Tag: digital marketing

Google Ranking Drop Investigation Guide 2025

Posted on by Hector Law

Summary

A Google ranking penalty is imposed on websites that breach its Google Search Essentials, resulting in lower search rankings or even removal from search results, which cuts organic traffic. Penalties can be algorithm-driven or manually applied by Google staff for violations such as black-hat SEO tactics, low-quality links, or poor content. Recovery requires fixing the issues and, for manual penalties, requesting Google’s reconsideration.

Before we begin, check out this video on how Google perceives different SEO ranking factors in real life.

LinkedIn Post

Table of contents

How Does Google Search Works?

When you search for something in Google, Google bots will scan indexed pages that align with the search, and prioritizing those deemed most relevant and of the highest quality for the user’s specific inquiry. Relevance is assessed using numerous criteria, including the user’s geographical location, language preference, and whether they’re using a desktop or mobile device. For example, a search for “SEO Agency” in the US would show US agencies, while searches in Hong Kong would show Hong Kong agencies instead.

SEM digital marketing pillar

For any business, ASO should be one of the pillars of its app marketing strategy.

Why Will Your Rankings Drop?

With over five years in the SEO field and having worked on more than 700 websites, I’ve seen my fair share of Google ranking drops. These experiences, ranging from internal website issues and competitive shifts to algorithm updates, have been invaluable. Each instance has been a learning opportunity, helping me to quickly diagnose the causes, strategize effective recovery plans, and often improve rankings beyond their original positions.

Ranking Drop Screenshot Example

Step 1: Identify The Cause

The first step in addressing Google ranking drops is to analyze how the rankings have shifted. Here are some questions to ask yourself:

  • Magnitude of Rank Drop: Is it a minor drop (less than 5 positions), moderate (5 to 10 positions), significant (20 or more positions), or a complete disappearance from SERP?
  • Affected Pages: Are all pages affected, or just one or two?
  • Clusters/Topics Impacted: Which specific clusters or topics are experiencing the drop?
  • Nature of the Drop: Was the drop sudden or gradual over time?
  • Google Algorithm Changes: Is there an ongoing Google algorithm update?
  • Changes in SERP: Are there significant changes on the new Page 1 SERP?
  • Competitors’ Performance: How are your main competitors faring in rankings?
  • Keyword Ranking History: How long have your keywords been ranking previously?
  • Unusual Site Activity: Are there any strange pages being created on your site without your knowledge?

The following table categorises different types of ranking drops, their likely causes, and the recommended actions to address them.

Ranking Drop ScenarioPossible CauseAction to Consider
Minor slips in rankingNormal fluctuationOften recover without intervention
Continuous slip over a quarterCompetition outperforming SEO effortsReview and adjust SEO strategy
Specific pages’ rankings disappearingInternal issues (e.g., no-index tag, disallow command)Check for technical errors or changes on the SERP
Significant site-wide dropManual or algorithm penaltyIdentify and rectify issues (more details in this blog)

With this broad guide in mind, let us now dive deeper into specific issues.

Step 2: Align With Google Updates That Affect Rankings

Has your ranking drops been in the same date range when these updates have been rolled out? Here’s a summarized and updated list of Google’s significant algorithm changes since 2000, including their effects on keyword rankings:

Google Update (Date)Ranking Effects
Google Dance (2000)Early fluctuations in search rankings due to periodic indexing by Google, causing noticeable shifts in SERP positions.
Boston (2003)Initiated Google’s advanced algorithm development, refining link and anchor text evaluations for better search precision.
Florida (2003)A crackdown on spammy SEO tactics, causing major ranking changes and encouraging a focus on quality content.
Caffeine (2010)An infrastructure enhancement for faster, more accurate search indexing, not a penalty-based update.
Panda (2011)Penalized low-quality and thin content, rewarding valuable, well-crafted information.
Venice (2012)Improved local search ranking by integrating traditional search signals.
Penguin (2012-2016)Series of updates targeting manipulative link-building, with the latter versions operating in real-time within the core algorithm.
Hummingbird (2013)Overhauled Google’s core algorithm for a better grasp of queries’ intent and context.
Pigeon (2014)Refined local business listings for more precise and relevant local search results.
Mobile-Friendly Update (2015)“Mobilegeddon,” favoring mobile-optimized sites in mobile search rankings.
RankBrain (2015)AI-based component of Hummingbird, interpreting complex queries to enhance result relevance.
BERT (2019)Enhanced understanding of nuanced language in search queries for more accurate results.
Core Updates (2020-2023)Broad updates impacting search results across various topics and industries.
Google Page Experience Update (2021)Emphasized user experience factors like load times and stability.
Product Reviews Updates (2021-2023)Focused on elevating the quality of review content in search results.
Helpful Content Updates (2022-2023)Aimed to prioritize content usefulness and user value in rankings.
Spam Updates (2022-2023)Addressed and penalized web spam tactics to protect search result quality.
Link Spam Update (2022)Targeted spammy links to ensure the quality of backlinks.
Google Search Update (March 2024)Latest integrated update to enhance the relevancy and quality of search results while addressing web spam.

Google’s algorithm updates have progressively aimed at refining search quality, penalizing poor practices, and rewarding valuable, user-focused content.

Google March 2024 Spam Update

The March 2024 Google spam update caused a lot of low-quality websites to have a drop in rankings. Sites that once smoothly sailed through earlier updates are currently contending with the repercussions of Google’s rigorous new standards. I’ve identified several key tactics that could assist us in adapting to these modifications. Below is an in-depth examination of my findings:

  • Check Your Backlinks: Even if your site has not received a manual penalty from Google, sites that are linking towards your website might have, and these backlinks from a deindexed / penalised domain would lead to a decrease in your rankings.
  • Disavowing Links: Previously, we have moved this strategy away from our usual scope, as Google nowadays is smart enough to ignore poor backlinks instead of penalising your website directly. However, since it seems a lot of spammy websites are suffering manual penalties all over the place, we believe it is time to bring back the disavow of backlinks if you do find backlinks that are now being deindexed by Google.
  • Non-AI Content Writing: Google has explicitly said that AI content does not necessary lead to a drop in keywords ranking. However, I’ve seen quite a lot of websites having a decrease in ranking, simply because the AI content is not delivering the same helpfulness of experienced, well-written articles. I advise to seriously monitor content quality, and not be lazy when writing your content.
  • Monitoring Google Search Console (GSC): Given the inconsistency in Google’s communication about manual actions, I highlight the importance of regularly checking GSC for any penalties. We cannot rely solely on email notifications, as they may not always be sent.
  • SERP Analysis: When your rankings drop, someone else must have taken your place. Have a look at what currently Google is preferring on their first page. What kind of websites are Google ranking nowadays? Do they have a significant amount of helpful content? Are their link portfolios much more cleaner? Are trustworthy websites using them as a backlink?
  • Heading Structure Analysis: In extension of the above, are your competitors arranging their content in a much more organised manner? Are their headings providing a much clearer approach on the subject?

Like to learn more about well-crafted headlines for your ads?

We have a great blog post you can read to learn more fast!

Learn more
SEM headlines!

Step 3: Analysing Technical Issues

Many marketers believe that the only reason to focus on a website’s technical details is to satisfy search engines. Nonetheless, making a website speedy, clear, and easy to use should be the main priority. Fortunately, establishing a strong technological foundation for your website usually leads to an improved user experience that is advantageous to search engines as well.

Internal Website Signals Impacting Google Indexing

Certain internal website setups may mistakenly instruct Google not to index a page or the entire site. Understanding and resolving these issues is critical for regaining your site’s presence in search results.

  • No Index Tag: When applied to pages, this tag directs search engines not to index them.
  • Disallow Command in Robots.txt: This command prevents search engines from indexing certain pages or portions of your site.
  • Canonical Tag Issues: A canonical tag linking to another website might cause Google to prioritise the incorrect page for crawling.
  • Pages added to Google Search Console’s temporary removal tool will be removed from search results for the time selected.

If your website struggling to be seen in search results. Google Search Console can be a valuable tool in such instances. It provides reports to pinpoint crawl and index errors that could be hindering your website’s searchability. Upon identifying the issue through Search Console, you can rectify the situation by making the necessary adjustments to your website’s settings to grant Google proper access. This process might entail the removal of a specific code or tag. By taking these steps, you’ll help Google crawl and index your pages efficiently, leading to better website visibility in search results.

JavaScript Issues Leading to Ranking Drops

JavaScript can enhance user experience but also pose challenges for Googlebot’s crawling and indexing.

JavaScript Internal Links

When crucial internal links are in JavaScript, Googlebot may struggle to crawl them, affecting the site’s internal link structure and SEO. In this case, I would recommended avoiding the use of javascript links entirely as Google has repeatedly emphasised that they cannot crawl such links. Links must be within the <a href> codes to ensure Google following the links.

JavaScript for Rendering Content

Essential content rendered through JavaScript might not be indexed effectively if Googlebot faces difficulties in processing it. For content rendering, I recommend using the Astro framework for building content driven websites, because it is much faster, and Google can definitely pick up the content from this framework.

Blocking JavaScript Files

Disallowing JavaScript files in robots.txt or conflicting codes can prevent Googlebot from rendering and understanding your page correctly. If this is the case, simply remove the command or modify it in your robots.txt file. You can also test your robots.txt files in your Google Search Console before making such implementations.

Negative SEO Attacks

Negative SEO attacks can severely harm a website’s ranking and reputation. Let’s explore the three common forms of these attacks and the appropriate response strategies.

Signs: A sudden influx of poor-quality and spammy links pointing to your website. These links often originate from malicious or irrelevant sites, possibly already penalized by Google. The anchor texts might include irrelevant or adult terms, or money-related keywords, falsely suggesting black-hat SEO tactics.

Discovery: Use third party link audit tools such as Ahrefs or Semrush. Alternatively, GSC’s link report will show new links to your website, which might reveal suspicious looking domains.

Response: Conduct a thorough audit of your link profile. Use the Disavow Tool to remove these harmful links. Ideally, try to get these links removed directly by contacting the webmasters of the linking sites.

Content scraping

This involves stealing content from a website and publishing it on another website. This can dilute the value of the original content and make it harder for the website to rank for relevant keywords.

Signs: A sudden drop in website traffic, duplicate content appearing on other websites, a decrease in website ranking for specific keywords, and alerts from Google Search Console about unnatural inbound links.

Discovery: Use website monitoring tools to track changes in content and backlinks. Schedule regular checks for duplicate content using plagiarism checkers. Analyze website traffic sources to identify suspicious spikes or drops.

Response:Investigate the websites hosting the scraped content and analyze the type of content being stolen (articles, product descriptions, etc.). Once you’ve identified the scraper, reach out to them. A cease-and-desist letter demanding removal of the scraped content is a common approach. You can also consider offering the scraper an alternative solution, such as access to your content through an API.

In addition to contacting the scraper, you can implement technical measures to make scraping more difficult. A robots.txt file can be used to restrict access to specific folders or files on your website that you don’t want scraped. Header tags like “noindex” or “nofollow” can be added to specific pages to prevent search engines from indexing scraped content. Watermarking your content with a subtle logo or text can also be a deterrent. In severe cases, consulting with a lawyer to explore copyright infringement claims may be necessary.

Website Hacking

Signs:Your website gets hacked, leading to the creation of thousands of pages with nonsensical, spam, or foreign language content. These pages might include outbound links to malicious or adult sites.

Discovery: Use the ‘site:’ search in Google or check in Google Search Console (GSC) to spot these rogue pages.

Response: Engage a cybersecurity firm to remove these pages and secure your website and use Google’s Temporary Removal Tool to remove these pages from search results.

Some webmasters might attempt to block these pages using the robots.txt file. However, this method’s effectiveness varies. While it can lead to rank recovery for some, others have found that it prevents Googlebot from recognising the removal of these pages, continuing the penalty.

Due to the varied outcomes, a test-and-observe approach is recommended. Monitor your site’s performance closely after implementing these measures to gauge their effectiveness in recovering your rankings.

Dealing with negative SEO requires a careful, strategic approach. Quick detection and prompt action are key to mitigating the impact of such attacks on your website’s SEO performance.

The ‘Honeymoon Effect’ in SEO

Freshly launched websites or newly published pages frequently undergo the ‘Honeymoon Effect’ in Google’s search rankings. A temporary visibility boost, while intriguing, can also be misleading for SEO professionals.

What Happens: Upon encountering new content, Google may strategically position it higher in search results. This initial boost is believed to serve as a data collection phase, allowing Google to gather user interaction metrics and assess the content’s relevance.

Subsequent Ranking Refinement: After the initial indexing, you may see these rankings undergo a downward adjustment, settling at a position that more accurately reflects the content’s inherent SEO value. This adjustment is perfectly normal; it signifies Google’s evolving understanding of the content’s placement within the broader search ecosystem.

Keep calm and do SEO: Don’t be surprised by this pattern with new content. It’s simply Google’s way of evaluating new information. The key is to stay focused on core SEO principles. This means creating top-notch content, prioritising a user-friendly experience, and building a strong backlink profile. These efforts will ultimately help your content land in its rightful ranking spot, beyond the honeymoon phase.

Case Study 1

Situation Overview

A prominent Hong Kong-based e-commerce website saw a drastic decline in Google rankings after being targeted by negative SEO involving spammy backlinks. The issue surfaced when multiple blog posts, overly saturated with outbound links to the e-commerce site, were distributed across low-quality domains. These posts were populated with an overuse of exact-match keywords, terms in which the site was previously ranking well.

