Hey y’all,

I’m fresh back from the digital marketing grapevine — here’s what I got for ya!

• It’s funny how the universe sends the same message twice — this time about B2B sales leads. The first story: “B2B Marketers’ Lead Quality Assessment” presents survey results showing only around 35% of B2B marketers are fully confident in their lead data. The exception cited in the story is that confidence level in leads generated via content syndication are high, with 68% rating lead quality as exceptional or very good. Naturally, we automatically made the connection between content syndication and SEO that help searchers find that content. And then this story popped up: “The B2B SEO Trap: Why High-Intent Visibility Can Still Underperform.” Note the underperformance is in immediate sales, not in terms of visibility that enhances brand performance in the long term. SEO is still considered a very valuable tool for helping B2B marketers drive sales that typically have longer customer journeys.

• Search Engine Land published a summary of a study done under the banner “Generative AI is changing search, but Google is still where people start.” Before you get too excited, the survey consisted of remote usability with just nine participants in North America and the UK. Two conclusions are worth noting though: 
  • 1. Google is a habit and users still rely on it in addition to AI search. No one in the survey relied solely on AI for information needs. 
  • 2. Some users are starting to refer to ChatGPT as simply “chat.” Not sure “chat” will become the verb “google” has for search but we at DBE are calling ChatGPT the “Google” of AI search bots due to its dominance in driving visitors to client websites.

• A few days ago our team was wondering where the little “SearchGPT” button went on the ChatGPT page. Lo and behold, this article comes out: ChatGPT is sending less traffic to websites – down 52% in a month. Though, reddit traffic is up (makes sense because it uses Google rankings and we all know how Google is diggin’ on Reddit). Check out the LinkedIn post from Josh Blyskal.

• The latest Meta whistleblow? A former Meta employee: Meta artificially boosting Shops Ads Performance but counting shipping and taxes as sales and subsidizing auctions in the U.K. Without the fees and taxes, Shops Ads perform no better than traditional ads. Food for thought.

• Hashtag limits? Oh yeah. TikTok has that now. Only 5 per post.

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Tussling and maneuvering swiftly about my office, my dogs are in a playful kerfuffle over a toy. 

They keep jamming into the backs of my legs (by accident) as I work at my standing desk.

Watching them run their 27th circle around my office chair, I notice something. If I push it back three feet, they don’t swipe me nearly as much. 

Are there any office chairs in your life? And can you move it 3 feet to make things a little easier on yourself?

I’m not sure if you know this, but you’re pretty great. Don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.

Natalie

The short answer? A seemingly unending amount. Here’s a list of the ones we think are legit:

SAIO/SEO Glossary.