness.

What Are YouTube Tags & Why Are They Important?

YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world, so keyword-optimizing your videos on the platform is just as important as keyword-optimizing your blog posts for Google. Even if you’ve just created the next “Charlie bit my finger” video, you must remember that an algorithm dictates which videos YouTube will serve to its audience -- and which ones it won’t.

One of the best ways to keyword-optimize your videos for YouTube is leveraging tags. Below, we’ve put together a guide that will explain exactly what YouTube tags are, why they’re important, and some best practices to follow. We’ll also show you three YouTube tag generators that can help you discover the keywords that could rocket your videos to the top of the platform’s search results.

What are tags for YouTube?

YouTube Tags are words and phrases you can include in your YouTube videos’ description. They let your viewers, and YouTube, know what your videos are about and can help them rank higher in the platform’s search results.

Why Are YouTube Tags Important?

YouTube tags are important because they help YouTube grasp your video’s content and context. This way, YouTube can understand your video’s topic and category, and associate it with similar content, which can amplify your video’s reach.

YouTube Tags Best Practices

To leverage YouTube tags to their fullest potential, check out these tips and tricks.

1. Make your first tag your target keyword and order the rest by importance.

YouTube heavily accounts for your video’s first few tags when ranking content in their search results, especially the first tag. So make sure your first tag is the exact keyword you want to target.

2. Use some broad keywords that describe the overarching topic your video falls under as other tags.

Using broad keywords as other tags helps YouTube understand your video’s context. For example, if you’re creating a video called “How to Hit a Baseball”, you’d want to add “Baseball” as a broad tag to indicate to YouTube that your video’s overarching topic is about baseball.

3. Use some specific keywords that describe the topics you covered in your video as other tags.

Using specific keywords that describe the topics you cover in your video as other tags helps YouTube understand your video’s content. For instance, in the same “How to Hit a Baseball” video, adding “hitting off a tee” or “hitting batting practice” as specific tags would indicate to YouTube the exact topics your video covers.

Best YouTube Tag Generators

To discover the keywords you can tag in your videos and help them rank higher in YouTube’s search results, here are three of the best YouTube Tag Generators to try.

1. Keyword Keg

Using Keyword Keg, you can enter your target keyword into the tool and it’ll serve up its search volume, cost-per-click, competition, on-page difficulty, off-page difficulty, SEO difficulty, CTR scope, keyword power, trends, and suggested keywords. You can also filter your results by country and language.

2. Keywordtool.io

After plugging your target keyword into its YouTube search bar, Keywordtool.io will provide you with suggested keywords, their search volume, how they’ve trended over the past 12 months, and questions, prepositions, and hashtags that also include your target keyword.

3. VidIQ

VidIQ will display your target keyword’s related keywords, related score, search volume, search score, competition score, and overall score, which is a combination of a keyword’s related score, search score, and competition score.

14 SEO Predictions for 2019 & Beyond, as Told by Mozzers

Posted by TheMozTeam

With the new year in full swing and an already busy first quarter, our 2019 predictions for SEO in the new year are hopping onto the scene a little late — but fashionably so, we hope. From an explosion of SERP features to increased monetization to the key drivers of search this year, our SEO experts have consulted their crystal balls (read: access to mountains of data and in-depth analyses) and made their predictions. Read on for an exhaustive list of fourteen things to watch out for in search from our very own Dr. Pete, Britney Muller, Rob Bucci, Russ Jones, and Miriam Ellis!

