Understanding SEO

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signal contributing to the result of a search query.” .... predictable, since 60% of Google searches are from a mobile
Understanding SEO June 2018 SEO is a moving target thanks to continuous changes in the Google algorithm. In this whitepaper, top insights for today’s SEO activities have been highlighted to help prioritize your efforts and SEO investment budget.

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Understanding SEO 2018 A search engine results page (SERP) is the page displayed by a web search engine in response to a query by a user. The main component of the SERP is the listing of results returned by the search engine in response to a keyword query, although the page may also contain other results such as advertisements.

RankBrain and User Experience Last year Google announced that RankBrain was their third most important ranking factor: “In the few months it has been deployed, RankBrain has become the third-most important signal contributing to the result of a search query.” Moreover, as Google refines its algorithm (a never-ending process), RankBrain is even more important in 2018. This begs the question: What is RankBrain, exactly, and how can you optimize for it? RankBrain is Google’s machine learning algorithm that populates SERP pages. In other words, RankBrain is the tool Google uses to determine what pages are relevant to the search query. RankBrain works by analyzing all the pages Google has indexed, but it adds at least two (and possibly more) important new parameters: 1. Dwell Time (How long someone spends on the page) 2. CTR Rate (Click Through Rate) RankBrain measures how similar users, with similar search queries, interact with the search results Google provided in previous, similar searches and ranks the results accordingly.

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Example: Let’s say you search for “marketing tips and tricks.” After examining the SERP page you see a promising article about marketing, you click on the link, and when you get there, you discover it’s the best article on marketing you have ever read, and you spend the next 15 minutes absorbing the content. RankBrain takes note of your engagement with the content and gives that page a rankings boost. On the other hand, let’s say that you clicked on an article on the same SERP page, but this time, the content is horrible. Consequently, you bounce off the page after a few seconds. RankBrain notices this behavior too, and if enough people quickly bounce from the same page, Google will lower that page’s rank. To sum up, RankBrain focuses on two things: 1. How long someone spends on your page (Dwell Time) 2. The percentage of people that click on your result (Click Through Rate)

RankBrain and Dwell Time Dwell Time is the amount of time that passes between the moment you click a search result and subsequently return to the SERPs. As it turns out, RankBrain pays A LOT of attention to Dwell Time. In fact, the head of Google in Canada recently confirmed that Google uses Dwell Time as a ranking signal. He indicated that RankBrain monitors when: “Someone clicks on a page and stays on that page, and when they go back.”

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A recent industry study by SearchMetrics supports this statement. They concluded that the average Dwell Time for a top 10 Google SERP result is 3 minutes and 10 seconds. If you have spent any time digging through your Google Analytics data (you are monitoring your GA data?!) you know that a 3+ minute Dwell Time is something to envy. It’s not a coincidence that pages with long Dwell Times tend to rank best. If you think about it… if you spend a long time on a page, you probably like the content on that page. More importantly, if enough other people feel the same way, Google will uprank that content to make it easier to find. This is an important aspect of Google and SEO that is very simple but mostly overlooked: Google wants to serve searchers RELEVANT content. Here, the term relevant simply means content relevant to what the searcher is asking. The takeaway is clear, if you want a page to rank well in Google, the content needs to be relevant to the targeted Keyword AND the content must be engaging enough (think useful and informative) to the search query used to generate the SERP. What’s the Difference Between Dwell Time, Bounce Rate, and Time on Page? If there’s one word that embodies these three metrics: Confusion. In fact, SEO pros tend to use these three metrics interchangeably, but they are not interchangeable. What each of these metrics mean: 1. Dwell time: the amount of time it takes a user to click on a search result and subsequently return to the SERP. 2. Bounce rate: the percentage of single-page sessions (visitors who only visit one page on your website before leaving). These people may have returned to the SERPs or simply closed the page. It does not matter which – bounce rate indicates the user did not like the content.

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3. Time on page: the amount of time a visitor spent on your page before going anywhere else. The user could go back to the SERPs, to another page on your website, or anywhere else – even another site. Both time on page and bounce rate are recorded in Google Analytics:

RankBrain and Organic Click Through Rate (CTR) Google Engineer Paul Haahr created commotion in the SEO world when he put up this slide at a conference last year:

According to Haahr, this slide indicates: “RankBrain sometimes ranks pages higher up than they “should” rank. And if that page gets an above-average CTR, we use that as a sign that the page should get a permanent rankings boost.”

