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Snapchat Has New Lenses That Let Users Play AR Games by @MattGSouthern

4/30/2018

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Snapchat Has New Lenses That Let Users Play AR Games by @MattGSouthern

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Snapchat Has New Lenses That Let Users Play AR Games - Search Engine Journal

Snapchat has introduced a new set of lenses, called “Snappables,” which will let users play augmented reality (AR) games with their contacts.

These new lenses can be accessed from the bottom of the screen while in camera mode — the same section where you would go to use other lenses.

Each “Snappable” lens behaves differently with some being controlled with touch, others with motion, and others with facial expressions.

You can see a variety of Snappable lenses in action in the video below:

VIDEO

Games will challenge users to compete for high scores, or compete directly against each other.

Snapchat says new Snappable lenses will be released every week.

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April 30, 2018 at 02:29PM

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Instagram Lets Users Upload Multiple Photos and Videos to Stories by @MattGSouthern

4/30/2018

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Instagram Lets Users Upload Multiple Photos and Videos to Stories by @MattGSouthern

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Instagram Lets Users Upload Multiple Photos and Videos to Stories - Search Engine Journal

Instagram has rolled out an update that will allow users to upload multiple photos and videos to their stories at the same time.

Once uploaded, viewers will still have to tap through to see each photo and video. The real benefit of this update is that it will save time when it comes to adding multiple pieces of media to a story.

”Whether you want to preview your entire story to make sure it’s just right or you’re waiting for a strong connection to upload all of your photos and videos from the day, it’s now faster and easier than ever to share to your story after the moment has passed.”

When uploading media to a story there will now be a new icon at the top right corner of the screen. Tap the icon to begin selecting multiple photos or videos. Users can select up to 10 pieces of media to upload in one session.

Users can preview each piece of media before uploading, and apply edits to individual pieces as desired. Media will be uploaded in the order it was selected.

This update is currently available on Instagram for Android, and will be available on iOS within the coming weeks.

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April 30, 2018 at 02:29PM

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First look! Heres what you can expect at SMX Advanced

4/30/2018

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First look! Here’s what you can expect at SMX Advanced

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SMX Advanced is unique in so many ways. It’s the premier experts-only conference programmed by the team at Search Engine Land, the publication of record for search marketers. It attracts the biggest group of the world’s most sophisticated marketers for three days of learning and sharing. And it celebrates search marketers with the largest and most prestigious search marketing awards program in the world.

Won’t you join us June 11-13 in Seattle? Register here.

Need to know more? Buckle up! Here’s my 10,000+ word description of everything SMX Advanced has to offer. Then, register before all of the tickets are sold, as they have every year since SMX Advanced redefined the search marketing conference experience in 2007.

2018: Emerging opportunities and new challenges

Change is constant in search marketing. Opportunities emerge quickly — sometimes quicker than they can be absorbed. New channels. New technologies like machine learning. New ad options and formats. Even veterans struggle to keep pace.

SMX Advanced delivers cutting-edge marketing tips and tactics you’ll put to work immediately to drive more revenue, leads and traffic. It’s your survival guide to the dynamic and tumultuous world of search marketing.

SEO in the age of machine learning

For SEOs, we’ll dive deep into algorithm changes driven by “black box” machine learning techniques, the impact of the mobile-first index and an ever-increasing number of competitive websites appearing each day. Need to demonstrate the value of your efforts to management? We’ll show you how to document your accomplishments and get more resources from your boss or clients.

Sessions focused on organic search include:

SEO Ranking Factors In 2018: What’s Important, What’s Not.
Mobile-First & AMP For The Advanced SEO.
Advanced Technical SEO: Page Speed, Site Migrations, Crawling.
Advanced Technical SEO: Schema & Structured Data, JavaScript.
Solving Complex SEO Problems When Standard Fixes Don’t Apply.

View the SEO track.

Maximizing ROI with SEM

Keeping up with all of the enhancements Google makes to AdWords is a full-time job. You’ll learn their capabilities and the tactics that will deliver ROI from these new options.

