SEO on YouTube – why do it?

More and more marketers invest in YouTube, but most often it concerns ads on this channel generated with the help of Google Ads. Meanwhile, YouTube can also provide a brand with a significant increase in visibility thanks to organic inputs – guide videos, materials from the company’s life, reports from industry events, video instructions on how to use products – all this content thanks to which brands gain interest and trust of customers. Of course, there is a catch though. According to statistics, videos with a total length of about 500 hours are uploaded to YouTube every minute! There are billions of videos on the platform, uploaded by users from 88 countries. Therefore, it cannot be assumed that it is enough to upload a recording to the Internet to become the king of YouTube – according to our report, almost 90% of YouTube videos do not exceed 1,000 views. So, as with Google, you have to make an effort to get high in the results ranking and get noticed. This is where YouTube video positioning comes into play.

SEO of YouTube videos – what is it all about?

Positioning is still mainly associated with the optimization of the websites themselves and the texts that are on them, while this concept has a much broader definition. SEO activities (Search Engine Optimization) concern not only written content, but also all other materials posted on the Internet – such as photos or videos. Therefore, also on YouTube, we can take appropriate steps to optimize published materials and thus increase the number of views. And it is definitely worth doing, because YouTube is the world’s largest search engine for entertainment content. According to a 2019 study by Ahrefs, a few basic SEO activities, taking no more than 5 minutes, are enough to increase the organic reach of a video by 30%. If we decide to spend about 15 minutes on optimizing and enrich the video with all elements of positioning in the YouTube search engine, we can increase the reach by as much as 400%! First things first. Let’s tell you step by step what needs to be done to make our video visible on YouTube.

Step one – analysis

The basis of any orderly and effective YouTube positioning activity is an in-depth analysis of the channel and individual videos. Thanks to it, we can see what the current visibility of videos is, what works best, but also where there are problems and room for optimization. Specialized tools such as vidIQ help in this.

vidIQ is a Chrome plugin, thanks to which we can measure our YouTube positioning results and increase the organic reach of video materials, but also check the results of competitors or similar channels. What is most useful in the program is the algorithm that determines the optimization score, i.e. the estimated SEO score for each YouTube video. It analyzes all factors related to the video and determines the likelihood that the material will be high in search results or in a side list with similar videos. Thanks to the plugin, we can also conduct a channel audit or check the actions taken by the competition. It is a basic knowledge tool with which you can move to SEO on YouTube.

Step two – movie title and filename

The title is one of the first things a user sees when choosing what content to watch. However, it is also one of the elements taken into account by the YouTube algorithm when matching results to the query entered by the recipient. Therefore, it is important that it describes well what the movie is about, but also contains a properly selected keyword.

A keyword is a term that users enter into a search engine on the platform to find a video on a given topic. Its selection is very important and should be based not on gut feelings, but on hard data on the monthly number of searches for a specific phrase. In search of the best keywords, tools available on the Internet, such as the aforementioned vidIQ plug-in or Ahrefs – a keyword explorer providing results for all the most popular search engines in the world, help. The easiest way to find useful phrases, however, is to check suggestions in the YouTube search engine.

The title of the video should explain as much as possible what the user will find in the video, but it is worth remembering that in the list of similar or recommended videos, the too long name may be cut off. To make sure that doesn’t happen, we should create a title of no more than 60 characters, including spaces. However, you can also use the so-called Zeigarnik effect, which says that people feel the need to complete a process that has already begun. So when the title is too long and gets cut off, there is a chance that the user will open the video to see the rest of the name, but it’s important that it breaks off in an interesting place.

If we decide on longer titles, the most important thing is that the first three words should match the attractive key phrases as possible. Then there may be the so-called long tail phrases, CTA or clickbaits. However, the use of clickbait names works only if they really fully refer to what is in the movie. Ultimately, it is the user’s involvement in the video that determines whether the YT algorithm will continue to display this material on a given query as interesting content. If a lot of people watch the video and don’t abandon it in the first few seconds, the content is valuable – this is called fulfilling the user’s intent.

Positioning a video on YouTube will be more effective if we also include the keyword in the name of the file that we intend to upload to the platform. This is a very important step in positioning as algorithms can read the name to determine the subject of the video. The meaningless original filename reduces our chances of getting on the search results list and the recommended movies bar.

