William Roy, Web Accounts Manager & Co-Founder @ Immerge Technologies , A McClung Company Keeping Up with Google in 2014 PART OF MC UNIVERSITY
William Roy, Web Accounts Manager & Co-Founder @ Immerge Technologies, A McClung Company
Keeping Up with Google in 2014 PART OF MC UNIVERSITY
The Challenge
500+ Algorithmic Changes Each Year
In 2012 alone, Google says they had 665 “launches” of new search-changing features
Above: Google’s process based on 2012 data
Innumerable Fluctuations in Search Results
On average, each month 8.5 of the top 10 will change ranking position.
And every day, 78% of search results have some ranking change.
85+ Unique Types of SERPs
There’s New Information Every Day
Marketers are constantly testing, Google is constantly announcing, and new discoveries are constantly being made.
Via 10 SEO Experiments
Why Bother Keeping Up?
The Opportunity vs. Older Methods Only
In SEO, the Rich Get Richer
Top search ranking positions don’t just drive traffic…
They also earn clicks, sales, shares, branding, and links that make it even harder to outrank them over time.
If You Used Manipulative Tactics or Outsourced, There’s High Risk
Anchor text heavy link building was once a staple of SEO; now it’s a liability.
Two rec’d posts: Identifying Link Penalties and Guide to Penalty Removal
As a Marketer, Keeping Up is as Important as Doing the Work
What Do We Absolutely HAVE to Know?
Major Algorithmic Updates
This free resource from Moz shows every major, “named” update over the last 13 years
Spotlight Update: Hummingbird
Hummingbird promoted results that are less about perfect keyword targeting and more about matching the query’s intent.
Major Click-Biasing Changes
Via Eye Tracking SERPs from Dr. Pete
SOME GENERAL IMPLICATIONS As Google moves away from 10 plain listings for more and more searches, it is definitely having an impact on search users. You need to be familiar with your competitive space and take advantage of SERP enhancements, like video thumbnails. Ranking #1 might not be pulling the weight it used to if your competitors down the page have more visually interesting results. These results also suggest that the in-page Local/Places results are having a strong impact, even if they fall in the middle of the page. If your query has a local flavor, you need to be aware of how your Google Places page is competing.
e.g. Instant Answers With answers this complete, can anyone get real search traffic for these terms?
e.g. Knowledge Graph
h"p://youtu.be/mmQl6VGvX-‐c
e.g. Rel=Author Markup
These show up because the writers have used Google+’s rel=author integration.
e.g. Google+ Based Personalization
This only ranks because the person follows Cyrus on Google+
Major User Behavior Changes
Pew gives some nice, big picture data in their 2012 search engine use report
e.g. Mobile Search Behavior
Via http://www.smartinsights.com/mobile-marketing/mobile-marketing-analytics/mobile-marketing-statistics/ and http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/196826/
“What are mobile searchers looking for? Both mobile phone and tablet searchers find accuracy of informaFon to be more important than depth of content, according to the researchers. Tablet searchers, however, are placing more importance on depth of content over Fme, while mobile phone searchers are placing less importance on this measure.”
e.g. Load Speed Expectations
Via Google’s Site Speed Overview
How does your site stack up to your industry?
e.g. CTR Curve Changes
Some of the SERPs CTR studies compared by Geoff Kenyon
Every year, the distribution of clicks becomes less concentrated, suggesting more people scrolling further to find what they want.
What Google’s History Can Tell Us
Google of the Past Focused on Limited Inputs
Google of the Future Will (try to) Consider Everything!
For more detail, check out this visual guide to on-page optimization and the 2013 search ranking factors
Google of the Past Had 10 Blue Links
Basic results like this comprise less than 20% of Google’s SERPs today.
Google of the Future is Visually Complex
SEO of the Past Was a Small Subset of Mostly Technical Tasks
SEO of the Future Encompasses a Huge Number of Responsibilities
SEO of the Past Was Tactical
There is still a lot of this in the SEO field.
SEO of the Future is Strategic
We are slowly, as an industry, moving in this direction. Being an early adopter is a powerful thing J
3 Strategic & 3 Tactical Tips for Great SEO in 2014
Strategy #1: Make Sure Your Marketing & Product Tell a Cohesive Narrative.