SMX Advanced features SEM tracks running on both days of the show, leading off the first day with the perennial favorite Mad Scientists Of Paid Search session. Other SEM sessions include:

Turning Your Data Into Compelling Stories.
Machines & Humans: A SWOT Analysis.
The Latest & Greatest In Online Ads.
Conversion Optimization: Turning Quick Wins Into Winning Streaks.
Audience Targeting In A Privacy-Centric World.
Storytelling With Social Ads That Sell.

View the SEM track.

Uncle! I’m ready to register.

Your SEO needs a voice

Voice search is now the fastest-growing way users interact with Google, Bing, Apple and Amazon. If you’re not optimizing content to take advantage of these channels, you’re missing out on a lot of valuable traffic. Is getting the most from voice-enabled devices your responsibility? You’ll want to participate in:

Optimizing For Voice Search & Virtual Assistants.
A Discussion with Cortana and Google Assistant, in Their Own Voices.

Advanced tactics for e-tailers

Calling all e-tailers out there! We get that you face unique SEM challenges. That’s why SMX Advanced features sessions focused on tactics for getting the most from paid search campaigns. Don’t miss:

Taking Shopping Campaigns to the Next Level.
Amazon: How to Optimize, Compete & Win On The World’s Biggest Marketplace.

Broaden your vertical horizons

We’ll be putting the spotlight on a number of important types of online marketing that don’t fit neatly into an SEO or SEM “bucket” but nonetheless are areas that are crucial for success. Sessions on our Vertical and Spotlight Tracks include:

Maximizing The Impact Of Online Video Ads.
Local Search: Significant Changes On The Horizon.
Deep Dive: Google’s New Search Console.
Making Your Analytics Work Harder & Smarter.

Uncle! I’m ready to register.

Keynotes for you… really

We share the love equally between SEO and SEM at SMX Advanced. And the keynotes are no exception.

SEOs have issues they’re just itching to discuss with Google. And the Google Webmaster Outreach team is up for the challenge. Don’t miss this rare opportunity to help shape the future of search at our SEO keynote, led by Search Engine Land Editor-in-Chief Michelle Robbins.

Bing and Google will share the stage for our SEM keynote, hosted by Search Engine Land’s Ginny Marvin. Ginny will be joined by Google Head of Product, Shopping Surojit Chatterjee and Microsoft General Manager, Global Search Ads Business Steve Sirich.

Ask the experts

SMX Advanced wraps up with two perpetual favorites: Ask The SEOs and Ask The SEMs. Both sessions are open-ended forums where you can ask panelists anything — about the conference, about specific tactics or techniques, about industry trends — it’s entirely up to you.

Pre-conference workshops & training

Looking for even more advice in a smaller group setting? Come a day early and enjoy your choice of six in-depth workshops:

You can save big by registering for both the SMX Advanced pre-conference workshops and All Access pass combo.

An SMX hallmark: Quality programming & speakers

All the SMX sessions I’ve described above are what we call “editorial sessions.” Each editorial session is developed by a session coordinator who reviews speaking pitches and reaches out to recognized industry experts to assemble a panel. The session coordinator works with the speakers to create a session where presentations support each other, rather than overlap. In most cases, the session coordinator is also the session moderator.

Formats also vary. Sometimes we have panels with multiple people. Sometimes we have only one or two speakers. Some panels are all Q&A. Some feature formal presentations. We don’t lock ourselves into one particular format because different topics require different approaches. Instead, we focus on creating an exceptional overall experience.

People are invited to speak at these sessions because we feel they have useful information to share with our audience. No one pays to participate on an editorial panel. View the complete agenda.

The Expo Hall, Learn With Google, Excel With Bing, & Solutions Track

Vendors and exhibitors also have stories to tell. We give them the opportunity and you the option to engage with them.

Connect with nearly 40 leading vendors in the Expo Hall for demonstrations of new products and services that will make your company more profitable and you more productive. Swing by during session breaks or spend some focused hours combing through all it has to offer. See all of the companies exhibiting.

Want to go deep on AdWords and Bing Ads? This is your chance! Both brands will present full days of educational sessions focused on their advertising platforms. Step inside for best practices around search, display and analytics, one-on-one support and a chance to meet the teams.