Step three – movie description

The description of the film is a place where we can include all the most important information about the material – data of the creators, place and time of production, etc. However, it is also a space that allows you to use the potential of keywords. An SEO-optimized description should include phrases thematically related to the video material, but placed in a natural way – artificial saturation of the text with any slogans we can think of will not only increase the organic reach, but may be counterproductive.

Why is setting the right description so important from the point of view of YouTube positioning? The content placed in this field is one of the elements taken into account by algorithms when categorizing videos, so including keywords in it increases the likelihood that the video will end up in the sidebar with suggested videos on similar topics. This one is an important source of views for most YouTube channels.

The character limit for the description is so high that we can allow ourselves to thoroughly discuss each material. It is worth taking advantage of this potential and creating an exhaustive description (at least 450 characters) – this is an important element of SEO on YouTube. It is important, however, that most users will only see its beginning, which is around 100-150 characters. To see the full text, it is necessary to click the “show more” button, which is chosen by a small percentage of Internet users. Therefore, the first sentences should contain the most important information about the movie and the most important keywords.

Step four – tags

The selection of tags is one of the most important steps in SEO on YouTube. They should best show users what they will find in the material, but also help the algorithms to link the film with other videos on the platform. To a large extent, it is the tags that determine which videos will be sidelined with similar content suggested by YouTube. However, it is worth choosing tags for your video carefully – too many unrelated tags may be considered spam by algorithms and result in a penalty from YouTube. The aforementioned vidIQ tool will help you choose the best tags. It can be used in two ways. If we add the first tags to the video, the algorithms will show us similar tags with great potential. However, we can also search for them manually, checking in the vidIQ program the activities of the competition that is best at positioning on YouTube. It is worth adding niche keywords in the tags, such as the name of the channel or exact phrases from the title of the movie, but also popular, though not very broad, terms. If we have a chicken stew recipe video, a better tag would be #cassersauce than alone #recipe.

Step five – adding a custom thumbnail to the video

Next to the title, the thumbnail is the most visible element on the list of results, therefore it largely encourages or discourages users from clicking the link, and thus has a significant importance in positioning the page on YouTube. Therefore, it is worth taking care of positive visual impressions of our recipients and preparing a special board that will inform about the subject of the film and attract the eyes of Internet users. It is true that we can choose one of the automatically generated thumbnails by the platform, but YouTube itself states that 90% of the most effective videos are those that have a custom thumbnail. It is important that the image is of very good quality and is legible on the list of films also on smartphone screens – after all, about 70% of YouTube users use the website via mobile devices.

The parameters relevant to the thumbnail are:
– thumbnail size: 1280 × 720 pixels,
– format: .jpg, .png, .gif or .bmp,
– file size: maximum 2 MB.

When creating thumbnails, it is worth using, for example, the Canva graphics program – it has not only a YouTube-sized creator, but also ready-made templates that we can use.

Step six – movie subtitles

Videos published on YouTube should also be enriched with subtitles. They will be useful when the user is watching video with the sound muted, and will facilitate reception for deaf people. In addition, they are very important for the positioning of videos on YouTube – the platform’s algorithm likes films with subtitles, preferably in several languages. We can add captions in various ways. The easiest way is to put a regular text transcript in the description of the movie. Then the user can read the content, but will not be able to view the material at the same time. However, we can use a simple editor on YouTube and add subtitles to the video directly on the platform. On the available timeline, let’s mark there when a given part of the text should appear on the screen and how long it should remain on the screen, thanks to which it is easy to synchronize the subtitles with the sound. However, we can also use an external tool and export the file to YouTube in the .srt format. In the case of the most important films on our channel, it is worth trying to add both a transcript in the description and subtitles in the material itself.

Step Seven – Cards and End Screens

Cards and end screens can be compared to linking in texts to various tabs of a website or external services. They encourage recipients to see other video materials, subscribe to a channel or go to an e-shop website, but also allow them to conduct a survey.

Cards are well-formatted notifications that can be set at different points in the movie using the timeline editor. When we turn on the cards on YouTube, the so-called snares which, when clicked, take the user to another movie, channel, etc. – depending on the implemented link. You can enter up to five cards in one movie. The end screens work in the same way, but appear as a full-surface element after the movie ends. You can set a selected photo as a background and place visually attractive links – for example, when we decide to enter a link to another movie, its thumbnail will appear on the screen.

By taking advantage of the end-screen cards and screens, we greatly increase the chance that a user will reach for other content we publish – especially when combined with the appropriate CTAs in the video. So it is a very important element of SEO on YouTube.