1. Answers will drive search

People Also Ask boxes exploded in 2018, and featured snippets have expanded into both multifaceted and multi-snippet versions. Google wants to answer questions, it wants to answer them across as many devices as possible, and it will reward sites with succinct, well-structured answers. Focus on answers that naturally leave visitors wanting more and establish your brand and credibility. [Dr. Peter J. Meyers]

Further reading:

• Content for Answers: The Inverted Pyramid - Whiteboard Friday
• We Dipped Our Toes Into Double Featured Snippets
• Desktop, Mobile, or Voice? (D) All of the Above - Whiteboard Friday

2. Voice search will continue to be utterly useless for optimization

Optimizing for voice search will still be no more than optimizing for featured snippets, and conversions from voice will remain a dark box. [Russ Jones]

Further reading:

• The Influence of Voice Search on Featured Snippets
• Lessons from 1,000 Voice Searches (on Google Home)
• How to Discover Featured Snippet Opportunities - Whiteboard Friday
• How to Target Featured Snippet Opportunities - Whiteboard Friday

3. Mobile is table stakes

This is barely a prediction. If your 2019 plan is to finally figure out mobile, you're already too late. Almost all Google features are designed with mobile-first in mind, and the mobile-first index has expanded rapidly in the past few months. Get your mobile house (not to be confused with your mobile home) in order as soon as you can. [Dr. Peter J. Meyers]

Further reading:

• How Does Mobile-First Indexing Work, and How Does It Impact SEO?
• How and Why to Do a Mobile/Desktop Parity Audit
• Internal Linking & Mobile First: Large Site Crawl Paths in 2018 & Beyond
• How Mobile-First Indexing Disrupts the Link Graph

4. Further SERP feature intrusions in organic search

Expect Google to find more and more ways to replace organic with solutions that keep users on Google’s property. This includes interactive SERP features that replace, slowly but surely, many website offerings in the same way that live scores, weather, and flights have. [Russ Jones]

Further reading:

• Zero-Result SERPs: Welcome to the Future We Should've Known Was Coming
• What Do You Do When You Lose Organic Traffic to Google SERP Features?
• Google's Walled Garden: Are We Being Pushed Out of Our Own Digital Backyards?

5. Video will dominate niches

Featured Videos, Video Carousels, and Suggested Clips (where Google targets specific content in a video) are taking over the how-to spaces. As Google tests search appliances with screens, including Home Hub, expect video to dominate instructional and DIY niches. [Dr. Peter J. Meyers]

Further reading:

• YouTube SEO: Top Factors to Invest In - Whiteboard Friday
• A Step-by-Step Guide to Setting Up and Growing Your YouTube Presence
• Beyond YouTube: Video Hosting, Marketing, and Monetization Platforms, Compared

6. SERPs will become more interactive

We’ve seen the start of interactive SERPs with People Also Ask Boxes. Depending on which question you expand, two to three new questions will generate below that directly pertain to your expanded question. This real-time engagement keeps people on the SERP longer and helps Google better understand what a user is seeking. [Britney Muller]

Further reading:

• Infinite "People Also Ask" Boxes: Research and SEO Opportunities

7. Local SEO: Google will continue getting up in your business — literally

Google will continue asking more and more intimate questions about your business to your customers. Does this business have gender-neutral bathrooms? Is this business accessible? What is the atmosphere like? How clean is it? What kind of lighting do they have? And so on. If Google can acquire accurate, real-world information about your business (your percentage of repeat customers via geocaching, price via transaction history, etc.) they can rely less heavily on website signals and provide more accurate results to searchers. [Britney Muller]

Further reading:

• The Ultimate Cheat Sheet for Taking Full Control of Your Google Knowledge Panels
• How to Optimize Your Google My Business Listing

8. Business proximity-to-searcher will remain a top local ranking factor

In Moz’s recent State of Local SEO report, the majority of respondents agreed that Google’s focus on the proximity of a searcher to local businesses frequently emphasizes distance over quality in the local SERPs. I predict that we’ll continue to see this heavily weighting the results in 2019. On the one hand, hyper-localized results can be positive, as they allow a diversity of businesses to shine for a given search. On the other hand, with the exception of urgent situations, most people would prefer to see best options rather than just closest ones. [Miriam Ellis]

Further reading:

• The State of Local SEO Industry Report
• Local Search Ranking Factors 2018: Local Today, Key Takeaways, and the Future - Whiteboard Friday

