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Good morning, Marketers, change is a good thing! 

Oh sure, change can be scary. Or complicated. But a big change can also bring with it many positives — excitement, creativity and a fresh perspective. Over the first couple of weeks of the year, I’ve seen several of my industry friends and colleagues announcing departures from their current roles, starting new jobs, selling their company and starting their own companies. One thing they all have in common? New and exciting adventures await. 

Thinking about making a change? Well, remember: you only have so many years on this planet. Make sure you make the most of them. If you’re unhappy where you are, get out. Value yourself — and make sure whoever you work for (or with) respects and values you — your skills, time, expertise and humanity. And, if you have just made such a change? Congrats to you, fellow adventurer! Let’s go forth and do awesome things — to better ourselves and the entire search industry!

Danny Goodwin,
Senior Editor

Google Ads launches placement reports for Performance Max campaigns

Placement reports show where Performance Max ads have served, which may help with brand safety efforts, as well as how many impressions they’ve received.

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Semrush acquires SEO training website Backlinko

This could make Semrush a more robust source of SEO knowledge and may help it pull away from other toolset providers.

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Help customers find what they're searching for

Site search is one of merchants’ most important tools for helping customers find and purchase products through their online stores. However, many site search tools don’t fulfill the promise of delivering meaningful results. Learn how to use your website’s site search data to better understand your customers, their needs, their intent, and how to properly leverage site search to help customers find what they’re searching for.

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How analyzing search data can improve your decision-making

Search data provides a wealth of insights for marketers. At SMX Next, Matt Colebourne shows how to use this information to make better business decisions.

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How to optimize your site for better findability

An optimized site structure serves as the foundation for SEO success. At SMX Create, Niki Mosier shared how to strengthen those foundations and identify opportunities for greater search visibility.

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Become a master of search marketing in 2022

Level up your SEO, PPC, and analytics skills with the SMX Master Classes — live, two-day deep dives led by search marketing legends. Get one for $199, or mix and match to save 15%!

Get The Details

3 SEO metrics to help secure executive-level buy-in

Campaign metrics alone may not accurately represent your team's work. At SMX Next, Jessica Bowman shared metrics that can help SEOs change the conversation and get executives to recognize their value.

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Shorts

• Friendly reminder. You can’t predict Google algorithm updates using crawl stats. An increase in crawling activity does not necessarily mean Google is about to launch a new broad core algorithm update. Sure, it could. Or, it could simply mean that it’s just another day of the week. 
• LSA update. Google has updated its Local Service ads documentation. What changed: businesses can now request their “own dedicated background check partner” to do the verification. 
• Trend to watch. Both Instagram and TikTok are testing subscription-based content. On Instagram, a few creators can now provide exclusive content starting at $0.99 per month.
• Going south? Site migrations can cause headaches for you – but they also pose challenges for Google. Find out some best practices from Google on how to ensure your site migration goes as smoothly as possible.

From MarTech

• What is a CDP and how does it give marketers the coveted ‘single view’ of their customers?
• How marketers can use behavioral data to improve customer experiences
• How are digital agencies helping marketers transform in 2022?
• Piano partners with Snowflake to activate customer data at scale
• 24 questions to ask account-based marketing vendors during a demo

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