What to Analyze on Competitor Sites for SEO
Keeping an eye on competitors is one of the most effective ways to fine-tune your SEO game. Taking a close look at their websites can reveal what’s working for them and, more importantly, where you might have an opportunity to stand out. This approach not only highlights what works but also gives you ideas on what to do differently to stand out. The problem? With so much data available, it’s easy to feel lost in a sea of metrics and details.
Where should you begin? Some might say keywords are the top priority, as they give insight into what search terms competitors rank for. Others argue that digging into content structure reveals how they’re engaging their audience, while others swear by examining backlinks and technical SEO for a complete picture.
This guide is here to make things clearer by breaking down the main areas of competitor SEO analysis into manageable pieces. From understanding which keywords are bringing in the most traffic to exploring the quality of their content and the strength of their backlinks, we’ll cover it all.
Here’s a straightforward look at the essential elements to analyze on competitor sites so you can enhance your own search rankings and create a strategy that works for you.
1. Keyword Strategy: Finding the Right Search Terms
Keywords are a cornerstone of any SEO strategy, so it’s crucial to understand which keywords drive traffic to your competitors. Analyzing their keyword choices can help you uncover high-value terms and find keyword gaps. For tips on building your own strategy, look at this Beginner’s Guide to SEO Keyword Research. Here are a few steps to focus on:
- Primary Keywords: These are the main terms a competitor targets across their site. Primary keywords can give you a good idea of where competitors are focusing their content efforts and what topics are relevant to your audience.
- Long-Tail Keywords: Often more specific and lower in search volume, long-tail keywords (e.g., “affordable digital marketing agency Toronto”) reveal specific user intent. Competitors that perform well on long-tail keywords might be getting targeted traffic that converts better.
- Branded vs. Non-Branded Keywords: Branded keywords include the company name (e.g., “Traffic Soda SEO services”), indicating brand awareness. Competitors ranking well on branded keywords are often seen as trusted brands. Non-branded keywords are more general (e.g., “digital marketing in Toronto”), helping you identify topics without brand bias.
Evaluating these keyword types shows you where competitors may be outpacing you while revealing gaps you can leverage. A smart keyword strategy considers search intent and conversion potential, helping guide users from curiosity to purchase.
2. Content Analysis: Finding What Hits the Mark
Creating high-quality content is essential for SEO success. Studying what your competitors are putting out there can give you valuable insights into what resonates with your audience. Start by checking out their top-performing pieces—note the topics, formats (think blog posts, videos, infographics), and engagement metrics. Here’s a quick breakdown of what to look for:
- Types of Content: Are they leaning on blog posts, product guides, tutorials, or case studies? Offering a variety in content types often signals an effort to engage different segments of their audience effectively.
- Quality and Depth: Longer, in-depth content generally ranks better in search results. Examine the quality of writing, level of detail, and readability—this can show if they’re prioritizing SEO with valuable, detailed content.
- Engagement Signals: Metrics like comments, social shares, and time on page are great indicators of audience response. High engagement often means the content is not only relevant but valuable to readers.
Once you’ve got a sense of what’s working, consider where you can take it further. Could you make something even more detailed or engaging, or focus more specifically on your audience’s needs? Running a content gap analysis can help pinpoint these opportunities.
For ideas on creating content that truly connects, check out Traffic Soda’s article on How Social Media & Content Marketing Work Together to see how aligning content with audience interests can make an impact.
3. Backlink Profile: Building Authority and Trust
Backlinks remain one of Google’s top-ranking signals, and knowing where competitors get their backlinks can provide valuable insight. A robust backlink profile generally means a competitor has strong authority and credibility. By analyzing this profile, you can identify potential link-building opportunities.
- Top Referring Domains: Which high-authority websites are linking to your competitors? These sites may be open to linking to you as well, especially if you offer unique, high-quality content.
- Anchor Text Variability: Review the anchor text competitors use—whether it’s branded, keyword-focused, or generic. The balance of anchor text types can tell you a lot about the credibility and focus of a competitor’s backlink profile.
- Page Types That Get Links: Are product pages or blog posts getting the most backlinks? Knowing this can help you decide where to focus your own backlink strategy.
A thorough backlink analysis can uncover link sources you hadn’t considered and open new outreach opportunities. Having a well-rounded backlink profile helps establish your site as an authoritative resource in your industry. For more strategies on link building, check out Traffic Soda’s What Is Link Building? A Beginner Guide, which covers everything from choosing the right anchor text to finding high-quality linking opportunities.
4. On-Page SEO: Strengthening Each Page’s Performance
On-page SEO is about refining individual pages to make them rank better and deliver a seamless experience for visitors. Studying how competitors handle on-page elements can help you identify strategies worth implementing on your own site.
Here’s where to focus:
- Engaging Titles and Meta Descriptions: High-ranking sites often craft titles and meta descriptions that are concise, compelling, and naturally keyword rich. These elements should be direct and informative, giving search engines and users a clear sense of what the page offers.
- Structured Headings and Subheadings: A well-organized header structure (using H1 for main ideas and H2 for sub-sections) helps improve readability and signals to search engines which sections are most relevant. Notice if competitors align their headings with commonly searched questions or topics.
- Effective Internal Linking: Internal links support SEO and enhance site navigation by guiding users to related content. Competitors with strong internal links often see higher engagement, as visitors are encouraged to explore further.
Optimizing these on-page factors can boost your site’s search visibility and create a better experience for users, leading to more organic traffic and improved performance for each page.
5. Technical SEO: Ensuring Site Health and Accessibility
Technical SEO forms the backbone of a well-optimized site, helping search engines properly access, crawl, and interpret your pages. Reviewing the technical SEO of competitor sites can give you a better sense of where your own site might improve.
Here are key areas to focus on:
- Site Speed: Tools like Google PageSpeed Insights can reveal how quickly competitor pages load. Faster load times improve user experience and often lead to better rankings, so speeding up your own site can be a big win.
- Mobile Optimization: With the majority of users browsing on mobile, having a mobile-friendly site is essential. Check if competitors’ sites are fully optimized for mobile devices and ensure yours offers a seamless experience across screens.
- Core Web Vitals: Core Web Vitals measure page performance based on metrics like loading speed, responsiveness, and visual stability. These factors are increasingly critical for ranking, so see how competitors are handling them to guide your own optimization.
Focusing on these technical SEO aspects can strengthen your site’s foundation, improving accessibility, usability, and ultimately, search rankings.
6. Social Media Signals: Gauging Audience Engagement
Social media engagement isn’t a direct ranking factor, but it can indirectly impact SEO by boosting brand visibility and driving traffic. Many users discover content through social media, so a strong social presence can amplify your SEO efforts. Analyze your competitors’ social media activities to see what resonates with their audience.
Consider the following:
- Platform Usage: Are competitors focusing on Instagram, LinkedIn, or Twitter? Understanding where they’re active can help you determine where your own audience might be most engaged.
- Engagement Rates: Do their posts get likes, shares, comments, or other interactions? High engagement indicates that the content is relevant and valuable to their audience.
- Content Style: Note whether their social content is primarily promotional, educational, or entertaining. This can provide insight into the kind of tone that resonates with their followers.
By analyzing competitors’ social media presence, you can improve your own social strategy, aligning it with SEO goals to boost visibility and traffic.
Elevating Your SEO Strategy with Competitor Insights
The world of SEO keeps evolving and staying competitive means continuous improvement. Looking into what competitors are doing on their websites can provide valuable insights. By observing their keywords, content approach, backlinks, on-page SEO, technical setup, and social engagement, you’ll gain ideas for strengthening your own strategy. Consider these key areas:
- Keywords and Content Style: Identify the keywords they target and the tone or format they use, whether it’s blogs, videos, or infographics. Seeing what works for them can give you ideas for reaching your audience.
- Backlinks and On-Page Elements: Competitors’ backlink profiles often boost their authority. Study their meta descriptions, headings, and how they use keywords to optimize your own site.
- Technical Structure: Explore how they address site speed, mobile optimization, and structure. This ensures smooth access and better usability for visitors.
- Social Media Presence: Noticing how often they post and what gets high engagement can help shape your own social strategy, boosting your reach and audience interaction.
These insights allow you to make data-driven changes that help your site stand out. It’s not about copying; it’s about taking what works and making it better for your audience.
Ready to boost your SEO? Contact Traffic Soda to learn how competitor insights can help improve your site’s visibility and performance.
SEO Content Length: Why Longer Content Isn’t Always Better
“More content equals better SEO” is a trap. Period. And unfortunately, it’s one that many innocent websites fall victim to.
If you’re churning out endless blog posts, stretching every sentence to hit an arbitrary SEO content length, hoping to appease the almighty Google, you know exactly what I mean.
But a recent Google Core Update has only confirmed what many smart SEOs already suspected – that it isn’t just about quantity (or really about some magical SEO content length at all), it’s about quality.
Google wants to see content that’s genuinely helpful, informative, and engaging for users, not just a jumble of words designed to game the system.
So, what’s a marketer to do? That’s where we come in. In this post, we to debunk the myth of “more is better” and help give you a more nuanced understanding of SEO content length.
Google’s Official Stance on SEO Content Length
The message is loud and clear: Google doesn’t have a magic minimum or maximum word count.
Alongside their Helpful Content update, Google released the following key recommendations on creating what it considers Helpful Content:
- Avoid search engine-first content. Don’t just write for algorithms. Write for people.
- Focus on value. Create content that genuinely helps, informs, or entertains your audience.
- Don’t chase trends. Write about topics you’re knowledgeable about and that resonate with your existing audience.
Notice what’s missing? Any mention of specific word counts or some minimum SEO content length.
In fact, the documentation specifically says that “Answering yes to [this] question below is a warning sign that you should reevaluate how you’re creating content”:
Are you writing to a particular word count because you’ve heard or read that Google has a preferred word count? (No, we don’t.)
Even Google’s own Search Quality Rater Guidelines, the once-secret playbook that Google staff and contractors used to evaluate web pages, don’t explicitly mention content length. Instead, they focus on substance and value.
According to these guidelines, high-quality content often requires “significant effort, originality, and talent or skill.” It might involve in-depth analysis, comprehensive coverage, or expert insights.
And yes, that might naturally lead to longer content, especially for complex topics.
But it’s not about length for length’s sake; it’s about achieving your purpose and demonstrating expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
Don’t chase SEO content length or arbitrary word counts. Chase quality.
What Data and Studies on SEO Content Length Reveal
We know what Google says about word count, but we know Google isn’t always an open book when it comes to their search algorithm. Quite the opposite, in fact. So, we can’t just take the above at face value.
The good news is that third-party research does back up what Google has told us when it comes to SEO word count.
Backlinko, in collaboration with industry giants Semrush and Ahrefs, analyzed millions of Google search results and found that word count was fairly evenly distributed among the top 10 results, with an average of around 1,447 words.
Another Backlinko study found that long-form content tends to attract significantly more backlinks and social shares than shorter articles. That means longer content can help you build authority and visibility, which indirectly boosts your SEO.
However, there’s a catch. Backlinko also found that the benefits of long-form content start to plateau after the 2,000-word mark. So, while longer content can be valuable, there’s a point of diminishing returns.
Arefs’ own study of nearly a billion web pages also found a moderate positive correlation between content length and organic traffic — but only up to 2,000 words. Beyond that, the correlation turned negative, suggesting that excessively long posts might hurt your SEO (more on why that might be later).
Longer content can be beneficial, but it’s not a magic bullet.
The key is to find the sweet spot where your content is comprehensive enough to provide value and attract backlinks, but not so long that it overwhelms or bores your audience.
Analyzing Our Own Blog Data
At TrafficSoda, we’re all about putting theories to the test. So, we took a deep dive into our own blog data to see how content length correlates with SEO performance.
Looking at our top 15 blog posts for organic traffic over the past year, we found that the average word count was a respectable 2,016 words. On the flip side, our bottom 15 performers averaged a mere 949 words.
But hold on, don’t jump to conclusions just yet. There are a few caveats to consider.
- Time relevance is playing a role. When we first started out, we aimed for shorter blog posts, so many of our older articles naturally fall into that category. These older articles aren’t all as relevant as they once were, and this is influencing their performance.
- Our longer posts tend to delve deeper into topics, offering more detailed information and analysis. We’re not just adding fluff to reach a certain SEO word count, we’re providing genuine value.
This reinforces the idea that longer content isn’t inherently better. While longer posts can perform well, it’s not a guarantee. The real key is to create content that’s comprehensive, informative, and engaging, regardless of its length.
When Longer Content Can Hurt SEO
While longer content can help, there are several scenarios where excessive length can hurt your SEO efforts instead.
1. User Experience and Engagement
No one likes landing on a webpage that’s a never-ending wall of text. It’s overwhelming, right? It causes cognitive overload.
When users are bombarded with too much information without any visual breaks or clear organization, it becomes difficult to process and retain anything.
This leads to frustration, a quick exit from the page, and a potential ding to your SEO.
2. Dilution of Key Information
Longer content also runs the risk of burying important points or answers to specific user queries.
If your readers must scroll endlessly or struggle to locate the information they’re looking for, they’re likely to abandon your page and seek a more concise and user-friendly source.
This can also impact how search engines understand your content. If your core message or purpose gets lost in a sea of words, search engines might struggle to identify the main topic and relevance to user queries, potentially hurting your rankings.
3. Technical Issues
Let’s not forget about the technical side of things. Extremely long content, especially if it’s loaded with images or videos, can slow down your page load times. And nobody likes a slow website, especially Google.
Plus, long content tends not to be optimized for mobile devices, leading to a poor user experience on smaller screens. With more and more people searching on their phones, this can significantly impact your SEO.
Finally, there’s the risk of keyword stuffing and thin content. To reach a high word count, some creators resort to tactics that can actually hurt their rankings. Quantity over quality is always a mistake.
So, before you start churning out those 5,000-word blog posts, take a step back and consider the potential downsides. Longer isn’t always better.
Key Takeaways
- Forget about chasing arbitrary word counts or SEO content length. Instead, focus on creating content that genuinely addresses the needs and interests of your target audience. Do your research, offer valuable insights, and present your information in a clear and engaging way. It’s not about how much you say, but how well you say it.