9. Local SEO: Google is going to increase monetization

Look to see more of the local and maps space monetized uniquely by Google both through Adwords and potentially new lead-gen models. This space will become more and more competitive. [Russ Jones]

Further reading:

• New Research: 35% of Competitive Local Keywords Have Local Pack Ads
• What Do SEOs Do When Google Removes Organic Search Traffic? - Whiteboard Friday

10. Monetization tests for voice

Google and Amazon have been moving towards voice-supported displays in hopes of better monetizing voice. It will be interesting to see their efforts to get displays in homes and how they integrate the display advertising. Bold prediction: Amazon will provide sleep-mode display ads similar to how Kindle currently displays them today. [Britney Muller]

11. Marketers will place a greater focus on the SERPs

I expect we’ll see a greater focus on the analysis of SERPs as Google does more to give people answers without them having to leave the search results. We’re seeing more and more vertical search engines like Google Jobs, Google Flights, Google Hotels, Google Shopping. We’re also seeing more in-depth content make it onto the SERP than ever in the form of featured snippets, People Also Ask boxes, and more. With these new developments, marketers are increasingly going to want to report on their general brand visibility within the SERPs, not just their website ranking. It’s going to be more important than ever for people to be measuring all the elements within a SERP, not just their own ranking. [Rob Bucci]

Further reading:

• Mapping the Overlap of SERP Feature Suggestions
• Make Sense of Your Data with These Essential Keyword Segments

12. Targeting topics will be more productive than targeting queries

2019 is going to be another year in which we see the emphasis on individual search queries start to decline, as people focus more on clusters of queries around topics. People Also Ask queries have made the importance of topics much more obvious to the SEO industry. With PAAs, Google is clearly illustrating that they think about searcher experience in terms of a searcher’s satisfaction across an entire topic, not just a specific search query. With this in mind, we can expect SEOs to more and more want to see their search queries clustered into topics so they can measure their visibility and the competitive landscape across these clusters. [Rob Bucci]

Further reading:

• Build a Search Intent Dashboard to Unlock Better Opportunities
• It's Time to Stop Doing On-Page SEO Like It's 2012
• Using Related Topics and Semantically Connected Keywords in Your SEO - Whiteboard Friday
• How to Feed a Hummingbird: Improve Your On-Page SEO with Related Topics in Moz Pro

13. Linked unstructured citations will receive increasing focus

I recently conducted a small study in which there was a 75% correlation between organic and local pack rank. Linked unstructured citations (the mention of partial or complete business information + a link on any type of relevant website) are a means of improving organic rankings which underpin local rankings. They can also serve as a non-Google dependent means of driving traffic and leads. Anything you’re not having to pay Google for will become increasingly precious. Structured citations on key local business listing platforms will remain table stakes, but competitive local businesses will need to focus on unstructured data to move the needle. [Miriam Ellis]

Further reading:

• The Guide to Building Linked Unstructured Citations for Local SEO
• Why Local Businesses Will Need Websites More than Ever in 2019

14. Reviews will remain a competitive difference-maker

A Google rep recently stated that about one-third of local searches are made with the intent of reading reviews. This is huge. Local businesses that acquire and maintain a good and interactive reputation on the web will have a critical advantage over brands that ignore reviews as fundamental to customer service. Competitive local businesses will earn, monitor, respond to, and analyze the sentiment of their review corpus. [Miriam Ellis]

Further reading:

• Time to Act: Review Responses Just Evolved from "Extra" to "Expected"
• How to Respond to the 5 Types of Google Reviews
• Location Data + Reviews: The 1–2 Punch of Local SEO
• See more local SEO predictions for 2019 by Miriam in our Q&A!