Issue Development

These blog posts with unnaturally high link densities were rapidly duplicated across a network of low-authority websites, generating a flood of backlinks to the e-commerce site. The spike in backlinks was perceived by Googlebot as an indicator of potential manipulative link-building tactics. The unnatural anchor text distribution, focusing largely on commercial keywords, further signaled to Google’s algorithms that the site might be attempting to influence its rankings through deceptive practices.

Google’s Reaction

In line with Google’s strict policies against manipulative link-building, the algorithm identified the site’s backlink profile as suspicious and imposed a penalty. This punitive action led to a precipitous decline in the site’s positions for key search terms, which in turn caused a significant drop in organic traffic and potential revenue.

Analysis

The crux of the problem was the artificial backlink strategy, which was compounded by the involvement of low-quality Hong Kong-centric websites. These sites, known for copying content, magnified the e-commerce site’s SEO issues by creating a backlink profile that appeared to be the result of an orchestrated attempt to manipulate SERPs.

Resolution Steps

An exhaustive link audit was the first step, identifying all the damaging backlinks. The team then utilized the Disavow Tool provided by Google to reject links from these detrimental sources. Outreach was conducted to the administrators of the higher-quality sites that had shared the content, requesting link or content removal. Furthermore, the internal marketing team was briefed on the importance of diversifying anchor text and encouraged to engage in more sustainable link-building practices.

Outcome

After the implementation of these measures and a formal reconsideration request to Google, the e-commerce site began to see a gradual reinstatement of its previous rankings. The process was iterative, as the disavow file had to be updated regularly due to the persistent spread of the original content across new low-quality sites. Moving forward, the site placed a greater emphasis on following Google’s recommended practices for SEO, particularly regarding link acquisition and the distribution of their content.

Case Study 2

Situation Overview

A well-established Hong Kong travel website experienced a sharp decline in Google search rankings after an algorithm update. The downturn was traced back to a series of guest blog posts that contained a high volume of backlinks with overly optimized anchor text. These anchors were exclusively focused on high-competition keywords related to Hong Kong travel and tourism.

Issue Development

Shortly after these guest posts went live, they were replicated across various content farms and aggregator sites, notorious for their low-quality content. This replication led to a surge of backlinks that was quickly picked up by Google’s algorithms. The unnatural proportion of keyword-rich anchor text across these backlinks suggested to Google that the travel website might be involved in manipulative link practices.

Google’s Reaction

Google’s updated algorithm is designed to punish what it deems to be artificial link patterns and black-hat SEO techniques. Consequently, the travel website was hit with a ranking penalty. This demotion in search rankings resulted in a loss of online visibility, which is particularly crucial for the competitive travel industry.

Analysis

The travel website’s backlink profile became its Achilles’ heel, with the guest blog posts’ keyword-stuffed anchor text and the subsequent duplication of these posts across dubious sites painting a picture of an attempt to game the system.

Resolution Steps

The recovery strategy included a comprehensive backlink audit to identify the problematic links. We then used the Disavow Tool to reject these links. Outreach efforts were made to have the duplicated content removed or the links stripped from reputable sites. We also advised their marketing team to diversify their content strategy, reducing reliance on guest blogging with high keyword densities, and instead, focus on creating engaging, informative content that could earn natural backlinks.

Outcome

Following the implementation of these remedial actions and a submission of a reconsideration request to Google, the travel website observed a gradual improvement in its search rankings. However, this recovery was ongoing and required continuous monitoring and updating of the disavow file due to the persistent spread of the backlink issue. The website also committed to a long-term strategy centered around authentic SEO practices, with a renewed focus on creating user-centric content that naturally appealed to both users and search engines.

Case Study 3

Situation Overview

A financial services website in Hong Kong suffered a sudden drop in Google rankings, attributed to a wave of negative SEO attacks. The problem started when multiple articles featuring high-density keyword links to the website were published on various low-quality financial forums and pseudo-news websites.

Issue Development

These articles, laden with aggressive anchor text using specific financial terms, were swiftly replicated across a network of spammy sites. The rapid proliferation of these links, coupled with their over-optimized anchor text, caught Googlebot’s attention. The pattern resembled tactics commonly seen in black hat SEO, such as link schemes designed to manipulate page rank.

Google’s Reaction

In response to what appeared to be a contrived backlink strategy, Google’s algorithmic filters penalized the financial services website. This penalty led to a demotion in the website’s search rankings for key financial terms, significantly reducing its online visibility and undermining its credibility in a highly competitive market.

Analysis

The core issue was the website’s sudden and unnatural backlink profile, primarily due to the propagation of keyword-stuffed articles across platforms that Google deems untrustworthy. This profile suggested that the website might be trying to unduly influence its search rankings.

Resolution Steps

The remediation process began with a meticulous link audit to identify all the negative backlinks. We then submitted these links to Google’s Disavow Tool to sever the association with the harmful sites. Outreach was initiated to request content removal from the more cooperative sites that had shared the articles. The website’s internal content strategy was overhauled to prioritize organic link-building and to avoid practices that could result in a similar predicament in the future.

Outcome

Once the disavow file was in place and a reconsideration request was filed with Google, the financial services website started to see an incremental recovery in its rankings. This process took time and required vigilance, as each new wave of copied content across spammy sites necessitated updates to the disavow list. The website also embraced a more robust SEO strategy, focusing on quality content creation and legitimate backlink acquisition to ensure compliance with Google’s guidelines and to safeguard against future ranking volatility.

Case Study 4

Situation Overview

A Hong Kong education portal, renowned for its university and career resources, experienced an abrupt decline in Google search rankings. The decline was traced to a batch of articles with an unnatural number of backlinks pointing to the portal. These articles, hosted on various low-tier educational blogs, were stuffed with academic and career-related keywords as anchor text.

Issue Development

The problematic articles quickly spread across a multitude of copycat sites and link farms, all contributing to an influx of low-quality backlinks to the education portal. Google’s web crawlers, detecting a spike in backlink volume coupled with repetitive keyword-rich anchor text, flagged the pattern as indicative of potential manipulative link-building tactics.

Google’s Reaction

In accordance with its sophisticated algorithm designed to maintain the integrity of search results, Google imposed a ranking penalty on the education portal. The penalty resulted in a demotion in search visibility for numerous education-related keywords, which was detrimental to the portal’s traffic and its role as an educational resource.

Analysis

The sudden aggregation of keyword-dense backlinks from dubious sources led to the portal’s backlink profile appearing artificially inflated, a red flag for Google’s anti-spam measures. The concentration of links from low-authority sites further compounded the issue, signaling a breach of Google’s Webmaster Guidelines.

Resolution Steps

To address the penalty, the we embarked on a comprehensive backlink audit to identify and list the negative backlinks. Through Google’s Disavow Tool, the team disavowed the links from the identified domains. Concurrently, they conducted outreach to the owners of the more reputable sites that had replicated the content, requesting link removal or nofollow attributes on the backlinks. The portal also revised its content strategy to focus on generating high-quality, informative content that would attract natural backlinks.

Outcome

Following the submission of a disavow file and a reconsideration request to Google, the education portal began to see a progressive restoration of its prior search rankings. This recovery was an ongoing effort, with regular updates to the disavow file as new problematic backlinks were identified. The portal also intensified its commitment to ethical SEO practices, ensuring future content and backlink strategies were in strict alignment with Google’s best practice recommendations, thereby safeguarding the site from similar issues moving forward.

Final Thoughts

Navigating the complexities of Google ranking drops can be a daunting task, even for the most seasoned webmasters and marketers. Each case study we’ve explored underscores the multifaceted nature of SEO and the need for a strategic, well-informed approach to tackle these challenges.

The value of engaging an experienced SEO professional in such situations cannot be overstated. An expert in the field can efficiently diagnose the root cause of a ranking drop and implement effective strategies to not only recover lost rankings but also to bolster your site’s overall SEO health. This expertise is particularly crucial when dealing with intricate issues like algorithm updates, negative SEO attacks, or technical anomalies.

At First Page, we pride ourselves on our team of seasoned SEO agency specialists who bring a wealth of experience and a track record of success. Our professionals are equipped with the latest tools and insights, ready to address any SEO challenge head-on. Whether it’s a sudden ranking drop or a long-term SEO strategy, our team is adept at crafting tailored solutions that align with your unique business goals.

Ready to reach top conversions?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

Unsure of getting in touch? We don’t bite! If you’d prefer, we invite you to learn more about our Landing Page services. Don’t delay, get ahead of the competition now!

What other marketing tactics can you use to beat your competition?

Here are some helpful marketing tactic blogs that can help you break all your past sales records, and your competition in the process:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

Helpful Link Building Strategies for 2025

Posted on by Stephanie Wong

Link building is a complex and ever-changing field. What worked in 2020 might not work in 2025, so it’s important to stay up to date on the latest strategies.

Now, more than ever, small business owners need to focus on building strong links. Not only does this help with search engine optimization (SEO), but it also improves your website’s credibility and can even lead to increased traffic.

In this blog post, we’ll discuss some of the most effective link building strategies for 2025.

Whether you’re just starting out or you’ve been doing SEO for years, these tips will help you boost your website’s rankings. So what are you waiting for? Read on to learn more!

Table of contents

If you’ve dabbled in SEO, chances are you’ve heard the term “link building” thrown around. But what exactly is it?

In short, link building refers to the practice of acquiring external links back to your website from other reputable websites.

These links can greatly impact your search engine rankings and overall SEO success. While some may still cling to the myth that keyword stuffing will boost their rankings, many SEO experts agree that link building has become a crucial ranking factor for Google and other search engines.

Sites with a strong link profile regularly appear at the top of search engine results pages (SERP), making effective link building a must for any serious online marketer or business owner.

In 2025, don’t ignore those links – start building them (if you have not done so already) and watch your ranking on search engines like Google soar.

great content will create back links
Great content lead to a web of links

Strategy 1: Create great content that people will want to share

Link building is still a crucial aspect of any successful SEO strategy. And while there are a lot of sneaky tactics out there, the best way to build links is by creating amazing content that people actually want to share.

Forget trying to manipulate Google and focus on producing valuable, informative, and entertaining content.

Your website’s ranking will thank you for it in the long run. Plus, creating helpful content for readers is just good business sense.

It’s a win-win situation: your readers get useful information, and your website gains quality backlinks.

So forget shady link building techniques and focus on creating stellar content – that’s the real secret to improving your search engine rankings.

Strategy 2. Get involved with relevant online communities and forums

One of the best ways to attract valuable links is by getting involved in relevant online communities and forums.

Take Quora, for instance: not only can sharing your expertise on a specific topic lead to high-quality backlinks, but it also helps build your credibility as an industry thought leader.

Becoming active on forums within your niche can have similar benefits, as well as the added bonus of increasing brand visibility among a targeted audience.

Additionally, leveraging platforms like Medium and Linkedin allows you to publish high-value content that can draw links from industry influencers and publications.

In short, getting involved in online communities and forums can be a win-win for both link building and growing your personal or company’s brand presence.

Just make sure to add value to the conversation before adding a link – nobody likes a shameless self-promoter.

Online communities are great place to get back links for your content
Online communities are a great place to get back links for your content

Strategy 3. Connect with other bloggers and collaborate on projects

Link building is an important aspect of SEO, but it doesn’t have to be a solitary pursuit.

Don’t underestimate the power of connecting with other bloggers and collaborating on projects.

Not only can you build backlinks for each other’s sites, but you’ll also have the opportunity to tap into each other’s readerships and expand your reach.

And let’s not forget all the fresh ideas and perspectives that come with teaming up with another blogger.

So go ahead, make some new blog friends and see what amazing things can come out of teamwork.

Who knows – you might just end up creating something greater than the sum of its parts.

When it comes to link building, it can sometimes feel like a game of who-you-know rather than what-you-know.

While having high-quality content is important, it’s not always enough on its own. It’s all about forming relationships with potential link partners.

Social media is a great way to do this.

Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram can be valuable tools for finding and connecting with fellow industry players who might just be willing to swap links for mutual benefit.

Link building isn’t always about finding the biggest and best websites; sometimes, it’s about finding those smaller, niche players who are just as hungry for links as you are.

So go ahead, send that tweet or post that Instagram story – your link building strategy will thank you.

And hey, you might even make a few friends in the process.

Strategy 5. Submit your content to popular directories and blog aggregators

Link building can be a tedious task, but submitting your content to popular directories and blog aggregators can make it a bit easier.

Sites like Alltop and Blog Engage act as central hubs for various industries and topics, allowing users to easily discover new content.

When you submit your content to these sites, not only will it gain visibility from their audiences, but you also increase the chances of receiving backlinks from other websites that reference the directory or aggregator in their own content.

Not only does this help you build links from high-quality websites, but it also gets your content seen by a wider audience.

However, it’s important to make sure the directories and aggregators you’re using are reputable and relevant to your industry. Quality over quantity, as they say.

So instead of just limiting yourself to traditional methods of link building, consider submitting your content to directories and blog aggregators as well. Who knows? You might just find yourself rising to the top of search engine results.

Strategy 6. Sponsor or participate in industry events

Want to boost your authority and score some backlinks at the same time? Look no further than sponsoring or participating in industry events.

Not only do events provide networking opportunities, but they also give you a chance to showcase your brand and build relationships with potential clients and partners.

