“Read the directions and reflect them in your answer. If it asks, ‘Tell us what KPIs were improved by doing X,’ ideally, your answer is, ‘By doing X, we increased organic traffic by Y%’.

“You’d be surprised how many entries don’t address the question directly and succinctly at the outset and then follow up with supporting points.”

– Holly Miller Anderson, Lead SEO Product Manager, Under Armour

“Include the strategy behind the tactics – what were the client objectives, and how did your work tie back to those objectives? Also, incorporating uncommon tactics that other search marketers might not think of will make your entry stand out.

“For example, using video and display campaigns to drive leads; or an innovative way to increase lead quality using Performance Max. Show us how you thought outside the box to achieve your goals!”

– Melissa Mackey, Director of Paid Search, Compound Growth Marketing

“Don’t just say ‘best practices’ for how something is managed – be specific. It’s the thoughts, creativity, problem-solving, and details of how you accomplished your results that matter.”

– Brad Geddes, Co-founder, Adalysis

“You really have to differentiate yourself. A lot of that, to me, is about showcasing your thinking. Really get into the diagnosis and then explicitly explain your strategy so that you can detail how it was innovative.

“Everyone can talk about keyword clustering, but what makes you stand out is in how you identified the problem and then uniquely used the tactic as a remedy! Context can really be everything.”

– Mordy Oberstein, Head of SEO Branding, Wix.com