SEO on YouTube – a simple way to increase your visibility

Initially, positioning videos on YouTube may seem difficult and time-consuming, but with a little practice, it does not take more than a few to several minutes (of course it will take longer to create a transcript, but it’s really worth adding). Compared to the time needed to prepare a video, this is very little, and it can make the effort to make a recording worthwhile. Importantly, the correct positioning of a video on YouTube builds a more engaged group of users, and thanks to it, the material often scores a better average rating (the ratio of paws up to paws down) than paid-promoted videos. Could there be a better reason to start SEO?

Creating a website can, however, be a heavy burden on the budget of young companies. The basic cost of the site consists primarily of the price of the domain and hosting as well as the work of the graphic designer and developer. Another cost is the time that you need to spend to find the right technologies and even prepare content, graphics and photos. The choice of solutions that do not require the involvement of external specialists is associated with the need to increase the time required to prepare the site. However, website creators have limitations that can prevent them from gaining customers effectively. Let’s take a closer look at popular solutions and consider when building a page with the help of a creator will pay off, and when we should, however, choose other solutions.

Website Builder – what is it and how does it work?

Website creators are a kind of computer program that allows you to create a website without knowledge of HTML and CSS, not to mention other languages. Creating a page from scratch, we choose the background color and add further details by selecting a specific element from the available collection. The graphic design we created and the background content added in it are rewritten into the language understood by web browsers. Boom – the website is ready.

The main principle of website creators has not changed substantially since the appearance of the first program of this type. Modern versions, however, have much greater capabilities and faithfully stick to the principles of creating pages and Google guidelines. Modern solutions allow in some cases to run seo processes and effective positioning of websites created with the help of one of the currently popular creators – Wix, Squarespace or wordpress Elementor.

Website creators from 10 or more years ago offered very limited customization options, and no one thought about adaptation to mobile devices or positioning.

Website creators – where did their popularity come from?

Website creators allow you to quickly create a functional website. Depending on the advancement of the creator, they allow you to modify ready templates, add colors, icons, and format text. Thanks to these solutions, creating a website does not always have to be associated with high costs. Most creators provide some functionality for free or in the form of a subscription – and the price of such is much lower than the fees associated with the work of a graphic designer and programmer.

An additional advantage of creators is their friendliness to non-technical users. Services like WIX present the functionality of their program in an accessible way and help you build your dream website step by step. The tutorial and the ability to prepare the site according to your own vision (limited only to the choice provided by the platform) allow you to start the promotion even on a very limited budget and … do not require the involvement of developers.

The number of platform users that have enabled the creation of their own website in recent years has begun to grow – in proportion to marketing efforts undertaken, among others by Wix, Weebly or Squarespace, which sponsors a whole range of Youtubers. Wix deserves special attention here – the advertisements of the website could be seen during the last few Super Bowl games, and they took part in, among others Karlie Kloss, Jason Statham and Gal Gadot.

Pros and cons of website builders

It can not be hidden that the independent creation of websites is quite popular. Is it, however, a universal solution? Let’s look at the pros and cons of such programs:

Pros:
– costs, a definite plus of creators is the ability to build a site after the so-called “Costs”, which I mentioned earlier. Part of the functionality is available for free, some for a fee or as part of a subscription, which can be terminated at any time or with a monthly notice period;
– intuitive navigation, adapted to the skills of non-coding people – pagebuilders do not require their users to know about coding pages, language skills and rules for creating websites. Website creation is done by means of graphical navigation – drag & drop or selection of subsequent options from the drop-down list of available elements;
– security – one of the biggest problems associated with having a website is to provide yourself and your guests with an adequate level of protection for their data. When using the creator, the responsibility for the tightness of the solutions used remains with the creator of the service;
– time – if you believe the ads, taking a page will take about the same as a break from work. In fact, choosing the right options and template and making the final decision about the appearance will take a few hours. Still, it’s a lot less than creating a page from scratch;
– all-in-one – modern creators are solutions that allow you to create a page from scratch and in one place. This includes not only the site design itself, but also domain and hosting issues;
– help – the platform user (depending on the subscription paid) can benefit from extensive support – guides, tutorials and consultants. Thanks to this, building your own website becomes quite a pleasant experience.

