Marketing Strategy, Social Engagement, and Search Optimization Insights

One of the biggest beliefs we hold at Kayak is that it’s a good idea to tell the truth, even when it hurts. We have put that idea into practice a lot the last couple of years, particularly when it comes to addressing ethical issues we see within our industry.

Today, I’m laying out what we think are the seven deadly sins that no agency or marketing company should commit, and that no client should accept…

I usually try to focus on solid advice and real world case studies meant to be helpful to business owners, marketing executives, and even other marketers. But today I want to share what search engine optimization (SEO) failure looks like.

My hope is that some of you will see this story and avoid making the same kinds of mistakes.

If you’re searching for a marketing or web firm to help you establish a new online presence, then it makes sense to work with an award-winning firm, right?

Hm. Maybe not...

Back when I first opened up our digital marketing firm, search engine optimization (SEO) was thought of as a niche, technical topic. Now, it’s unusual for me to run into a business owner who doesn’t have some sort of search consultant they are paying a monthly retainer to.

It seems like every company, no matter how small, is forking over somewhere between $300-$1000 each month to help them make their websites more visible on Google. It’s worth asking whether what they are getting in return is worth the cost. Do small and local businesses even need to pay SEO retainers in the first place?

Let’s look at a couple of relevant questions and issues and then come back to find an answer…

By now you've heard about GDPR, the European Union's General Data Processing Rules. If not, you should check out this information (HubSpot's interpretation).

In order to meet the requirements, website visitors must be made aware of data processing activities in your website. A cookie is data processing. HubSpot uses cookies to track visitors as they click through your site. That's how we gain insights into visitor behaviour, as well as lead intelligence around such activities as form fills, pages viewed, time on page and the like.

Spring is just around the corner. (Please let it be around the corner!!) I’ve already planted some seeds for my garden. It’s exciting seeing those seeds sprout.

In a recent post, I laid out three clear signs you should get a thorough SEO audit of your website. The point of the piece was to show that declining search rankings, or search visibility problems, can have as much to do with technical factors as they can content or keyword research.

Marathons are long, hard, taxing and exhilarating races that require immense dedication and perseverance. Online marketing is no different. In fact, I’m even going to go one step further and say that online marketing isn’t just like a regular marathon, it’s more like one of the hardest marathons in the world. What makes it so hard? Let’s break it down.

Recently, a few of our more astute connections have noticed something interesting: in many cases, clicking on an image within a Google image search no longer takes you straight to the image or allows you to download it.

Instead, it takes you to the source of the image, which is a very important difference.

Regular readers and long time Kayak clients will know we are fans of HubSpot. We like the tools they create for marketers. We are an official partner even, and so it’s no surprise that a lot of the companies we work with end up utilizing their platform.

It was probably inevitable, then, that HubSpot’s decision to discontinue their keyword tool would invite a lot of SEO questions from the online community. To some of them, the sky could seem to be falling.