And let’s not forget about those juicy backlinks from event listings and conference websites.

So go ahead and invest in some booth space or speaking panel slots – your link building strategy will thank you for it.

Plus, who doesn’t love a good conference swag bag? Win-win all around.

Link building will be crucial to SEO success in 2023
Link building will be crucial to SEO success in 2025

While some of these link building strategies may be more effective than others, it’s important to remember that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

What works for one business might not work for another, so you’ll need to experiment until you find the techniques that produce the best results for your company.

That being said, if you’re looking for a little help getting started, feel free to give us a call or review our link building services. We would be happy to share our expertise and help you get those all-important links that will take your website to the next level. Thanks for reading!

If you want a more in-depth understanding of which digital marketing strategies to employ, get a free SEO analysis from us at First Page here.

Ready to reach page one on Google?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

What Exactly is the Role of Link Building in SEO Strategy?

Link building is a critical factor in an effective SEO strategy. It involves acquiring hyperlinks from other websites that lead back to your own, thereby increasing your site’s authority and relevance. This process is highly valued by search engines like Google, as they consider these backlinks as a vote of confidence or endorsement for your content. Thus, the more high-quality, relevant links your site has, the more likely it is to rank higher in search results.

How Does the Quality of Backlinks Influence My Website’s Search Engine Ranking?

The quality of backlinks you acquire significantly impacts your website’s ranking in search engine results. High-quality links are those that come from reputable, relevant, and authoritative websites. They tend to be valued more by search engines and can greatly enhance your website’s visibility and ranking. In contrast, links from low-quality, spammy, or irrelevant sites can have a negative impact on your SEO efforts.

Can the Practice of Internal Link Building Enhance My Website’s SEO Performance?

Absolutely! Internal link building, which refers to the process of linking your website’s pages to each other, can significantly boost your SEO performance. It enhances the navigability of your site, helps search engine bots to understand your site’s structure, and spreads link equity across pages. This can lead to an improved user experience and higher rankings on search engine result pages.

What Does the Term “Anchor Text” Mean in the Context of Link Building?

In the realm of link building, “anchor text” refers to the clickable text in a hyperlink. It is often underlined and highlighted in a different color. The choice of words in the anchor text can influence the ranking of the linked page, as search engines use this information to understand the content of the linked page. Therefore, using accurate and relevant anchor text can enhance your website’s SEO.

What are the Risks and Penalties Associated with “Black Hat” Link Building Techniques?

“Black hat” link building techniques refer to practices that violate search engine guidelines, such as buying links or using automated programs to create links. These methods can lead to severe penalties from search engines, including a significant drop in your website’s rankings or even complete removal from search engine results. Therefore, it’s crucial to focus on “white hat” link building techniques, which abide by search engine guidelines and promote a positive user experience.

As you are well aware, keeping ahead of the competition requires constant investment. Link building is a great digital tactic to boost your authority on search (and drive web traffic). What more can you do to improve your marketing ROI? We have some great marketing blogs that can guide you to marketing success:

If you are a busy small business owner or entrepreneur, you probably have a lot on your plate. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales and keep you ahead of the competition:

PPC Hot Trends for 2025: Top Tips to Be On Top of to Beat the Competition

Posted on by Gary Cheung

Are you looking to jumpstart your PPC campaigns and digital marketing in 2025? We’ve got the hot tips you need to get ahead of the competition.

Read on to explore the best advice covering everything from bidding strategies to optimizing your PPC marketing. You’ll be raking in the profits with a little effort and these handy pointers in no time!

First party data, here we come!

GA4 is Google’s latest iteration of its analytics tool. It puts the focus on first-party data rather than relying on third-party cookies.

While this may be a challenge for some businesses accustomed to tracking consumer behavior through cookies, it also presents an opportunity to gather more accurate and comprehensive data.

GA4 offers new ways to track customer interactions as they move seamlessly between devices and platforms, providing a better understanding of their journey.

Plus, with privacy concerns becoming increasingly important, GA4’s focus on collecting first-party data is not only advantageous for marketers but also necessary for consumer trust.

So wave goodbye to those pesky third-party cookies (soon!) – GA4 is here to usher in a new era of data collection.

What is first-party data?

First-party data refers to information collected and owned directly by a business. This includes everything from website visitor analytics (from search engine results pages) to customer purchasing behavior and interactions with marketing communication channels.

Most first-party data is gathered using first-party data tools such as Google Analytics, email marketing platforms, CRM systems, other search engines, and surveys.

Unlike third-party data, first-party data offers greater control and accuracy because it is collected directly from brand interactions rather than purchased from another source.

In today’s digital age, first-party data can provide invaluable insights for companies looking to improve their understanding of their customers and overall business strategy.

Plus, unlike those sketchy third-party data sources, first-party data is all yours – no sharing necessary. First-party data will be crucial to your PPC success in 2025.

Voice search will be super important in 2023 and must be taken into account.
Voice search will be super important in 2025 and must be taken into account.

How important is voice search PPC in 2025?

Very important. Another major PPC trend for 2025 is voice search, which allows marketers to target voice searches with PPC advertising. 

Can you believe that voice search has been around for over a decade? It may have started as a novelty feature, but it’s becoming increasingly popular and changing how we search.

And as voice search continues to trend upward for search engine marketing, companies should incorporate it into their PPC advertising strategies. But how exactly do you optimize for voice search in this arena?

First and foremost, remember that voice search queries tend to be longer and more conversational than traditional text searches. Consider including commonly-asked questions in your ad copy, and make sure your location information is up-to-date.

As voice search becomes more ingrained in our everyday lives, incorporating it into PPC advertising will only become even more important – so start thinking about how to make your brand stand out in this new landscape.

The power of video ads for PPC in 2025

The future of advertising is video, and PPC is no exception. In 2025, video ads will be crucial if you want your PPC campaign to succeed, be it your social media or Google Ads.

Online video consumption continues to increase year after year, making video ads an efficient way to grab the attention of potential customers.

In addition, video allows for more creativity and flexibility in messaging compared to traditional text-based ads.

Say goodbye to hours spent editing and formatting ad content for your YouTube videos. Google’s Bumper Machine uses machine learning to automatically create short, punchy bumper ads straight from your longer video content.

Tirelessly working behind the scenes, this tool saves time and effort while delivering slick and compelling advertisements. And the best part? These ads are fully customizable and editable, allowing you to adjust them as needed.

Thanks to Bumper Machine, you can now focus on producing killer content instead of fiddling with ad specifications. Google may come out with a tool to do that too. Until then, thank goodness for Bumper Machine.

With the rising popularity of social media platforms like TikTok and the increasing use of video on websites and landing pages, video ads complement a well-rounded PPC strategy.

Don’t get left behind – start incorporating video into your PPC campaigns to stay ahead of the game in 2025.

Take full advantage of PPC automation and machine learning for your PPC campaigns in 2023.
Take full advantage of PPC automation and machine learning for your PPC campaigns in 2025.
SEM campaign with first Page

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See actual results from your SEO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch

PPC automation and machine learning

PPC advertising is about to get a significant upgrade. In 2025, PPC automation and machine learning will become increasingly crucial for advertisers looking to optimize their campaigns.

No longer will manual bidding strategies be enough to stay ahead of the competition. PPC automation technology allows for faster, more efficient ad management, detecting patterns, and making suggestions for better performance.

Additionally, machine learning algorithms can constantly analyze and adjust bids in real time, ensuring that ad spending is used effectively and efficiently.

So how can you get ready and utilize automated PPC strategies in 2025? Here are some helpful tips:

  • Start using scripts to automate your workflow if you have not done so yet
  • Now that expanded text ads (ETAs) are on the way out begin to learn and use responsive search ads (RSAs)
  • Start to learn how tools like Performance Max campaigns on Google Ads

So PPC professionals, beware – it’s time to brush up on your automation skills or risk getting left behind in the advertising game.

PPC is not only limited to Google, spread your wings!

PPC, or pay-per-click advertising, is a popular way to attract potential customers and drive sales. And while Google may be the first platform that comes to mind for PPC campaigns, there are also plenty of opportunities on other popular sites.

Take Facebook, for example – not only can you target specific demographics and interests with your ads, but you can also retarget individuals who have already visited your website or interacted with your brand on social media.

Twitter allows for PPC in the form of promoted tweets, giving your content added visibility among users. Pinterest and Instagram offer PPC options for visually appealing products or services. At the same time, LinkedIn can help you reach a professional audience.

Even TikTok and Reddit have PPC options now, offering unique ways to connect with potential customers.

And let’s not forget about Amazon – PPC ads on this retail giant will increase your products’ visibility among shoppers looking to purchase.

So don’t limit yourself to just Google – branching out into PPC on other platforms can lead to even greater success for your business.

Final thoughts

That’s all for our roundup of PPC predictions for 2025! We hope you found this information helpful and will give you a good starting point as you plan your PPC campaigns in the coming year.

As mentioned, PPC is constantly changing and evolving, so keep up with the latest trends and advancements – including first-party data, voice search, video ads, automation, and machine learning.

PPC isn’t just limited to Google anymore! Experiment with other platforms and see which ones work best for your business.

Getting on top of these 2025 trends is overwhelming. That’s why First Page is here to ensure your 2025 PPC campaigns will be more than ready for the new year.

We offer some of the top PPC management services in the industry as a Google Premier Partner. Please get in touch today and let us know how we can help.

Get in touch

Ready to reach page one on Google?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

What other marketing tactics can help boost lead generation with your target audience?

All businesses should want more qualified leads and more sales. Here are some useful marketing tactic blogs to help you achieve this:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

Want an Exceptional Digital Sales Funnel for 2025?

Posted on by Gary Cheung

As the world becomes increasingly digital, it’s more important than ever to have an effective online sales funnel.

It’s 2025, and digital sales funnels are no longer a secret weapon for most successful business owners.

In fact, they’ve become an essential component of any exceptional digital marketing strategy—something you can’t afford to ignore if you want your business to stay competitive in this new era.

But what makes a great digital sales funnel in 2025? Read on for our top tips to craft one that will set your business up for success!

Before we begin, let’s explore the definition of a digital sales funnel.

What is a sales funnel in marketing?

A digital sales funnel is a marketing strategy that helps businesses guide potential customers toward making a purchase.

It consists of a series of stages, starting with awareness (also known as the “top of the funnel”) and ending with action (also known as the “bottom of the funnel”), that lead the customer towards a desired outcome (usually a purchase).

The middle of the funnel, or the consideration stage, is where the customer begins to evaluate the product or service and weigh their options.

The goal of a digital sales funnel is to convert website visitors into paying customers. This is done by providing them with the information and incentives they need to make a purchase decision.

In today’s digital landscape, an effective digital sales funnel is crucial for businesses looking to grow their online presence and drive sales.

SEM campaign with first Page

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See actual results from your SEO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch

Why is having a well-oiled sales funnel crucial for sales success?

There are many benefits to having a great sales funnel, including the following:

  1. Increased conversions: A well-designed sales funnel will guide potential customers toward making a purchase, resulting in higher conversion rates.
  2. Better customer experience: A great sales funnel provides a smooth and seamless experience for customers, making it easier for them to find what they are looking for and make a purchase.
  3. Improved ROI: By increasing conversions and reducing the number of abandoned carts, a great sales funnel can improve the return on investment (ROI) of marketing efforts.
  4. Enhanced targeting: A sales funnel allows businesses to segment their audience and deliver personalized messages and offers, resulting in more targeted and effective marketing.
  5. Greater customer loyalty: By providing a positive customer experience and meeting the needs of the target audience, a great sales funnel can help build customer loyalty and encourage repeat business.
  6. Higher lifetime value: By nurturing relationships with customers and encouraging repeat purchases, a great sales funnel can increase the lifetime value of each customer.

Overall, a great sales funnel can help businesses increase sales and revenue, improve marketing efficiency, and build stronger customer relationships.

Here are ten key characteristics to consider for an optimal sales funnel.

  1. Personalization: An exceptional digital sales funnel is tailored to the specific needs and characteristics of the target audience. This can be achieved through techniques such as segmentation and dynamic content.
  2. Mobile-friendliness: With more and more people accessing the internet via mobile devices, it’s essential that a digital sales funnel is optimized for mobile. This includes having a responsive design and fast loading times.
  3. User-friendliness: The best digital sales funnels are easy to navigate and use, with clear calls to action and minimal distractions.
  4. Trustworthiness: To build credibility and encourage conversions, a digital sales funnel should include social proof (such as customer reviews), security badges, and a professional design.
  5. Omnichannel integration: To reach customers wherever they are and provide a seamless experience, a digital sales funnel should be integrated across multiple channels, such as social media, email, and SMS.
  6. Data-driven optimization: A digital sales funnel should be continuously optimized based on data analysis, such as A/B testing and customer feedback, to improve performance and increase conversions.
  7. Engaging interactive elements: To keep visitors interested and increase their likelihood of converting, a digital sales funnel should include interactive elements such as videos, quizzes, and polls.
  8. Relevant messaging and offers: The messaging and offers presented in a digital sales funnel should be relevant to the target audience and aligned with their interests and needs.
  9. Cohesiveness: The different stages of a digital sales funnel should be connected and flow smoothly from one to the next, leading the customer toward the desired outcome.
  10. Testing and optimization: A digital sales funnel should be regularly tested and optimized based on performance data to ensure it meets the desired goals.