Far too many of us in the marketing world do “transactional SEO.” We don’t think about why we’re making content or getting rankings or earning traffic, and thus waste a ton of effort. Google’s Avinash Kaushik wrote an excellent post detailing the “See. Think Do.” Model.
Strategy #1: Make Sure Your Marketing & Product Tell a Cohesive Narrative.
Does the story you tell here…
match the way you market, sell, and deliver results here?
Strategy #2: Determine Where SEO Really Fits in Your Branding, Education, Conversion, & Retention Efforts?
What kinds of content & rankings will bring the right people to these places at the right time?
Strategy #3: Don’t Build a Team of SEOs. Build a Team of Great Marketers with Strong SEO Skills.
More details here: http://moz.com/rand/the-t-shaped-web-marketer/
Tactic #1: Worry About Earning the Click & Satisfying the Visitor As Much Or More than Ranking Higher
If the snippet doesn’t excite searchers and the page doesn’t deliver value, all the keyword targeting, link building, & social sharing in the world won’t save you.
Tactic #2: Better Content > More Content
Facebook likes are well correlated with higher rankings, yet all the evidence says Google doesn’t index Facebook directly.
See the full post from Eric Enge: Does Facebook Activity Impact SEO?
?
Tactic #3: Correlation might be more interesting than causation.
More details here: http://moz.com/rand/what-do-correlation-metrics-really-tell-us-about-search-rankings/ and full ranking factors here: http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors
If you can discover what features your higher-performing competition has (in search, social, or content), you’re likely on to something big.
Tactic #3: Correlation might be more interesting than causation.
More details here: http://moz.com/rand/what-do-correlation-metrics-really-tell-us-about-search-rankings/ and full ranking factors here: http://moz.com/search-ranking-factors
E.g. I don’t care if Google doesn’t use Facebook. I care because content that gets Likes/Shares also seems to get whatever stuff is needed to rank better.
SEO in 2014 is much more than just “SEO.”
But every SEO skill you’ve built from 1997-2013 remains
valuable & necessary.
Let’s Look At Some Tools
Google Universal Analytics Google Webmaster Tools
Google AdWords & Remarketing Google Page Speed Optimizer
Google Universal Analytics
Universal AnalyFcs is the re-‐imagining of Google AnalyFcs for today’s mulF-‐screen, mulF-‐device world and all the measurement challenges that come with it. UA just came out of beta last month in April 2014. It’s the movement from tracking visits to tracking visitors. Universal AnalyFcs is the new operaFng standard for Google AnalyFcs. All accounts will soon be required to use Universal AnalyFcs. You need to be savvy or have a web developer take care of the update.
Google Webmaster Tools
Logging into www.immergetech.com Top Features For First Time Tool Users • Preferred Domain SeYng (canonical seYng for where to apply Google Juice) • Data Highlighter (for any structured info so it can show on SERPs) • Duplicate Meta Tag Assessment (clean up your pages to show Google you care) • Major issues DiagnosFc Tools (important to resolve if any listed) • Keyword data (sFll get some data!)
LINK: Google Webmaster Tools Homepage/Login
Google AdWords & Remarketing
Google AdWords • Pay-‐Per-‐Click and Google Ads in search are becoming more relevant, less ignored
by users, and blended in more with the rest of search results • CreaFng a profitable campaign takes more than just seYng up an account. • Immediate visibility, be"er analyFcs, and so much more! Dynamic Remarke?ng lets you create and deliver beauFful customized ads that connect visitors with their unique past shopping experiences on your site.
Remarketing Example
I visited Rose"a Stone last night through an ad I saw on some site. I did NOT make the purchase... Today I visited two sites through Google searches and I saw two Rose"a Stone ads. Coincidence? I think not!
Google Page Speed Insights
The speed of your website impacts Google and it influencer users staying on your site. Google created a tool that can rank your site and provide recommendaFons for a webmaster to implement to improve your site. Note: Not everything they recommend should always be done! EXAMPLE: JavaScript async load recommendaFon can break many sites. Let’s demo. Any score above 70 is a good one. Don’t expect 90-‐100 EVER. LINK: Google's Pagespeed Insights Tool
Continue Learning
h"ps://analyFcsacademy.withgoogle.com/
Thank You / QuesFons
Contact William Roy [email protected] Linkedin.com/in/williamroy @WilliamRoy @Immergetech Direct: 540-‐307-‐0766
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