SEO
How Zapier Built a Content Marketing Machine
Hur hjälper du människor att upptäcka programvara de behöver men ännu inte vet att den finns?
That was the challenge I faced when I became the second member of Zapier’s editorial team in 2014.
Zapier’s team had built a tool to automate your tedious business tasks. Anything you could do by copying and pasting—tweeting new blog posts, emailing new customers, adding orders to a spreadsheet, alerting your team of outages—Zapier could do faster, better, and while you slept. Therein lay a content strategy.
Most people didn’t know they needed Zapier three years after it was first released, but they did know they needed a way to speed up their work and solve software issues. We could tell them how to build better software workflows—and recommend Zapier along the way.
That strategy helped us build a library of content that today brings in over 2 million readers to Zapier each month. Here’s how we built it.
People weren’t searching for Zapier, not in 2014 when the product was new to the market. But they were searching for Zapier’s complements, the tools that worked with Zapier that they were already using. That’s why Zapier created its App Directory, originally called the Zapbook, as a directory of every app that integrated with Zapier.
Every new app that integrated with Zapier got a landing page listing what it automated. Gmail’s page, for example, showed you could save attachments to Google Drive, send an email when your form got filled out, or create an Asana task via email.
Zapier’s App Directory also listed permutations for every integration: Gmail + Salesforce, Gmail + Slack, Gmail + Google Sheets, and on and on. That’s where the real magic happened. People would search for two app names (hoping to get them to work together) and then stumble upon Zapier along the way.
Today, there are 4,403 individual integration pages, plus an incredible 38,612 pair pages that together bring in over 299,000 monthly organic search visits.
It was difficult to rank for the more popular software, but there was always a very good chance that Zapier could rank for a lesser-known app pair—say, ShipStation and PayPal—when there was little, if any, content online about using those two tools together.
The challenge was making the App Directory pages unique. Zapier started the directory with a couple dozen preset sentences; when a new two-app page was created, it’d generate a phrase like “Connect App X and Y to automate your work and be more productive.” The danger was in having so many pages with similar, thin content.
So one of my first projects was writing software reviews for the App Directory. I’d test an app and write a 500-word walkthrough of what it was like to use that tool, add a few screenshots, and more to flesh out each app’s page.
Another similar content initiative revolved around automation templates. Zapier knew which apps people connected the most, and we knew from users how those automations were used. We’d turn those into Zapier workflows that anyone could enable in a few clicks—and I’d write a roughly 100-word description to help those workflows rank in search.
And it worked. First with Zapier’s team building templates, then with partners building templates for their users and, more recently, with Zap templates users can build and share on their own.
One of the top search results today for “email daily,” for example, is for a Zap that will let you set up an automatic daily email—a simple template that brings in ~2,400 organic visitors per month for search terms like “everyday email” and “send automatic email.”
Between those workflows and cross-linked content on the blog, today Zapier doesn’t rely on app walkthroughs to flesh out its App Directory pages. But the strategy helped boost the directory in its earliest days.
Write great stuff, and people will come. That was our basic strategy on Zapier’s blog.
It was something our managing editor, Melanie Pinola, brought from Lifehacker. “Their answer for what success looks like is ‘creating content that’s helpful,’” she told us.
My writing was focused on software tutorials and roundups. Zapier supported, at that time, hundreds of apps. I couldn’t write about everything, so it made sense to prioritize by popularity.
I’d start at the high level, checking Zapier’s software categories on Ahrefs to see which were most popular. To-do list apps and CRM software got 46,000 and 36,000 searches a month. I’d figured it was better to cover those first, then focus on smaller categories like HR or invoicing software later.
Then I’d drill down from there to find what people were searching for around these categories.
For example, I’d click the term “crm software” in Ahrefs and find that the top question was “what is CRM software” and that “CRM meaning” was a related popular term. So I’d make a note to write a guide for beginner CRM users. I’d also see the top CRMs people were searching for, such as HubSpot, when I was first writing the roundup (and Keap if you check for top CRM keywords today).
The research would also uncover topics to cover in the future. The most popular questions were about what a CRM is, so that’d be the next article I’d write as a companion to the CRM roundup. So “best CRM for small business” was another popular, easier-to-rank term—and Zapier later followed up on the original CRM roundup with a more focused roundup of those specifically for small businesses.
With keyword research out of the way, I’d switch to researching software to build an in-depth roundup article focused on the best CRM software—the keyword that most people were searching for when looking for a new CRM.
I’d test every CRM that Zapier supported, along with dozens of others. I’d take screenshots and write an App Directory roundup of each CRM tool, then pull the findings into a roundup article that showed how each app was differentiated from its peers.