With the above in your digital sales funnel, you can stand out in a crowded online marketplace and drive conversions. You need to continuously optimize and refine your funnel. This way, you can stay ahead of the competition and effectively reach and convert your target audience.

The sales funnel in more detail – let’s print some money!

Sales Funnel, top of funnel, middle of funnel, and bottom of funnel.
The sales funnel

Awareness (also known as the “top of the funnel”)

The awareness stage is the first stage of the sales funnel. It is where the potential customer becomes aware of the product or service being offered. This stage is all about getting the attention of the target audience. We want to make them aware of the brand and its offerings. Some common tactics used in the awareness stage include:

  1. Paid advertising: This includes advertising on platforms such as Google, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as traditional channels like TV and radio.
  2. Content marketing: Creating and sharing valuable and relevant content, such as blog posts, articles, and videos, can help attract potential customers to the brand and its offerings.
  3. Social media marketing: Using social media platforms to connect with the target audience and share information about the brand and its offerings can be an effective way to generate awareness.
  4. Search engine optimization (SEO): Optimizing the company’s website and content for search engines can help improve the visibility of the brand and its offerings in search results.

The goal of the awareness stage is to get the attention of the target audience. Make them aware of the brand and its offerings. Reaching and engaging potential customers at this stage will be more likely to move them further down the sales funnel.

Consideration (also known as the “middle of the funnel”)

The consideration stage is where the potential customer begins to evaluate the product or service and weigh their options. At this stage, the potential customer is interested in the product or service and is actively considering making a purchase. Some common digital tactics that can be used during the consideration stage include:

  1. Providing detailed product information and demos: The potential customer may want to know more about the features and benefits of the product or service, as well as how it works. Providing detailed product information and demos, either on the website or through email marketing, can help the potential customer make an informed decision.
  2. Offering free trials or demos: Allowing the potential customer to try out the product or service for free can be a powerful way to demonstrate its value and encourage a purchase.
  3. Personalization: Using techniques such as dynamic content and segmentation can help tailor the messaging and offers to the specific needs and interests of the potential customer, making them more relevant and compelling.
  4. Retargeting: By displaying targeted ads to potential customers who have visited the website or engaged with the brand in some way, businesses can remind them of their interest in the product or service and encourage them to take the next step.
  5. Live chat or chatbots: Providing a way for potential customers to ask questions and get immediate answers can help address any concerns or doubts they may have and increase the chances of conversion.

These digital tactics, businesses can nurture potential customers and increase the chance of moving them further down the sales funnel.

Action (also known as the “bottom of the funnel”)

The action stage is the final stage of the sales funnel. It is where the potential customer takes the desired action. This could be making a purchase, signing up for a trial, or requesting more information. At this stage, the potential customer has made the decision to take the next step. Some digital tactics that can be used to encourage the desired action include:

  1. Strong calls to action: Providing clear and compelling calls to action, such as “Buy Now” or “Sign Up,” can help guide the potential customer toward the desired action.
  2. Simplified checkout process: Making the checkout process as smooth and straightforward as possible can help reduce friction and increase conversions.
  3. Trust signals: Including security badges, money-back guarantees, and customer reviews can help build trust and encourage the potential customer to take the desired action.

Similar to the middle of the funnel, personalization and retargeting can be used to drive conversions at this stage of the sales funnel.

By using these digital tactics, businesses can effectively guide potential customers toward the desired action and convert them into paying customers.

Keen to learn more about on-page SEO?

We have a great post on on-page SEO. You can read it to learn more fast!

Learn more
UX, SEO, and web design

How can a business improve its sales funnel?

There are several ways a business can improve its sales funnel, including:

  1. UX (User Experience) optimization: Ensuring that the website is easy to navigate and use can help improve the overall user experience and increase conversions. This may involve simplifying the checkout process, improving the website’s loading speed, and making the website mobile-friendly.
  2. CRO (Conversion Rate Optimization): CRO involves analyzing and improving various aspects of the website to increase conversions. This may involve A/B testing different elements, such as calls to action, headlines, and images, to determine which versions are most effective.
  3. Omnichannel integration: Integrating the sales funnel across multiple channels, such as social media, email, and SMS, can help reach potential customers wherever they are and provide a seamless experience.
  4. Data-driven optimization: Analyzing data and performance metrics, such as website traffic and conversion rates, can help identify areas for improvement and optimize the sales funnel for better performance.

Use these methods and continuously test and optimize your sales funnel. Quickly your business will improve its overall performance and increase conversions.

Final thoughts on having a great money-making sales funnel.

A sales funnel might sound complicated and fancy, but it’s a core part of every successful marketing strategy.

Whenever a business grows exponentially, it’s likely a well-crafted sales funnel is in the background. Their sales funnel is helping to bring customers all the way from awareness to action.

Businesses understand that small changes can make massive differences. So, they take advantage of various tactics like CRO and personalization to optimize their sales funnel and drive more conversions. 

If that wasn’t enough, data-driven optimization ensures they’re always up-to-date with the latest trends. As such, they are ahead toward smashing their goals without fail! To put it succinctly – if your business wants results fast, you’ll need a stellar digital sales funnel.

One thing we know that we are good at is creating goldmine-like sales funnels for our clients.

Want to learn how to make as much as much money as you can for your business? Then give us a call to learn more about competition-beating sales funnels today.

Ready to reach page one on Google?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

What other marketing tactics can you use to beat your competition?

Here are some useful marketing tactic blogs that can help you break all your past sales records, and your competition in the process:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

Is Social Media the New Search Engine?

Posted on by FIrst Page Digital

Introduction

The introduction of search engines revolutionised the way people looked for information.

Gone were the days spent rifling through worn pages in dusty bookshelves. With a few keystrokes into a sleek interface, answers now appeared instantly in the form of blue hyperlinks. And thus began the digital age, where the world’s knowledge was accessible at the mere click of a button.

In the years that followed, search engines evolved rapidly, leaving our pre-digital search methods all but a distant memory. Dynamic result pages entered the scene. These featured images, videos and other multimedia that enhanced the search experience – features that are still key to today’s search engines. 

Needless to say, the developments did not end there. As digital technology continues to advance, we find ourselves entering another new era of search. This article will explore how Gen Z’s digital habits and preferences are challenging traditional search engines and redefining the search landscape, particularly with the rise of the social media search engine.

Emerging Shifts Towards Social Media Search Engines

Social search is increasingly overshadowing traditional search engines with younger generations. Studies have found that in 2024, Generation Z used Google 25% less than older generations. Many are turning to other search engines, with social media becoming a popular alternative. 

In fact, in 2024 Forbes reported that 44% of Gen Z used social media search engines to look for brand names, with 24% discovering new brands on these social platforms daily. It also revealed that 53% used social media to gather information before purchasing. This included reading comments, asking community forums and watching review videos.

Additionally, the report highlighted how Gen Z’s social search preferences are shifting towards social media platforms over Google for certain topics. For instance, 40% of Gen Z opted for TikTok when searching for hair and make up gift ideas. In contrast, just 25% stated their preference for Google. Similarly, 39% turned to TikTok for fitness and wellbeing information, while only 29% looked on Google. 

Although search engines are still the dominant tool for information discovery, the rise of social media search engines signals a new trend businesses need to watch. As Gen Z grows in influence and spending power, their preferences will shape how companies approach digital marketing. Businesses will need to cater to Gen Z’s search habits by optimising their content for social media platforms they frequent. This will be crucial for firms to increase visibility, enhance appeal and to stay competitive in a rapidly changing market. 

But why is this happening?

Gen Z and The Rise of Social Media Search Engines

The rising popularity of social media search engines can largely be attributed to two main factors – the rising preference of mobile phones and the values of Gen Z consumers.

The Role of Mobile Phones

1. “Mobile First” Mindset

Gen Z are digital natives, for whom the internet and social media are integral parts of everyday life. Growing up with mobile phones have also led many to adopt a “mobile first” mindset. 

Indeed, studies have shown that the average Gen Z spends up to 7 hours on a phone, using it for everything from chatting to completing daily tasks. As a result, seamless access to information is valued – which mobile optimised social media platforms deliver. 

Its ability to offer location-based answers, quick loading time, and intuitive user experiences cater to users’ on-the-go lifestyles, making it a natural extension of search engines that offers instant and personalised information directly to the palm of their hand. 

The Role of Gen Z Values: Why Social Media Search Engines Win

1. Personalisation 

Personalisation is favoured by Gen Z consumers who tend to value seamless user experience and have less brand loyalty.

Algorithms allow social media search engines to anticipate user needs to curate highly tailored content. This lets platforms filter out irrelevant information and immediately deliver the desired material. Social media platforms also allow users to directly visit brand websites, making it a convenient and reliable search engine.

Therefore, when compared to the generic results of traditional search engines, it is no surprise that the personal relevance and efficiency of social media has made it the more attractive choice for Gen Z. 

2. Bite-Sized, Easy-To-Understand Information 

Gen Z consumers are notorious for having short attention spans. That’s why the popularity of bite-sized content is growing.

Social media platforms are specifically designed to offer answers in engaging and easy to understand formats. Rather than wading through text, social platforms provide a way to swiftly get information through a quick video and image.

This can be beneficial as visual content can convey the ambience or appeal of their firm more effectively than a drawn-out review. Users can gauge whether a product or service is relevant to them, without investing too much time.

Additionally, the time and character restrictions often mean that social media content gets straight to the point. Users can directly get the required information without unnecessary and unimportant details.

3. Authenticity and Transparency 

Gen Z consumers place great importance on the authenticity and transparency of information. The visual and interactive nature of social media offers a personal touch websites can’t replicate. It lets creators share their experiences and directly engage with the audience, making their reviews seem genuine. For example, watching an influencer’s live reaction feels more reliable than a static and faceless text review.

While websites can include author bios, they lack the authenticity of social profiles that show ‘real people’ and ‘real moments’. All this makes social search the preferable choice for Gen Z when seeking opinions and reviews before making a purchase.

4. Social Media Platforms Are Introducing More Search Features

Social media has evolved beyond just connecting with people. New search features let users find what they’re looking for by using keywords, hashtags, and location. This helps them quickly see the most relevant posts and profiles.

If you want fitness tips, just search #WorkoutTips or #HealthyMeals on Instagram. You’ll get a page full of personalised health content.

Social media algorithms improve search results by showing more relevant content. For example, TikTok’s discovery page uses your behaviour and preferences to recommend videos you’re likely to find useful. This makes it easy to find and explore content directly on the platform, acting like a personalised search engine.

How Businesses Can Tap Into This Demographic

Optimising for Social Media Search Engines

Just like traditional SEO helps a website rank higher in search results, social SEO improves how your social media shows up when people look for topics related to your business.

Gen Z digital natives tend to discover brands through direct social search or through algorithm based discovery. When they find engaging content, two things typically happen: 

First, users can like and/or save the post, signalling its value to the algorithm which can then recommend it to wider audiences. Second, they may share it with others in their social circle, who may in turn share the post with their circle, starting the cycle all over again. 

Optimising for social search does not only enhance brand visibility, it can drive word-of-mouth and significantly boost brand awareness. 

1. Use Hashtags As Keywords

Hashtags are the social media equivalent to keywords, through which businesses can increase their engagement, reach and discoverability of their content. They play a crucial role in social search, helping users find relevant content more easily. 

  • Incorporate hashtags into your captions, profile bios and captions. But as with writing SEO content for search engines, do not use too many hashtags as it can be seen as “spammy”. 
  • Many video-based platforms are using algorithms to index video content. This can affect the searchability and visibility of your content in social search results. Consider incorporating keywords into subtitles, captions, and on-screen text. 
  • To find effective hashtags, identify the ones that are trending on your platform, niche, and location. 
  • Consider terms people might use to describe your businesses – such as “travel app”. You may want to opt for more specific terms to better target your audience – like “budget-friendly travel app”.


2. Optimise Your Profile

Gen Z are looking for content that is authentic and transparent with its audience. The trust this fosters then encourages consumers to develop an affinity with the brand. The first step to achieving this is to ensure that your profile appears genuine and reflects the real people behind the brand. 

  • Don’t be anonymous. Make sure to include profile pictures and clearly communicate what the brand is in the account bio.
  • Verify your account. A study on 6.5 million Instagram accounts found that verified accounts have 30% higher engagement. 
  • Link back to your website from your social media platforms to drive traffic.
  • Regularly update and post on your social media accounts, featuring real faces. This will help boost your visibility on social media search results and appeal to Gen Z consumers. 


3. Engage Your Audience 

Engaging your audience and building an online community is an effective way to build trust. This enhances the likelihood of Gen Z consumers turning to your brand for their needs and wants. 

  • Create interactive posts. 
  • Reply to comments and DMs to start a conversation with your audience on social media platforms. 
  • Create brand hashtags to encourage customers to share their experiences and increase your visibility. 
  • Create engaging and shareable content that adds value and resonates with your target audience’s social search intent. Provide answers to their queries and measure its performance by the level of interaction and community engagement. 

Conclusion

What worked for one generation, may not always work for another. 

Gen Z’s changing search habits exemplifies the need for businesses to adapt. While traditional search engines are still a significant part of information discovery, the use of social media as search engines cannot be overlooked.

To stay competitive, businesses should increase their presence on emerging social platforms, optimising their content for greater personalisation and engagement. Embracing these strategies will help enhance visibility, build trust, and effectively connect with today’s digital consumers.