- Match your content length to the specific purpose and user intent. A simple “how-to” guide might only require a few hundred words, while a comprehensive white paper on a complex topic could easily run into the thousands. If you can answer a question concisely, do it. If you need more space to explore a topic in depth, take it.
- Break up your content with clear headings, subheadings, and bullet points. Use visuals like images, infographics, and videos to enhance engagement and make your content more digestible. And don’t forget about page load times and mobile friendliness. A slow or clunky website can send users running, regardless of how great your content is.
Your audience craves content that’s informative, engaging, and genuinely helpful. Search engines reward content that demonstrates expertise, authority, and trustworthiness.
So, as stated earlier, stop chasing an arbitrary SEO content length and start chasing value. Craft content that resonates with your readers, answers their questions, and solves their problems. That’s the key to SEO success in today’s digital landscape.
Need help developing a content strategy that delivers results? Our team of SEO experts is here to guide you every step of the way. Contact us today to learn more about our services and how we can help you achieve your online goals.
Should the Google Search Algorithm Leak Change Your SEO Strategy?
Unless you’ve been off on vacation the past two months (or, you know, just aren’t glued to SEO news feeds like we are) you’ve probably heard about the massive Google Search algorithm leak.
The short version is this: in March of 2024, thousands of pages of internal Google documents were released to Github, revealing some of the secrets behind Google’s search algorithm – the system that decides which websites show up first in your search results.
This is a big deal.
For Google, a company that has prided itself on decades of algorithm secrecy, the leak is a rare and embarrassing misstep – a crack in the tech giant’s armour.
For the rest of us, this leak is significant because it suggests Google Search might not work the way Google led us to believe. Specifically, it raises concerns that Google might be using more data to rank your website than they’ve let on – things like how often people click on your site, what they do after clicking, and even what they do on other websites.
Google, of course, is downplaying the whole thing (although they did confirm that the documents are real). They say the info is outdated and taken out of context.
But let’s be real: Google isn’t exactly known for being an open book about how their search engine works. So, the details in these leaked documents could be one of the few glimpses we get at what really goes on behind the scenes.
What does this all mean for your small or mid-size business? Should you be scrambling to change your SEO strategy? That’s the million-dollar question we’re here to tackle.
Unpacking the Massive 2024 Google Search Algorithm Leak
The leaked documents in question were confirmed to be the blueprints for Google Search’s Content Warehouse API – the system that stores and processes tons of data about websites.
While the documents don’t give away Google’s entire formula for ranking websites, they do reveal some intriguing points that hadn’t been confirmed up until now:
- Google seems to be sizing up websites based on some kind of authority rating.
- How users click on your site in search results and how long they stick around might mean more to SEO rankings than Google has let on.
- Google uses data from its Chrome browser to track user behavior across the web (not news) and this might have a big impact on site rankings (definitely news).
- And much more. The documents hint at all sorts of other factors, from keyword stuffing penalties to special considerations for “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) topics like health and finance.
If you’re worried about how your website might be affected, we’re here to help. Don’t leave your online presence to chance – book a free consultation with our SEO team.
Now, let’s dig into what each of these factors could mean for your website.
1. Google Keeps Proprietary Site Authority Scores – But We Don’t Get to See Them
If you’ve dabbled in SEO, you’ve probably heard of Domain Authority (DA) or Domain Score (DS). These are scores created by SEO tools to predict how well a website might rank on Google. They’re often useful, especially when it comes to competitive analysis, but they’re not official Google metrics.
Before 2024, Google repeatedly denied using any kind of site-wide authority score like DA or DS to rank websites. They claimed it didn’t exist, and generally discouraged us from fixating on scores put together by third parties.
Then came the leak…
Buried within those documents was a clear reference to a “SiteAuthority” score. What the SEO has taken this to mean is that Google does have a way of sizing up a website’s overall credibility, at least in specific subject areas.
This is a big deal. It means Google might be playing by a slightly different set of rules than they’ve let on.
Now, we don’t know exactly how Google calculates this SiteAuthority score, or how much weight it carries in their overall ranking algorithm. It might not even work the same way as those scores from SEO tools.
But what we do know is that Google is paying attention to more than just individual pages. They’re looking at your website, and this SiteAuthority score could be a big part of that evaluation.
2. Clicks Might Count for More Than We Thought
For years, Google insisted it didn’t use clicks to decide search rankings. But many SEO experts weren’t buying it. They suspected that clicks played a bigger role than Google let on.
The recent leak finally confirmed these suspicions. Buried in those documents was something called Navboost – an algorithm that tracks and analyzes user clicks.
So, what’s the big deal about Navboost? In short, it learns from your clicks. It remembers what you clicked on, how long you stayed on a site, and what you did next. This information helps Google figure out which websites are most relevant and helpful for specific searches.
We first got a glimpse of Navboost during Google’s antitrust trial back in 2023. At the time, Google downplayed its significance, but this leak suggests it might be more important than they admitted.
Here’s what we’ve gleaned about Navboost so far:
- Click Data: Navboost is all about clicks. It stores data on clicks for up to 13 months, learning from user behavior over time.
- Search Intent: It focuses on improving results for navigational queries (like searches for specific websites), but it likely influences other types of searches as well.
- Personalization: Navboost may tailor search results based on your location, device, and past clicks.
The leak basically confirms that user behavior plays a significant role in how Google ranks websites. It reinforces the idea that creating a positive user experience isn’t just good practice – it’s essential for SEO success.
If your website is easy to navigate, engaging, and keeps visitors clicking and exploring, Navboost is more likely to see it as a valuable resource and potentially boost its rankings.
On the other hand, if your site frustrates users or doesn’t meet their needs, Navboost might take note and adjust your rankings accordingly.
3. Your Visitors’ Chrome Data Might Impact Your Rankings, Too
Ever notice how Chrome seems to know what you’re interested in? Well, that’s because it’s quietly tracking your online activities.
With billions of people using Chrome worldwide, Google’s got a treasure trove of data on how we browse the web. This isn’t new.
And guess what? The leak suggests they’re using this data for more than just showing you personalized ads. They’re likely analyzing your clicks and browsing patterns to figure out which pages on your website are the most important. This can even influence those handy little Sitelinks that appear under some search results, guiding users to the most relevant parts of your site.
Now, before you start feeling like you’re living in a fishbowl, let’s address the elephant in the room: privacy. Yes, Google’s data collection methods raise some serious questions. As SEO professionals, we’re committed to ethical practices and respecting user privacy.
But here’s the thing: understanding how Google uses this data is crucial for effective SEO. It’s about working with the reality of the situation, not necessarily endorsing it.
The leaked documents hint at just how extensive Google’s data collection is. They’re not just looking at what you do on their own platforms – they’re tracking your clickstream across the entire web. This data helps them paint a detailed picture of your interests and preferences.
This contradicts some of Google’s public statements about user privacy. But by understanding the true extent of their data collection, we can tailor our SEO strategies to align with the factors that matter for ranking.
Why Should You Care About the Google Search Algorithm Leak?
Okay, so Google’s got some secrets. Why should that keep you up at night?
Here’s the thing: how Google ranks websites directly impact how many potential customers find you online. And if Google is playing by a different set of rules than they’ve let on, your current SEO strategy might not be as effective as you think.
This leak gives us a peek behind the curtain, revealing potential factors that could be making or breaking your website’s ranking. It’s like finding out the referee in a football game has a secret preference for one team – you need to know the rules to win the game.
Staying ahead of the curve is everything in the digital world. You need to keep tabs on how Google Search is changing and adapt your strategies and potentially outrank your competitors. And if there’s reason to believe that Google isn’t always upfront about how Search works – which many SEOs believe there now is – that makes the task a lot more difficult.
So, What Should You Do?
If we’re being honest, there’s no easy answer here. Google’s always been tight-lipped about its algorithm, and this leak hasn’t exactly made things crystal clear. So, take a deep breath – it’s not time to throw your current SEO strategy out the window just yet.
Proceed with Caution, But Don’t Stand Still
While it’s wise to be cautious about making drastic changes based on incomplete information, this leak does offer valuable insights. It’s a reminder that Google’s methods are always evolving, and what worked yesterday might not be the best approach tomorrow.
The key is to strike a balance. Don’t panic, but don’t ignore the potential clues hidden in these documents.
Focus on the Fundamentals
Even with all this uncertainty, some things remain constant in the world of SEO. High-quality content that provides real value to your audience, a smooth and user-friendly website experience, and a strong reputation with other reputable websites are still the cornerstones of good SEO.
Like building a house, a solid foundation is essential, regardless of the latest trends in architecture.
The Bottom Line: Your SEO Strategy Needs to Be Proactive
This Google leak is a reminder that it’s not enough to set up your SEO strategy and forget about it. To stay ahead of the competition and maintain visibility, you need to be proactive and adaptable.
This means:
- Keeping an eye on industry news and updates, like this leak, to understand how Google’s algorithm might be changing.
- Focusing on fundamentals. Don’t neglect the core principles of SEO – quality content, user experience, and building a strong online reputation.
- Being willing to adjust your approach based on new information and insights.
- Partnering with experts to help you navigate the complexities and stay ahead of the curve.
TrafficSoda, now a part of the awesome REM Web Solutions team, is committed to helping businesses thrive online. Our team of SEO experts stays on top of the latest trends and algorithm changes, including leaks like this one.
We offer comprehensive SEO services that can help you:
- Analyze the impact of this leak on your website
- Develop a tailored SEO strategy
- Optimize your website for maximum visibility
- Track your results and make data-driven adjustments
The Google leak is a wake-up call for businesses that have been neglecting their SEO. Don’t let this opportunity slip away. Contact us today for a free consultation and let us help you navigate the ever-changing world of SEO.
Ready to take the next step? Click here to schedule your free consultation and discover how we can help your business thrive.
What the March 2024 Core Update Means for Your Rankings
Did your website’s traffic suddenly drop in the past few months?
If so, the March 2024 Google core update may be (at least in part) to blame.
But don’t panic just yet. Core updates are a fact of life when it comes to SEO, and it doesn’t mean you can’t recover. Let’s talk about what happened, why it matters, and how you can protect your site from future updates.
What is a Google Core Update, Anyway?
If you’re a business owner, you probably know that Google is the king of the online search world. And like any monarch, Google’s got a lot of rules – its search algorithm – that determine which websites get to sit at the top of the search results.
But these rules aren’t set in stone. Every so often, Google makes a core update – a fancy way of saying they’ve significantly changed their search algorithm. These changes are a big deal, as they can seriously impact how your website ranks in search results.
Want to know the history of Google’s shake-ups? Search Engine Journal has a great history of Google’s algorithm that puts in perspective just how often it changes.
These core updates aren’t just a one-off thing, either. They happen a few times a year, and they’re often major overhauls that can affect a huge number of websites.
Why should you care? Well, if your website suddenly takes a nosedive in the rankings, it could mean less traffic, fewer customers, and ultimately, less revenue for your business. Not great!
March 2024 Core Update: Why Now?
Google is always on the hunt for ways to improve the user experience. That’s what keeps people coming back to Google, and repeat users is what get Google its ad revenue.
So, Google is constantly refining their algorithm to reward websites that offer top-notch, relevant, and trustworthy content.
While algorithm updates aren’t new, the Spring 2024 update was big, particularly in how it tackled the rising tide of AI-generated content.
The AI Content Explosion (and Why It’s a Problem)
The rise of generative AI tools like ChatGPT has been a double-edged sword.
On one hand, it’s opened up some exciting possibilities for speedy research and content creation when it’s used responsibly.
On the other hand, it’s flooded the web with a tsunami of low-quality content that lacks the depth, accuracy, and originality of human-written material.
This issue isn’t unique to Google, either. Search engines across the board are grappling with a huge volume of AI-generated “garbage” that’s making it harder for users to find truly valuable, accurate information.
Google has made it clear that using AI to generate content isn’t against the rules (for now, at least). But it’s clear from the March 2024 core update that they’re also not afraid to crack down on websites that put quantity over quality, and often, that is the case with AI-generated content.
With this update:
- Over 800 websites were completely deindexed (kicked out of) Google’s search results early on.
- Websites experienced significant fluctuations in their rankings, with some seeing wild swings up and down.
- A surprising 9.38% of websites that landed in the top 10 results after the update weren’t even in the top 20 before, meaning they’ve replaced other sites that got hit with the banhammer.
But who got hit the hardest? For the most part, it’s sites that were already on shaky ground, like those relying heavily on low-quality, AI-generated content or engaging in shady SEO tactics.
This includes sites with poor E-E-A-T – that’s Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness in SEO speak – as well as those caught using deceptive tricks like sneaky redirects or cloaking (trying to hide what your site is really about from Google).
Beyond AI: Other Key Changes in the Update
While the fight against AI-generated fluff was a major focus, the Spring 2024 update didn’t stop there. Google also tightened the screws on some other shady SEO tactics, like scaled content, site reputation, and expired domain abuse.
Scaled Content Abuse
Have you ever stumbled on a website with hundreds of nearly identical articles, clearly churned out just to game the system? Google is cracking down on this sort of mass-produced content, whether it’s created by humans, AI, or a combination of both.
Site Reputation Abuse
Some websites with solid reputations try to play both sides, hosting their own great content alongside low-quality fluff from third parties. This can be misleading for users who expect consistent quality from a trusted site. Google is now penalizing sites that engage in this practice.
Expired Domain Abuse
It’s not uncommon for expired domains to be snatched up and repurposed with low-quality content to piggyback on the old site’s reputation. Google’s been trying to put a stop to this trickery, making it harder for expired domains to be used to manipulate rankings.
What Does This Mean for YOUR Rankings?
Here’s the deal: Google updates have a direct impact on your bottom line. Your website’s position in search results isn’t just about vanity metrics. It can make or break your organic traffic, conversions, and ultimately, your revenue.
Even if you’re a conscientious website owner who plays by the rules, these changes are still important to understand so that you can better anticipate how they might impact your website and adjust your SEO strategy accordingly.
If your site suddenly sees a surge or a dip in traffic after a core update, it’s not necessarily cause for panic, but it is a sign you need to pay attention.
How to Tell if the March 2024 Core Update Hit You (And What to Do About It)
Think of your website’s metrics as its vital signs. A sudden change in rankings or traffic is like a fever – it’s a signal that something’s up. Here’s how to handle it.