It took days of research, but the final pieces were incredibly in-depth (my original CRM roundup covered 25 tools, and my Zapier project management app roundup was over 8,000 words and covered 50 tools).
We wrote hundreds of software roundup articles on Zapier—with 171 “best of” posts live on Zapier’s blog today. Together, they bring in an estimated 1.1 million organic visits each month, years after many of them were originally researched and published.
Maybe I didn’t have to write so much. Shorter pieces can rank well too. And Zapier’s more recently updated takes on those pieces pick eight or 10 best options for a more Wirecutter-style selected take.
But the ultra-long-form pieces had their advantages. The longer content included more keywords—niche keywords, again, that we were more likely to rank for. They also let us surprise and delight more teams at other companies. I’d email each app I featured, letting them know about the article. Slowly but surely, as more partners linked to our roundups, Zapier gained backlinks and climbed Google’s search rankings.
The research took forever, but it always inspired follow-up posts. Once I’d finished the roundup, I switched gears and wrote the “What is a CRM?” article. That today still brings in hundreds of monthly organic visitors, along with the over 13,000 monthly organic visitors from the roundup. Over time, using this strategy, we ended with an incredibly wide range of roundups and tutorials that have dominated Zapier’s search traffic for years.
Sidenote.
One caveat: I never wrote roundups about automation tools. My rules of what not to write included not making a roundup or comparison table that had my employer’s product. It’d be impossible to portray Zapier’s content as truly independent if Zapier itself was featured on the list. But I could be unbiased—as much as anyone could be—about our partners and the tools in their categories. And that let Zapier build an audience of readers who trusted our writing.
Roundups weren’t for everyone. To borrow terms from the project development lifecycle, they were written for readers in the discovery phase who were searching for a new tool.
Then they’d need to do stuff in the app. That’s where Zapier’s tutorials (and the App Directory’s premade Zapier workflows) came in. Those brought in readers during their development phase—when they were developing a workflow and were most likely to start using Zapier.
Google Sheets-focused tutorials worked especially well here. I wrote a tutorial on how to use the LOOKUP function in Google Sheets—plus how to automatically look up data in spreadsheets and more with Zapier. A companion tutorial showed how to split text—say, split a first and a last name into separate columns—in spreadsheets, followed by how to automate that in forms and more with Zapier.
These tutorials bring in a couple thousand search visits per month—fewer visitors than roundups, but these are visitors more likely to need and use Zapier.
But you only need so many app roundups and tutorials. The next time we wrote about to-do list apps, you wouldn’t be interested; the app you picked was humming along. You might be interested in learning how other teams manage projects, how remote work works, or about hitting inbox zero.
That’s why Zapier also wrote productivity articles: to maintain our relationship with readers by sending them something interesting each week. Those were the pieces easiest to syndicate—to get others to republish as guest posts that built backlinks and brought in new sources of readers and a bit more brand equity. They were less of my focus in Zapier’s earlier years but more of a core part of Zapier’s brand building and audience retention work today.
Roundups brought in far more pageviews. Tutorials brought in far more customers per pageview. Productivity posts brought back more repeat readers. Together, they built a search-powered growth engine.
What is published can always be published again too.
That was the third pillar of Zapier’s content: our Learning Center and its ebooks.
Once I’d written everything core about a software category like CRMs or a popular tool like Google Sheets, I’d pull those posts together, build them into an ebook with Leanpub, then publish on the Kindle and iBooks stores. The new ebook landing page drove email signups from book downloads and earned a higher time on site as people read one post after another instead of browsing just a single roundup.
Best of all, Zapier got a new audience from the ebook stores as a bit of off-Google SEO. People searched for Google Sheets in the Amazon store, downloaded Zapier’s book, then clicked through as they read the book. It wasn’t as easy to measure or value as Google search clicks, but it was search-driven traffic all the same.
Search data was a core part of prioritizing which of my ideas were best to write first. But experimentation also played a large part in my writing.
One day, for instance, I was trying to connect to the Wi-Fi at a mechanic while getting my car’s battery changed. It hit me that I should write a quick tutorial on how to get the Wi-Fi password pop-up to open when it wouldn’t at airports, coffee shops, and the like. A few hundred words later, the hastily written post was live.
And it blew up, getting over 100,000 visits a month at its peak—more traffic than most of our well-researched, search-focused content did. It’s still, today, bringing in thousands of readers every month, ranking organically in the top three for terms like “force wifi login page” and “hilton wifi login,” of all things.
Turns out, experimenting and scratching your own itches can work out every so often too.
Slutgiltiga tankar
Search data is historical data, records of what people searched at some time in the past.