6 Ways Google SEO Trends Are Changing And How Your Business Can Stay Ahead!

Posted on by Hector Law

Google Trends are constantly evolving. That means that Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is also changing constantly.

That’s why keeping up with the latest trends is essential for any business wishing to maintain a solid online presence – especially in a highly competitive market like Hong Kong.

This blog post will discuss 4 of the most significant ways SEO Google trends are changing for Hong Kong businesses.

If you want to stay ahead of your competition, make sure you are following these trends and implementing them!

SEO Google Trend #1: More Emphasis on Quality Human-made Content

Why Quality Content = Human Written Content

With AI becoming more and more available, we’re seeing a surge of marketers using AI to write content.

While AI is good at generating generic content, it isn’t capable of creating unique, creative and expert content. 

If everyone relied on AI, brands would lose their unique voice and search results would lose their value, since it would be filled with unhelpful content all saying similar things. 

That’s why Google’s “helpful content” algorithm update will have an increasingly important impact on SEO. 

Google’s main priority is to provide its users with the most helpful and relevant search results. With a wealth of AI content on the internet, the update seeks to encourage content with human insights and demote AI generated work.

While this may require some changes to current SEO strategies, it ultimately benefits both search engine users and website owners.

Websites with high-quality and informative content would rank higher and be more visible. This will lead to higher traffic and potential conversions for the website.

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See real results from your SEO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch
SEM campaign with first Page

How To E-E-A-T For Quality Content:

Now that you’ve decided to get a content writer, you need to E-E-A-T. 

All high quality content is based around 4 key points: 

  • (E)xperience
  • (E)xpertise
  • (A)uthoritativeness
  • (T)rustworthiness

Focusing on these strategies is the best way to create valuable content that is both informative and beneficial. 

E-E-A-T can help you include the human touch into your content and show Google’s algorithm that you are worth their time. Doing this can be a great way for you to increase your search rankings and boost traffic to your website. 

Experience 

Experience refers to the first-hand knowledge and/or skills gained through doing a specific activity or participating in an event. Having first-hand experience in a field can lend you credibility. 

For instance, a review from someone who actually stayed at a hotel room would be more believable and convincing than a review from someone who had not. 

You can demonstrate your experience through author bios, personal opinions, anecdotes or even visual media. 

Expertise

Expertise relates to the knowledge and skills you have in the field. It’s often confused with experience but expertise tends to refer to having deeper knowledge or a higher level of skill. 

This can be gained through experience, formal education, and/or training – which allows you to analyze, make judgments, and solve problems. 

An expert needs to have one eye on the future, too; with more updates, changes, and competition all the time, you need to be prepared for constant evolution. So keep your expertise up-to-date and fine-tuned – you only get top search engine rankings when you stay ahead of the changing SEO Google Trends! 

Authoritativeness

Authoritativeness in E-A-T is a must-have for SEO success. Authoritativeness basically means that your domain and website are considered to be authorities in their subject matter by search engines and users alike.

If you establish yourself as an authoritative figure, your web pages can get rewarded with higher search rankings. To further increase your authoritativeness, remember to create content that is accurate and trustworthy, two aspects of E-A-T that can help bring more visibility to your pages.

So if you want to ensure your website gets the recognition it deserves from both engines and users, make sure you stay on top of Authoritativeness!

Trustworthiness

Trustworthiness in E-A-T has become a crucial component of SEO for anyone looking to increase their chances of getting closer to the top of search rankings in Hong Kong.

Engines like Google want to know that web pages from a particular domain are not only providing up-to-date and accurate information but also are actively telling content that is truthful, honest, and worth trusting.

Trustworthiness should be something established over time based on a website’s track record of delivering quality content consistently.

Having high-quality materials that readers can connect with in terms of relevance and accuracy will go a long way towards ramping up your domain’s trustworthiness.

Being yourself and ensuring you keep an eye on what others in your field offer can help you stay on the path toward creating trustworthy web pages.

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

  1. Prioritize human writers: AI assistants can draft outlines, summarize and find errors but it can’t really create valuable content. Get writers familiar with your industry, to deliver nuanced and in-depth insights that appeal to your customers. 
  2. Explore other content formats: You can diversify your content by using videos, podcasts or infographics that align with E-E-A-T principles. These can help you reach out to visually oriented audiences and enhance user engagement. 
  3. Leverage author bios: Highlight the qualifications and background of your content writers that can reinforce their authority. You could also talk briefly about their hobbies and personality to make them more relatable.

SEO Google Trends #2: Schema Markups Are Becoming Very Popular

Schema markup is quickly becoming one of the hottest SEO Google trends in Hong Kong. 

A schema markup is code you include into your website. These codes help search engines better understand the content and importance of your site. The more they understand your content, the easier it will be to categorize your site as ‘relevant’ and rank it higher. 

Implementing schema markup can also make your websites more appealing to search crawlers and more accessible for customers. Including extra information – like star ratings, opening hours, contact details and prices, making customers more likely to click on your site. 

In the grand scheme of search engine optimization, schema markup is an essential tool for those looking to get ahead of the competition – so if you want a higher ranking and improved visibility online, you better step up your schema markup game!

If you’re looking to make your website stand out and on top of changing Google trends, schema markup is a must-have in your SEO toolkit.

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

  1. Add extra information: Include ratings, prices, or contact details directly in search results. This makes your site more appealing and informative, increasing the likelihood of clicks from potential customers.
  2. Regularly Update Schema Markup: Keep your schema markup up-to-date with any changes to your content or business details. This makes sure that Google has accurate information about your site to keep it relevant.
  3. Test and Validate Markup: Regularly test your schema markup to identify and fix any issues. This makes sure your markup is implemented right and can be identified by Google.  
UX, SEO, and web design

Want to learn more about mobile and SEO?

We have a great post on UX, mobile, and SEO. You can read it to learn more fast!

Learn more

SEO Google Trends #3: Raise Your Voice (SEO)! Optimize SEO For Voice Search.

biggest SEO Google trends for Hong Kong in 2023 is voice search

Voice Search on Google is a lucrative and rapidly growing trend. 

Voice search is a feature that allows users to search the internet using their voice instead of typing keywords into a search engine. It is a convenient option for mobile users who are on the go and need to get information quickly. 

Voice search is also becoming more popular with smart speaker devices like Amazon Echo and Google Home.

One of the biggest benefits of voice search is that it can help you reach a larger audience. For example, if you have a website optimized for voice search, you could appear in the search results when someone in Hong Kong searches for something in English. 

This is because voice search is becoming more popular in Asia, and many Asian countries have English as their second language.

Another benefit of voice search is that it can help you get better SEO results. As people tend to speak in complete sentences when they use voice search, they are more likely to use long-tail keywords. 

Long-tail keywords are specific and usually have low competition, which can, in turn, be conducive to improving your SEO results.

If you want to stay ahead of the SEO trends, you need to start optimizing your website for voice search. 

This means using long-tail keywords, creating content that answers common questions, and ensuring your website is mobile-friendly. By doing this, you’ll be able to improve your SEO results and reach a larger audience.

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

  1. Create Conversational Content: People often search using full sentences, as if they were asking a friend. So optimize for conversational queries and long-tail keywords. You can start by thinking about the different questions customers might have about your business! 
  2. Enhance Mobile-Friendliness: Since many voice searches are performed on mobile devices, make sure your website is mobile-friendly. This includes having a responsive design and fast loading times to provide a seamless user experience.
  3. Optimize For Local SEO: Over 55% of people use voice search to look for local businesses! To capture that traffic, make sure you appear on search results when people search for local products or services. Specify your location, hours of operation, photos of your business and more! 

SEO Google Trends #4: SEO Will Become More Focused On User Experience

biggest SEO Google trends for Hong Kong in 2023 is UX

UX design is all about creating a great user experience. It’s about ensuring that users can easily find what they’re looking for. They also should have a positive experience when using your site or app. 

UX design is becoming increasingly important, as more and more people use their mobile devices to access the internet. In fact, UX design is now one of the most important factors in Google’s SEO algorithm. 

This trend means that if you want your site to rank well in Google’s search results, you need to make sure that it has a great UX mobile design.

There are many different aspects of UX design, but one of the most important is readability. 

This refers to how easy it is for users to read and understand your content. If your content is difficult to read, users are likely to click away from your site or app, which will hurt your ranking in Google’s search results. 

That’s why it’s so important to make sure that your content is clear and easy to read. So if you’re looking to improve your site’s ranking in Google’s search results, make sure to invest in UX design.

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

  1. Increase page speed: In a fast paced world, people want their information instantly. Long load times frustrates potential customers, increases bounce rates and negatively affects your site’s ranking. In fact, 50% of people refuse to wait longer than 2 seconds for a site to load. Prioritize page speed to drive traffic and enhance user experience!
  2. Improve navigation: Navigating on websites should be intuitive and consistent, helping users find what they want easily. Menus, CTA buttons and search bars should be easy to spot and quickly responsive. The lower the friction, the more likely they are to purchase.
  3. Simplify your content: Your content should be easy to read and understand. If your content is hard to follow, users are likely to click away, hurting your rankings. Try to write to a Grade 9 level, this makes sure your site is accessible to a wider audience.

Keen to learn more about on-page SEO?

We have a great post on on-page SEO. You can read it to learn more fast!

Learn more
UX, SEO, and web design

SEO Google Trends #5: Customers And SEO Are Going Local 

biggest SEO Google trends for Hong Kong in 2023 is local search

Another emerging trend in Hong Kong are the things people search for on Google. 

People are looking for more immediate and specific results. They want to know which businesses are nearby and which services they can conveniently access. 

That makes sense! Why travel for 2 hours to get custom leather shoes when you can buy one 5 minutes away? 

In response, Google has recently been placing more emphasis on local SEO, and this trend will likely only grow.

For businesses, this means that it is more important than ever to optimize their website for local search. 

This can be done by including location-specific keywords – like “Best Dim Sum restaurant in Causeway Bay”, creating a Google My Business listing, and obtaining local backlinks. 

Failure to do so could result in poor SERP results and a loss of customers. While local SEO may require some additional effort, the rewards are clear.

By capitalizing on this trend, businesses can stay ahead of the competition and ensure that they are visible to potential customers amidst changing Google trends. 

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

  1. Optimize for Local Keywords: Use specific location-based keywords in your content, titles, and meta descriptions. This makes sure your business appears in relevant local search results.
  2. Encourage Local Reviews: Ask satisfied customers to leave reviews. Positive reviews boost your local search rankings and build credibility with potential customers.
  3. Create Localized Content: Develop content that caters to local interests, events, and news. This can help increase the relevancy of your business and appeal to local customers. 

SEO Google Trends #6: Domain Authority Is Still The Key

This might not be a changing Google trend but it’s still on this list because the importance of domain authority can’t be understated.

Despite all these changes and trends, domain authority still remains a critical part of SEO.

Earlier, we talked about the importance of authoritativeness in SEO content. Domain authority is essentially a measure of this.

Sites are given a domain authority score from 0 to 100, with higher scores telling Google how relevant and credible your site is for a specific topic. The higher the score, the more likely it is to rank and perform well on search engine result pages.

A good domain authority score varies from industry to industry. But generally speaking, scores between 50 – 60 are considered good, while scores between 40 – 50 are often seen as average. Regardless, you’ll want a score that’s higher than your competitors.

So when looking for ways to boost your domain authority (and therefore ranking), think outside the box – try out things like link building, content marketing, regular updates, and optimizing how users interact with your website.

What You Can Do To Stay Ahead Of This Trend

There are many factors that influence a site’s domain authority. Here are a few:

  1. Get high quality backlinks from high authority sites: Search engines use backlinks to gauge your credibility, authoritativeness and trustworthiness. Having another domain linking to your site is an endorsement that your content is valuable.
  2. Create quality content: Creating helpful content can lead to more people to share your content, increase the number of sites linking to your content, and even encourage high authority domains (like educational institutions) to backlink your site.
  3. Remove broken or spammy links: Low quality backlinks can decrease your domain authority and even lead to a penalty from Google. Audit your site to see who is linking to your page. You can remove those links or ask Google Search Console to ignore them when crawling your site
SEM campaign with first Page

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See actual results from your SEO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch

Final thoughts

Google trends are always changing – and that’s especially the case in Hong Kong! 

By being aware of these emerging trends and implementing our tips, you can be sure to stay ahead and keep your business at the top of Google’s result’s page!

At First Page, we provide professional SEO services. These services can help you improve your visibility on search engine results pages and to the top of page 1 on Google!

Implementing effective SEO will take longer if you start out with a new website. However, taking note of these 11 trends will get you some good results in a few months.

If you can’t wait that long… and why would you?

Use an SEO company to help your website rank higher, but there are so many options out there. How do you know who to trust?

It can be hard to know who to trust regarding SEO. Many companies make big promises but don’t deliver results.

First Page is a top-ranked SEO agency in Hong Kong that has helped businesses just like yours see actual results.

We have the experience and expertise necessary to help you beat the competition and reach the top of the search engine rankings.

Ready to reach page one on Google?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

What other marketing tactics can you use to beat your competition?

Here are some useful marketing tactic blogs that can help you break all your past sales records, and your competition in the process:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

How To Create A Winning Crypto Marketing Strategy (+5 Case Studies)

Posted on by Aaron Radcliffe

Crypto is far more than just Bitcoin. As blockchain technology continues to advance, we’re diving deeper into the fascinating world of Web3. 