We’ve heard from Mozzers, and now we want to hear from you. What have you seen so far in 2019 that’s got your SEO Spidey senses tingling? What trends are you capitalizing on and planning for? Let us know in the comments below (and brag to friends and colleagues when your prediction comes true in the next 6–10 months). ;-)

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YouTube SEO: How to Optimize Videos for YouTube Search in 2019

As recently as a decade ago, inbound marketing was a brand new idea. Marketers were learning that they couldn't just publish a high volume of content -- it also had to be high-quality and optimized in ways that made it as discoverable as possible through search engines.

That content was once largely limited to the written word. Today, that's no longer the case.

Today, a comprehensive content strategy includes written work like blogs and ebooks, as well as media like podcasts, visual assets, and videos.

That last part -- video -- continues to be on the rise. According to the 2018 State of Inbound report, 45% of marketers are investing more in YouTube over the course of this year -- more than any other marketing channel available to them.

And with the rise of other content formats comes the need to optimize them for search. One increasingly important place to do that is on YouTube, a video distribution website used by the masses -- HubSpot included.

But how does YouTube SEO work? What are the steps you need to take to optimize your YouTube channel for search? We've outlined some major tips and tools below.

YouTube SEO Tips

1. Rename your video file using a target keyword.
2. Insert your keyword first in the video title.
3. Optimize your video description.
4. Tag your video with popular keywords that relate to your topic.
5. Categorize your video.
6. Upload a custom thumbnail image for your video's result link.
7. Use an SRT file to add subtitles & closed captions.
8. Add Cards and End Screens to increase your YouTube channel's viewership.

1. Rename your video file using a target keyword.

Just like you would when optimizing written content, you'll use an SEO tool to first identify keywords you'd like your video to focus on (you can browse popular YouTube SEO tools below these tips, or just click that link earlier in this sentence).

With a keyword identified, the first place you should put it is your video file -- before you even upload it to YouTube. Why? YouTube can't actually "watch" your video to see how relevant it is to your target keyword, and as you'll learn in the tips below, there are only so many places you can safely insert this keyword on your video's viewing page once it's published. But, YouTube can read your video's file name and all the code that comes with it when it's uploaded.

With that in mind, replace the "business_ad_003FINAL.mov" file name (don't be embarrassed ... we've all been there during post-production) with your desired keyword. If your keyword is "house painting tips," for example, your video's file name should be "house-painting-tips" followed by your preferred video file type (MOV, MP4, and WMV are some of the most common that are compatible with YouTube).

2. Insert your keyword first in the video title.

When we search for videos, one of the first things that our eyes are drawn to is the title. That's often what determines whether or not the viewer will click to watch your video, so the title should not only be compelling, but also clear and concise.

Although your keyword plays a big part in your video title, it also helps if the title closely matches what the viewer is searching for. Research conducted by Backlinko found that videos with an exact keyword match in the title have a slight advantage over those that don’t. Here's a linear representation of those findings:

Source: Backlinko

So, while "using your target keyword in your title may help you rank for that term," report author Brian Dean explains, "the relationship between keyword-rich video titles and rankings" isn't always a strong one.

Lastly, make sure to keep your title fairly short -- HubSpot campaigns manager Alicia Collins recommends limiting it to 60 characters to help keep it from getting cut off in results pages.

3. Optimize your video description.

First things first: According to Google, the official character limit for YouTube video descriptions is 1,000 characters. And while it's okay to use all of that space, remember that your viewer most likely came here to watch a video, not to read an essay.

If you do choose to write a longer description, keep in mind that YouTube only displays the first two or three lines of text -- that amounts to about 100 characters. After that point, viewers have to click "show more" to see the full description. That's why we suggest front-loading the description with the most important information, like CTAs or crucial links.

As for optimizing the video itself, it doesn't hurt to add a transcript of the video, especially for those who have to watch it without volume. That said, Backlinko's research also found no correlation between descriptions that were optimized for a certain keyword and the rankings for that term.

Source: Backlinko

Dean is careful not to encourage ditching an optimized description altogether, though. "An optimized description helps you show up in the suggested videos sidebar," he writes, "which is a significant source of views for most channels."