If you hit a problem today and are on the bleeding edge, that problem may be something few people face today but one that more and more people will start facing later. If you write about some new thing, it’s not going to show promise in Ahrefs data today.
Just be patient. When that thing you wrote about suddenly is in the news or becomes an emerging trend, you’ll be ahead of the game before it starts.
So do your research. Publish stuff where you have a chance to rank well on search. Write long-form, especially at first, if it gives you a chance to build more keywords and connections into a piece.
But also, never stop experimenting. If you really want to write something, go for it even if the stats aren’t there yet. It can’t hurt, and it just may be your breakout piece.
SEO
Google Announces Ads Transparency Center And Safety Report
In an effort to prove its commitment to safe and transparent advertising for users and businesses, Google announced the launch of the Ads Transparency Center and the release of the 2022 Ads Safety Report.
What Is The Ads Transparency Center?
De Ads Transparency Center, rolling out to users worldwide over the next few weeks, offers a searchable database of all advertisements on Google Search, YouTube, and Display.
Tycka om ads transparency efforts from its peers in Big Tech, Google aims to ensure that users are well-informed about the ads they see. For instance, if you are interested in a product or service you saw in a Google Search ad, you can use the Ads Transparency Center to learn more about the brand before visiting its website.
The Ads Transparency Center shows key information about ads, including advertiser details, where/when an ad appeared and ran, and its format.
Skärmdump från Google, mars 2023Google offers more transparency for political advertising. Additional details for political ads include the amount advertisers spent, the number of times the ad was shown, and the location targeting criteria.
Skärmdump från Google, mars 2023Using The Ads Transparency Center As An Advertising Research Tool
Advertisers can use the Ads Transparency Center as a research tool to analyze competitors’ designs and ad copy to create Google Ads campaigns.
Meta offers similar ad information in the Facebook Ad Library, where advertisers and users can browse ads from brands in several fields, including politics, housing, employment, and credit. Ad details include the design and copy for all ad variations, the platforms where the ad is displayed, and when the ad was launched.
Screenshot from Facebook, March 2023In addition to the Ads Transparency Center, you can visit My Ad Center in your Google Account. Launched in October, it allows you to review ads you’ve seen recently on Google. You can control the ads shown to you by category, brand, and sensitive topics.
Skärmdump från Google, mars 2023Insights From The 2022 Ads Safety Report
In related news, Google’s 2022 Ads Safety Report provides detailed insights into its efforts to prevent fraud, offer transparency, and protect younger users.
According to the report, Google added or revised 29 policies for advertisers and publishers last year.
Based on these policies, over 4 billion ads were removed or restricted, and 6.7 million advertiser accounts were suspended.
Google expanded its financial services certification program, requiring advertisers to be authorized by local regulators to prevent fraudulent ads.
Despite challenges from sophisticated scammers – like the malware operators that impersonate real software brands in Google Ads to spread malicious code – Google blocked and removed 142 million ads for misrepresentation and 198 million ads for financial services violations.
Google tackled misinformation by blocking ads with harmful health claims, false election claims, and climate change denial. Tens of millions of ads that violated this policy, contained inappropriate content, or promoted dangerous products were removed.
Google verified 5,900 new advertiser accounts publishing election ads in the U.S., and over 2.6 million unverified election ads were blocked.
Google prohibited ads dismissing, exploiting, or condoning the war in Ukraine and suspended ad activities in Russia. Over 17 million ads related to the war were blocked, and ads from over 275 state-funded media sites were removed.
Finally, Google expanded child safety protections for users under 18, blocking ad targeting based on age, gender, or interests and prohibiting certain teen ad categories, including dating apps, contests, and weight loss products.
How Advertisers Can Benefit From Ad Transparency
There are benefits to reviewing Ads Transparency Center content.
Those who see ads on Google properties can learn more about the advertisers before purchasing. Advertisers can learn how to create ads better suited for their target audience.
Advertisers should also review the Google Ads Policy Center updates to ensure ad campaigns are not blocked, restricted, or removed. It also offers options for fixing problematic ads, checking the status of your Google Ads account, and reporting Google Ads that violate its policies.
Featured image: rafapress/Shutterstock
SEO
Google Ads Update: Cross-Channel Conversion Credit Import
Google Ads is introducing a significant change by moving from the previous method of importing the last non-direct click from Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to Google Ads.
Now, Google is adopting a complete cross-channel conversion credit import approach.
This update will provide a more comprehensive understanding of the customer buying journey, leading to better-informed marketing decisions.
I first became aware of Google Ads transitioning to cross-channel conversion credit in a LinkedIn post from Frederik Boysen, CEO & founder of Profitmetrics.io.