And there’s more: Solutions Track sessions are full-length presentations from participating companies. These sessions compete with high-quality editorial sessions, so the presenting brands make sure that plenty of great information is offered.

At SMX Advanced, Quora will reveal the Secret Weapon To Unlocking Mid-Funnel ROI, and the one and only Bruce Clay will share his team’s tips for Mastering SEO Silos. We’re also looking forward to presentations from Perform Media, Invoca, Brightedge and more. Stay tuned for finalized Solution Track sessions! Get the complete agenda here.

Uncle! I’m ready to register.

Invaluable, organized networking

SMX Advanced brings together the most accomplished search marketers in the world, and we provide plenty of thoughtfully sequenced networking opportunities for you to engage with your peers.

Once you’re registered, request an invitation to our private SMX Facebook Group. This will allow you to connect with other attendees and speakers before, during and after the show.

As always, we kick off the conference Monday, June 11, with the SMX Meet & Greet Reception, sponsored by Bruce Clay, Inc. This informal gathering is held on top of the Bell Harbor Conference Center and offers spectacular views of both downtown Seattle and Elliott Bay. Join us for complimentary drinks and appetizers, plus plenty of engaging conversations with your fellow attendees and speakers.

The SMX Expo Hall Reception takes place on Tuesday, June 12. This event offers another chance to mingle with attendees and check out the best-of-breed marketing solutions from our exhibitors and sponsors.

Each day during lunch, we offer unique “Obsessed with…” networking tables, where attendees enjoy a delicious lunch and topic-driven conversations. Being grouped with people who share a common interest is a great way to break the ice and forge meaningful connections.

Lastly, you won’t want to miss the 4th annual Search Engine Land Awards on Tuesday, June 12, sponsored by Google. Join us from 8:00 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. at Seattle’s famed Museum of Pop Culture for a fabulous evening celebrating the power of search. Enjoy cocktails and hors-d’oeuvres while you honor the finalists and winners in this year’s competition, then dance the night away with the largest gathering of your search marketing community! You won’t want to miss this unique celebration!

All of these options can be found on our SMX Advanced networking page. We keep SMX Advanced intentionally intimate, so you are guaranteed to meet plenty of amazing people!

You’ve read, now register!

I hope you’ve found this preview useful and that you’ll be joining us in Seattle this June! Register by May 12 to take advantage of Early Bird rates. Pay only $1,895 for an All Access pass, a $400 savings compared to on-site rates. We guarantee that your time and investment at SMX will be worth every penny. And remember… SMX Advanced has sold out every year for the past 11 years, so don’t delay!

SEO

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April 30, 2018 at 02:21PM

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Get ready for our FREE training: SEO for beginners

4/30/2018

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Get ready for our FREE training: SEO for beginners

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Want to know what makes your site rank higher in Google? Understand how Google works? This is your chance to learn it… for free! For the first time ever, we’re launching a completely free course: the SEO for beginners training. In this course, you’ll take your first steps in the world of Search Engine Optimization, also known as SEO. The course will be launched on May 7 and is easy, fun and free! So what’s stopping you?

Learn what to do to make your web traffic grow. Create a My Yoast user account now and we’ll give you access to the course on May 7!

Why take this course?

You want to rank higher

Whatever your expertise is, whether you’re a hairdresser, a consultant or a plumber, you probably have a website. And you want it to rank on top in Google. But what if the competition is outranking you? You can beat them through search engine optimization or SEO. SEO is the art of creating a website that search engines and users like. This can give you a head start on the competition that’s still in the dark about SEO. In the SEO for beginners training, you’ll learn why Google likes certain websites more than others. So you’ll know what to improve on your own website.

It’s easy

As this course is for beginners, it doesn’t matter if you know nothing about SEO or not so much about websites yet! We won’t use too many technical terms. We want everyone with a website to be able to understand what makes one website better than the other.

It’s fun and for free!

And on top of that, it’s free and much fun to do! You’ll get access to over two hours of instructional videos, lots of reading material, and challenging quizzes to train what you’ve learned.

What will you learn?

In this training, you’ll learn which factors make a website rank high in Google’s search results. It will give you a fundamental understanding of how search engines work. You’ll learn about keywords, why they are important and how to choose them well. Also, you’ll get insight in writing SEO-friendly posts and how structuring your site well can improve your rankings.