Cons:
– lack of full freedom in creating the page – the number of templates and solutions to use the site – depending on the plan – is limited. Additional restrictions are also technical issues of the platform. Moving subsequent elements can be partially blocked, and adjusting their size very time-consuming;
– slow, heavy site – if in recent years page builders have made a great step towards optimization for speed, some of the solutions still leave much to be desired. Another problem is the limited or complete inability to modify the page code. This creates unnecessary lines of code, e.g. by creating unneeded nests and enlarging the DOM, which Google Page Speed ​​Insights points out as one of the reasons why websites slow down. Too many unnecessary elements that could be described in a more optimal way are the risk of more rejections for mobile device users with a worse internet connection;
– Restrictions resulting from the plan or application – e.g. the ability to create up to 10 subpages, the ability to use only a few additional applications, restrictions on adding links on the site, etc.
– Lack of possibility to fully optimize the page – the lack of access to the code prevents full optimization under search engine guidelines, and thus – restrictions related to ranking, among others on Google. More about positioning on creators in a moment.

There are more pros than cons? However, this is not a confirmation of the universality of the solution which is page builders. It all boils down to the purpose for which we create a given website and what we want to include thanks to it.

Positioning and website creators – a bumpy relationship

Website positioning created on Wix or Squarespace platforms is one of the most controversial topics in the SEO world. Most specialists still remember the times when the creator in principle prevented any optimization of the website. The problem was, among others, the inability to set a unique <title> for the subpage, creating friendly addresses, or even adding the Google Search Console code to the <head> section. Modern platforms are more seo friendly, but they still do not enjoy much sympathy among positioners. Why?

Inability to fully optimize – Optimization under seo guidelines is content and code activities. While adding content and saturating them with keywords should not be a problem, technical optimization is the way it is. The appearance of the given elements on the page is important for the user, however, wishing to conquer SERPs you should also pay attention to how the site is seen by network robots.

During positioning, it is necessary to change the content, among others titles, descriptions, headers. Creators of the type Wix or Squarespace allow you to add your own elements from this range – all changes are made via the panel. Interestingly, Wix still promotes adding the meta keywords tag and filling it with about 10 keywords, which in the positioning environment is considered unnecessary archaism. The meta keywords tag has no longer fulfilled its original role for years and is de facto redundant on the site.

Adding more advanced elements, e.g. schema tags, goes beyond standard services.

In the case of Squarespace, adding schema tags requires modification of the page’s <head> – pasting the generated code in the right place. Here, basic basic knowledge of html structure will be useful.

In this situation, Elementor seems to be the best solution – it works with popular wordpress plugins intended for SEO, e.g. Yoast SEO. However, there is still the problem of too large DOM – excessive number of nested elements that delay rendering of the page.

Unsociable seo technologies – One of the problems Wix had to deal with for some time was generating the page “on the fly” – with the help of JavaScript. As a result, the site content was virtually invisible to robots. Currently, the situation has changed – both Google has made a big step in “dealing” with JavaScript, and Wix has put greater friendliness in the solutions recommended by Google.

Unsatisfactory speed test results – In recent years, Google has significantly increased the focus on adapting websites for mobile devices and for fast rendering also for slower connections. If you look at the results of speed tests of pages made using the selected creator, it is easy to say that speed demons are unfortunately not.

The biggest problems include unused code fragments and too large DOM. These elements can be modified, provided that we have access to the code.

Here you should do justice to the creators indicated above – most of the solutions actually try to keep up with trends and implement on their platforms photo optimization and formats preferred by Google, code minification and prioritizing loading of the most important elements of the page.

The problems we encounter when trying to position websites on Squarespace, Wix or built using Elementor, however, do not completely eliminate the chances of building visibility in Google search engine. There are other factors at stake – first and foremost the purpose of creating the page and the niche that the site is about.

Wix, Squarespace, Elementor … solutions for special tasks

Website creators make it easier to appear in the virtual world, but they do not quite prove themselves as professional websites for larger companies targeting competitive industries. We can talk about increasing the visibility and positioning of pages on Wix, Squarespace or other creators in the case of small, local businesses. The condition here is the use of more extensive subscriptions that allow access to advanced site modification options.

The solutions proposed by popular page builders will work to build a page from an amateur photographer’s portfolio or a page that will contain basic information about a service closely related to the local operation, e.g. a community day-care center for children. Positioning a site built on the Squarespace or Wix creator, whose ambition is to search for keywords like “New York dentist” may not be effective. In this case, making a lighter page – e.g. on WordPress, with the option of connecting an external system for booking visits, will pay off. Full access to the website’s code will facilitate optimization under current Google guidelines, and the possibility of facilitating registration of patients from the website level will significantly improve the calendar of visits.