- Keep a Close Eye on Traffic and Rankings: Use your trusty analytics tools to monitor your website’s traffic patterns. Look for any sudden changes that line up with the timing of Google’s update announcements.
- Break Down Your Traffic Sources: It’s important to distinguish between organic search traffic (people finding you through Google), referral traffic (people clicking links from other websites), and direct traffic (people typing your URL directly into their browser). A drop in organic search traffic could mean your visibility in search results has taken a hit due to the update.
- Consult Google Search Console: This is your direct line to Google. It’s a treasure trove of data on how your site is performing in search results. Check for any notifications or warnings that might point to specific issues Google has flagged.
If you see a significant drop in organic traffic, it’s not the end of the world. There are steps you can take to recover, and we’ll cover those in the next section. But for now, the key is to stay informed, monitor your site’s performance, and be prepared to adapt your SEO strategy if needed.
What to Do if You’ve Been Hit by the March 2024 Core Update
If your website’s been caught in the crosshairs of the update, don’t despair. While SEO takes patience, it’s not impossible. The key is to roll up your sleeves and get to work.
Start by asking yourself some tough questions about your content:
- Content & Quality: Does your content offer something unique? Is it in-depth, well-researched, and insightful? Are your headlines clear and informative, not clickbait-y? Is it the kind of content you’d be proud to share with a friend or colleague?
- Expertise: Does your content demonstrate expertise and trustworthiness? Is it clearly sourced and well-written? Do you have author bios or an “About Us” page to establish credibility?
- Presentation: Is your content free of typos and grammatical errors? Does it look polished and professional? Is it easy to read and navigate, especially on mobile devices?
- Comparative Value: Does your content offer something truly valuable compared to other websites in your niche? Is it designed to genuinely help users, not just to rank high in search results?
If you can’t answer these questions, or if you need help improving your content, we’re here to help! Our team of SEO experts can do a thorough audit of your website and provide recommendations to get you back on track.
Best Practices for Navigating Google’s Updates
Google’s algorithm is like a living, breathing thing. It’s constantly evolving to better serve its users. That means staying ahead of the game is a never-ending process.
Here are a few best practices you can adopt to make sure your website is ready for whatever Google throws your way:
Stay in the Know
The SEO landscape is constantly shifting, so staying up-to-date on the latest news and updates is essential. Follow reputable SEO blogs (like ours!), forums, and industry experts to keep your finger on the pulse.
Love Your Content (and Keep Improving It)
Your content should be your pride and joy. Regularly review and refresh it to ensure it’s always relevant, accurate, and engaging. Outdated information or stale content can quickly drag down your rankings.
Don’t Put All Your Eggs in One Basket
While organic search traffic is important, don’t rely on it solely. Diversify your traffic sources by exploring press releases, social media marketing, email campaigns, and even paid search traffic. This will make your traffic more resilient to algorithm changes.
Remember, the best defense against Google updates is a proactive approach. Prioritizing high-quality content, building a strong online reputation, and staying informed about SEO best practices sets your website up for long-term success.
Need a Hand?
Leveraging Google Featured Snippets for SEO Success
If you film a product demo or a podcast for YouTube, and you don’t get views, is it anything more than a virtual paperweight? If someone writes a blog and nobody reads it, does it really exist?
You can painstakingly create exceptional content, but your time and effort won’t mean anything if you can’t get eyes on it.
There’s a myriad of ways to draw attention to your website. From tried-and-true SEO techniques to connecting on social media, or even the classic touch of a business card, the choices are vast.
But what if there’s a golden ticket to top visibility? Enter: the Featured Snippet on Google Search.
Below, we’ll unpack this standout method and offer guidance on how to position your content for Feature Snippets. If you’re looking to have your website standout in one of the most sought after placements on Google search engine results pages, you’ll want to read on.
Contents:
- What is a Google Featured Snippet?
- Why Do Featured Snippets Matter?
- Types Of Featured Snippets
- How To Identify Content With Featured Snippet Potential
- Optimizing Your Content For Featured Snippets
- What Are Some Featured Snippet Best Practices?
- Thriving in a Challenging SEO Landscape
What is a Google Featured Snippet?
A Google Featured Snippet gives you information when you enter a query into the search field.
Note that the snippet isn’t the same as the answer box.
The answer box appears with a simple answer and without a citation. For instance, if you ask when the Toronto Blue Jays won the World Series, Google would generate “1992” and “1993” in a box at the top of a page without citations. That’s an answer box.
Conversely, when you click through to the cited website, a snippet gives you a detailed answer. It highlights the extracted blurb–and its location.
Moreover, the snippet link has an anchor tag to take you to the blurb’s precise page location instead of taking you to the top.
Are you still having a hard time envisioning a Featured Snippet? Ask Google, “What’s a Featured Snippet?” and one will appear with the definition and a requisite link. Also, underneath the extracted website text, the snippet will actually say “about Featured Snippets.”
Featured Snippets evolve continually, perpetually adding and trialling new features.
Up to 23% of Google searches yield Featured Snippets. The longer a search query, the likelier it will generate a Featured Snippet.
SEMrush research cites paragraph snippets comprise 70% of Featured Snippets, making them–by far–the most popular. An average featured paragraph snippet is around 249 characters or 42 words.
Why Do Featured Snippets Matter?
Why should your business and brand prioritize Featured Snippets?
Appearing in a snippet means you’re at the top of the search engine results page (SERP). Thus–whether on mobile or desktop–the clickability of your content multiplies exponentially.
Featured Snippets take up significant real estate on mobile screens – around 50% or more of the available space. Thus, Smartphone and Android users have no choice but to see the featured snipper for their query.
Note that Featured Snippets are more prevalent with intent-specific keywords (e.g., long-tail keywords) at a given sales funnel stage.
Types Of Featured Snippets
Before moving on to the next section, here’s a breakdown of Featured Snippet percentages (according to SEMrush):
- Paragraphs make up 70% of Featured Snippets.
- Lists stand at 19.1%.
- Tables comprise 6.3%.
- Videos are 4.6%.
Below is a list of the various Featured Snippet types:
Paragraph
A featured paragraph is the first one that pops into most people’s minds when they think of a Google snippet.
With these paragraphs, Google attempts to answer a search question with extracted text from a page.
Featured paragraph snippets can also be text from a video description.
Numbered List
You’ll see featured number-list snippets explaining how to do something.
Want a recipe for a homemade chilli or Fettuccine Alfredo? Type in “chilli recipe” or “Fettuccine Alfredo” recipe, and Google will generate a numbered list with the recipes.
This notion holds for other DIY tasks. Whenever you ask Google, “How do I?” or “How to…” there’s a strong chance that the results will feature a numbered list snippet.
Bulleted List
Imagine you want to know the top expert-rated sedans in 2023. If you take this query to Google, it’ll likely yield a featured bulleted list. Generally, you’ll be linked back to a listicle article.
You’ll typically come across bulleted lists when you want “best of” rankings or generally ranked items. Although, bulleted lists do appear for unranked items and feature lists.
Table
Tables will have pricing, lists, data, and rates.
They’re also precise in providing relevant content based on the user’s needs. A table will organize specific information about the search query and generate its own table (i.e., you won’t find the same table within the linked content).
Paragraph snippets might be the most prevalent of the bunch, but table snippets hold their own.
Tables make up almost 30% of all snippets since Google likes to show them off.
YouTube
A significant advantage of Featured Snippets is their versatility. You aren’t limited to your website. For example, your YouTube content is more prime material for Google to mine.
Are you not making YouTube videos? We get that it’s intimidating for some, but the medium is always worth exploring, given the results it yields. Check out this helpful how-to video for making excellent YouTube videos for your business.
Here are the scenarios wherein Google will feature a YouTube video in a snippet:
- It might show a specific time-stamped clip from your video.
- Text from your video description might also be used.
- In fact, YouTube snippets can turn up for any query that needs a Featured Snippet (except tables).
Carousel
Carousel isn’t only the de facto scene title of Don Draper’s finest moment in Mad Men.
It’s also a Google Featured Snippet type.
With carousels, relevant, Google-suggested keywords a user might search for will appear in little bubbles at the top or bottom of snippets.
Upon clicking a keyword, the user will see the snippet content transform into something else. The search results will also change.
The carousel snippet appears when a query requires more intensive research or refinement to offer a concise answer. It also shows itself when there’s a different answer after a refinement.
Moz research cites that around 67% of carousel bubbles appear from websites in the two to ten ranking spots. The last 33% come from non-raking sites. If you missed out initially, the carousel gives you another chance to take some snippet-based real estate.
You increase your carousel viability by ensuring you’re covering your topics comprehensively.
Double Featured Snippet
Google might seem like some omnipotent, ubiquitous, big-brother-type entity. Yet, it’s not all-knowing. It has flaws and can’t always decipher intent and meaning, as seen in how it responds to some search queries.
That said, as proven by the double-Featured Snippet, Google covers its bases, even when it’s not 100% sure about the information a user seeks.
In short, Google displays two Featured Snippets instead of one when the user’s intent is a bit murky. While “unclear intent” can have many meanings, instances include when keywords have multiple interpretations, contexts, and definitions.
Here are a couple of points to keep in mind with double-Featured Snippets:
- They increase your chance of being featured by 100%.
- Spots three through ten experience exponentially reduced click-through rates due to these double-Featured Snippets.
Two For One
The two-for-one snippet might sound similar to a double-Featured Snippet, but they couldn’t be any different.
Two-for-ones occur when Google cites two websites to answer one question. For instance, they’ll take an image from one company’s YouTube video and text from a different brand’s website.
Most queries calling for a two-for-one snippet require answers best conveyed with images.
Accordion
Do you ever notice a “people also ask” tab popping up when you make a search query?
This feature is very similar to the accordion snippet.
Such a snippet applies to queries involving topics that require more information, and the answer can’t be offered in a paragraph or table.
Accordion Featured Snippets include multiple collapsible tabs.
How To Identify Content With Featured Snippet Potential
If you were starring in a rom-com, Google would be your love interest. You’re courting them in hopes of them featuring your content in one of their highly coveted snippets.
Unfortunately, sending Google a bouquet of flowers won’t work (believe us, we’ve tried!) Even a candlelit dinner will get you nowhere.
Instead, Google seeks specific qualities within the content it intends to feature. Most crucially, the content itself must be of a high quality. The preeminent search engine in the world has a reputation to uphold. It puts the user experience first on its priority list.
Thus, anything less than excellent won’t pass the Google Featured Snippet test.
An appealing, relevant long tail keyword is the other facet of ticking Google’s Featured Snippet box.
Help your cause by discovering a tantalizing long-tail keyword (pertinent to your brand). Then, make your bid for that Featured Snippet-based real estate.
That said, creating high-quality content is a tall order. Attracting Google requires many optimization efforts, which we’ll detail below:
Optimizing Your Content For Featured Snippets
Do you want to get Google’s attention so they’ll feature your content in snippets? If so, the optimization efforts below will prove integral to your cause.
Write Headers As Questions And With Relevant Terms
Questions are Featured Snippet fodder.
After all, Google most often generates these snippets in response to a question instead of more generalized searches.
It’s always wise to ask, “Can I turn this header into a question?”
You don’t necessarily want to force it–the questions must be relevant.
However, let’s say you’re writing something like “The benefits of winter boots.” That can easily be, “What are the benefits of winter boots?” Or “What benefits should I look for in winter boots?”
What would a “forced version” of the above practice look like?
Maybe something like, “Who wants benefits from winter boots?”
While we appreciate the effort and trying to find ways to shape the header into a question, nobody’s going to ask Google such a thing.
Do your best to put yourself in your target customer’s head. What kind of questions would they ask Google about your content’s topic matter?
Remember, too, that Google seeks relevant questions incorporating equally relevant terms.
Type in half a query, and you’ll quickly notice the box below completes that very query with its own predictions. Use that to your advantage to learn the types of questions being asked.
Here’s a list of relevant questions with relevant terms (we’ll stick with the winter boot example):
- Why are winter boots so expensive?
- Can winter boots be used for hiking?
- Do winter boots stretch?
- Are winter boots waterproof?
- How do I wash my winter boots?
- Will winter boots keep you warm?
- When are winter boots necessary?
Other question words include is, which, who, should, where, and does. These will apply to specific terms in your content but not necessarily to our winter boots example.
Implement Paid Tools Into Your Content Workflow
The term “winter boots” used above has its limitations–as do other generic names for products.
“Winter boot” isn’t useless as a keyword by any means, but it’s evergreen and generalized on its own. A more versatile approach is needed to determine more relevant terms to help you reach a more lucrative audience.
More to the point, only specific types of keywords rank for Featured Snippets, and other words don’t rank at all.
Paid tools like SEMrush and Ahrefs provide much of the information required to guide your process. They provide a snapshot of which keywords rank for snippets and which don’t (when another site ranks for it).
Even if budget is an issue, we suggest investing in paid tools. The return typically vastly exceeds the upfront costs.
Free tools like People Also Ask or AnswerThePublic will show long-tail question keywords. These will give you a window into the mind of your target customer.
In fact, these free tools can provide insights into pain points you’ve never considered, going beyond offering keyword information.
Getting to the Point
A paragraph snippet is generally your go-to and what you should often aim for.
Help your cause (and your click-through rate) by providing immediate answers. Don’t beat around the bush–get to the point because it gives the reader/user what they want.
Once you give your target user the goods (a direct answer), you can sprinkle in other details to further engage the searcher, inspiring them to click through.
Note that Featured Snippets only show limited lines of text or tables (54 to 58 words).
Facts and Data Sets
Facts and data sets apply to list-based snippets.
Imagine you ask, “Should I wear running shoes or winter boots?” In this instance, you have a comparison on your hands. You can then ask about weather, terrain, temperature, environment, etc.
The information above can end up on a table.
You could also ask, “What are the different types of footwear?” In this case, you’ll likely get a list or table offering another data set.
HTML Lists
Make life easier for Google’s web crawlers by formatting your page with basic HTML tags.
Questions and bullet points require <h2> and <H3> tags. <p> applies to paragraph tags for the text. List items include <ol> or <ul> and <li>.
Lists don’t necessarily have to be ordered, although it won’t hurt if they are.
Tables
Content generated in table snippets tends to be snackable, ordered lists.