Why is this course free?

At Yoast we believe in fair changes in the search results for everyone. We think SEO isn’t something only the big companies should be able to do. Small businesses or non-profit organizations, or great ideas in general should get a platform and should be easy to find on the internet as well. That’s why our Yoast SEO plugin is for free, you get a free eBook when you sign up for our newsletter and next week we’ll even add a free course to the list!

How do you get access?

As of May 7 you’ll be able to enroll in this course. It’s completely free. If you don’t want to miss it you can already create a My Yoast account. The course will be automatically added to your account on May 7. We’ll send you an email when it’s available!

The post Get ready for our FREE training: SEO for beginners appeared first on Yoast.

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April 30, 2018 at 02:15PM

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Using On-Site Search as a Conversion Multiplier #SEMrushchat Recap

4/30/2018

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Using On-Site Search as a Conversion Multiplier #SEMrushchat Recap

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What do your users search for in your website search bar? On-site search is a clear indicator of user intent and can be a conversion multiplier for your website if done right. In last week’s #SEMrushchat, we discussed the best ways to use onsite search as a conversion multiplier with JP Sherman, the Manager of Search and Findability at RedHat. JP, along with our other chat participants, had valuable insights to share. In case you missed it, here is what we discussed:

Q1. How can a website utilize on-site search to multiply their conversions through insights or enhancing other marketing channels?

There are a lot of answers to this question, and it cannot be ignored. According to an Econsultancy report, nearly 84% of companies do not actively optimize or measure their on-site search. Here are some ways websites can utilize on-site search to multiply their conversions through insights or other marketing channels:

Set Up a Conversion Funnel

The first step would be to set up a conversion funnel that can track conversions from onsite search, especially for transactional websites. The number of conversions will give you a baseline for further optimization.

A1: there are LOTS of answers to this - but firstly, is that it's critical to create a funnel that sources conversions (if transactional) from your onsite search get a baseline #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Use Cookies for Retargeting

Every user who performs an on-site search is already engaged with your business. They believe you have something to offer them and that is the perfect opportunity for you to nurture them to conversion. Use website cookies to track their search and run focused retargeting campaigns for them.

A1: so, if a user is using site search, they're already engaged... they THINK you have something they want... one tip is to drop a cookie & put them in retargeting campaigns #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Pay Attention to Informational Content

Not all website visitors will want to convert (or, buy from you). Sometimes, they are just searching for more information. Remember to provide info-rich content, too, which can be a critical edge over the competition.

A1: of course, we always kind of bias towards ecommerce or transactional content - you gotta consider that you may have informational / non converting content to measure too #SEMrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Predict Customer Requirements

Use seasonal trends, regular queries, and past search data to predict what your visitors will be interested in next season.

A1: use past, seasonal search data & queries to predict what products to focus on during the next season - search data can be predictive #SEMrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Even if the insights are not seasonal, it gives you a good idea of what the leads really expect from you. This data can help you evolve your business or your website to meet those requirements.

A1) By finding out what potential customers are looking for from the site, the site and the business can evolve to meet their needs exactly#semrushchat

— David Rosam (@davidrosam) April 25, 2018

Understand Your Audience Better

Site search is essentially your audience telling you what they are looking for, what they expect from you, and whether your business/website has successfully met their expectation.

A1. Site search is your users *telling* you

* what they want
* what they wanted/expected to find on your homepage
* what they're having trouble finding in other ways (navigation etc.)

It's a rich resource often hugely neglected by site owners.#semrushchat https://t.co/DUUujUXhho

— Ⓞⓟⓣⓘⓜⓘⓢⓔⓨ (@Optimisey) April 25, 2018

In short, it is the perfect data that can help you to know your target audience better. It will definitely help you to further optimize your site and content.