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This should not be a surprise. After all, if no one clicks on a result, why would Google keep it on the first page? Alternatively, if your site is getting clicked on repeatedly, why would Google keep it buried? Clearly, lots of Clicks + long Dwell Times indicate good content. The lesson is to pay attention to the quality of copywriting in headlines and snippets and use language that creates a call to action (CTA) to compel searchers to click through! This leads us directly to the next new thing in SEO for 2018: CTR Focus.

CTR Focus If you want to master SEO in 2018, you need to become a CTR master, not only because of RankBrain, but also because Google has changed the way its SERP pages render organic search results. Look at these SERP pages:

What you see are all AdWords ads jumping to the top of the page, pushing your fantastic content lower down the page. Brand4Market.com

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The above is a Google Carousel pushing your great content lower down on the SERP page. Lastly, worst of all:

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The above is an Answer Box pushing your great content lower down the page and/or giving the searcher exactly what Google thinks the searcher needs. That creates a difficult new reality in SEO from the searcher’s perspective: why bother clicking through to your content when Google has answered the question? Why has Google changed SERP pages? Google is always a mysterious black box about their search algorithms, but evidence about CTR rates indicates organic CTR rates are falling. In fact, one industry study found that organic CTR is down 37% since 2015. One possible answer to why Organic CTR rates are falling: Google is adding Answer Boxes, Ads, Carousels, “People also ask” sections, and more to SERP pages. Simply put, despite your hard fought efforts in SEO, Google still owns the billboard and their content will always push your content lower on the page. Sadly, it will probably get worse, so the only way for your content to stand out is to ensure your SERP results scream, “click on me!” Failure to create compelling CTA in snippets and every other element used in your SERP listing means the link to your site will be ignored by users.

Comprehensive, In-Depth Content Is Required Now SEO efforts used to be simple. For example, Google would crawl your pages to see how many times you used a specific keyword leading to the creation of numerous “keyword density checkers” online. That indicated Google was 100% focused on your page’s content and how many of your keywords appeared in the text.

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Google spiders visit your pages to check if your keywords appear in these familiar SEO html elements: •

Title tags



URL



Image ALT text



Description tag



H1 tag

Google still looks at these parameters, and today’s Google algorithms are MUCH smarter than they used to be. In 2018, instead of only measuring and analyzing your content, Google now focuses on context. Recall that Google’s primary mission is to show users and searchers the BEST results for any given query, in addition to content that is also relevant to the query. In most cases, keyword-stuffed content isn’t good content; rather, the best pages for any given subject cover that topic in-depth and completely. In-depth content covers everything a Google searcher wants to know about a given subject and is akin to one-stop-shopping. In fact, an analysis of top performing pages indicates in-depth content tends to rank best in Google. This means you have to compose more words for search engine optimization and conversion. For many site owners this can be disheartening news, but there are no shortcuts. If you want your page to rank, you have to create long-form content, meaning 2000+ words of well-written, highquality blog posts. This needs to be your new content strategy. Long-form content pieces perform better and add immense value to your audience by going beyond just scratching the surface (so commonly found on websites today). Moreover, long-form, evergreen articles give you an edge over your competitors who focus strictly on short form content.

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The vast majority of blog posts published are 500 words or shorter. You not only stand out by including an extra 1500 words worth of work, longer articles generate durable business leads in the long run by attracting both quality backlinks and organic traffic. Eventually, your increased organic traffic combined with quality backlinks transform these types of posts into evergreen content. Evergreen content can help bolster your subject authority. Your peers appreciate comprehensive posts that explain the intricacies of the subject because they will not need to navigate 10 other websites to get the same information. Moreover, long form, evergreen content is sustainable because it will generate traffic for years. One important caveat: Content length just for the sake of length will backfire and defeat all of the advantages discussed below. Consequently, be sure that all your long-form/evergreen content meets high editorial standards and is valuable, helpful, entertaining, or educational to its targeted audience. Long-Form Content Long-form content as content is at least 2,000 words in length and is both compelling and insightful. Examples of long-form content include whitepapers, e-books, guides, resources, videos, and webinars. Long-Form Benefits •

Google has a dedicated ranking mechanism for long articles.



Keeps audience on site longer, increases engagement/Dwell Time.



Supports evergreen, foundational content.



Presents a broader, deeper view on the topic.



Caters to a deeply invested audience.



Increases quality backlinks.



Establishes credibility and thought-leadership.

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Long-Form Cons •

People don’t always have time to read.



Short attention spans.



Typically less shareable.