What do we mean by snackable? We mean easily digestible content that quickly and effectively conveys an idea.
Consider ways to take your current information and repurpose it into snackable lists. That could mean taking non-listicle content you’ve already written and re-writing it as a separate blog–for instance–and turning it into a listicle.
Relevant Pictures
Relevant pictures generate the best results when they’re photos or illustrations. However, infographics or diagrams will suffice if you don’t have the former.
Image Attributes and Entities.
Ensure your images have these attributes and entities:
- Alt tags:
- This written copy appears instead of a webpage image when that image doesn’t load on a screen.
- Title names:
- This is your image’s name. It tells users and Google what the image is (much like alt tags).
- File names:
- Implementing the file name of your image gives Google something else to crawl.
- File formats:
- Knowing the type of image format offers further help when Google indexes your items.
Schema
Structured data can be found on around two-thirds of articles containing Featured Snippets.
Search results and structured data go hand in hand.
Structuring data is a concise way to provide information, giving users what they want in seconds. Then, they’ll be enticed to engage with your website–known as rich results.
The optimization tips provided above will give you a significant leg up in appearing in a Featured Snippet.
However, we can’t make any promises. Turning up in a Featured Snippet comes down to various, ever-evolving factors as well as Google’s always-changing algorithms.
What Are Some Featured Snippet Best Practices?
Below, we’ll highlight some best practices to help increase the likelihood of your content appearing in a Featured Snippet:
Do the Research
Dig into the nuances of your desired snippets.
Determine where Google is grabbing snippets from on featured web pages.
Ask, “What type of schema markup does the featured content have?”
It’s time to embrace your inner Sherlock Holmes, investigate these details, and use the information to foster success.
Discover Your Searchers’ Intent
Say your keyword is “Best DIY Christmas Decorations.” The results page will likely generate visual content (i.e., videos and images). Thus, your content must be visual to match your searcher’s intent.
In the above instance, people need images to help with an activity.
Conversely, someone asking for something specific and factual would have their intent matched by a paragraph snippet.
Matching your content with intent gets you ranked and featured in snippets.
Cut to the Chase
In snippets, Google provides short, concise information, especially for voice query results.
So, cut to the chase and get to the point, eliminating needless words in the content you wish to be featured in snippets.
Incorporate a TL;DR Summary
Your most popular pages should have a “too long, didn’t read” summary at the end (or beginning), including the key takeaways. Prioritize information that yields the most conversions and audience engagement (based on your analytics).
This small effort can make a massive impact in ranking you for all manner of Featured Snippets.
Publish New Content (and Add Dates)
Google wants new, fresh content appearing as Featured Snippets. According to SEMrush, articles no more than two to three years old dominate Featured Snippets, as they’re featured 70% of the time.
Prioritize the user’s needs by adding the date to your content since most people want to ensure your information is current and relevant.
Here are the percentages for how frequently dates are displayed in Featured Snippet types:
- 47% of lists.
- 44% of paragraphs.
- 20% of videos.
- 9% of tables.
Commit to Site Structure Optimization
80% of the time, Featured Snippet content will belong to URLs/website links with a structure similar to the examples below:
- www.example.com/folder1/
- www.example.com/folder1/page
- www.example.com/folder1/folder2/
- www.example.com/folder1/folder2/page
- www.example.com/folder1/folder2/folder3/
- www.example.com/folder1/folder2/folder3/page
We don’t necessarily mean there’s a causal relationship here. Having between one and three subfolders won’t necessarily increase the likelihood of having content featured in Google snippets.
Still, it’s worth noting that longer URLs don’t typically get featured, making one to three subfolders a nice, creamy middle.
Thriving in a Challenging SEO Landscape
The current landscape for small business owners and in-house marketers is daunting.
Many fear a recession, meaning customers will have tighter financial belts than usual. Maintaining robust profit margins will require a highly nuanced approach powered by profound marketing insights.
Leveraging SEO techniques–like harnessing the power of Featured Snippets–will prove invaluable in the coming months.
After all, getting more eyes on your brand is the best way to combat challenging economic times.
Stay Ahead of These Game-Changing 2023 Local SEO Trends (It’s Not Only About AI)
Stay ahead of the game by keeping up with the 2023 Local SEO trends that have caught the eyes of our search engine marketers mid-year—and finish the year out stronger than you started.
As generative AI transforms search engines and the threat of a downturn drags on, keeping up with the massive changes happening in SEO has never been more important.
Or more challenging, for that matter, since these days, news on Google latest algorithm tweaks and search features is breaking literally by the minute.
What we want to do here is get you up to speed on seven 2023 Local SEO trends and changes that we’ve got our eyes on and tell how you can leverage them to your advantage.
Our goal? To equip you with practical insights and proven strategies that will keep your business at the top of local search results.
If you’re new to local SEO, check out the refresher below—if not, skip straight to our first point.
Content:
- Capitalize on Consistent Customer Reviews
- Build Backlinks to Your GBP Landing Page
- Leverage Your Location (or Overcome its Drawbacks)
- Unleash the Potential of Dedicated Service Pages
- Make Quality Content and Internal Links Work
- Embrace On-page, Technical SEO, and Local Schema
- Get to Know Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)
Background: Understanding Google’s Approach to Local Ranking
You know the saying, “location, location, location”?
When it comes to local SEO, Google takes this concept to heart—but with a bit of important nuance.
Beyond just physical proximity, Google’s local ranking revolves around three key factors:
- Relevance
- Distance
- Prominence
You might be wondering what these terms mean and how they can help your business. So, let’s unravel these factors one by one, starting with the first element of Google’s local ranking trinity: Relevance.
1. Relevance is the Perfect Matchmaker
Relevance is all about how well your business matches a user’s search query.
When your business profile matches what someone is searching for, Google gives you a thumbs up.
By refining your business information, you’re telling Google: “Hey, we’re the perfect match for that search!” And Google loves a good match.
2. Distance is the Art of Being in the Right Place
Distance is how far your business is from the location specified in a user’s search.
If a user doesn’t specify a location, Google takes a Sherlock Holmes approach and calculates distance based on “what we do know about their location”, which could include search history.
This factor reminds us of the importance of maintaining an accurate NAP (Name, Address, Phone Number) across your website and Google Business Profile. Even the online mentions of your business’s NAP play a role.
Making these details readily available and consistent helps Google locate your business with pinpoint accuracy, giving you a greater chance of landing in front of the right audience.
3. Prominence is Standing Tall and Standing Out
Prominence is your business’s claim to fame. It’s about how well-known or reputable your business is, both online and offline.
This factor is influenced by elements like Google reviews, backlinks, articles, directories, and even your website’s authority.
If you’re a well-established brand or a business with glowing reviews, Google is likely to boost your prominence in local search.
But this doesn’t mean newer businesses can’t compete—a well-optimized website with quality content can earn prominence, too.
Don’t Fall For the One-Size-Fits-All Local Search Myth
We’d all love a local SEO cheat sheet. Wouldn’t it be great to have a list of every ranking factor and how much they each matter?
Unfortunately, Google doesn’t play like that. In 2023, local SEO remains a game of ongoing observation and adaptation.
Suppose you’re a local SEO expert working with a drive-through coffee shop. You might notice that Google heavily weighs a factor like “popular times” for the industry.
On the other hand, if you’re doing local SEO for a lawyer, you’ll probably find that “popular times” is totally irrelevant compared to something like link authority.
Even though such observations are helpful, they do not provide a universal rule. Every market and industry has its own local search algorithm quirks.
When we say that a specific element impacts rankings, it’s not a revelation from the sacred Google algorithm scroll. It’s based on experience and observation. It’s based on the data we and other reputable SEO professionals have collected through experimentation and testing.
There’s no universal recipe for SEO success. But once you grasp this concept, you can shift your strategy from being a one-size-fits-all to a custom-tailored local SEO approach.
So, take heart. Although we don’t have a definite formula for success, we do have the collective wisdom of experience, observation, and experimentation.
And below, we’ll discuss what we’re seeing as key important factors in local SEO in 2023.
Google My Business vs. Google Business Profile (Same Thing, Different Name)
As of November 2021, Google has officially transitioned from ’Google My Business’ (GMB) to ’Google Business Profile’ (GBP). It’s the same feature, just under a new name. To add to that, the back-end dashboard where you manage your profile is now known as ’Business Profile Manager.’
1. Capitalize on Consistent Customer Reviews
When it comes to optimizing your local SEO, one factor that often takes a backseat but holds immense potential is customer reviews.
In an era where E-E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Experience, and Trustworthiness) rules, high-quality reviews can set you apart from the competition. Here’s why a steady stream of customer reviews should be your top priority.
Local Business Reviews are a Trust-Building Exercise
Google isn’t just about algorithms and bots. Above all, it’s about creating a trustworthy and reliable user experience.
And that’s where consistent reviews come into play.
A sudden rush of positive reviews can seem suspicious, like an attempt to game the system. But a steady flow of reviews over a long period? This tells Google, and your potential customers, that your business reliably provides excellent experiences over time.
That you aren’t just a flash in the pan. That you’re here to stay.
But the consistency of local reviews isn’t the only factor to consider when discussing 2023 local SEO trends. There’s also review velocity, diversity, and quality.
- Review velocity is the rate that your business gains new reviews over time. A high review velocity signals to search engines that your business is actively engaging with customers, continually fostering dialogue and feedback. Google loves this engagement. It’s a signal that your business is alive, kicking, and deeply involved with its audience. It’s an indication of freshness and activity that can significantly boost your local SEO rankings.
- Review diversity is not only about a diversity of opinions, but also diversity of sources. Google and other search engines consider reviews from various different sources, like Yelp, TripAdvisor, Facebook, as a sign of credibility. They reward businesses with positive reviews from a wide range of review sources with higher rankings. This diversity, coupled with consistency, amplifies your reputation and credibility, both online and offline.
- Review quality is just what it sounds like. While consistent reviews are key, the sentiment and quality of these reviews matter too. After all, your goal is to provide an excellent experience and build trust. Encourage your customers to share honest, detailed feedback about their experiences. Remember, every review is a story about your business. The richer the story, the more it adds to your E-E-A-T score and your overall SEO efforts.
Customer reviews are more than just ratings; they’re the testament of your customer’s journey with your business. And in the grand scheme of local SEO, they’re increasingly important.
Adopt strategies that drive consistent, quality reviews. Embrace the power of organic growth, trust-building, and the delight of a satisfied customer.
What Else is New in Local Business Reviews that Impacts 2023 Local SEO Trends?
We couldn’t let you go without mentioning a couple of key recent developments in the world of online reviews that you should pay attention to.
FTC Crackdown on Fake Reviews
In a significant step towards ensuring authenticity and credibility, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) is proposing to ban fake reviews. The new rule, if accepted, could see businesses facing fines up to $50,000 each time a customer encounters a counterfeit review.
It’s not just about penalizing businesses that use fake reviews, but also the brokers that produce them.
The proposal extends to prohibit “insider” reviews and testimonials, mandating that any review or endorsement from a company’s managers, employees, or their relatives must have proper disclosure.
This move underscores the importance of fostering a culture of genuine and ethical reviews, which can enhance your E-E-A-T score and positively impact local SEO.
Google’s AI-Based Review Filter
Google has made significant strides in making sure Google Business Profile reviews are the real deal. Part of this effort involves a new AI-based filter on Google reviews meant to weed out the fakes and the spammers.
However, this move has led to instances of genuine Google reviews disappearing. In response, Google has had to set up a dedicated process businesses can use to report missing reviews.
Interestingly, the disappearing review issue seems to impact certain industries more than others.
The real estate, home services, and construction sectors appear to be the most affected. Place-based businesses, like car dealerships, brick-and-mortar establishments, or restaurants, are reporting fewer issues.
This difference could be attributed to Google’s ability to verify “store visits”, thereby increasing trust in reviews left by consumers who have visited the location before leaving a review.
Google’s Stand Against Malicious Schemes
Finally, underscoring its commitment to real reviews, Google has taken legal action against a company allegedly creating fake Google Business Profiles and counterfeit reviews. The lawsuit indicates Google’s resolve to safeguard its platform from misuse, promising a more genuine and reliable environment for businesses and customers.
The landscape of customer reviews and local search is constantly evolving. Staying informed about these developments can help businesses navigate this space effectively, ensuring their practices align with regulatory standards and technological advancements.
2. Build Backlinks to Your GBP Landing Page
Your GBP landing page isn’t just about linking back to your homepage. It’s a matter of focusing on the specific URLs that could most impact your local rankings.
What that is depends on your business. Maybe it’s a city-specific service page, or a dedicated city page for each GBP location if you’re a multi-location business.
One way to determine which page you should link to from GPB is to look at Google Search Console (GSC). GSC allows you to pinpoint which pages are attracting traffic for your key search terms, helping you select the perfect candidate for your GBP landing page.
A great point highlighted in the article by Sterling Sky above is to make sure that your chosen keyword triggers a map pack in search results.
And remember, don’t overlook the importance of using UTMs to track your GBP traffic by location. This simple step enables you to compare GBP vs. organic data in GSC, adding another layer to your SEO insights.
Optimizing Your GBP Landing Page with Quality Backlinks
So, you’ve identified the ideal GBP landing page. Now it’s time for optimization, and that’s where backlinks come into play.
Backlinks act as a thumbs-up to your website, increasing your visibility and ranking on search engine results pages (SERPs). They offer a triple threat in terms of boosting local SEO:
- Local Authority: Backlinks from local websites and directories lend your business authority, painting a picture of trustworthiness for search engines.
- Local Citations: Backlinks from local directories act as citations, providing consistent information about your business and solidifying your business’s legitimacy.
- Local Relevance: Backlinks from local industry-related websites and blogs help to establish your relevance to your local audience.
Backlinks from local websites, blogs, and directories not only increase your authority but also showcase your relevance.
And when you add backlinks from review sites to the mix, you build an online reputation that signals quality and credibility to search engines.
3. Leverage Your Location (or Overcome its Drawbacks)
There’s another piece to the local SEO puzzle that’s bigger than ever, and that’s your physical location.
We get it. Setting up shop in the heart of the city isn’t as simple as snapping your fingers.
But understanding the strategic advantage of your location can be the game-changer in your local SEO journey.