After contacting Google, I received confirmation that the information Boysen shared was accurate.
Google will have more details to share in the coming months. In the meantime, here’s a breakdown of what’s changing and why it matters for your Google Ads campaigns.
Before & After Cross-Channel Conversion Credit
Google Ads imports conversions from GA4 using a last non-direct click attribution model.
That means no conversion is imported into Google Ads if the last click was not from a Google advertisement.
The forthcoming update will import full cross-channel conversion credit into Google Ads, even if the last non-direct click wasn’t from Google advertising.
The new cross-channel import should provide more accurate conversion value reporting by incorporating the effects of other channels.
This will make it easier to spot discrepancies in the values tracked by Google Ads versus GA4 cross-channel credit.
While this is an improvement over the current system, GA4 tracking has some limitations compared to Google Ads tracking.
As Boysen highlights in his LinkedIn post, GA4 tracking is limited in the following ways:
- GA4 doesn’t track view-throughs for networks like display or YouTube. Google Ads does.
- GA4 lacks built-in cross-device identification. Google Ads tracking utilizes logged-in user data to identify users across devices.
- GA4 doesn’t offer full server-side tracking without a script firing. In contrast, Google Ads provides comprehensive server-side tracking with offline conversion click import.
Due to the above-listed limitations, Google Ads tracking will likely remain the superior choice for bidding, while GA4 import may become the preferred option for reporting.
Sammanfattningsvis
The introduction of full cross-channel conversion credit import in Google Ads will provide a more accurate understanding of the customer buying journey.
Although GA4 tracking still has some limitations compared to Google Ads tracking, its improved reporting capabilities make it a valuable tool.
Featured Image: rassco/Shutterstock
SEO
5 Ways Social Media Pros Are Safely Using AI Right Now
This post was sponsored by Iconosquare. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.
Does social media management sometimes feel like 15 jobs rolled into one?
We know, the business of social media involves a lot of plate-spinning.
There’s strategy development, content creation, data analysis, copywriting, customer service, community engagement, client communications, trend forecasting, graphic design, influencer management, reporting, and on and on it goes.
What if some of your most repetitive social media tasks could be handled by AI?
Yes, you can give yourself more time to create even more powerful social strategies by allowing AI to perform tasks like scheduling posts, analyzing content, and writing captions.
With AI-powered content creation tools, you can spend more of your time working and thinking like a top social media manager.
So, let’s take a closer look at five ways AI-generated captions will change the game for social media managers.
And don’t worry, AI won’t replace your social media job.
1. Ideate Social Media Post Content Faster (And Easier)
If writer’s block tends to take up a large portion of your campaign execution time, this tip is for you.
And you’re certainly not alone – this is a common problem for tons of social media managers who are juggling multiple projects. Coming up with creative, engaging captions on the fly isn’t always easy.
With the help of AI, a month’s worth of content can be captioned and scheduled in a fraction of the time. Even if a caption isn’t 100% perfect the first time, all it requires is a quick edit instead of hours of creating the perfect message.
Compare this to the lengthy process of ideating, drafting, rewriting, and editing captions, and it’s easy to see how beneficial a social media AI caption generator can be.
2. Get Better Engagement With High-Conversion Algorithms
Many AI caption generators are programmed to create captions specifically for conversion.
They know how to:
This is music to your ears if you’ve been striving to increase engagement for your clients – particularly if they’re stuck in a creative rut or don’t enjoy the writing process.
3. Put Out More Social Media Content
Not only does caption writing get easier and faster with social media AI – it has a positive effect on other content, too.
Time previously spent staring at a blank screen trying to find the right words can now be spent on curating, creating, and editing other forms of content – for example, YouTube videos, TikToks, Reels, podcasts, and carousels.
4. Create Social Media Content In 70+ Languages
From Chinese to Persian, there are more than 70 languages available to choose from in Iconosquare’s AI caption generator.
This enables you to break through language barriers and reach new audiences for your clients without the need to invest in additional resources.
5. Gain More Time For Higher ROI Tasks
Imagine what you could do with the time you’ve saved not writing captions from scratch.
That’s the beauty of AI.
Social media AI handles time-consuming, low-level tasks and frees you up to focus on work that delivers meaningful results – not only for your clients but for your business, too.
A Step-By-Step Guide To Creating AI-Generated Social Media Captions
For this example, we’ll use social media AI for an imaginary interior renovation brand.
Step 1: Enter Your Social Post Topic Or Subject
Start by typing in the subject of your social media post.
In this case, we’ll use “kitchen renovation,” though we could go even more specific with this, e.g. “Kitchen renovation completed in 3 weeks.”
