How to craft a worthwhile Search Engine Land Awards entry: Past judges part their suggestion

Since inception in 2015, the Search Engine Land Awards has acknowledged exceptional marketers on an annual basis — showcasing their oustanding work, offering nicely-earned exposure in coverage and interviews, and bestowing upon them the highest honor in search.

However the avenue between deciding to launch an application and worthwhile the award is generally a lengthy one. Despite the indisputable reality that this 365 days’s submission route of has been vastly streamlined — it’s never been faster or more straightforward to consume to the Search Engine Land Awards — there’s peaceful a tale that has to be informed. And whereas the methodology wherein you affirm that memoir is entirely up to you, we conception we’d gape support on some suggestion from previous judges about what undoubtedly wows them, what they’d take dangle of to see extra of, and what areas are supreme averted...

Get rid of reading for 17 ideas for increasing an award-worthy submission:

What impresses the judges most:

1. “What impresses me is when other folks dangle clearly aligned the tools and aspects they’re utilizing to the desires they dangle to enact. It sounds clear-reduce, but the entries which may per chance per chance also be aim-oriented in preference to obsessed on ways are repeatedly strongest.” – Ginny Marvin
2. “When entries dangle a original take dangle of on a tell of affairs or feature and discuss about into how their blueprint is a amount of from the norm, and narrate why is their blueprint or ways are award-worthy.” – Brad Geddes
3. “When submissions are succinct but concrete of their campaign summaries, affirm examples (i.e., ad ingenious the put linked) and consume straight-ahead English in preference to marketing and marketing talk.” – Greg Sterling
4. “When candidates are ready to coast previous percentages of will increase and affirm tangible outcomes of how the campaign suddenly impacted the underside line of the industry. Also, it helps to put outcomes into level of view — so moderately than merely pronouncing: ‘Earlier than the campaign, the client became supreme bringing in this # of leads, clicks, and many others — but the campaign raised that amount to XXX’ provide an instance of how the campaign impacted the industry total and now not correct the analytics. – Amy Gesenhues
5. “When entrants part a form of technical recordsdata around their case analysis.” – Barry Schwartz
6. “When entries camouflage their level with stats, graphs, and especially screenshots of GA/PPC Engine/ other paid search tech services. Too many correct hiss, ‘we increased industry [some huge number]’ with no methodology to support it up.” – Brad Geddes
7. “It undoubtedly impresses me when entrants affirm how they retooled, revitalized [a campaign] or did one thing unparalleled to enact unparalleled outcomes. Or, how they outfoxed a competitor in a clever methodology – anything that reveals how unparalleled outcomes came from undoubtedly strange work.” – Matt Van Wagner

What judges deserve to see extra of:

1. “I take dangle of to see orchestration — when groups consume tools, ways and aspects in attention-grabbing systems to resolve complications and pause on a methodology.” – Ginny Marvin
2. “Photographs from the campaign and recordsdata illustrating concrete outcomes. Calling out what became innovative or especially important or efficient regarding the campaign.” – Greg Sterling
3. “Tales around how the campaign became outlandish from other campaigns the company and/or client had utilized in the previous and the tools feeble to put in force the campaign. Also, did you learn anything from the campaign that you just’ve been ready to introduce to other campaigns/clients. Were there any unexpected advantages that played out throughout the route of the campaign?” – Amy Gesenhues
4. “I’d take dangle of to see extra recordsdata from our entrants that pinpoint successes or mess ups of their case analysis.” – Barry Schwartz
5. “Entries that affirm the challenges they’d to overcome which may per chance per chance also be outside of the norm (the scrappy startup against goliath, goliath showing it may per chance per chance per chance innovate peaceful against the scrappy startups stealing market part, and many others), that will doubtless be market prerequisites, a industry substitute, and many others.” – Brad Geddes

What entrants must cease doing:

1. “It’s nice to test original betas, but having win entry to to betas doesn’t make you a pleasant marketer. Be definite your entry doesn’t lean on implementing the most fresh beta aspects as proof of working a successful campaign. That’s now not ample.” – Ginny Marvin
2. “Padding their discussions, utilizing marketing and marketing jargon or bloated writing. I’d moreover take dangle of to see much less self-congratulation.” – Greg Sterling
3. “The usage of language bask in world-class, supreme-in-class, and many others. to clarify your campaign. Talk about explicit numbers and outcomes. The usage of flowery language to invent-up the campaign takes away from accurate/quantifiable outcomes. (In other words, let the numbers talk for themselves.)” – Amy Gesenhues
4. “No longer differentiating on blueprint or ways. While it’s indispensable that we scrutinize ‘supreme or same outdated practices’ are in role in an tale, we’re moreover purchasing for a detailed explanation of blueprint that undoubtedly differentiates the work from others… For example, an tale trying out original ad extensions / codecs or a touchdown page that breaks conference but delivers impressive conversion recordsdata.” – Brad Geddes
5. “Claiming will increase of 200% in case you undoubtedly mean 100%. A 100% amplify capacity you doubled your amount. Going from $100 to $137 is now not a 137% amplify. It is a 37% amplify. I’d bask in it that in case you hiss ROAS, you affirm the formula you feeble to calculate it. A 1000% amplify is practically repeatedly disregarded as a metric. It is the reverse of impressive – it is suspicious. It is in all likelihood you were doing very minute earlier than and now you are doing a piece bigger than nothing.” – Matt Van Wagner

The final reduce support-off date for the 2021 Search Engine Land Awards is September 3, 2021 at 11: 59 pm PST. Evaluate the categories for 2021 and launch your application right here.