In the context of local SEO, proximity isn’t merely about how close your business is to the searcher. It’s about your business’s closeness to the heart of the city you’re serving.
When a user searches for a service or product in a specific location, search engines prioritize businesses in or near that area. Your location’s relevance to the search query can dramatically influence your visibility.
Businesses near the city center enjoy a clear advantage in visibility. It’s simple – higher population density and foot traffic mean a larger volume of searches. The result? A greater chance of your business showing up in local search results.
Now, of course, this is a tough factor to control if you’re not located near city centers. Especially for businesses with multiple locations, the impact of location on local SEO can be a tough pill to swallow.
But here’s the silver lining: understanding this allows you to plan strategically and maximize your potential within your given parameters. While changing your location might not be an option, understanding its impact is your key to informed decision-making.
4. Unleash the Potential of Dedicated Service Pages
Remember when adding predefined services to your GBP seemed to have little impact on your local search rankings?
Those were the days. Fast forward to now, and the picture has dramatically changed.
But we recommend taking it a step further. Instead of just listing your services on your GBP, imagine creating a dedicated web page for each service.
Sounds like a lot of work, right? But consider the potential benefits.
Each page is an opportunity to showcase the unique aspects of a service, to paint a vivid picture that attracts and engages your audience. This level of detail can significantly improve your visibility for those specific services.
And there’s more. Optimized service pages can make your website a magnet for relevant keywords. This means higher ranking in search results and a better user experience for your visitors.
Your prospective customers land on a page that directly addresses their needs. No confusion, no navigation nightmare, just straight to the solution they’ve been looking for.
Suddenly, choosing your business becomes the logical next step.
Make Sure Your Service Pages Stand Out
But beware, there’s a fine line between a successful strategy and a SEO pitfall.
While it’s essential to have separate service pages, duplicating content across these pages is a no-go. Remember, each service is unique and deserves its own spotlight.
- Ensure your content is fresh and unique for each service.
- Describe its benefits, its features, and why it’s the perfect solution for your customers.
- Add relevant images, glowing testimonials, and anything else that makes your service stand out.
You must also make it a point to have your GBP landing pages reflect the breadth of your services. If a service isn’t mentioned on your site, Google’s going to have a hard time figuring out what you offer, and so will your potential customers.
By incorporating these services into your GBP landing page, you’re increasing your chances of being recognized in Google’s “website mentions” justifications. Below is the map pack result for the search query ‘buy kids bike’—note the bold text in the top two local results.
With each unique service page, tailored to the local area, you not only boost your SEO efforts but also become a more attractive choice for your customers.
5. Make Quality Content and Internal Links Work
This point follows directly from the previous one about individual service pages, and it comes in two interrelated parts: content and internal linking.
In the journey to harness 2023’s local SEO trends, your greatest ally is high-quality content. But it’s easy to fall into the trap of churning out countless pages, each one basically copying the other.
This is a pitfall you need to avoid, because Google really doesn’t take kindly to duplicate content. Our topline tips to avoid this trap are as follows:
- Focus on creating unique, valuable content for each of your product or service pages, with an emphasis on geographical relevance. Catering to your local audience is crucial.
- Paint a vivid picture of your services, and how they address the unique needs of your local clientele. Remember, you’re not just offering a product or service. You’re providing solutions that make life better. Show them how!
- Punctuate your words with relevant, original images as well. Recognizable local landmarks are a great start, but what you really want is your people and product on the backdrop of those landmarks.
Use Internal Links to Make Your Site a Roadmap
In the realm of local SEO, internal linking is like a GPS system guiding your visitors through your website.
Imagine your visitor, lost in a sea of content, unsure where to go next. The lack of clear directions leaves them frustrated.
So, how do you alleviate this? By implementing a robust internal linking structure.
Directing users to related content or services on your site enhances the user experience. It encourages them to spend more time exploring, increasing the likelihood of conversions.
Understanding and implementing high-quality content and effective internal linking is your solution to a user-friendly, Google-approved site. By addressing these key elements, you’re not only enhancing your local SEO but also providing an enjoyable user experience.
Now, it’s your turn to put these insights into action. Start by auditing your content and internal linking structure. Identify areas for improvement and make the necessary adjustments. This might be a daunting task, but remember, every step you take brings you closer to your goal of a highly optimized, user-friendly website that rules the local SEO landscape.
6. Embrace On-page, Technical SEO, and Local Schema
You’ve got a handle on the 2023 local SEO trends we’ve noticed in reviews, content, and GBP pages.
But if you stop there, you’re missing out.
Enter the world of on-page and technical SEO, with a special focus on local schema—increasingly becoming the path to truly standing out in local search, and to skyrocketing conversions.
Think of on-page and technical SEO as the foundation and the bricks of your online presence. On-page SEO involves optimizing each page of your website to rank higher and earn relevant traffic. Keywords, meta tags, URL structure, and content quality all play a part here.
Technical SEO, on the other hand, focuses on the backend—website speed, XML sitemaps, website security, mobile-friendliness, and so on. These elements might not be immediately visible, but they make a significant difference to your website’s performance and its appeal to search engines.
Each step you take towards optimizing your on-page and technical SEO is a step towards creating a powerful, search-engine friendly website that stands firm amidst the changes in algorithms and trends.
Speak Google’s Language with Local Schema
Imagine having a direct line of communication with Google’s algorithm, telling it exactly what your business is about.
This is basically what local schema can do.
By adding LocalBusiness Schema Markup to your website, you’re not just speaking Google’s language, you’re shouting out loud in it. But not in a rude way. Sanctioned shouting.
What is LocalBusiness schema? It’s a type of markup within the schema.org vocabulary, used to categorize and provide detailed information about local businesses. It translates your content into machine-readable language, or JSON-LD, making it easier for Google to understand and index your site.
Why is this important? Because it makes you eligible for rich results—those eye-catching search results that provide additional information and visuals right in the SERPs.
And the benefits don’t stop there. Rich results attract higher click-through rates, which leads to increased organic traffic, which in turn leads to more conversions.
Google provides documentation on how to add LocalBusiness markup to your website. It may feel like speaking a foreign language at first, but the reward is the opportunity to directly influence how your business appears in search results.
We’ve also heard word of SEOs using ChatGPT to write schema, which could prove a powerful time-saver. We’re sticking with relying on our experts for now, but there’s potential there.
7. Get to Know Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE)
This year, Google introduced the Search Generative Experience (SGE), which represents the single most dramatic evolution of the SERP in decades.
And yes, it’s as daunting as it sounds. But let’s break it down.
What we have now are largely observations and conjecture, but these early insights are crucial. Google’s SGE aims to integrate AI into the search results, a significant leap in our SEO journey. Currently, it’s being tested in Google’s Search Labs.
While elements of the SGE Pack and Classic Local Pack overlap, there isn’t a 100% match, indicating a broader net being cast by the SGE. It’s also a clear indication just how much AI will impact local SEO going forward.
As with any new frontier, SGE comes with its share of uncertainty and anticipation. It’s a brave new world, and the rules are still being written. But the promise it holds is too significant to ignore.
The takeaway here is simple: keep SGE on your radar. The year is only halfway through, but AI is already having a huge impact on 2023’s local SEO trends. Embrace the challenge it presents, observe its impact, and adapt your strategies accordingly.
Remember, in this game of digital visibility, the ones who adapt are the ones who thrive. It’s your playing field. Now go forth, explore, and conquer.
Keep an Eye on These 2023 Local SEO Trends
In the ever-evolving landscape of local SEO, keeping up with the shifts and nuances can seem overwhelming.
There’s a lot to take in. But remember, you’re not alone in this journey.
Our agency is here to alleviate that pressure, to help you decode the complexities, and to guide you through this challenging landscape. Reach out to us today and we’ll help pave the way for the successes of tomorrow.
ChatGPT for SEO: Comprehensive Guide to Maximize Benefits and Minimize Pitfalls
As experienced SEO experts who have been dabbling with AI for years, we’ve seen the good, the bad, and the ugly when it comes to using AI in content creation.
ChatGPT has a lot of potential, and as it stands today, it is useful for a few SEO-related tasks. However, the reality is that it’s not a magic bullet (at least not yet) and there are some serious pitfalls to be aware of.
But don’t just take our word for it — we’ve also scoured Google’s official guidelines, along with our own candid experiences and those of other marketers, to give you the full story on using AI tools like ChatGPT for SEO tasks like content writing, keyword research, meta tag optimization, and more.
Contents:
- Demystifying Google’s Guidelines for ChatGPT and AI-Generated Content
- ChatGPT For SEO: How to Make AI Your SEO Sidekick (and What to Avoid)
- Frequently Asked Questions About Using ChatGPT for SEO
- Can AI-Generated Content Rank Well in Google?
- Do You Have to Disclose That Your Content Is AI-Generated?
- Can Google Tell That Your Content Is AI-Generated?
Demystifying Google's Guidelines for ChatGPT and AI-Generated Content
AI-generated content is all the rage these days, but does it pass the Google test? And does having it on your website help or hurt your search engine rankings?
Why Google Gives the Green Light to AI-Generated Content
With the prevalence of AI tools like ChatGPT, Google has had to adapt its content guidelines to address the growing amount of machine-generated content.
And so far, the overwhelming message is that high-quality content is high-quality content, whether it was produced by humans or AI.
The top priority for Google is to deliver searchers with useful and relevant information, regardless of the method used to create it. The focus is on the end product, not the process.
The fact that a piece of content is AI-generated won’t give it an edge in Google’s eyes. However, it won’t be penalized for that reason, either. Quality and relevance are what matter most, and Google has specific guidelines for what makes content high-quality.
To sum it up, Google’s stance on AI-generated content is clear: quality is what matters, regardless of the production method. You should, therefore, prioritize generating high-quality content that meets E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness) standards and offers value to users.
“Our focus on the quality of content, rather than how content is produced, is a useful guide that has helped us deliver reliable, high quality results to users for years.”
Danny Sullivan and Chris Nelson of the Google Search Quality team
If ChatGPT helps you do that, you’re golden.
If you’re using it to game the search engine algorithm…you could be in trouble.
AI Content Creation: Best Practices According to Google
With the use of AI-generated content on the rise, Google has issued guidelines to help creators ensure that AI-generated content meets the search engine’s requirements for quality and relevance:
- Write for people, not search engines. Produce helpful, reliable, people-first content that demonstrates the qualities of E-E-A-T.
- Always have someone on your team review all AI-generated content for accuracy and quality before it goes live.
- While not strictly required, it helps to include AI or automation disclosures for content where someone might question how the content was created.
- If you do choose to disclose the use of AI, don’t use the author byline of your content to do that, even when an AI tool is the primary author.
- Never use AI to produce content that mainly exists for the purpose of manipulating search rankings.
- Never use AI to ‘spin’ content stolen from other sources.
1. Aim For E-E-A-T with AI-Generated Content
E-E-A-T is all about showcasing your dazzling expertise, first-hand experience, unshakable authority, and rock-solid trustworthiness to cement your credibility and win over your audience.
It’s one of the main criteria Google uses to evaluate whether their search ranking systems providing helpful, relevant information. While these criteria don’t directly impact rankings, Google states outright that they offer invaluable insights for content creators looking to thrive in Google Search.
By understanding and adhering to the principles of Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness, you can better assess the quality of your own content and make informed adjustments to boost its performance.
Embracing E-E-A-T will not only improve the quality of your AI-generated content, but also help you align with the underlying factors that contribute to better visibility in Google Search.
In a nutshell, think of E-E-A-T guidelines as your secret weapon to success in Google Search, whether your content is crafted by humans, AI, or even better, a powerful combination of the two.
2. AI Writers Need Human Reviewers
While AI offers a powerful tool for creating content, it’s essential to have someone review and refine AI-generated content for accuracy and quality before you hit Publish.
Human review plays a crucial role in catching any errors or inaccuracies that AI may have overlooked, ensuring that the content truly provides value to users. This vital step guarantees that your content is useful, relevant, and trustworthy, aligning with Google’s E-E-A-T guidelines.
3. Add AI Disclosures Where It Makes Sense…
When it comes to generating content with AI, transparency matters. Disclosing the use of AI in your content creation process ensures that users understand how the content was crafted. This transparency not only builds trust with your audience, but also helps address any concerns they may have regarding the accuracy or trustworthiness of AI-generated content.
Being open about AI’s involvement in content creation also demonstrates a commitment to honesty and integrity, which can further enhance your brand’s reputation.
4. …But Save Bylines For Human Writers and Editors
While AI can be a valuable asset in content creation, Google recommends that the author byline credit the human contributor(s) who ultimately ensures the end product’s quality and accuracy, not the AI itself.
Instead, disclose AI usage within the text to maintain transparency and foster trust. This way, your audience remains informed about AI’s role in content generation while acknowledging the essential human oversight that guarantees the content’s value and reliability.
5. Use AI to Write for People, Not Search Engine Algorithms
Leveraging AI only for the purpose of manipulating search rankings breaches Google’s guidelines and can result in penalties. The primary objective should always be to create high-quality, valuable content that addresses users’ needs, with search engine optimization as a secondary focus.
AI can be a powerful tool for content creation, but it’s essential to use it ethically and responsibly. The key is to harness AI’s potential to enhance your content’s quality, readability, and relevance, rather than using it as a shortcut to game the SEO system.
By prioritizing genuine value and user experience, you’ll not only adhere to Google’s guidelines but also foster trust and credibility with your audience, ultimately leading to better long-term results in search rankings and online visibility.
6. Do Not Use AI to 'Spin' Content from Other Sources
In the realm of SEO content writing, ‘spun content’ refers to a black hat SEO tactic where you copy existing content from other sources, swap out a few key words or phrases with synonyms, and present the end result as ‘new’ content, with the goal of banging out a large volume of content using the lowest possible time and effort. The resulting content is usually lazy, hard to read, and generally unhelpful, not to mention that it’s pure plagiarism.
Although Google has gotten very good at detecting and penalizing spun content, ChatGPT and tools like it make spinning content easier than ever, so it’s a never-ending arms race. That said,
Using AI to ‘spin’ or copy content from other sources explicitly goes against Google’s guidelines on original and high-quality content creation and can result in an SEO penalty that is hard to remove.
Your focus should always be on generating distinctive and valuable content that provides value to users, rather than sneakily stealing content for the sake of manipulating search rankings.