Finding the perfect solution that will allow you to mark your position in the search engine and compete with larger players requires appropriate research and time expenditure. In this case, saving on technologies and choosing a “cheaper” solution may block the possibility of further development.

You cannot deny the universality of solutions such as page builders, but you can not put an equal sign between them and success in search engines. Seo adaptation promoted by Wix and Squarespace is primarily the ability to preserve the basics of seo activities, i.e. care for content delivery, the ability to set titles and descriptions, and the ability to connect your own domain and codes to GSC. However, positioning activities are much more than that – technical optimization requires changes that are simply not possible with subscriptions to page building platforms.

So who should you recommend such solutions to? First of all, businesses that do not have the ambition to compete in the race for the highest positions in SERPs. The website on the platform is a solution for those who target inbound traffic from social media and based on searches with the brand name or paid advertising. A website based on WIX or Squarespace will be perfect as a portfolio for young photographers, models and companies that base their content on photos and gain most contacts through activities, e.g. on Instagram.

Popular website creators

Wix – allows you to create pages using a graphical creator based on drag & drop activities. We create a page based on templates that we can use to use the editor to suit our needs. The creator allows you to create a page for free, but editing the page is limited, and our site will display ads. The extension of functionality is possible in one of several subscription plans.

Positioning your site on Wix – the creator allows you to add individual titles and descriptions for each page. Extended optimization is available thanks to the Wix SEO Wiz application, which guides you step by step through the basic activities related to online visibility – including adding Google Search Console code.

Squarespace – just like WIX, allows you to build a site based on a template related to the theme of the page. Here, however, we create and modify elements without dragging them on the side. There are 4 subscription plans available, and the larger the amount, the more possibilities of creating a page.

Positioning on Squarespace – all basic optimization elements are available – you can set titles, descriptions, URLs and even redirects. However, users complain that the positioning modification options are scattered across the platform and finding them is not always easy.

Weebly – as in the case of other popular options, also here the site is built using drag & drop. The creator, however, does not allow full freedom in arranging elements – it imposes the size and arrangement of elements, according to the selected template.

Positioning on Weebly – as with other programs, Weebly allows you to enter seo-essentials – titles, descriptions, and even altos. There are also no problems with adding codes necessary to control the page. The program also automatically generates the sitemap.xml file.

Elementor – WordPress plugin allows you to build a page in the drag & drop system, with the help of which you can create the entire layout of the site. Its definite advantage is the multitude of options that allow you to create an unconventional page. The feature-rich free version allows you to create a fully functional website .. The PRO version allows you to better adapt the design to your needs and work with other WP plugins, e.g. WooCommerce, i.e. tools for online stores.

Positioning on Elementor – creating a page with the help of a creator increases its volume. Elementor, however, prides itself on the speed of his solutions. With the help of other wordpress plugins (Yoast SEO, All-in-One SEO) you can perform quite satisfactory optimization.

PR + SEO = SEO PR

Simply put, SEO PR is a combination of search engine optimization and public relations activities, which is enriched with SERM, i.e. managing reputation in the search engine, by promoting positive materials about a selected brand and responding to negative ones.

SEO and PR combine primarily content, or content. They are needed for both activities. In order to combine SEO with PR, it is necessary to create valuable content for these two areas of marketing. It is not difficult, but requires the development of detailed guidelines and is more time-consuming than creating typical “pretzels”. The development of such content is associated with higher costs, because you need to write a virtuoso of a pen who will understand the issues of building image on the web as well as the principles of search engine optimization.

SEO PR – why is it important?

The issue of SEO PR is considered increasingly popular and important, and all because the creation of a positive image on the web is a key issue for most companies. It is supposed to bring benefits to both SEO and PR activities – the combination of these fields strengthens SEO activities and helps in positioning public relations materials.

The use of public relations in SEO pays off for every brand. Benefits will benefit both a little-known brand that just wants to promote, and a large company wanting to prevent and control image crises. SEO PR is also useful when you want to build an expert position on the market and fight for high-end clients.

How to use PR in SEO?