A1: On-site search can be a tool to help you get to know your audience better. You can see what they're searching for and provide them with the content they need. #semrushchat

— Express Writers (@ExpWriters) April 25, 2018

A1: I would say there are many ways of doing this but I would focus on really getting to know your audience & their questions so you can refine your site search to provide them with the perfect landing pages to match their queries.#SEMrushchat

— Heather Harvey (@Fizzle_Up) April 25, 2018

Improve the UX and UI of Your Site

Onsite search data gives you insight as to what information your visitors are looking for and how you can provide it to them. You can use it to explore alternate ways to deliver the same information to them and check if it affects site performance.

A1) I'd say that a key area is to assist with UX. An alternative way for users to find the info they need. Some prefer searching. Some prefer browsing. Also, data from searches can identify gaps or illustrate popularity you could focus on more #SEMRushchat

— Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) April 25, 2018

A1 I have used internal search results to save money. 80% of searches were for a feature on a sister site so we put a big red button ont he home page next to search for it. Internal costs for search were on server cycles so we reduced our billing by nearly 80% #SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

Also, if you realize that your audience is searching for information that you think is very apparent on your site, then it is time to present it in a much more obvious and simpler fashion.

A1: Are people searching for things they should be able to easily find? Your IA might be jacked up. #semrushchat

— Jairus Mitchell (@AnInternetRobot) April 25, 2018

Similarly, you can also test your website design (particularly that of the search bar) by placing more emphasis on it while designing.

A1: You can place more emphasis on the search bar in the design phase of a website, and you can remove or improve search results by reviewing the search data and looking at exit rate on keywords and adding additional or related topics. #SEMRushChat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 25, 2018

Create Content That Provides Value

When you use search data to understand your audience better, you will eventually find out what kind of content they most value. Thus, you can improve the content you have and ensure that you deliver exactly what your customers are looking for.

A1: If possible, onsite search functions can tell you what your customers are really looking for. Onsite searches can also help you improve your content by teaching you what pages customers find valuable for certain queries. #SEMrushchat

— Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) April 25, 2018

A1 constant reviews of the terms people are askking and the results you are giving them. If your search system allows you can force certain pages with the top keywords. Use the lists to create new content you don't have.

#SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

Tweak Your Internal Search Engine

Another way to use your search data is to fine-tune your internal search engine. You can add synonyms to search queries or build test cases for certain kinds of search so that the user gets the maximum value from your site.

A1: also you should use site search data to tune your search engine itself, e.g. by adding synonyms. You can use logged queries to build test cases for certain kinds of search .... #semrushchat

— Charlie Hull (@FlaxSearch) April 25, 2018

A1 I have used internal search results to save money. 80% of searches were for a feature on a sister site so we put a big red button ont he home page next to search for it. Internal costs for search were on server cycles so we reduced our billing by nearly 80% #SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

Q2. What are the top benefits of implementing on-site search?

Find Out What (content) Is Not Working

Once you implement on-site search and the analytics that go with it, you can use it to understand why some of your content or a search query is failing. If, out of a number of results, some are repeatedly ignored, can those results be tweaked? Similarly, if you get a lot of failed/zero search result query, can you identify the root cause? Both these insights will help you structure your content more around what the audience is looking for and thus boost engagement.

A2: remember - if you have the analytics skills, don't just measure the one link that was clicked - presumably, there were 9 other links that weren't clicked (why?) #SEMrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

A2: Insight into how people use your website (and where you maybe need to work on usability) and how trends are changing #forecasting (especially in retail and #B2C) #semrushchat

— Sarah Marks (@_ofwanderings) April 25, 2018

Improve Customer Experience

Make your website easily navigable and help your users find what they are looking for faster. Such a reduction in user-friction will improve their experience and easier to access the information they are looking for.

A2) Reduce user-friction. Gather intelligence. Build predictable modelling. Mobile-first UX (often). Quick for the user (hopefully). Lots more #semrushchat

— Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) April 25, 2018

A2: Again, so many benefits but I'd say:
1. Helping your users with navigation therefore keeping them happy & more likely to convert.