ChatGPT For SEO: How to Make AI Your SEO Sidekick (and What to Avoid)
Right now, there’s no shortage of misinformation circulating the internet about the use of ChatGPT for SEO. These misconceptions tend to stem from misunderstandings of either ChatGPT’s capabilities, or of SEO itself.
To set the record straight, we’ve conducted thorough research and gained hands-on experience in this domain, leading us to develop a set of recommendations for using ChatGPT for SEO.
In this section, we’ll share the practical applications of ChatGPT for SEO, drawing from the hands-on experience of our SEO experts. These insights are based on what has actually worked for us — we don’t include anything here that we haven’t personally tested.
We’ll tell you what works, and outline the best practices to ensure the content you craft with ChatGPT adheres to Google’s guidelines for high-quality and original content.
1. Streamline the Creation of Schema Markup
One of the ways you can use ChatGPT for SEO is simplifying the process of creating Schema Markup. Schema Markup is a type of code that is added to a website’s HTML to provide search engines with more information about the content on the page. This additional information can include details about the author, ratings, reviews, and other relevant data that can help search engines better understand the content and display it more effectively in search results.
ChatGPT can be used to create Schema Markup by generating content that includes the necessary information for Schema Markup.
By using ChatGPT to create Schema Markup, you can save time and effort that would otherwise be spent on manually generating this content. Additionally, using ChatGPT ensures that the content is generated in a consistent and accurate manner, which can help to avoid errors and inconsistencies in the Schema Markup.
However, it is important to note that ChatGPT should not be relied upon solely for creating Schema Markup. It is still essential to have a human review the generated content to ensure that it is accurate and meets the necessary guidelines for high-quality content.
2. Optimize SEO Elements for Better Visibility
ChatGPT can be a valuable ally in brainstorming essential SEO elements like headlines, headings, meta descriptions, and meta titles. These components play a crucial role in optimizing web pages for search engines, ultimately enhancing their visibility in search results.
Leveraging ChatGPT for brainstorming can save time and effort, as it rapidly generates multiple options for each element. For instance, when creating a captivating headline, simply input basic information like the content’s topic or focus, and ChatGPT will present a list of potential headlines.
Similarly, ChatGPT can be used to generate ideas for headings, meta descriptions, and meta titles. By providing some key information about the content, ChatGPT quickly offers options that can be refined and optimized based on SEO best practices.
However, it’s important not to rely exclusively on ChatGPT for generating these elements. Human input and oversight are crucial for ensuring that the generated options are accurate, relevant, and in line with SEO best practices.
Additionally, remember that SEO is more than just keywords and rankings; headlines, headings, meta descriptions, and meta titles should also be engaging and compelling for human readers.
3. Quickly Craft Summaries, Tables, FAQs and Lists for Blog Posts
Featured Snippets appear at the top of Google search results, providing users with concise answers to their questions and often increasing click-through rates.
By incorporating structured formatting like bulleted lists, tables, FAQs, and summaries, you make it easier for search engines to understand and extract key information from your content, increasing the likelihood of winning a snippet.
Using ChatGPT for these elements also promotes consistency and accuracy across your content. By employing the same tool for these elements, you can maintain a uniform tone, language, and style, resulting in a more cohesive and professional-looking website.
4. Find a Starting Point for Broad Keyword Research on Unfamiliar Topics
Keyword research is crucial for optimizing your content for relevant search terms, ultimately enhancing its visibility in search results. ChatGPT can be a helpful starting point for conducting broad keyword research when you’re dealing with topics you don’t know much of anything about.
However, It is absolutely essential to note that ChatGPT does not have direct access to any metrics like keyword volume, difficulty, or SERP features. To obtain this information, you’ll need to use a dedicated keyword research tool or service. So you’ll need to plug the keywords you get from ChatGPT into another tool to see if they have actual value.
With that in mind, Tom Demers over at Search Engine Land has written an excellent article about how to use ChatGPT to find keyword ideas. We’ve tested this method and found it’s a great way to brainstorm jumping-off points for more in-depth keyword research using tools like SemRush.
5. Perfect for Snippets, Limited for Long-Form Content
ChatGPT shines when it comes to generating bite-size snippets of text for various contexts like landing pages, social media posts, and blog articles.
However, if you plan to use ChatGPT for bigger blocks of content, there’s a few important caveats to consider:
- Repetition: ChatGPT tends to repeat phrases within the same chat, resulting in robotic and formulaic content that puts readers to sleep. Right now, repetition is one of the single biggest tells for AI-generated content.
- Loss of Focus: Like a copywriter without their coffee, ChatGPT is prone to lose focus in long-form content, since it doesn’t actually know the overall purpose or intention of the text. You’ll start seeing a lot of unfocused or even incoherent passages.
- Lack of Natural Flow: Unlike skilled human writers use a variety of proverbial tools to boos readability: jumping between long and short sentences, breaking paragraphs into digestible chunks, cracking jokes to take the edge off, and sharing personal anecdotes to create a genuine connection. ChatGPT can do a decent job.
To make the most of ChatGPT’s potential, use it as a starting point for content and then refine the output with human expertise and creativity.
From our experience, the best approach is to think of ChatGPT as a brainstorming partner that helps you break free from the stifling grip of writer’s block. The next time you’re staring at a blank page, try plugging your ideas into ChatGPT — you’ll get an instant output that can help get those creative juices flowing. Once you’ve got a starting point from ChatGPT, you can take the reins and refine, expand, or build on the output to create a piece that truly resonates with your audience!
Frequently Asked Questions About Using ChatGPT for SEO
Yes, and here’s why: Google uses the same ranking factors for AI-generated content as it does for human-generated content. However content is produced, Google recommends that you aim to produce original, high-quality, people-first content demonstrating qualities E-E-A-T.
To create content that meets these criteria, Google recommends thinking in terms of the Who, How, and Why of content production:
- “Who” refers to the author or team responsible for creating the content. Include bylines that link to more information about the author, their expertise, and other content they have created. This helps establish credibility and authority.
- “How” refers to the process and tools, such as ChatGPT, you use to create content. Be transparent about the use of automation, its benefits, and its role in the content creation process. This builds trust with your audience and enhances the credibility of your content.
- “Why” refers to the purpose of creating content. Focus on producing high-quality, people-first content that meets the needs of users, rather than content aimed solely at manipulating search results or generating clicks.
Remember, the ultimate goal is to provide users with the most helpful and relevant content when they conduct a search.
To date, there haven’t been any reliable wide-scale tests conducted comparing the ranking of human-written versus AI-generated content in search engines like Google. Most examples found online are individual experiments that may not be directly comparable. There are individual examples of AI-generated content that has done well (like BankRate’s content), and content that has not (this experiment using a site with entirely AI-generated content), but the examples are so different that they’re not comparable.
The key takeaway is that Google’s ranking factors focus on the quality, relevance, and usefulness of the content, regardless of whether it is human-written or AI-generated. The main objective is to produce original, high-quality, people-first content that demonstrates Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T).
No, but there are times when you should seriously consider it. According to Google’s official developer blog, AI or automation disclosures are useful for any content where someone might wonder about the content creation process.
However, Google also notes that giving AI an author byline is not the way to do that. Instead, it’s important to be transparent about the use of AI in the content creation process, while also giving credit to the human authors and editors who were involved.
Ultimately, the decision of whether or not to disclose that content is AI-generated is up to you…at least for now. However, with the rapid advancement of AI technology and the increasing concerns surrounding AI-generated content, it’s possible that regulatory changes or platform-specific guidelines might require transparency in the future.
By proactively disclosing the use of AI in your content creation process now, you can stay ahead of potential future requirements and show your commitment to transparency and honesty with your audience.
Benefits and Drawbacks of AI Disclosure
Benefits:
- Provides transparency and builds trust with your audience
- Gets ahead of potential platform-specific or legal requirements in the future
Drawbacks:
- Bias against AI-generated content can create a perception that your content is less credible or trustworthy
- May raise ethical questions about the use of AI in content creation
- Reveals your content creation methods to competitors
Most likely. Back in November of 2022, Google software engineer Duy Nguyen said that Google has “algorithms to go after” those who post AI-plagiarized content. So, it’s safe to assume that Google can detect AI content.
And that makes sense. As a search engine, Google’s primary goal is to deliver high-quality, relevant, and useful content to its users. They’re continuously refining their algorithms to ensure that low-quality, plagiarized, or manipulative content is not rewarded with high rankings in search results.
Google invests heavily in machine learning and artificial intelligence to improve its search algorithms, so it is reasonable to assume they can identify and take action against AI-plagiarized content. However, this does not mean that all AI-generated content is inherently bad or penalized by Google. As long as AI-generated content is high-quality, original, and adds value to users, it can still perform well in search results.
The key is to use AI tools like ChatGPT responsibly. Aim to create content that caters to your audience’s needs and adheres to Google’s guidelines. By doing so, you can harness the power of AI to improve your SEO efforts while avoiding potential penalties or negative impacts on your search rankings.
A Balanced Approach to AI-Generated Content
While ChatGPT and other AI tools have their place in the world of SEO, they are no substitute for good writing, thoughtful content creation, and a strategic approach to SEO.
As with any tool, it’s important to use ChatGPT wisely and in line with best practices to avoid negative consequences for low-quality content or plagiarism. Remember that AI-generated content is not a magic bullet, and it’s up to you to ensure that your content meets the same standards of quality, relevance, and usefulness as any other content you might create.
Our team of SEO experts is ready to help you with your content creation and overall SEO strategy. We understand the importance of producing high-quality, original content that adheres to Google’s guidelines and offers value to your target audience.
If you’re interested in learning more about our services and how we can help you succeed in your SEO efforts, please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us. We look forward to working with you!
How to Measure SEO in Google Analytics 4: A Step-by-Step Guide
Ready to step up your SEO in Google Analytics 4?
Whether you’re an analytics pro or just starting out, we’ll take you through 5 easy ways to use Google Analytics 4 (GA4) to measure your SEO performance and take your strategy to the next level:
- How to create ‘Views’ like Universal Analytics in GA4 in order to segment or exclude certain traffic to get the most accurate numbers for your SEO reporting
- How to create a Traffic Acquisition Report to see exactly how much of your website traffic comes from search engines like Google Search and Bing, and why
- How to see your top backlinks in order to determine which backlinks are really worth the investment
- How to create a Landing Page Report to analyze which of your website pages are attracting the most organic traffic and which need to be improved
- How to see if your organic visitors are converting and follow their path from discovery to conversion so that you can patch any leaks in your marketing funnel.
Grab a cup of coffee and get comfortable. Let’s dig into the world of SEO in Google Analytics 4!
(And if you get overwhelmed, don’t worry—our SEO services include done-for-you GA4 integration. Don’t hesitate to reach out if you need help getting started.)
Background: What’s the Difference Between Universal Analytics and Google Analytics 4 for SEO?
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is the latest version of Google Analytics, and it brings some significant changes compared to Universal Analytics (UA).
GA4 adds a ton of new functionality, a brand-new interface, and most importantly a completely new data model. This provides some significant advantages over UA when it comes to measuring SEO performance, including:
- Enhanced Measurement: Google Analytics 4 introduces automatic tracking called enhanced measurement which automates a wide range of tracking processes you had to set up by hand in Universal Analytics. GA4 automatically tracks page scrolling, clicks to external sites, using site search, video engagements (including starts, progress, and completion), file downloads, and more.
- Cross-Device Tracking: Google Analytics 4 features reliable cross-device tracking using Google Signals or User-ID. In other words, GA4 can tell when a user switches from their mobile device to a desktop computer and treats them as one user. Not only is it more accurate than UA, but it also offers you deeper insights into how people use different devices.
- Improved Session Tracking: Google Analytics 4 no longer breaks sessions as it goes past midnight, causing it to appear that a person has two sessions when they actually only have one.
- Enhanced Funnels and Paths: Google Analytics 4 offers a robust funnel exploration feature that provides you a detailed look at the steps your users take to complete certain goals on your website, like filling out a form or making a purchase.
- More Flexible Conversion Goals: Google Analytics 4 enables you to set up additional and more flexible conversion goals that can be used to better understand your site.
There are, however, some big changes and missing features that make the transition to GA4 challenging for marketers.
One significant difference from UA is that GA4 does not offer separate Views by default—so, in the next section, we’ll tell you how to configure GA4 to get the same results.
GA4 also lacks certain reports that were available by default in UA and have to be configured manually. We’ll also discuss how to create custom reports for organic traffic, landing pages, backlinks, and organic conversions in GA4.
1. How to Create Views and Filters in GA4
In Universal Analytics, a View is a subset of data for a single domain based on filters that you have applied. Marketers often use Views to exclude internal traffic, test new reporting set-ups, or filter traffic by geographical location.
However, due to a change in the overall account structure, Views are not available as a way to filter data in Google Analytics 4.
The good news is that GA4 does allow you to filter Data Streams to provide a similar experience to UA’s Views.
To create an equivalent to UA’s Views in GA4:
- Click into the Reports section of GA4. In the left navigation menu, it’s the second option from the top.
- Click into the default Events report under Engagement.
- Click on the pencil icon in the top right of the screen to customize the report.
- Click Add Filter to apply a filter based on any of the available dimensions.
- Select a Dimension. For example, if you want to create a filtered view of traffic from one country, apply a filter where the dimension of County equals the country you want to see.
- Click the blue Apply button.
You can also filter certain types of traffic at the Property level. This is the best way to go about excluding traffic that comes from your own staff, since internal traffic can skew the data and make it more difficult to understand exactly how your SEO efforts are performing.
How Views and Filters Help You Measure SEO Performance
Like views in Universal Analytics, this custom GA4 report filters your data so that you can analyze it in a more focused and actionable way.
By creating separate Views for different countries or regions, for example, you can analyze the performance of your website in each location and understand which areas are driving the most traffic. The same can be done using GA4 report filters.
2. How to Check Your Organic Traffic in GA4
To understand where your website users are coming from and how they got there, you’ll need to customize the Traffic Acquisition Report under Acquisition.
- Click into the Reports section of GA4. In the left navigation menu, it’s the second option from the top.
- Click into the default Traffic Acquisition report under Acquisition.
- Click on the Primary Dimension, which is Session Default Channel Group by default.