Probably won’t go viral.



Length itself doesn’t guarantee higher ranking.

Google's Mobile-first Index Last year Google announced that they are switching to a “mobile-first index”. In other words, Google will consider the mobile version of your site the “real” or primary version. Importantly, they will prefer the mobile version even if someone searches from a desktop computer. This was predictable, since 60% of Google searches are from a mobile device, and that rate is certain to go up. Google’s mobile-first index isn’t live yet, but it’s coming soon, which is why you should prepare for it now. 3 Simple Steps to Prepare for Google’s Mobile-First Index 1. Make Your Content Consistent Across Desktop and Mobile You know how sometimes people hide content on the mobile version of their page? That’s going to be a BIG problem when Google implements mobile first index for search. When Google goes mobile, first the mobile version of your page will become the primary page – 100% opposite of the way it is now. Any hidden content on your mobile page is going to be 100% ignored by Big G. That’s why you want to display 100% of the content from your desktop version to mobile users. You need to check both versions of your pages now and look for discrepancies.

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2. Your Mobile Pages Score Well on the Mobile-Friendly Test tool Many sites technically work on a phone or tablet. Nevertheless, they are not really user friendly and a pain to use. RankBrain monitors how Google users interact with your site, and if users have a hard time using your site on phones - they are going to bounce quickly, demoting your pages. How do you know if your site is legit mobile friendly? Use Google’s Mobile-Friendly Test tool. Just enter your URL into it, and the tool will let you know if your site is mobile-friendly: 3. Migrate From Mobile Pages to Responsive Design If you have a mobile “Mobile” version of your site, Google recommends switching over to responsive design. If you use a theme-centric CMS for your website, most modern themes use responsive design (so this may already have been done). Nevertheless, it’s wise to test using the mobile-friendly test tool referenced above.

Voice Search Okay… this last section isn’t really a thing yet, but many indicators point to voice search being the next big thing for SEO. That said, clearly, the popularity of voice search is growing fast. For example, check out these remarkable facts: • • •

40% of adults perform at least one voice search every day (source) Voice searches performed in Google are up 35x since 2008 (source) 20% of all searches on mobile are voice searches (source)

Facing those statistics, smart and forward-thinking SEO managers should begin to optimize some of their content for voice search.

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How to Optimize for Voice Search Since voice search is still new, there are not many indicators as to what will become best practices. Nevertheless, there are a few things we do know about how voice search works, and how to optimize for it. First, your content needs to be on the first page - obvious, but worth noting. Additionally, it helps A LOT if your content appears in a Featured Snippet, like this:

Note that Google’s algorithm created a convenient snippet for that page based on the content it indexed. Anecdotal evidence and personal research indicate that Google voice search (especially Google Home) tends to recite the text inside of the Featured Snippet. This could change, but it seems logical. After all, Google has to create snippets and voice responses using some of the text

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on the page, and snippets seem to be a logical choice. This suggests you should pay close attention to how your snippets are constructed. Finally, be sure to include a question and answer in your content because the vast majority of voice searches are question based: “How do I clean mini blinds?” or “What is the best action movie?” When that happens, Google seems to pick a page that contains both the question and the answer. Granted, there will inevitably be future guidance from Google on how to enhance pages for voice search optimization, but the reality of how users interact with voice-capable devices indicates most users ask them questions about things they want to know. Consequently, you may want to experiment with content that includes both a question and an answer to it at the top of your page. After all, rumors are Apple will soon offer a phone that does not require touching the screen at all – meaning it could be entirely operated with gestures and voice commands. When that device begins shipping, your pages may not suddenly be relevant if you have not prepared for these touchless devices.

Wendy Flanagan, creative marketing executive Brand4Market president Wendy Flanagan helps businesses to grow via social media marketing, collateral design, website design and development, marketing automation, SEO, and email marketing. Her work spans industries such as accounting, auto restoration, banking, construction, digital security, finance, higher education, legal, loyalty and incentive marketing, photo processing, physical security, printing, and retail electronics. Clients include SMBs in both B2C and B2B companies. Flanagan has spearheaded design, marketing, and branding initiatives for Fortune-level companies, often at a national and global level for large clients such as ADT, ADP, Calvin Klein Fragrance, CIT, Ebel Watches, GHI Health Insurance, Howard Johnson, Morristown Memorial Hospital, North Jersey Federal Credit Union, Novartis, Pfizer, Radware, Ramada, Sparta Systems, Tyco, Verizon Wireless, and many others.

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