2. Keeping you ahead of the game by really getting to know your users intent for creating compelling content.#SEMrushchat

— Heather Harvey (@Fizzle_Up) April 25, 2018

A2. Lots. But my main two:

* Makes life easier for users (therefore you get more of them & happier ones) - some users *know* what they want - a good site search speeds their journey

* Gives you lots and lots of lovely, relevant, targeted, key target audience DATA#semrushchat https://t.co/PWeuRSkDOD

— Ⓞⓟⓣⓘⓜⓘⓢⓔⓨ (@Optimisey) April 25, 2018

Gain More Customer Insight

The users who engage with your site through the search bar provide the most valuable information. They are most likely to convert, have already established a base level of trust with your business, and have come to you with their search query, instead of asking Google. Clearly, they are further down the conversion funnel, and their search behavior can give you insights on which types of content or value to prioritize.

A2: from my perspective - you're getting data from users who are:
- more likely to convert
- established a base level of trust
- already interacted
- know google exists, but searched your site
valuable, specific data #SEMrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Refine your SEO

The keyword data from an internal user search engine is valuable in telling you what your users are searching for. You can use that data to create content around it and, in turn, improve your rankings on Google. At the very least, your target audience can directly visit the page they want from Google – thus improving your visits to that particular page.

A2 and it also gives you clues to prioritise your own SEO work - why did the users have to use internal search to find that page and not get there directly from a search engine of choice. #SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

A2. One of my favorite things about internal site search and its keyword data is being able to get in the head of your audience to understand how they think, phrase, and discover answers and information in ways you can't know from tools like Google Analytics. #SEMrushchat

— David Cohen (@explorionary) April 25, 2018

Shorten Conversion Paths

For e-commerce clients, the benefits can be immediate, for example, they can encourage quicker conversions by placing related products to the search query. Plus, this addition, with say, banner ads highlighting popular products, can encourage your visitors to convert faster.

A2: Another benefit if you are an ecom client, is updating the site's on-site search feature to also feature profitable products in the search results under a "related product" or implementing banner ads. #SEMRushChat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 25, 2018

For non-eCommerce businesses, this can simply make it easier for your users to navigate the site with related content, which in turn, encourages more engagement or conversion.

A2: Making it easy for site visitors to access information.

Gain insight into what they're really looking for (if they came in off a different query).

Either way, you're acquiring important UX info to ultimately cater to users, which Google LOVES.#semrushchat https://t.co/boVCEy1gkD

— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) April 25, 2018

A2 On site search can help

1. Understanding user behavior.
2. Optimize CTA
3. Better internal linking
4. Optimize existing content#SEMrushchat

— Krishna Rg? (@krishnarg22) April 25, 2018

Q3. What are some good ways we can use personalization to influence on-site search?

Personalization of search results on your site can help you to improve cross-selling, targeting, and better customer experience. Sophisticated systems like chatbots and personalized guides can make a huge difference in the e-commerce industry. Likewise, including alternative service channels or voice search can also help improve your conversions.

A3 #semrushchat
- Build chatbots with personalized questions & shopping guidelines
- Include alternative service channels & voice search
- Show products within budget
- Cross-sell better targeted products, eliminate no-results pages https://t.co/rLJ3Bd6rSs

— Rohan Ayyar (@searchrook) April 25, 2018

To begin personalization, start with these methods:

Use Previous User Behavior for Targeted Suggestions

If you have profile log information, you can harvest it to serve users’ suggestions based on their previous search or buying behavior. The content can be prioritized to suit their unique pattern and can also be customized with a ‘recommended’ list of suggestions. To take it the extra mile, the wording can even be changed per the user’s search request or location, i.e., using the term soda vs. pop or Coke.

A3.) prioritize site search result rankings based on previous visits or previous purchases when available #SEMrushchat

— Ryan Glass (@RyanGPhx) April 25, 2018

A3) Past search behaviour. Recommender systems. Suggestions based on past personal searches. There's a very interesting field looking at 'persona modelling'. Of course Amazon and co have been at it for years #semrushchat

— Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) April 25, 2018

A3) Serve search results according to past behaviour on the site and purchases.#semrushchat

— David Rosam (@davidrosam) April 25, 2018

A3: With an ecommerce site, using past searches to suggest other products can be huge! Also, for large brands, use personalization to determine wording. For example, Pop vs. Soda vs. Coke. #SEMrushchat

— Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) April 25, 2018

In case you have no search data for that specific user (first-time users), then you can use similar search behavior pattern to show targeted results.