SEO PR often reaches for companies in a crisis situation, when, for example, a lot of negative information about the company appears on the web. In such a situation, campaigns are often one of the solutions often used, during which a number of positive image messages are published. The effect is to reduce the visibility of adverse content. However, SEO PR should be implemented in a marketing strategy in times of prosperity. It will be an effective tool that will help promote the company and its products, and at the same time build consumer confidence and e.g. an expert image. Thoughtful actions will also allow you to obtain valuable links in a natural and quite safe way, and often (importantly) free. For valuable content, the portal may agree that the press release be included for free with the link.

In summary, using public relations in SEO activities,
– A positive image of companies is created,
– Increases search engine visibility,
– Increases organic traffic on the site,
– Increases sales,
– Builds a group of new recipients.

How to make PR valuable for SEO?

SEO RP activities should be conducted in accordance with current Google recommendations and naturally fit in with strategies to build the company’s image. If you want to conduct them, remember to avoid “artificial” actions at all costs – search engine algorithms are more and more sensitive to them and capture them better. Therefore, it becomes necessary to prepare an analysis for UX and plan the creation and distribution of content. In order not to get lost in these activities, it is recommended to create an SEO PR strategy that will determine, among others target group, task calendar, topics covered by SEO PR, issues related to SEO optimization (e.g. list of dedicated keywords, content structure, structural data encouraging clicking on the message), content distribution and promotion tools.

It should be remembered that even the best prepared and implemented SEO strategy will not bring results if you do not constantly monitor and control changes. For SEO PR, good timing and upcoming trends are important. The need for quick response means, with SEO PR, it is worth combining with real time marketing. Orientation in the current situation will allow to use them in favor of the promoted brand or product. You can even use Google Trends to analyze trends.

If you want to use PR in SEO activities, you should not forget to build correct relations with the media. In an era when the Internet is saturated with content, you cannot delude yourself that you will send a low-level text to the portal with a link, and it will place and promote it. To get the press information to a widely read medium, PR should be conducted at a high level and create attractive, unique, timely, correctly substantive content, interesting from the point of view of the reader (and not the company) that you want to reach. At the same time, you cannot expect the publisher to always publish information for free with a dofollow link attached. To avoid disappointment, publication conditions should be set in advance, with links only when the article enforces it. An active link in a PR message should be an integral part of the content, e.g. redirect to content sources, examples, solutions to a given problem, etc.

Tools for SEO PRs

It is also difficult to talk about the effectiveness of SEO PR if you do not use the tools available on the market. They will help in obtaining data, monitoring effects and changes, building image in search engine. SEO PR tools that are worth paying attention to are:

– Keyword analysis applications – they will help you choose the right phrases that will be used in published PR materials; both the free Google keyword planner and free applications can be used to search for keywords;
– Network monitoring tools – their task is to inform about mentions that appear about the brand; this allows for a quick response to them, and also indicates where to place bulilding links; SEO tools can be used to monitor the network.
– Applications that monitor search results;
– Content and content publishing platforms, as well as Google Ads and Facebook As promotion tools that will increase the visibility of produced content;
– Internet forums – can be used not only for “whispers”, but also for substantive statements of the brand, in which he will give extensive statements on the topic in which he wants to specialize; in these statements, you can add a dofollow or nofollow link naturally (if possible);
– Brand ambassadors – cooperation with influencers is an increasingly popular solution; it turns out that the correct definition of its rules can have a positive image effect, as well as increase visibility in search results;
– Applications for running a virtual press office – they will enable easier management of databases of cooperating journalists and faster sending them of press releases; many platforms for running e-press offices also allow the journalists with whom they cooperate to retrieve information.

The brand’s reputation in the 21st century is the most expensive currency. Positive opinions and the image of an expert can be won even with a larger competitor that offers cheaper products / services. SEO PR will ensure both the visibility of the page in the search engine and put the brand in a good light. Importantly, thanks to activities carried out effectively, brand visibility on the web will grow rapidly, and Internet users will easily find published content even by asking Google general questions related only to the long tail of search. Entrepreneurs who wondered whether investing in SEO PR should dispel their doubts.

How to use SEO PR articles?

A. When entering the company, ask for all company publications available on the Internet. Review them for possible link placement (no matter if Dofollow or Nofollow) – and under the name (brand) put a link to the main page. At the same time, if possible, rebuild a sentence so that you can add one more link, e.g. to a category, product or service.