Everyday, we see another crypto venture emerge. Ranging from DeFi startups to Metaverse software companies, the crypto space is becoming more crowded and competitive. 

In this dynamic landscape, you need a well-crafted crypto marketing strategy. Launching a crypto project is one challenge, but effectively marketing it is another. 

With such intense competition in the crypto space, simply placing a few ads won’t guarantee success. Instead, you’ll need a strategy that spans multiple verticals to truly realise your project’s potential. 

This article will explore how to create a successful crypto marketing strategy. It will highlight key components of an effective strategy, share success stories from top crypto start ups, and offer actionable tips for your own project. 

Table of contents

What Is Crypto Marketing?

Crypto marketing is all about boosting awareness, adoption, and engagement with cryptocurrency projects, NFTs, and other blockchain technologies. 

It includes various strategies like creating content, social media engagement, partnering with influencers, building communities and managing public relations. Ultimately, the aim is to educate potential users,  attract investors, create a loyal following and boost revenue. 

But the crypto space faces a lot of challenges like regulatory shifts and market volatility. This makes the crypto industry incredibly fast paced and disruptive, making it difficult for brands to stay ahead and establish themselves as leaders. 

And this is why an effective crypto marketing strategy is important!

The best strategies leverage data, use specific targeting, understand trends, and foster innovation. In the end, your success depends on your agility and responsiveness to fast-paced environments. 

What Is the Difference Between Crypto Marketing and Regular Marketing?

There are some crucial differences between crypto marketing and regular marketing that you need to know about…

Crypto marketing is any digital marketing campaign designed to help a crypto company grow its awareness, exposure, community, and revenue.

Well, you might be thinking to yourself…

‘OK, isn’t that the exact same thing as a regular marketing campaign?’

Well, yes, and no. 

You see, while all marketing campaigns are inherently similar – in that they are aimed at growth, crypto marketing is a bit different.

The truth is that crypto marketing strategies play by a different set of rules. They’re based in certain (digital) places, they respond to certain phrases, and they expect certain things. Simply put, crypto is its own unique subculture. 

Here are some key differences:

  • Medium and channel: A crypto marketing strategy is decentralised and makes use of social platforms, forums, blogs, crypto-related websites and KOL relationships.
  • Emphasis on trust: Since crypto is still an emerging industry, messaging mainly focuses on educating audiences about its benefits and opportunities. It is also focused on creating a community and building trust, due to its dubious past. Traditional marketing tends to be more promotional and focused on gaining new leads. 
  • Target audience: Crypto marketing strategies target a niche market of tech-savvy people that are interested in blockchain technology. Traditional marketing targets broader audiences based on demographics and other characteristics. 

As mentioned – the crypto market is so volatile that the large majority of startups go out of business within a year. 

Because of this, your crypto startup has to put extra focus on building trust and growing a real community, all while increasing the amount of hype for your project. 

Here are 4 ways to take your crypto marketing campaign to the moon.

4 Most Effective Crypto Marketing Strategies

#1 – Content Marketing (Example – Cardano & VeeFriends)

Cryptocurrencies are still pretty new and unfamiliar territory. 

While Bitcoin has been around for well over a decade, crypto-adoption rate is still quite low across the world. 

Because of this, many people are still learning about crypto, and aren’t completely certain of what they are getting themselves into. 

This is why content marketing should be a key part of your crypto marketing strategy. 

Think of it as a means to educate your potential customers. Leveraging this lack of information and creating helpful content, is not only educational, it can also raise brand awareness and make crypto companies more accessible to wider audiences. 

Some examples of content marketing are…

  • Blog posts and discussion articles that act as educational resources. 
  • Explainer videos and online tutorials.
  • FAQ sections on websites and social media.
  • Webinars and livestreams with experts to discuss latest trends, projects and hold interactive Q&A sessions. 
  • Podcasts and interviews with developers and founders. 

Pros of Content Marketing

✅ Builds Trust

✅ SEO benefits

✅ Educates customers

Cons of Content Marketing

❌ Difficult to scale

❌ Requires in-depth knowledge of product and crypto space

While Bitcoin has been around for well over a decade, the truth is that the crypto-adoption rate is still quite low across the world. 

Because of this, many people are still learning about crypto, and aren’t completely certain of what they are getting themselves into. 

That’s where content marketing comes into play. 

Think of content marketing as a means to educate your potential customers. By doing this you will be able to teach them not just about your company, but about blockchain as a whole. 

Some examples of content marketing are…

  • Blog posts
  • Beginner guides
  • Knowledge hubs
  • FAQs
  • Glossary
  • Webinars
  • And more

Below you can see the website for Cardano (ADA). 

Cardano’s website is filled with tutorials about not just their product – but blockchain as a whole

They have built out an entire hub to educate their users not only on the benefits of their product but also on cryptocurrency and blockchain as a whole.

Another example is VeeFriends – a popular NFT project by Gary Vaynerchuck.

The VeeFriends blog gets updated with a new post 3-4xs a week

VeeFriends publishes a lot of helpful blog posts and tutorials about the industry and their products – often multiple times a day!

These two examples show the power of content marketing.

Creating premium content to educate and promote, is central to an effective crypto marketing strategy. Essentially, your goal is to establish your project as a thought leader in the crypto space, build trust and a loyal following of potential users. 

#2 – SEO (Example – Binance)

SEO is just as important in crypto marketing as it is in traditional marketing.

A good crypto marketing strategy uses effective SEO tactics to enhance visibility on search engine results, and drive more traffic towards your website. 

The increased visibility leads to greater brand awareness, which enhances credibility and trust. 

This will make sure that potential users and investors looking for reliable crypto projects, land on your site and are more likely to convert. 

This goes hand-in-hand with effective content marketing. The more quality content you have, the more Google will see you as an authority and rank your pages higher. 

Some things you can do to optimise SEO are… 

  • Keyword research: Find short-tail and long-tail keywords that focus on general terms (like “cryptocurrency”) and specific queries (like “what is blockchain technology?”).
  • Optimise content: Incorporate keywords into your content. Create blog posts, videos and live streams that centre around some of the most popular keywords. 
  • Build backlinks: Build backlinks with reputable crypto related websites. This will increase your credibility and make you more visible to users. 

Pros of SEO

✅ Easier to scale

✅ Can bring in traffic

✅ Allows you to create a funnel

Cons of SEO

❌ Difficult to do in-house

❌ Very competitive

Let’s look at Binance’s SEO…

Binance’s SEO efforts are bringing in some MONSTER traffic

As you can see, Binance is pouring a TON of resources into their SEO – and it’s really paying off. 

Binance is getting 17 million monthly visits from SEO with 530,000 ranking keywords (of which, 37,000 are in the top 3 results). This has helped them generate over 85 million backlinks and an absurdly impressive DR rating of 91. 

And this isn’t just for branded searches, look at what happens when we filter out ‘Binance’ and just look at the traffic that just goes to their blog.

Binance is getting millions is views a month on non-branded traffic

That’s right, Binance’s blog is ranking for over 11,000 non-branded keywords. 

These articles are written with a keyword in mind, are crafted to educate searchers, and most importantly…

Binance is serving the search query while also bringing traffic down their funnel

They are bringing searchers down their funnel.

SEO isn’t as easy as it used to be, but if you work with a professional agency, you can use SEO to your business’ advantage to get traffic and convert that traffic to lifelong customers. 

#3 – Email marketing (Example – Coinbase)

A crypto marketing strategy that uses email marketing, can help companies generate new leads, nurture existing companies, keep users engaged and maintain loyal customers. 

It’s also one of the most cost effective ways to directly reach users with news, announcements and promotions – with the average ROI being $36 for every $1 spent.  

Email marketing also lets you better understand and target your customers, by segmenting them based on demographics, location, interests, and other factors. This makes sure you’re not wasting your time or money! 

Pros of Email Marketing

✅ High engagement rates

✅ Ability to nurture leads

✅ High conversion rates

Cons of Email Marketing

❌ ESPs can be challenging to master

❌ High stakes – you can’t un-send emails!

Unlike SEO, which is one of the best ways to generate new leads, email marketing is best seen as a way to nurture existing leads and customers. 

But very few crypto companies do this. 

Let’s take a look at Coinbase, one of the few that use email marketing in their crypto marketing strategy. 

One of the world’s leading crypto exchanges, Coinbase takes its email marketing very seriously. They use email marketing to nurture leads, keep its user base up to date with industry trends, and educate its customers about its many products.

There are email lead magnets spread throughout the entire site…

This exit-intent overlay helps generate leads

And once you sign up, you get weekly emails about what’s happening in the crypto world – an email series referred to as “Coinbase Bytes”. 

An example from a Coinbase EDM. Very informative and well-designed

These emails aren’t designed to hard-sell their subscribers. In fact, quite the opposite. They are extremely well-written and well-designed, which helps create a sense of trust in their user base. The emails provide so much value that subscribers end up appreciating the Coinbase brand, which makes them more likely to continue using and referring their products.

It’s important to remember that email marketing is a truly unique marketing strategy. 

Why?

Google could delist you from their search engine. YouTube could ban you from their platform. Instagram could vanish overnight. But your email list? Well, that’s yours forever, and no one can take it from you. 

Plus, compared to engagement rates on social media platforms, Email Marketing still delivers the best ROI out of all marketing platforms. 

Because of this, email marketing is a one-of-a-kind marketing platform that truly can transform your crypto marketing strategy, and elevate the relationship you have with your customers and community. 

Here are some ways you can get started:

  • Airdrop campaign: distribute free cryptocurrency tokens to incentivise email signup. 
  • Build opt-in forms on landing pages.
  • Offer exclusive content and deals for email signups.

#4 – Influencer Marketing (Example – FTX)

Influencer marketing is one of the most effective crypto marketing strategies. 

Tapping into the loyal fanbase of macro/ micro influencers is essentially a fast-track to building trust and boosting brand exposure. 

Crypto influencers are key opinion leaders in a largely uncharted field. They also have a highly primed audience that looks to them for information and guidance. This gives them immense power to dictate which trends and projects take off in the crypto space. 

Partnering with these influencers can put your brand in the spotlight. Harnessing their reach can help you stand out in a competitive market and establish your own loyal community that are ready to purchase from you. ‍

Pros of Influencer Marketing

✅ Can be cost-effective

✅ UGC performs well

✅ Ability to up-cycle content

Cons of Influencer Marketing

❌ Difficult to scale

FTX is a large crypto exchange that gets influencer marketing right. In fact, it was a key contributor to growing its revenue from $8 million in 2019 to $32 billion just a few years later!

Sure, they brought on some mega-influencers such as Tom Brady, Steph Curry, and Naomi Osaka, but they also ran numerous campaigns where they employed smaller social media influencers from around the world.

This is a huge influencer campaign by FTX

FTX found influencers who had overlapping audiences, and hired them to create content in a series called ‘Crypto in 60 Seconds’.

These videos were published on all corners of social media and contributed greatly to FTXs growth in the past few years. 

Some of the influencers have massive followings, others have more modest followings. 

100K followers
6K followers

And the best part about influencer marketing is that you can use the content and repurpose it for paid social media ads or for content on your website (like FTX did).

This is something FTX did and it made their content feel organic, granting their start-up a sense of the all-important credibility that can’t be manufactured. 

This is so effective that viewers are nearly 2.4 times as likely to watch UGC (user-generated content) than they are traditional ads. 

Final Thoughts

From content marketing to influencer partnerships, a comprehensive crypto marketing strategy is crucial for succeeding in a volatile crypto market.

NFTs, DAOs, Defi – it doesn’t matter what crypto-vertical your startup is in – the fundamentals remain the same. 

The most successful crypto companies leverage diverse strategies to build trust, create awareness, and foster communities to scale and grow. 

By adapting to the nuances of this evolving landscape and implementing these proven tactics, you can help your crypto project for success in today’s Web 3 era.

The high-stakes crypto sector brings a lot of unique challenges. Are you ready to boost your growth and make your mark? 

Contact First Page today – the global agency turning ambitions into achievements 

Get powerful results to lead the market!

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. What are you waiting for? Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

People Also Ask

What should I look for in a crypto marketing agency?

The most important thing to look for in a crypto marketing agency is experience – not only with Web3, but also getting results in Web2. If their website has information about Web3 and they also have a track record of getting results in Web2, then it’s certainly worth reaching out to them.

Where can I market my crypto start-up?

There is no set playbook for where to market your crypto start-up – it really depends on where your audience hangs out online. Some of the most obvious places are Twitter, Reddit, Discord, and Instagram, but there might be some quicker wins available. Be sure to do audience research to find out which platforms will be most effective for your startup. 

Why is crypto marketing important?

Crypto is no longer a fringe industry. It is highly competitive, and because of numerous scams, it’s harder (and more important) than ever to build trust and authority. A great crypto marketing campaign can help you achieve this, which in turn will result in massive growth for your crypto company. 

How Much Do Google Reviews Help SEO Rankings?

Posted on by Hector Law

There’s no doubt that user reviews are important. After all, they’re one of the most visible ways for customers to share their thoughts about your business. But do these Google reviews help your SEO rankings? According to recent studies, the answer is yes, and it’s a significant impact.

So if you still need to collect Google reviews, now’s the time to start!