Step 2: Add Your Brand Name For Maximum Exposure
The next step is to introduce your brand to the machine learning tool.
In this example, we’ll use the fake brand name “Kitchenstar.”
However, if you want captions that are less branded and more focused on the content of the image, all you have to do is leave “Brand” blank.
Step 3: Select Your Industry For Accurate Keyword Inclusion
For this example, we’ll enter “interiors” as our industry.
However, if you want captions that are less industry-specific and more focused on the content of the image, all you have to do is leave “Industry” blank.
Steg 4: Få högkonverteringstexter för sociala medier från AI
De tre bildtexterna Iconosquare’s AI caption generator skapar är positiva och engagerande.
Varje genererad inläggstext har en bra krok:
- Att renovera ditt kök har aldrig varit enklare!
- En nystart för ditt kök!
- Vårt nyrenoverade kök med #kitchenstar-produkter är något att skriva hem
handla om!
Och var och en kommer till saken utan onödigt ludd.
Image created by Iconosquare, March 2023Steg 5: Få automatiskt genererade hashtag med hög omvandling
Den första bildtexten har en bra krok och förslag på hashtagg med hög konvertering.
Istället för breda, överanvända hashtags som #interiors eller #kitchen, har AI-bildtextgeneratorn föreslagit mer specifika hashtags som #makingroomformemories.
Steg 6: Gör eventuella manuella redigeringar nödvändiga
Den andra bildtexten är bra och kräver väldigt lite redigering. Jag skulle kunna lägga till lite mer specifik detalj om vad renoveringsprocessen innebar, annars är den här bildtexten bra att gå.
Image created by Iconosquare, March 2023
Image created by Iconosquare, March 2023Den tredje bildtexten har den specificiteten - "bänkskivor i kvarts, snygga bänkskivor och energieffektiva apparater."
Även om dessa inte är helt rätt, har du nu en mall att använda för att skriva din bildtext utan att behöva tänka på det.
Om du inte är helt nöjd med de tre första alternativen kan du generera tre till.
Image created by Iconosquare, March 2023När det gäller specifika uppmaningar (CTA) som "kommentar nedan" eller "tagga en vän", kan du enkelt lägga till dessa till de färdiga AI-genererade bildtexterna genom att välja en av dina "Sparade bildtexter".
Varför AI-genererat innehåll inte gör ditt jobb överflödigt
Om du är orolig för att bli ersatt av AI, oroa dig inte.
Trots vad du kanske läser på nätet är AI inte på väg att göra ditt jobb föråldrat.
Istället är AI en bra samarbetspartner.
Den automatiserar repetitiva uppgifter och sållar bland miljontals datapunkter för att ta fram rekommendationer som kan användas.
Detta frigör din tid och ger dig och ditt team möjlighet att skapa bättre innehåll och kampanjer som ger kundens resultat.
AI-drivna verktyg för sociala medier låser upp din potential.
Istället för att slösa tid och expertis på repetitiva uppgifter som manuellt inlägg Rullar, kan du fokusera på områden du brinner för och unikt kvalificerad att hantera.
Även applikationer som hjälper kreativiteten – som Iconosquares AI-bildtexter – är ingen anledning till oro för ditt jobbs framtid.
Endast sådana funktioner förbättra och påskynda din kreativitet.
Återigen, AI-verktyg för sociala medier är perfekta för marknadsförare som jonglerar med flera kunder och komplexa kampanjer.
AI-verktyg kan inte ersätta empatin, perspektivet och berättandet som en människa tillför marknadsföring. Och det här är vad som krävs för att verkligen få kontakt med kunderna.
Så oroa dig inte för att AI tar över världen – se istället dessa applikationer för vad de är: en möjlighet att göra dig till en ännu bättre social media manager.
Vill du själv prova Iconosquares AI-bildtextgenerator? Du kan här!
Säg adjö till Writer's Block & Hej till AI-genererade bildtexter
Om du är redo att utnyttja kraften i AI-mänskligt samarbete måste du försöka Iconosquares nya AI-bildtextgenerator.
Det är det perfekta verktyget för att skapa engagerande bildtexter (för LinkedIn, Twitter och Instagram) som är relevanta för vilket varumärke du än arbetar med, oavsett om du har ont om tid eller behöver en kreativ boost.
Skriv bara ut ämnet för ditt inlägg, varumärke och bransch så genererar Iconosquare en lista med potentiella bildtexter. Du väljer sedan din favorit och lägger till den i ditt inlägg med ett klick.
Bildkrediter
Utvald bild: Bild av Iconosquare. Används med tillstånd.
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