B. If the customer does not have a list of articles, use footprints to search for articles in the search engine, for example:
– “company xxxx”
– “about company xxxx”
– “at xxxx”
– “by xxxx”
– “by xxxx”
If you already have a list, contact the editors of these articles and try to put a link there.

C. Make sure that all new PR publications contain a minimum of 1 brand link (sporadically brand + keyword) to the homepage.

D. If possible, put several products with links to them in the article, the full name of the product may be an anchor (don’t forget about nofollow, because it may be necessary).

E. Use all possible Social Media channels to promote your brand – positioning them results in queries about the company name, brand, domain name – search results are the company’s URL and profiles. SERM is also part of PR.

F. Remember what keywords you are fighting for above all:
– name + reviews
– name + portfolio
– name + rating
Unfortunately, in the case of phrases such as “name + scammers / bankruptcy” will be a huge challenge.

G. Browse the positioned website – implement all possible extended parts to obtain “knowledge graph” – that is the box describing the company: local business, website, organization.

H. Use PBN platforms to get interesting spots for publishing articles (sometimes it’s cheaper). An interesting option is the publication of the article on portals that are in Google News – there is then a chance for a carousel with such articles to appear on brand queries.

Facebook Blueprint – available certificates

Level Associate:
– Facebook Certified Digital Marketing Associate

Level Professional:
– Facebook Certified Media Planning Professional
– Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional
– Facebook Certified Marketing Science Professional (Pilot, available only on individual invitation, related to data analysis and visualization, requiring, among others, knowledge of Python, MySQL, and Big Data issues)

Level Developer
– Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer
– Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer II
– Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer III

What is the exam process in Facebook Blueprint?

The exam conditions are very precisely defined by Facebook. If we fail to do so, we may be disqualified, so you should read them well before taking the exam.

You can use the option of taking an exam at work. The conditions for taking the test are to disable all programs and applications, stay in a room where there is nobody else. During the exam, we are observed by the examiner, who can ask to show any place in the room at any time through a webcam built into the laptop. He may also notice when we make any “suspicious move”

Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer I

Facebook Certified Ads Product Developer I is a certificate that was created in place of the former Facebook Bronze Certification. To obtain a certificate, you must complete two parts: a multiple-choice test and an exercise in which a previously created pixel should be installed on the test page, along with several selected events, parameters, a code responsible for advanced matching, and a pixel should be connected to the directory on FB. The exam is a condition of joining Facebook Marketing Partners, and checks knowledge of:

– creating and managing Business Manager and its resources
– creation and implementation of the FB pixel, along with all available events and parameters, and the use of custom conversions
– creating catalogs and catalog-based campaigns
– understanding and implementing processes related to (Advanced Matching) in manual or automatic implementation
– connecting the FB pixel to the catalog
– solving problems related to incorrect pixel implementation,
– troubleshooting problems related to directory errors
– solving problems related to problems connecting pixel signals with products from the catalog

Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional

Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional is an exam for people professionally managing Facebook ads. The exam covers issues in the field of planning, setting, optimization and reporting of campaigns. Exam questions concern practical issues, most of them contain a description of an imaginary situation and possible variants of behavior in it.

Unlike the Product Ads Developer exam, in this case, we can start with a mock exam with 30 questions, the result of which has no effect on the final exam.

How much does the Facebook Bluprint certificate cost?

Each exam takes $ 75.

How do you study for the Facebook exam?

I describe the level of difficulty of both exams as high – certainly, in order to approach it at all, it is necessary to have practical experience in working with various types of campaigns. On the Facebook Certified Media Buying Professional exam, the questions cover a whole spectrum of topics, including reach and frequency campaigns, unavailable for most accounts. In order to take the exam, in my opinion it is necessary:

– reworking the Blueprint course
– min. 1-2 years of experience working with different types of campaigns and on large budgets, regular use of different types of campaign optimization, regular testing of new solutions
– understanding the optimization rules, the ability to respond appropriately if the campaign does not go according to plan – e.g. if the result is not adequate, or if the campaign does not spend the budget

For the Facebook Product Ads Developer I certification exam, it is necessary to have experience with the implementation of the pixel along with all events and parameters, on various CMSs and directly in the code. Unfortunately, after all we do not get information as to where we made mistakes.

Pros and cons of the exam process itself?

After the exam, we wait up to a few minutes for the result and it’s hard for me to imagine that anyone at that time would be sure of success. The level of difficulty of the questions is high, therefore passing the exam gives enormous satisfaction and certainty that we do our work at a high level.