4. Tag your video with popular keywords that relate to your topic.

YouTube's official Creator Academy suggests using tags to let viewers know what your video is about. But you're not just informing your viewers -- you're also informing YouTube itself. Dean explains that the platform uses tags "to understand the content and context of your video."

That way, YouTube figures out how to associate your video with similar videos, which can broaden your content's reach. But choose your tags wisely. Don't use an irrelevant tag because you think it'll get you more views -- in fact, Google might penalize you for that. And similar to your description, lead with the most important keywords, including a good mix of those that are common and more long-tail (as in, those that answer a question like "how do I?").

5. Categorize your video.

Once you upload a video, you can categorize it under "Advanced settings." Choosing a category is another way to group your video with similar content on YouTube so it winds up in different playlists and gains exposure to more viewers who identify with your audience.

It might not be as simple as it looks. In fact, YouTube's Creator Academy suggests marketers go through a comprehensive process to determine which category each video belongs in. It's helpful, the guide writes, "to think about what is working well for each category" you're considering by answering questions like:

• Who are the top creators within the category? What are they known for and what do they do well?
• Are there any patterns between the audiences of similar channels within a given category?
• Do the videos within a similar category have share qualities like production value, length, or format?

6. Upload a custom thumbnail image for your video's result link.

Your video thumbnail is the main image viewers see when scrolling through a list of video results. Along with the video's title, that thumbnail sends a signal to the viewer about the video's content, so it can impact the number of clicks and views your video receives.

While you can always pick one of the thumbnail options auto-generated by YouTube, we highly recommend uploading a custom thumbnail. The Creator Academy reports that "90% of the best performing videos on YouTube have custom thumbnails," recommending the use of images that are 1280x720 pixels -- representing a 16:9 ratio -- that are saved as 2MB or smaller .jpg, .gif, .bmp, or .png files. If you follow those parameters, it can help to ensure that your thumbnail appears with equally high quality across multiple viewing platforms.

It's important to note that your YouTube account has to be verified in order to upload a custom thumbnail image. To do that, visit youtube.com/verify and follow the instructions listed there.

7. Use an SRT File to add subtitles & closed captions.

Like much of the other text we've discussed here, subtitles and closed captions can boost YouTube search optimization by highlighting important keywords.

In order to add subtitles or closed captions to your video, you'll have to upload a supported text transcript or timed subtitles file. For the former, you can also directly enter transcript text for a video so that it auto-syncs with the video.

Adding subtitles follows a similar process, however, you can limit the amount of text you want displayed. For either, head to your video manager then click on "Videos" under "Video Manager." Find the video you want to add subtitles or closed captioning to, and click the drop-down arrow next to the edit button. Then, choose "Subtitles/CC." You can then select how you’d like to add subtitles or closed captioning.

Find out how to add closed captions to your YouTube video in the video below.

8. Add Cards and End Screens to increase your YouTube channel's viewership.

Cards

When you're watching a video, have you ever seen a small white, circular icon with an "i" in the center appear in the corner, or a translucent bar of text asking you to subscribe? Those are Cards, which Creator Academy describes as "preformatted notifications that appear on desktop and mobile which you can set up to promote your brand and other videos on your channel."

Source: Google

You can add up to five cards to a single video, and there are six types:

1. Channel cards that direct viewers to another channel.
2. Donation cards to encourage fundraising on behalf of U.S. nonprofit organizations.
3. Fan funding to ask your viewers to help support the creation of your video content.
4. Link cards, which direct viewers to an external site, approved crowdfunding platform, or an approved merchandise selling platform.
5. Poll cards, which pose a question to viewers and allow them to vote for a response.
6. Video or playlist cards, which link to other YouTube content of this kind.

For detailed steps on adding a card to your video, follow these official steps from Google, or check out the video below.

End Screens

End screens display similar information as cards, but as you may have guessed, they don't display until a video is over, and are a bit more visually detailed in nature. A good example is the overlay with a book image and a visual link to view more on the video below:

Source: Jamie Oliver on YouTube

There are a number of detailed instructions for adding end screens depending on what kind of platform you want to design them for, as well as different types of content allowed for them by YouTube. Google outlines the details for how to optimize for all of those considerations here.