- From the list of Dimensions, select Session Source/Medium.
- In the search bar above the Primary Dimension, type Organic and press enter.
Now, you can assess the performance of your SEO efforts metrics such as users, sessions, engaged sessions, and average engagement time.
Analyzing Organic Traffic Growth with GA4
SEO is one of the most powerful tools a business can use to boost its online visibility.
However, without tracking how many visitors are coming to your website through organic search, you won’t know if your SEO strategy is really working or not.
By tracking how many visitors come to your website through organic search, you can gain valuable insight into what is working and what isn’t. Measuring your organic traffic in GA4 will not only help you fine-tune your SEO strategy, but also help you optimize your entire digital marketing strategy for long-term success.
3. How to See Your Top Landing Pages by Organic Traffic in GA4
If you’re familiar with UA, you’ll remember that a landing page report was available by default by clicking the Behavior drop-down menu, then clicking Site Content, followed by Landing Pages.
GA4 isn’t quite as intuitive, but it only takes a few extra steps to create a report that gives you your top landing pages by organic traffic.
- Click into the Reports section of GA4. In the left navigation menu, it’s the second option from the top.
- Click into the default Traffic Acquisition report under Acquisition.
- Click on the Primary Dimension, which is Session Default Channel Group by default.
- From the list of Dimensions, select Landing Page + Query String.
- Click the + Plus sign and select First User Medium.
- In the search bar above the Primary Dimension, type Organic and press Enter.
Voilà: you have a report that tells you which of your landing pages drive the most organic traffic!
Unlocking SEO Insights with a GA4 Landing Page Report
When you start seeing organic traffic coming in, it means that your SEO efforts are paying off.
Customers are finding what they need on your website—and Google is rewarding you for it.
You can use what’s working on that page to improve your SEO across your website.
Pages with low traffic, on the other hand, might be missing the mark. By taking the time to spot these pages and make the necessary improvements, you can work to unlock your website’s full potential for generating traffic over time.
4. How to See Your Top Backlinks in GA4
You can use GA4 to get detailed information about which of your backlinks drive the most traffic to your site, and which of them carry the most weight for the search engines.
By analyzing this data, you can identify which websites provide the greatest value to your SEO efforts and where you should focus your link building efforts.
- Click into the Reports section of GA4. In the left navigation menu, it’s the second option from the top.
- Click into the default Traffic Acquisition report under Acquisition.
- Type Referral into the search bar and press Enter.
- Click on the + Plus sign to add a Secondary Dimension.
- From the list of Dimensions, select Session Source.
This report provides information about the source of your referral traffic as well as information about the traffic that helps you determine the value of those backlinks.
Use the objective metrics Google Analytics gives you — number of visitors, page views, pages per visit and bounce rate — as well as subjective characteristics like relevance, uniqueness, and authority.
Analyze Referral Traffic to Boost Your Search Ranking
Building backlinks is one of the most essential SEO strategies. One of the factors determining the ranking of your website on Google for targeted keywords is the number of quality links that point to your website.
5. How to Check Your Organic Conversions in GA4
Measuring the volume of website traffic alone can give you a general idea of how your website is performing, but it doesn’t tell the whole story.
Conversions in GA4 measure how effective your website is at driving desired actions from visitors. These actions could be anything from making a purchase to subscribing to a newsletter or downloading a PDF guide.
To create an organic conversion report in GA4:
- Click into the Explore section of GA4. In the left navigation menu, it’s the third option from the top.
- Click on the Blank exploration report template.
- Name your report Organic Conversions.
- Set the date range to at least 30 days.
- First, you’ll need to create a Segment.
- Click on the + Plus button next to Segments and click the User Segment button.
- Name the new Segment Organic Search.
- Click Add Condition and select First User Medium.
- Click on the Add Filter button. Set the first box to Contains and the second to organic. Click Apply.
- Click the Save and Apply button in the top right corner.
- Next, you’ll need to add Dimensions.
- Click on the + Plus button next to Dimensions.
- Search for the following Dimensions and click the checkbox for each one:
- First user source/medium
- Landing page
- Event name
- Item name
- Device category
- Browser
- Country
- Click the Import button in the top right corner.
- Finally, it’s time to add Metrics.
- Click the + Plus button next to Metrics.
- Search for the following Metrics and click the checkbox for each one:
- Total users
- Conversions
- User conversion rate
- Session conversion rate
- Event revenue
- Click the Import button in the top right corner.
- Double-click the First User/Source Dimension to add it to the Rows section.
- Double click all the Metrics one by one to add them to the Values section.
- Under Values, select Cell Type Heat Map.
Why Organic Conversions Matter in GA4
Organic conversions and organic traffic go hand in hand when it comes to measuring the success of your SEO strategy.
While organic traffic is essential for getting visitors to your website, conversions are what really tells you that the effort you’re putting into SEO is moving the needle.
If you’re getting a lot of website traffic but your conversion rate is low, it may indicate that your website is not effectively converting visitors into customers; or, that your SEO efforts aren’t bringing you the right kind of traffic.
Additionally, comparing your organic conversion rate to that of other channels can help you understand which channels are driving the most valuable traffic to your website. For example, if you see that your organic traffic has a higher conversion rate than your paid traffic, it may indicate that you should redirect some of your PPC advertising budget to SEO.
With this information, you can make data-driven decisions that will improve your website’s performance and drive more revenue to your business.
Unlock the Keys to SEO Success with Google Analytics 4
Google Analytics 4 (GA4) is a powerful tool for measuring your SEO performance.
By following the steps outlined in this post, you can track the most important SEO metrics, create accurate views, and make data-driven decisions for your SEO strategy.
Remember: GA4 can be a bit daunting at first, but with a little bit of practice and the right guidance, you’ll be a pro in no time!
If you find yourself getting overwhelmed or need help with integration, don’t hesitate to reach out to our team. We offer done-for-you GA4 integration and can help you set up your account, track the right metrics and create accurate views.
Contact us today to learn how we can help you drive more traffic to your website.
Best SEO Pricing: How Much Does SEO Cost in 2023?
SEO pricing 2023 varies a lot by industry, location, what’s included in the SEO package and more.
Without knowing a lot about your company, it’s hard to give a concrete answer on exactly how much you should budget for SEO in 2023. However, we can give you a general idea.
Based on the average cost of SEO services in 2023, you can expect to spend:
- $2,000 to $7,000 per month for an average monthly SEO package
- $100 to $350 per hour for SEO consulting
- Starting at $2,000 for project-based SEO work
It’s a wide range, we know. A lot depends on the industry and needs of your company, as well as the breadth of experience of the SEO agency you choose.
It’s also important to understand what those numbers mean, because cheap SEO services are almost always too good to be true and cost you more in the long run.
Quality SEO is complex work that requires specialized expertise and tools.
To further help you decide your SEO budget, we’ve broken down the information further. We hope this helps you better understand exactly where your SEO costs should fall. We’ll go over:
- Why you should invest in SEO
- What actually goes into pricing an SEO package
- What a decent monthly SEO package must include
- SEO consulting: The alternative to a done-for-you SEO package
- How much small businesses should be spending on SEO
- Red flags to watch out for when it comes to low-cost SEO
- Ways to keep SEO costs down without cutting corners
Let’s take a detailed look at how much SEO costs in 2023.
1. Why Should You Invest in SEO?
Fact: organic search accounts for 53% of all web traffic on an average website. Meaning if you’re not showing up in Google Search, you could be losing out on more than half of your potential customers.
And SEO is the most reliable, long-term strategy for getting your website seen by the people who buy what you sell.
That’s not to say it’s a magic bullet. SEO doesn’t work overnight. But when it’s done well, SEO is an incredibly powerful marketing tool that works alongside PPC advertising, social media marketing, and email marketing delivers lasting (and often increasing) value over time.
- Pay-per-click advertisements get your name out there quickly, but at a cost, and that cost fluctuates as the ad auction changes. SEO takes time, but once it’s established, it delivers a steady flow of relevant traffic for free.
- Social media platforms are powerful, but different platforms go in and out of fashion all the time. SEO leverages the value of stable search engines (mainly Google and Bing) that continue to gain influence on our lives.
- Email marketing gives you the freedom to say almost anything, but you can only communicate with existing leads and customers. SEO helps get your message out to new people who are specifically interested in what you offer.
It’s not so much a question of whether SEO pricing is worth it in 2023, but of how much you should invest in SEO based on your business’ needs and goals. Understanding the different types of SEO services available and how those services are priced will help you make an informed decision.
2. What Goes Into the SEO Pricing and SEO Packages?
Pricing for SEO packages largely depends on:
- SEO Agency Experience: You get what you pay for. Seasoned agencies tend to cost more, but they also know what works. They won’t waste your time on unproductive or outdated SEO strategies.
- Project Scope: Large-scale SEO campaigns will not only need more content, but also more labour and resources, while small-scale campaigns have a smaller price tag.
- Location: SEO agencies charge different rates depending on the demand for their services and the number of potential customers or clients in their area. This is where remote work is advantageous for agencies and clients alike — it lets agencies reduce operational costs without sacrificing quality or talent, which translates into cheaper rates for you.
- Pricing Model: There are different SEO pricing models, and each impacts the cost of SEO in a different way. An hourly or project-based model may be more cost-effective for you if you only need a few specific SEO fixes.
- Business Size (Startup vs. Mid-Market vs. Enterprise): Larger enterprises tend to require a broader scope of work, including more extensive website optimization, content writing and link building, so they require more expensive SEO packages.
- Existing SEO Strategy: SEO pricing depends on the state of your existing strategy, including existing website, backlinks, and content. Starting from scratch will obviously require more work and a greater cost since there’s more ground to cover. Having to reverse an existing SEO penalty will also require specialized penalty reversal work before or concurrent with SEO optimization.
- Goals: Want to dominate a particular keyword? Overtake specific competitors? Get a certain volume of traffic per month or year? Your goals play a big part in how much SEO costs, since you’ll need different approaches depending on where you want to end up.
Ultimately, what you budget for SEO isn’t just about what others are spending. Instead, it’s about what you need and want from your SEO campaign.
3. What Does a Monthly SEO Package Include?
A monthly SEO package usually includes a mix of SEO tactics to support an SEO strategy created based on your business’s current SEO standing (rankings, work already completed, penalties, etc.), goals, budget, and competitive landscape.
An SEO package priced at the higher end of the SEO pricing spectrum ($7,000 per month) will include more services than one at the lower end ($2,000 per month.) It could also include going after more, or more competitive, keywords.
When a company is new to SEO and starting from scratch, monthly SEO services will likely include research and setup tasks that lay the groundwork for success, including:
- Keyword and competitive research
- SEO Audit (on page SEO, technical SEO, off page SEO)
- Set up analytics
After the foundation is laid, monthly SEO services tend to transition to technical fixes that improve the health of your website to maximize SEO results, including:
- On-Page SEO fixes
- Off-Page SEO fixes
- Technical SEO fixes
Afterward, the focus generally shifts to ongoing optimization and content creation. Depending on your needs, it might take the form of a specific number of content pieces per month, or ongoing on-page and off-page SEO optimizations.
Overall, what a monthly SEO services package includes is subject to your company’s current and future goals, as well as your budget. Get in touch to learn more about the SEO services we can provide you on a monthly basis within your budget.
4. What’s Included in SEO Consulting?
If you already have an in-house marketing team with some SEO or content writing experience, you may be able to benefit from SEO consulting services, including:
- SEO Audit: The first step in implementing an SEO strategy is a detailed SEO analysis of your website that identifies exactly what’s preventing you from getting the results you want.
- SEO Recommendations: Second opinion on your current SEO plan with recommendations on tactics and keywords, etc.
- SEO Training: Providing training on SEO content, linking, technical SEO, and other SEO tactics to your in-house marketing team.
- SEO Implementation: Usually project-based services which can include fixing an SEO penalty, performing SEO audits and fixes, working on keyword projects, and compiling reports as needed
If you’re not sure if you need SEO consulting or a full SEO package, we offer free 20-minute consultations — for those who are interested in learning more about our professional SEO services without the commitment.
5. What Should SEO Cost a Small Business?
There is no reason why a small business can’t invest in SEO, even if you’re starting with a smaller budget.
In fact, small businesses can often benefit the most from SEO since they can’t just throw money at advertising like their large competitors can.
Generally, a small business’s SEO costs fall within this average range:
- $2,000 to $7,000 per month for a monthly SEO package
- $100 to $350 per hour for SEO consulting
- Starting at $2,000 for project-based SEO work
SEO agencies usually offer tiers of service, with the most comprehensive option costing more than the most basic.
Small businesses that are just getting started in SEO often start with a smaller package that includes things like keyword research, monitoring, and a focus on a small number of realistic keyword targets , then scale up once they see results.
6. Are Cheap SEO Services Worth It?
We mentioned above that you can expect a monthly SEO package from a professional SEO agency to range from between $2,000 and $7,000 per month.
Professional SEO Consulting runs from $100 to $350 per hour.
What if that’s just too much? Is it worth digging to find an even cheaper SEO service?
Here’s why the answer is always no.
While they may seem like a great deal at first, cheap SEO services often use manipulative tactics that go against search engine guidelines and cost you more in the long run.
Google and Bing are well aware of these shady practices. In fact, they deploy advanced machine learning algorithms to actively hunt down and penalize websites that use manipulative black hat SEO practices.
That can cause you to lose traffic, get blocked-listed, and potentially forfeit all of your future search traffic to your competitors.
Cheap SEO services are a huge risk to your company and brand so it’s important to know how to avoid them. The biggest red flags that you’re dealing with shady, cheap SEO providers include:
- Big Promises for Low Price Tags: Long-term SEO success takes a lot of manual work that can’t be done on a budget. You either have to settle for a small number of keywords or pay more later for the work that needs to be done.
- No Long-Term Strategy: Cheap SEO companies offer short-term solutions, but this isn’t realistic. Either they aren’t doing their job or they’re just looking to get quick and easy money from unsuspecting customers.
- No Transparency: Having visibility over the SEO process allows you to assess the results and make necessary changes. Never trust an SEO company that isn’t transparent with you.
If you’re looking for a quick fix to your online marketing strategy, don’t fall for cheap SEO pricing. Contact a reputable agency and see what can be done quickly and on your budget.