1. What impact do Google Reviews have on businesses?

In today’s online world, online reviews are more important than ever. Google reviews are particularly influential, as they appear prominently in search results. These reviews can also help boost your brand’s local SEO, with some studies estimating an impact of 20%. 

Discover how to boost your brand’s local visibility – Watch video

A bad review can damage a business’s reputation, while a good review can help to attract new customers. As a result, businesses often go to great lengths to encourage customers to leave positive reviews. However, not all online reviews are created equal.

Some customers take the time to write detailed, well-thought-out reviews, while others leave a rating and move on. As a result, businesses need to be careful about which online reviews they believe in.

A few bad reviews should not be cause for alarm, but if the majority of reviews are negative, it may be time to reassess your customer satisfaction levels.

“Google Reviews can help boost your brand’s local SEO by 20%.“

Have you tried our Google Review Link Generator?

It’s the best way to get timely Google Reviews from your customers today!

Try it now

2. How does Google use reviews for SEO rankings?

While Google keeps its algorithms under wraps, certain aspects of its search engine results pages (SERPs) are widely known. One such aspect is the influence of reviews on business rankings. 

To determine a business’s position in SERPs, Google takes into account several factors. These include the number of reviews, the average rating received, the relevance, and the recency of the reviews.

  • Number of reviews: Businesses with more reviews are considered more helpful, popular and valuable by the algorithm. These will rank higher on Google’s SERPs than businesses with negative and low ratings. 
  • Relevance: Relevancy largely depends on geographical proximity, recency of information and query match. For example, if you search for “birthday cake shops”, Google will prioritise results from highly rated local stores over those in other cities. 
  • Average ratings: Google features businesses with higher ratings more prominently, as it aims to provide the most useful answers for users. On the other hand, businesses with lower ratings will be less visible. For instance, businesses that consistently get 4.5+ stars indicate greater trust and popularity, and will receive more consideration from Google. 

This is good news for businesses that have worked hard to earn positive customer reviews. It’s also good news for companies trying to ensure their customers are satisfied with their products and services.

After all, happy customers are more likely to leave positive Google reviews, which can help lead to better SEO rankings.

3. What can you do to get more positive online reviews for your business?

Anyone who has ever run a business knows that customer reviews are essential. Good reviews can attract new customers and help improve your bottom line. Bad reviews, on the other hand, can be detrimental to your business. 

In today’s digital age, reviews are more important than ever. Potential customers can see what others have said about your business with a few clicks. 

In fact, recent studies show that 81% of consumers check Google reviews before engaging with a brand – whether it is online or in-person. That’s why it’s important to ensure you’re doing everything you can to get positive online reviews. 

Here are a few tips:

  1. Prioritise customer satisfaction: The happier your customers are, the more likely they will be to leave a positive review. Satisfied customers can also boost your business with word-of-mouth promotions, enhancing the benefits of positive online reviews. 
  1. Make it easy for customers to leave a review: Add links to your Google Business page or other review sites on your website and in your email signatures. 
  1. Respond professionally to positive and negative reviews: Acknowledging their experience enhances customer engagement and shows potential buyers that you’re invested in their satisfaction. 

By following these tips, you can increase your business’s positive Google reviews and use them to help improve your SEO rankings. 

“Recent studies show that 81% of consumers check Google reviews before engaging with a brand.”

Tired of having negative reviews online?

Try our Removify service. It will set the record straight and improve your online reputation fast!

Learn more

4. How should you respond to negative online reviews?

Negative reviews are inevitable, especially if you’re doing business online. And while negative feedback is never fun, there are ways you can respond to cushion the damage and even turn it into a positive! 

  1. Stay calm and don’t lash out: It’s important to remember that the person writing the review is a customer. Even if their experience wasn’t positive, it’s still valuable insight into areas for improvement to enhance your competitiveness and long term success
  1. Take ownership and avoid defending yourself: Take accountability and be sincere. In fact, recent studies have shown that 44.6% of customers are still willing to engage with your business if you respond to their negative review. 
  1. Every setback is a learning opportunity: Customer dissatisfactions can highlight the blindspots in your business strategy. Use their concerns as a chance to understand how you can better meet expectations, and make changes to enhance their experience.
  1. Show your commitment to customer satisfaction: Replying empathetically shows customers that you are engaged. Acknowledging their concerns and offering solutions, can help you build trust, improve brand image and even turn a dissatisfied person into a loyal customer. In fact, surveys have found that 83% of customers felt more loyal to brands that responded and resolved their concerns. 

Remember, your reaction and response is just as important as the complaint itself. Take negative reviews as a chance to learn and demonstrate your commitment to customer satisfaction. 

Being open to feedback and thoughtfully addressing concerns can help improve your overall quality and brand reputation. This approach not only addresses the immediate problem but can also benefit your business in the long term. 

If you really think about it, negative reviews are actually valuable opportunities for businesses to shine! 

“83% of customers felt more loyal to brands that responded and resolved their concerns.” 

Does responding to Google reviews help SEO? – Watch video

Benefit from a spotless online reputation today.

First Page will help you rebuild and perfect your online reputation within weeks!

Learn more

Final thoughts on Google Reviews and SEO.

SEO can be a bit of a mystery. There are endless articles touting the latest and greatest SEO strategies, but how do you know which one is worth your time? Luckily there is one strategy that is always worth investing in: Google Reviews.

In today’s age of online hoaxes and fake news, customer satisfaction is more important than ever. Google reviews can help you build trust with potential customers and show them that you’re a reliable business.

In addition, they can be a valuable tool in crisis management. If your business ever finds itself in trouble, Google reviews can help your SEO rankings and dilute the negativity. 

At First Page, we can implement Google Reviews as part of your SEO campaign. We apply successfully-proven reputation management strategies on a case-by-case basis to best optimise your brand. 
Need help with Google Reviews? Get a FREE quote from First Page today.

Ready to reach page one on Google?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

What else can you do to improve your digital marketing besides Google Reviews?

As you know, keeping ahead of the competition requires constant investment. Using Google Reviews is a great digital tactic to boost your authority on search (and drive web traffic). 

What more can you do to improve your marketing ROI? We have some great marketing blogs that can guide you to marketing success:

You probably have a lot on your plate if you are a busy small entrepreneur. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales and keep you ahead of the competition:

FAQ

Why do Google reviews help SEO? 

Google scans the internet to deliver the most relevant and reliable information quickly. Just as customers rely on reviews to make purchase decisions, search engines evaluate the quantity and quality of reviews to determine SERPs. 

What is the best length for a Google Review? 

Longer and more detailed reviews (200+ characters)  tend to perform better, as they are deemed more “relevant” by Google. Other factors that impact the quality of Google reviews include the addition of photos, content specificity, and whether it was written by a local guide. 

How many Google reviews do I need to help increase my SEO ranking?

This largely depends on your industry and competitors. Most often, you will want a greater number of high ratings than your competitors. 

Can Google detect fake Google reviews?

Yes. Google uses an automated system to detect suspicious activity. This may include large volumes of reviews left by the same account in a short period of time, suspiciously similar word patterns, and overlaid images.

What is a Landing Page? (Examples + Guide)

Posted on by Hector Law

Summary

Achieving a ‘high conversion rate’ has always been the biggest challenge for marketing teams! This guide will explain how a Landing Page is one of the effective solutions to solve marketing problems with examples.

Table of contents

What is a Landing Page?

A Landing Page can be seen as a mini website, or a one-page website. The goal is to create a page that is simple and easy to understand, focusing on the key points to elicit interest from the visitors. The content is laid out in such a way that it gradually evokes a feeling of desire, eventually leading the visitor to take action towards further engagement and finally becoming a bona fide customer!

SEM digital marketing pillar

For any business, ASO should be one of the pillars of its app marketing strategy.

How does a landing page operate?

Landing Pages are widely used across various channels, such as e-commerce, Instagram, Facebook, email, PPC, Google Ads, and other platforms. The goal is to enable the target audience to make a quick decision to take the next step (sign up, make an appointment, fill out a form, place an order, subscribe) through the page, converting them into potential customers (Leads).

Therefore, you can consider a Landing Page as a powerful conversion tool. Its value lies in turning unfamiliar visitors into ‘consumers’. You can think of a Landing Page as a large funnel that collects traffic (Traffic) from all directions through different channels, and through funneling operations (the content layout of the Landing Page), it creates new consumers!

“A single objective” is the key feature of a Landing page. A single objective means that, after visitors browse the webpage, we expect them to complete the most important action, such as booking a course, placing an order, or registering as a member. Therefore, it is best to avoid including too many other objective links, buttons, or elements that could distract the visitor’s attention.

For example, when selling an Airbnb flat:

What to do: Include everything from introducing the neighbourhood, furnitures, reviews from previous customers, current discounts, to the final CTA “Book your Airbnb now”
What not to do: Do not mix the “Book your Airbnb now” with “check out other Airbnb offerings” or “check out other neighbourhoods”

AirBNB landing page template.

Landing Page & Website Difference

A website have various tabs such as home, product introduction, client cases, etc. A plethora of information is arranged across different tabs according to the website’s structure, waiting for visitors to explore at their leisure. In contrast, a Landing Page is a standalone page that focuses on the product or objective you want to highlight. It’s designed to present a concentrated essence of information and to guide the visitor’s actions step by step!

Although a Landing Page lacks “other tabs” that provide opportunities to see other related content, this design effectively solves the human problems of “choice paralysis” and “distraction.” Visitors can focus more on absorbing coherent content, which in turn increases the “success rate” of achieving the webpage’s goal.

What Makes a Good Landing Page

Since we understand the landing page’s purpose, the elements it should contain are relatively straightforward. Setting aside the content layout and industry-specific know-how, the essential elements of a Landing Page are listed below:

  • Call-to-action (CTA) design
  • Form
  • Video
  • Image
  • Compelling headline

1. Call-to-action

The call-to-action design (CTA) is a large and conspicuous “button design” on the page. Its purpose is to let the visitor know clearly what the next step they should take is after being guided by the text. The click-through rate of this CTA button is the key performance indicator (KPI) for this Landing Page.

Take Disney+ as an example: the large and noticeable blue buttons “$$$” is the website’s CTA. After you press the dollar signs, the page will lead you through the subsequent setup process.

2. Forms

The goal of a Landing Page is “conversion.” In addition to urging the audience to click a button to proceed to the next step, using forms to collect customer information is also a very common application.

Forms are used to collect essential customer information. Take Netflix as an example: the large and noticeable red button “Start Using” is the website’s CTA. After you enter your email and press this button, the page will lead you through the subsequent setup process. Even if you don’t complete the setup process, Netflix has already successfully obtained a list of emails from people interested in subscribing to their product.

What makes a good form?

Collect Only Necessary Data
When creating the form, consider whether each question is essential under the promotional goals of this Landing Page, such as: country, phone number, address, and the name of the specific event being attended. With modern form design tools, it’s not always necessary for customers to fill in their information actively. By integrating form tools with CRM tools, a lot of information can be pre-planned to be automatically filled into the form, saving customers the trouble of entering data themselves and thereby increasing the form submission rate.

Assist with Multiple Answer Formats

Using various types of responses like single choice, multiple choice, dropdown selections, open-ended questions, calendar date picks, etc., can help respondents to answer questions more conveniently and quickly. A little creativity and empathy in the form’s design can make a big difference. Think about how you would prefer the form to be if you were to fill it out yourself for a more comfortable experience.

Focus on Your CTA Wording
Compared to phrases that suggest you need to give something up, such as “Buy Now,” “Register,” or “Add to Cart,” using phrases like “Start My Course,” “Get for Free,” “Join the 5-Day S.M.A.R.T Challenge,” or “Start Planning My Finances” are more positive, proactive, and suggest gaining value, which are more likely to entice clicks.

3. Videos

Videos intensifies the sensory visual experience of the viewer, capturing their attention! Compared to monotonous black-and-white text, dynamic video can better showcase the “subtle differences” of a product and better guide the viewer’s gaze to the highlights you want to feature. Different video channels have different restrictions on video and advertisement length, and depending on the industry, there are varying audience habits. You need to use data analysis to figure out how to most accurately depict the product’s features within a limited time frame.

Taking Facebook Ads in the gaming industry as a reference, you can see that the advertisement duration falls within 16 – 20 seconds, and at the same time, this duration yields the best conversion results.

4. Images

Good images can help encourage visitors to click the CTA button!

In the case of photos, the presence of people adds a human warmth and can even convey a variety of emotions. Therefore, pictures with people are relatively more interesting, but the emotions they emit can affect different people in different ways. It’s important to make choices that correspond to who your target audience is!

Unbounce Landing Page Example

Moreover, the nature of the business also influences the choice of photos. Simple furniture photos may be suitable for the furniture industry. Some industries may prefer scenary photos rather than people.

For example, insurance and finance often start with the concept of ‘home’. Therefore, images are very characteristic with home, warm, family photos.

Family photo in an insurance landing page

5. Compelling Headline

The key to a headline is that you must ‘quickly, intensely, and accurately‘ hit the consumer’s pain point! A good headline should arouse curiosity, create a sense of pleasure, or provide a solution to a problem!

First Page’s own landing page

Using our own landing page as an example. Words such as “kick-ass”, and “skyrocket” are more compelling than ordinary vocalbularies such as “great”, or “increase”. A “free custom strategy” also captures attention of most viewers, as it is very hard for most people to ignore the word “free”.