It's important to note that YouTube is always testing end screens to try to optimize the viewer experience, so there are times when "your end screen, as designated by you, may not appear." Take these factors into account as you decide between using either cards or end screens.

These factors may seem a bit complicated and time-consuming, but remember: The time people spend watching YouTube on their TV has more than doubled year over year. There's an audience to be discovered there, and when you optimize for YouTube, your chances of being discovered increase.

Now, most of the SEO tips above rely on you identifying a keyword and promoting your video correctly. And not all of those tips can be carried out through YouTube alone. To get the most bang for your videography buck, consider some of the tools below to optimize your video for search.

YouTube SEO Tools

1. Ahrefs Keyword Explorer
2. Canva
3. HubSpot Content Strategy
4. VidIQ Vision
5. TubeBuddy
6. Cyfe

1. Ahrefs Keywords Explorer

Ahrefs is a comprehensive SEO platform that allows you to monitor a website's ranking, estimate the organic traffic you'd get from each keyword, and research keywords for which you might want to create new content.

One popular feature of Ahrefs is Keywords Explorer, which allows you to look up numerous details related to a keyword you're interested in. And as you can see in the screenshot above, you can filter your keyword results by search engine -- including YouTube.

Ahrefs Keywords Explorer gives you a keyword's monthly search volume, how many clicks received by videos ranking for that keyword, related keywords, and more.

2. Canva

You might know Canva as a design template for creating all kinds of cards, photos, logos, and more. It just so happens this popular product has a Thumbnail Creator just for YouTube videos.

As stated in the tips above, thumbnail images are critical to promoting your content in YouTube search results and enticing users to click on your video. Using Canva's Thumbnail Creator, you can create the perfect preview image for your video in 1280 x 720 pixels -- the thumbnail dimensions YouTube requires.

3. HubSpot Content Strategy

Our content strategy tool, developed here at HubSpot, allows you to find popular keywords for which to create content and then organize these keywords into groupings -- what we call "topic clusters." By sorting your content into topic clusters, you can oversee which pieces of content are related to one another, which types of content you have planned, and what you've already created.

While the keywords you discover in HubSpot reflect their popularity in a standard Google search, many of these topics will also produce videos on Google's search engine results pages. In those cases, you can create topic clusters that have both blog and YouTube content belonging to them.

Clustering your content -- and linking from videos to blog posts, and vice-versa -- can give you more authority in the eyes of Google and YouTube, while giving you more ways to capture traffic from the people searching your topic.

4. vidIQ Vision

This is a Chrome extension, available through Chrome's web store in the link above, that helps you analyze how and why certain YouTube videos perform so well. This includes the tags a video has been optimized for, its average watch time, and even how quickly that video might be gaining traffic.

The vidIQ tool then provides an SEO "score" you can use to create content that performs (or outperforms) the results you already see on YouTube.

5. TubeBuddy

TubeBuddy is an all-in-one video platform that helps you manage the production, optimization, and promotion of your YouTube content. Its features include an automatic language translator (which helps you rank for non-English keywords), a keyword explorer, tag suggestions, a rank tracker for your published videos, and more.

6. Cyfe

Cyfe is a large software suite that offers, among other things, a web analytics platform. On this platform, you can track page performance across every website property you have content on -- including YouTube -- and where each page's traffic is coming from.

In addition to traffic analytics, Cyfe can show you which keywords you're ranking for and which ones are most popular across various search engines. Sounds a lot like Google Analytics or Moz, right? That's because Cyfe has data from both of those tools, and more, built into it.

No matter what SEO tip or tool you start with, a successful YouTube channel begins with good content. Make sure your viewers have something high-quality and relevant to watch when they find you. Want step-by-step help? Download our free guide on YouTube for Business below.