7. How to Keep SEO Costs in Check & Get the Best ROI
You don’t want to risk your business’s success by hiring an agency that offers SEO on the cheap.
At the same time, quality SEO doesn’t have to break the bank.
If you’re on a tight budget, making smart decisions in a few key places can help keep your costs down in order to get the most bang for your buck.
Here’s a quick lowdown on keeping costs in check while still getting the best SEO ROI:
- Focus on High-ROI Keywords: The best keywords to target aren’t always long-tail keywords or even competitive keywords — just the words and phrases that have the best chance of producing a good return on investment for your business. Any SEO work you pay for should start with solid keyword research to inform decisions about what to target.
- Test Keywords with Advertising First: Keyword research is important but not always foolproof. One way to test the viability of target keywords is to bid on them through paid search (e.g. Google Ads) before investing in SEO for that same keyword. That way, if the keyword turns out not to be profitable, you won’t waste your time or money chasing it organically.
- Keep an Eye on the Competition: Studying what your most successful competitors are doing can provide valuable insight on your own SEO strategy. Always insist on competitor research as part of your SEO package.
- Play the Long Game: SEO is a long term investment and it’s important to be realistic about ROI. This is especially true for small brands who may need a little more time than larger brands to rank their content. You should be prepared to invest in SEO for at least 6-8 months to see results. If you don’t have enough time or budget for that, stick to other digital marketing tactics like PPC or email marketing to get your brand in front of the right people sooner.
At TrafficSoda, we are committed to helping you get the best ROI with a strong, strategic approach. Get in touch to learn more about SEO pricing and how businesses can keep their costs low while still achieving solid results.
Want More Specific SEO Pricing? Request an Estimate to Find Out How Much SEO Will Cost You in 2023
The average cost of professional SEO services ranges between $2,000 and $7,000 per month for a monthly SEO package, or between $100 and $350 per hour for SEO consulting.
SEO pricing in 2023 varies depending on the scope of your SEO needs, the competitive landscape, and your goals, as well as external factors like location.
If you’re still not sure how to budget for SEO in 2023, we’ll do the hard work for you. Contact us now for an estimate of what you can expect to pay for professional SEO services tailored to your needs.
2023 SEO Checklist: 7 Expert Tips to Guide Your SEO Strategy
Keeping up with SEO trends in 2023 is key to staying competitive and reaching more customers. That’s why we compiled this SEO checklist — to give you a year’s worth of SEO tips in one neat package.
SEO is constantly changing. The best SEO tricks that worked 6 months ago may not be relevant today — and what’s worked in the past could even cost you a Google penalty now.
So, where should you concentrate your efforts?
Here are some of the SEO trends our experts are watching for in 2023 and what you need to be paying attention to as well.
- Improving E-E-A-T — Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness
- Leveraging Featured Snippets
- Optimizing for Voice Search
- Improving Mobile User Experience
- Enhancing Video SEO
- Utilizing New Google Shopping Features for eCommerce
- Keeping Up Image Optimization
If you want to move the needle on your website’s search rankings, we’re here to help. Get in touch with our SEO Team to learn more about our services here at TrafficSoda.
1. E-E-A-T is Crucial, Strengthen Those Signals
E-E-A-T — Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness — is the most important acronym you’ll use in 2023
This plays a crucial role in Google’s ranking system, especially when it comes to high-stakes subjects like health, safety, or finance.
On multiple occasions Google has come out and reinforced the importance of your website’s E-E-A-T signals.
Remember, Google’s ultimate goal is to provide it’s users the most relevant and accurate results. They want their users to love the ‘Google Experience’ and keep coming back.
In order to find the best results Google uses artificial intelligence and machine learning technologies to identify what a search query means and provide the best possible answer.
This also means this AI and machine learning needs to eliminate junk, spam, and inaccuracies from its results. Which is a tall order because, you know, the Internet.
Showing Google that your site is worth their user’s time, will remain of absolute top importance leading into 2023.
What E-E-A-T Means For Your SEO Strategy
- E stands for Experience, meaning you offer a unique viewpoint rooted in direct involvement or personal understanding.
- E stands for Expertise, meaning you hire real subject matter experts to create, or at least collaborate with you to produce, high quality content.
- A stands for Authoritativeness, which means that you and your website are recognized as a leading source of accurate, timely information on your particular niche.
- T stands for Trustworthiness, which means you have real reviews and mentions from real people (especially people who are also experts in your niche.)
If you’re doing all the above, but still aren’t seen as a leading authority in your niche, then building your brand recognition is crucial. Here are some ways to get started:
- Detailed, transparent About Us and Contact Us pages. Trustworthiness starts at home. When visitors visit your website, they should have no doubts about who you are and what you mean, and they should be able to contact you easily.
- Back up your facts. Throughout your content prove you know what you are talking about by linking to high authority websites like .edu, .gov, etc.
- More and more positive reviews. More than your competitors, with more than satisfactory ratings
- Your own Wikipedia page, or at least mentions. It’s hard to fake authority on Wikipedia since if you aren’t legitimate, your page will be removed quickly.
- Backlinks and mentions on authoritative websites. While press releases are a good starting point, you really want to aim for mentions, news articles and interviews on other authoritative and trustworthy websites.
There are a lot of SEO trends that will take effect this year, and all of them involve the E-E-A-T of your website on some level.
2. Featured Snippets Matter More Than EVER
Believe it or not, it’s been nearly a decade since Google launched Featured Snippets ‒ a.k.a the info boxes you see above searches.
And they’re becoming more and more powerful by the minute.
Featured Snippets now show up on 41% of all queries and account for an astounding 35.1% of all clicks in organic search results.
Here’s an even bigger shocker: when you ask Google a question, Featured Snippets show up 99% of the time…except for “How” questions, where it’s more like 52%. Still a majority.
To marketers, this reality is at once a tremendous opportunity and a massive existential threat.
When Google uses your page as a Featured Snippet, clickthrough rates can more than double overnight. It’s a huge boon to your organic traffic and a badge of honor for your site’s credibility.
But when one of your competitors owns the Featured Snippet instead — especially for your most valuable keywords ‒ they overshadow your presence in the SERP completely.
It pays (literally) to claim that spot for yourself. So, what can you do to get Featured Snippets in 2023?
What Featured Snippets Mean For Your SEO Strategy
Getting your website Featured in Snippets means playing ball with Google’s artificial intelligence.
According to Google, one of the biggest driving forces behind Featured Snippets in 2023 is an AI model called the Multitask Unified Model or MUM. Essentially, the model compares the top bolded text portion of a search snippet result with established high-quality search results for relevance, accuracy, and credibility.
Google also plans to use more warning messages when a search doesn’t generate results that have “high confidence.”
As a marketer, getting Featured Snippets in 2023 means you need to:
- Focus on reinforcing your website’s Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T) as much as, if not more than, keywords.
- Continue building up high-quality content (not just text but video, audio, and images) and backlinks that underpin trust and authority.
- Through your content, answer relevant questions that factor into customers’ journeys.
- Create content that covers all points of your customer’s journey rather than just one or two. Newcomers to your product or service might ask, “What is [Product]?” but they’ll soon want to know, “How does [Product] work?” and eventually, “Who offers [Product]?” Make sure you answer all of these questions!
The importance of Featured Snippets in your SEO strategy in 2023 cannot be overstated, as you’ll see in the rest of this SEO checklist, starting with the very next point…
3. Conversational Queries & Voice Search Deserve Special Attention
Spoken searches have been slowly but steadily on the rise since Google Voice launched in 2009. Moving into 2023, about 40% of the population uses voice search and 71% actually prefer using voice search over typed search, so you can expect the upward trend to continue.
The top three key facts you need to know about voice search in 2023 are as follows:
- In contrast to text-based searches, voice searches are longer, more conversational, and almost always take the form of a question. Where do I find [Product]? How do I use it? What does it taste like? How much does it cost?
- Most voice searches take place on-the-go, using smartphones rather than in-home devices (a.k.a. “smart speakers.”) So, picture people sitting in the car, not on the couch.
- More than 50% of voice searches are for local services and businesses like restaurants and retail stores. Think of search queries that end in “near me.”
In other words, if your business is local, voice search matters to you, and optimizing for voice search should be a key priority for your SEO strategy going into 2023.
What Voice Search Means For Your SEO Strategy
As a starting point for optimizing for voice search, consider the following:
- Long-tail keywords. These are now essential to securing competitive SERP positions, especially conversational queries that show up in voice search.
- Speakable Schema. While still in beta as of writing, Speakable Schema is the Google-approved way to optimize your website for voice search.
- Local listings. Review your company’s Google and other local listings to make sure they include everything customers could ask about: operating hours, location, product selection, price range, wheelchair accessibility, and more. Google will pull from these listings to answer voice queries, so make sure it’s right!
Finally, remember what we said earlier about MUM and featured snippets. A lot of the principles for optimizing snippets are similar to those for optimizing voice queries.
4. User Experience on Mobile Is Still the Gold Standard
Mobile first indexing has been a reality since 2019 and it’s not going to change any time soon.
Yet every single day, we see websites from huge companies that still aren’t on board with Google’s mobile-first indexing best practices.
If you feel your SEO efforts aren’t doing much, and your site isn’t very mobile-friendly, fixing that issue could be the key that finally lets your site’s rankings flourish.
What Mobile-First Indexing Means For Your SEO Strategy
Here’s the good news: Google is very transparent about what they want to see when it comes to optimizing your website for mobile users in 2023.
First, you need to make sure your mobile site is as Google-friendly as possible:
- Have the same content, structured data, alt text, and meta robots tags on both your mobile and desktop sites
- Make sure Google can see your primary content and don’t lock it behind “lazy-loading” (anything that requires swiping, clicking, or typing to load)
- Verify both the mobile and desktop versions of your site in Search Console
- Use mobile URL hreflang for mobile URLs, and desktop URL hreflang for desktop URLs
- Don’t block mobile URLs with the disallow directive
- Don’t use URLs that change every time the page loads for your videos or images
- Don’t use fragment URLs on your mobile version (a fragment URL starts with a # at the end)
Mobile-first indexing aside, mobile devices are now the first point of contact for many customers when they’re looking for information about your products and services. So it’s vital you make sure your site can be viewed easily on any device and that the customer can find what they’re looking for quickly, no matter how small their screen may be. Add it to your 2023 SEO checklist!
5. Optimize Your Video for SEO
Google has featured video in its search results for some time now.
And since over half of customers make buying decisions based on video, ignoring it in your 2023 SEO strategy is like leaving money on the table.
What Video Means For Your SEO Strategy
Video content can rank well if it’s optimized with descriptive and relevant information, including meta info and structured data.
Google has published a detailed overview of what it looks for in video SEO; some of the most impactful points include:
- Give each video its own dedicated page, where the video is the most prominent subject. This page is necessary for some Google features, such as Key Moments, Live Badges, and other rich results, to pull your video and give it maximum exposure. There’s no penalty if you put the same video on a dedicated page and another page with other information (like a news article or product details.)
- Create and submit a video sitemap so that Google’s robots can easily find and understand your videos
- Use a high-quality, relevant thumbnail that explains what your video is about and why people might want to watch it
Google has also added two structured data features to help people find answers through videos faster:
- Seek markup, which allows Google to identify and display Key Moments automatically and dynamically
- Clip markup, which tells Google exactly which timestamps to label and use for the Key Moments feature (like a manual version of seek markup)
You can use Clip or Seek markup to make video results in Google Search more clickable and help users find answers more quickly. It’s a win-win!
6. Improve Your eCommerce Site’s Visibility with Shopping Graph
Google is already the world’s leading search engine, but with the skyrocketing growth of online shopping, it’s also aiming to become a leading eCommerce platform as well.
Recently, Google also launched the Shopping Graph feature, lets customers find your store’s products across Google, — not just on the Shopping tab but on the SERP, YouTube, Google Images, and Google Lens (snap a photo and Google will identify the product and tell you where to buy it…how cool is that?)
And as of now, you can add your products to Google Shopping for free — or, mark up your listings so that Google does that heavy lifting for you automatically.
What Google Shopping Graph Means For Your SEO Strategy
There are two ways to go about getting your products onto Google’s Shopping Graph:
- Manage your listings manually using Google’s Merchant Center
- Use newly-added Search Console Merchant Listings for guidance on adding Product structured data to your product pages.
Anyone who sells products online can benefit from this easy win. Your products will get free exposure by Google on a credible, sleek, and cool platform.
If your business sells products online and Google’s Shopping Graph isn’t on your SEO checklist in 2023, you’re losing a huge opportunity that your competitors might not decline.
7. Make Your Images Worth a Thousand Clicks
It might seem like an easy task to optimize your images for the web, but chances are that it’s a tad more complicated than you think.
For many years, Google has been recommending that you use alternative text (alt text) and other optimizations for images on your site. Yet, many businesses still don’t take this seriously or they think it’s a waste of time.
Nowadays, it is not just about boosting your Google ranking but also accommodating the millions of customers who rely on alt text to navigate your site — who will leave you in the dust and never look back if you don’t offer it.
So, now’s the time to do an image audit on your site to see if you need to make changes to get up to speed with what Google (and customers) expect from you in 2023 and beyond.
What Image Optimization Means For Your SEO Strategy
- Create good URL structure for your images: Google uses the URL path and file name to understand your images, so make sure your URLs are built logically
- Add structured data: Structured data lets Google Images display your images as rich results, including a prominent badge, which drives targeted traffic to your site
- Optimize for speed: Images often make up a large part of a page’s size, so use image optimization and responsive image techniques to make it fast and easy
- Use descriptive alt text in the alt attribute: Alt text improves accessibility for screen reader users and low-bandwidth users who can’t see images on web pages
It is time to do what Google says and pay attention to your website images. Your bottom line will thank you for it!
Leverage These 2023 SEO Trends to Reach More Customers Online
Google changes its search algorithms 500 to 600 times per year. Every day of the year. And as clever as we are as marketers and SEOs, Google’s algorithms are getting smarter by the second.
A successful SEO strategy for your business depends on staying on top of the latest SEO trends in 2023.
Following these SEO tips will help you kickstart the year with a boost in ranking and more qualified traffic.
If you need help moving the needle on your website’s search rankings, we are happy to help. Get in touch with our SEO Team to learn more about our services here at TrafficSoda.