SEM campaign with first Page

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See real results from your ASO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch

Benefits of having a landing page

Increasing Conversion Rate
A single-page sales page undoubtedly sets a clear path for the target consumer and marks the way with indicators. As a result, potential consumers, under the explicit and implicit content, can easily follow the “planned rhythm” and make a purchase.

One Concept, One Goal
The distinction between a single-page website (Landing Page) and a traditional website (Website) lies in the clear product direction, even focusing on a single product. This makes the Landing Page’s layout clear and simple for visitors in terms of message reception.

In an era of information overload, you too may feel overwhelmed by the plethora of products available. Reports have indicated that displaying multiple products can be detrimental to psychological health! Hence, talk about just one thing at a time!

Easy to Manage
As mentioned earlier, simplifying a web page makes it easier to manage from the backend. When we focus solely on one product, the related marketing analytics can be more finely tuned! The webpage operates only when a promotional campaign starts, and it ends when the campaign ends. A single-page website is used exclusively as the primary medium for ad delivery, allowing marketers to analyze page effectiveness conveniently and accurately.

Fast Development
With a clear goal, and after adding essential CTAs, images, videos, or forms, you have completed 80 percent of the work. The rest is about cleverly arranging the content! Many tools allow marketers to quickly create Landing Pages independently through drag-and-drop methods, like HubSpot CRM. This tool combines customer relationship management with Landing Page creation tools. The landing page collects customer information while simultaneously tracking it in the CRM. Subsequent retargeting strategies can then be deployed, leading to unstoppable sales success.

Like to learn more about well-crafted headlines for your ads?

We have a great blog post you can read to learn more fast!

Learn more
SEM headlines!

How to build a landing page?

Nowadays, there are many free resources available that provide templates to help you easily create a Landing Page, such as HubSpot, Wix, WordPress, etc.

All of the above are multifunctional integrated platforms. In addition to aiding with the construction of the “frontend,” such as web pages and Landing Page template design, they also offer backend database data analysis. Among them, HubSpot’s integrated services are arguably the most comprehensive in terms of functionality.

HubSpot started as a digital integrated service platform with a focus on “CRM” (Customer Relationship Management). Its powerful CRM system consolidates various customer acquisition information and then transforms the collected data into the basis for executing marketing strategies.

The advantage of template websites is that they offer multiple modules for you to choose from. Once you’ve made your selection, you can insert the necessary information into the web page and then make minor adjustments to suit your needs, creating a beautiful and professional Landing Page all the same!

2024 Landing Page Examples

Below are the landing pages examples that we believe fit the criterias that we introduced above.

Shop Candy Landing Page
Grammarly Landing Page
B2B Edition Landing Page

Final thoughts

After observing the design of various Landing Pages, you will notice that their content directly targets the consumer’s pain points. These uncomfortable points for the consumer are emphasized through the Landing Page by highlighting the need, offering a solution, and finally supporting it with user testimonials. This is the essence of a single-page website’s strategy. With one page, you tell the customer, “We know your problem, and by simply clicking the CTA, your issues can be easily resolved!”

In summary, condensing all the information you want to communicate to consumers while eliminating the superfluous and keeping only the essence, presenting it in a more streamlined way on a single screen is indeed a great choice, isn’t it? Are you ready to try your hand at this hot tool? A “beautiful” Landing Page is waiting for you to create!

Ready to reach top conversions?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

Unsure of getting in touch? We don’t bite! If you’d prefer, we invite you to learn more about our Landing Page services. Don’t delay, get ahead of the competition now!

What other marketing tactics can you use to beat your competition?

Here are some helpful marketing tactic blogs that can help you break all your past sales records, and your competition in the process:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

App Store Optimization (ASO Ultimate Guide)

Posted on by Hector Law

In the early years of the App Store and Google Play, App Store Optimization (ASO) was considered very mysterious. People speculated whether the logic behind it would be similar to SEO (Search Engine Optimization). There were also many circulating best practices, such as needing to include a keyword at least 5 times in the Description section.

As the number of apps and the number of developers entering the app market have increased, the focus on ASO in recent years has grown. At the same time, there are more examples to verify the ranking metrics behind ASO. In this guide, First Page will use our own experience and client case studies to explain the different ways to use ASO.

Table of contents

What is App Store Optimization (ASO)?

App Store Optimization refers to how app and game developers adjust various details of the app store page, including the name, description, screenshots, etc., to achieve the following three effects:

  1. Increase the exposure of the application
  2. Improve the conversion rate of users downloading the application
  3. Get the opportunity to be recommended (Featured) by Apple or Google
SEM digital marketing pillar

For any business, ASO should be one of the pillars of its app marketing strategy.

ASO belongs to the organic search, non-paid traffic channel. The concept of the app store page is similar to that of a website’s landing page, and it can be said that the app store page is a must-visit place for every user before downloading (unless you are performing a direct APK download). If you cannot effectively communicate the selling points of your app or game on this page to attract users to download, it wouldn’t matter how good your app or game is.

App Store & Google Play Elements

Before diving deep into ASO, it is necessary to understand the elements that can be optimized in the two main stores – the App Store and Google Play. Below, we will share some past observations and insights based on each element, and also share some questions we have. We hope that app and game developers can benefit from it.

App Name & Subtitle

First, we need to clarify which part belongs to the App Name and which part belongs to the Subtitle (please note that only the Apple App Store has a Subtitle section, Google Play only has an App Name):

In the Apple App Store, both the App Name and Subtitle are limited to 30 characters each, while in Google Play, the App Name can have up to 50 characters. Due to the different character limits, and because the App Store provides a Subtitle for developers to further introduce the App, it is understandable that the App name may vary slightly between the two app stores.

It is important for you to fill in your subtitles, because if you don’t, it will automatically be filled in as a “category”, which is not the most catchy and accurate description of your app. A compelling subtitle can also improve conversions and downloads numbers.

App Icons

The App Icon is also a part of the search results that users will see first. Moreover, when users download the App, what appears on the phone screen is mainly the App Icon and the App Name. Therefore, there have been many discussions about how to make a good App Icon, including what color to use for the background, whether a border is necessary, how many colors should be used in the Icon to best attract downloads, etc. However, to be honest, there doesn’t seem to be a unified opinion on this over the years.

Let us share our own experience here. From what we see from our clients, using game characters as Game Icons can be said to be an unwritten rule. Most games with a story or characters will use characters as Game Icons:

For Apps, it’s more common to use the company logo or a very simple pattern to express the purpose of the App. Generally, we do not recommend using too much text on the App Icon.

The Google Play Console also allows you to conduct A/B Tests to find out which combination of Icon/Description/Screenshots can bring you the best results. For details, you can refer to the guidelines in the Google Play Console. However, the Apple App Store does not currently have this feature.

Additionally, Google Play and the App Store have slightly different requirements for Icons. You can refer to the following guidelines for their limitations:

App Descriptions

The primary function of the description is to allow users who are interested in the app to understand more about its features and selling points.

In the early days of ASO, descriptions that included keywords for more than 4-5 times are seen to wield better results. However, in recent years, many experts believe that the impact of the Description on ASO has become more minimal. Additionally, its position on the page is lower than in the past. Now, when users enter the store page on an iOS phone, they will first see the new features (What’s New) and screenshots. They have to scroll down to see the detailed description, and on an Android phone, users need to click on the short description to see the Detailed Description.

However, this does not mean that the Description should not be valued. We believe that everyone still needs to present their main features and selling points in a concise and powerful manner in the Description section, because there are still users who will understand and determine whether this App is suitable for download from this part.

Additionally, we also recommend that you try to use bullet points or short sentences to divide sections in the Description to make it easier for users to read. At the same time, we do not recommend putting the Chinese and English Descriptions together in a bilingual format, but it is better to set different descriptions according to different language settings (if you are launching an App in Hong Kong, generally, Chinese and English are enough).

However, you can note that according to Apple’s official statement, the Promotional Text (appearing at the top of the Description) does not affect the search ranking of the App.

App Screenshots & Videos

App TypeApp StoreGoogle Play
Portrait App (Search Result)Shows 3 screenshotsNo screenshots or videos
Portrait App (App Page)Shows 1.5 screenshots, or 1 video and 0.5 screenshotShows 4.5 screenshots or 1 video and 1.5 screenshot
Landscape App (Search Result)Shows 1 screenshotNo screenshots or videos
Landscape App (App Page)Shows 1 screenshot or 1 videoShows 1.5 screenshots or 1 video and 0.5 screenshot

Keyword research helps you uncover what your target audience is looking for.

SEM keywords

Keyword Research.

In addition to adding keywords in the description, the App Store specifically provides a place for you to add keywords, with a total limit of 100 characters:

You may rely on intuition to select keywords, or some people may try to use Google Keywords Planner to find out more commonly used keywords in Google searches. However, we recommend using 3rd party tools to find out the keywords that your competitors are currently ranking for in the app store (however, you need to pay for the version that provides information about search volume, traffic share, etc.) Below we will share the top 3rd party tools we think suits best for ASO.

SEM campaign with first Page

Want more sales? Want more leads?

See how First Page can drive insane sales. See real results from your ASO campaign! Contact us!

Get in touch

Top ASO 3rd Party Tools

AppTweak

AppTweak, a leading ASO tool trusted by over 1,500 mobile leaders, stands out in today’s market for its capability to enhance app visibility and drive organic downloads. It provides monitoring for app performance, uncovers new avenues for growth, and supports the development of effective ad strategies.

App Radar

AppRadar provides an in-depth analysis of how your app is being discovered. This powerful tool pledges to save you between 3 to 10 hours each month on ASO tasks, and helps you to expand your user base utilizing an AI-powered engine.

Data AI

Data AI, previously known as App Annie, is arguably the most recognized platform for app market analysis, offering reliable app data and insights to thrive in the global app economy. Over a million registered users leverage Data AI’s statistics and research to make well-informed decisions, expand their businesses, and gain a competitive edge.

Like to learn more about well-crafted headlines for your ads?

We have a great blog post you can read to learn more fast!

Learn more
SEM headlines!

Other Minor Details to Pay Attention While Optimizing Apps

The following details are often overlooked because they do not directly constitute ASO elements, but they can still affect the exposure and download opportunities of your app and games:

App Package Size

Whether in the App Store or Google Play, if the app size exceeds a certain limit (200MB for the App Store and 150MB for Google Play), a pop-up will appear asking if the user wants to continue when they try to download using 4G (this message will not appear when the user is using WiFi):

This can decrease the likelihood of users downloading your app while using 4G. Therefore, it’s recommended to be mindful of the app size when uploading your application to the store.

Age Restrictions

When launching an App or game in the app store, you are usually required to answer a series of questions (such as whether there is any violence or gambling content in your app) to determine its age rating. If your app is rated 17+, it can affect its exposure and chances of being featured. Therefore, it’s advisable to answer these questions honestly and carefully to avoid unnecessarily raising the age rating of your app, which could impact its performance.

App Categories

On the App Store, an application can select two categories, including a Primary and Secondary category. In the past, some developers would specifically choose a less competitive category as the Secondary Category, so they could push for higher rankings in these less competitive categories during promotions. However, this practice is less commonly heard of now, and is only provided here for your reference.

Are App Reviews Important?

The aspects mentioned above are all within the control of developers, but user reviews are also recognized as an important element of ASO, albeit completely out of the developer’s control.

Besides ensuring an overall positive app and game experience to earn good reviews, we also suggest prompting users with a pop-up asking if they can leave a positive review in the app store at moments they are likely to feel positive (e.g., after completing a task, receiving a reward, etc.). This proactively provides users with the opportunity to leave a good review on the app store page.

However, please note that it is strictly against app store rules to directly incentivize users to leave positive reviews (for instance, by offering specific rewards for leaving a positive review), as this could lead to the app being removed from the store. We also strongly advise against purchasing fake reviews, as they can be easily detected and can likewise risk your app being taken down.

Final thoughts

At First Page, we provide professional App Store Optimization services. These services can help you improve your visibility on app stores.

As part of our process, we help people build basic ASO knowledge. We do this to help them better understand how the visibility and performance of app stores work.

The strategy you adopt will also be dependent on your business’s age.

Implementing effective ASO will take longer if you start out with a new app.

Although you should still pay attention to ASO, you can start with a ASA (App Store Advertising) strategy to boost your rankings until proper ASO can be established.

If you want a more in-depth understanding of which digital marketing strategies to employ, get a free ASO analysis from us at First Page here.

Ready to reach top app store rankings?

We know you want to make real money! Get ready to convert customers like crazy. Please do not delay. Contact us today!

Book a free consultation

Unsure of getting in touch? We don’t bite! If you’d prefer, we invite you to learn more about our ASO services. Don’t delay, get ahead of the competition now!

What other marketing tactics can you use to beat your competition?

Here are some helpful marketing tactic blogs that can help you break all your past sales records, and your competition in the process:

Are you a busy business owner? You may not have the time to run the marketing tactics you need to make money regularly. If this is the case, we encourage you to review some of our strategic marketing services to drive more sales:

Significant negotiation clout
with our partners.

Our network of partners gives us access to first in-market media products, collaboration plans and inside intel, so we can keep you ahead of your competition.

Google Partner
LinkedIn Marketing Partner
ContentKing Partner
Tiktok Partner
Shopify Partner
Pinterest Partner
Hubspot Partner
Happy Hong Konger
Copyright © 2025 First Page.
Terms of Business | Money-back Guarantee
Callback

Send us a message and we will call you back

Your details are always securely stored.