Chris Lake
Search Engine Watch
United Kingdom
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Discover and connect with journalists and influencers around the world, save time on email research, monitor the news, and more.
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Past articles by Chris:
Google’s Keyword Planner tool just became even more inaccurate
You’re probably familiar with the Keyword Planner tool, which is one of the best sources we have to spot opportunities and make the business case for an → Read More
Web users think most outbound links are commercial [study]
The majority of links are considered to be commercial in nature, according to a new research. → Read More
Are related sitewide footer links the key to dominating Google?
A long, long time ago I was talking to Mike Grehan about search engine rankings. He used the term “the rich get richer”, to explain why sites that live at the top of Google are likely to stay there. One of the reasons is the ease of findability. A writer who is researching a subject on Google is highly likely to click the top result first. If that web page answers the right questions then it may… → Read More
What are the most expensive AdWords keywords in the US? Here’s the top 100
Google is on course to make more than $70bn in revenue this year, and much of that number will be generated by its insanely successful advertising business. Advertisers pay a fee every time somebody clicks on a link in one of their ads. Some of the costs per click being paid are absolutely staggering. Though they must be worth it, from the advertiser’s perspective. Last month I analysed Google… → Read More
What are the most expensive AdWords keywords in the US? Here’s the top 100
Google is on course to make more than $70bn in revenue this year, and much of that number will be generated by its insanely successful advertising business. Advertisers pay a fee every time somebody clicks on a link in one of their ads. Some of the costs per click being paid are absolutely staggering. Though they must be worth it, from the advertiser’s perspective. Last month I analysed Google… → Read More
The most expensive 100 Google Adwords keywords in the US
Google is on track to make more than $70bn in revenue in 2016, and the lion’s share of that number will be generated by its insanely successful advertising business. As I’m sure you know, advertisers pay a fee every time somebody clicks on a link in one of their ads. Some of the costs per click being paid are absolutely staggering, though they must be worth it, from the advertiser’s perspective.… → Read More
Is it game over for PRs when it comes to link building?
Alex Jones from Hallam Internet shared a new case study around an outbound PR campaign, focused on bloggers. The campaign sought to attract the attention of a → Read More
Here’s a new content marketing strategy documentation map
I'm currently going through the process of establishing a content strategy from scratch and thought I'd share what I'm doing, which I've summarised in this → Read More
New research reveals enterprise content marketing trends in 2016
Joe Puluzzi has released the CMI's latest research into enterprise content marketing, and it's well worth sharing, so I thought I'd discuss a few of the → Read More
24 key skills for SEO professionals (and wannabes) in 2016
There are lots of different roles within search, and as such, the industry welcomes people with a variety of different skillsets. I thought I'd explore this in → Read More
The top 100 most expensive keywords in the UK: new research
Back in the day, around 2003, somebody asked me a question regarding paid search: “Do you know what the most expensive keyword is on Google Adwords, and how much it costs?” I made a bunch of guesses, gradually increasing the amount I thought it might be acceptable to pay every time somebody clicks on an ad. £20? No? £30? Surely not! The grand reveal was that I was horribly wrong, and that some… → Read More
Is a brutal approach to content migration best for SEO?
This is certainly a hardcore approach to a site redesign, but it makes sense. Everybody involved will understand that it’s not just the design that is being → Read More
The rise of ‘Micro-Moments’ and how to optimise for ‘near me’ search queries
Let’s look at a top level overview and then we’ll explore a few ideas around how to optimise for 'near me' micro-moments. → Read More
Introducing the Content Strategy Canvas
Content strategy requires a lot of focus and input from content teams and stakeholders. There are many questions to ask, and the answers given will differ from → Read More
How to use Reddit search to discover winning content ideas
If you’re anything like me then Reddit is a fantastic place to hang out, particularly when you’ve got a little time to spare. → Read More
What should I do when my site has been hit with a Google penalty?
What should you do when you've been on the receiving end of an algorithmic change, or, heaven forfend, a manual action? → Read More
Study suggests that ‘peak content’ has been reached for brands
TrackMaven’s recent research into the state of content marketing for brands makes for some difficult reading if, like me, you’re planning a content strategy for → Read More
14 KPIs and metrics Google can use to measure the purge of Right Hand Side Ads
Here are 14 KPIs and metrics that will reveal how the new layout – and the demoted organic results – impacts on revenue and user behaviour. → Read More
11 reasons why your Facebook ad measurement is messed up
A recurring theme I hear among paid social pros is the measurement discrepancy between Facebook and Google Analytics. People seem to have a really hard time matching up what’s happening with campaigns on Facebook and subsequent engagement, as measured by their analytics platform of choice (including – but not limited to – Google Analytics). Some people go as far as claiming that this is… → Read More
Ad viewability “should not be a KPI”, according to study
A large study of almost 10,000 people found that ad viewability affects ad recall, but goes on to state that it should not be a KPI. → Read More