A3: Suggestions based on previous user behaviour or suggestions based on similar user behaviour. We like Amazon’s approach to this, especially with books. We’ve discovered some great ones this way. #semrushchat

— Little Tzu Marketing (@wearelittletzu) April 25, 2018

A3: back to personalization - based on logged in profile information you can try predicting what a user will want based upon behaviors of other, like, profiles or attributes #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

A quick heads up, if your profile data is inaccurate or lacking information, this method can backfire. Wrong suggestions and personalization can also turn your visitors off and give them the impressions that you don’t understand them.

Have Related FAQs for Every Search

Giving a list of questions (FAQs) at the end of every search can aid the user in getting more information about their topic of interest. If these questions are based on the site query data and combined with search patterns of users, it can be highly personalized and extremely useful.

Customize Search According to Location

Geography can alter language, dialect, and trends. To make your search more user-friendly, you can use the region’s ‘dialect’ or jargon. An easy way to achieve this is to create a list of synonyms that creates an association on your search platform, making it region specific. It can help the user relate to the product more and help convert faster. Likewise, you can show ‘popular searches’, in that region to assist the user in finding what he wants faster.

A3: In the same vein, you can keep the onsite search up to date with ever changing vocabulary. If you notice certain words being used in other places related to your product then fitting it into your search might be a benefit to you. #SEMrushchat

— Brixx (@BrixxSoftware) April 25, 2018

A3. One example would be to check the user's GEO and offer popular searches in his region. #SEMRushchat

— Igal Stolpner (@igalst) April 25, 2018

A3: E.g., geography can alter language. Is it a "can koozie" or a "soda cozy"? By using local "dialect" for items, you can make your search function much more user-friendly.#semrushchat https://t.co/F7XjBGpX61

— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) April 25, 2018

Use Segmentation and Filters

To improve the relevance of the data you show your audience, segment and filter your data based on various parameters. If you are an e-commerce company, the simplest way to do it would be according to gender or pricing.

A3: Use visitor segmentation for search filters: segment by gender when selling fashion e.g.. Then I don't have to search for "shorts for men". When I clicked "men" in the menu, only show men related searches. #semrushchat

— Tadeusz Szewczyk (Tad Chef) (@onreact_com) April 25, 2018

Allow the User More Control Over Navigation

Use drop-down menus, categories, and brand names to give the user more control over what they are searching for. Every user can also have their very own search results page – based on their previous activity, with quick search options that are customized to their behavior.

A3: I think one of the best ways to make it personal is giving the user some type of control of onsite search; drop-down menus, categories, brands. If you offer login, use that to build personal search result pages and quick search options. #SEMRushChat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 25, 2018

Q4. Designing the UI/UX of the search experience is critical, what are some ways you can improve the search experience through design?

The UI/UX of your search has to ultimately deliver a positive experience to the user, by letting them find what they are looking for as quickly as possible. It has to be fast, precise, and should also offer suggestions.

A4: Designing a positive user experience for onsite search is crucial. They are already looking for something they can't find so it's extremely important that you deliver from search! #SEMrushchat

— Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) April 25, 2018

While your search data can help you tweak your search query, here are some things you can do and certain design elements you can try to achieve that:

Test the Design

Introduce a panel testing for a beta audience to see how well-received it is and make sure the search bar is placed in a spot that is easy to find. If necessary, get a good eye-tracking software or a heat map to see where the user’s focus is first. Content-wise, test and re-test your queries to ensure that there are minimal no results, which can be frustrating and lead to a poor UX. A quick way to do that is to first build the information system and then the design.

A4) If possible do some panel testing before any major changes with a segment of 'beta' audience. Inform audience ahead of any major changes. Build information systems first then the design #SEMrushchat

— Dawn Anderson (@dawnieando) April 25, 2018

A4: Analyze user activity -- e.g., eye-tracking software -- can tell you where users' focus is. Make sure your search bar is easy to find/use.

Test for inadequacies -- "no results" is frustrating to read!#semrushchat https://t.co/iezT8HvxhT

— ThinkSEM (@ThinkSEM) April 25, 2018

Be Bold Enough to Execute and Kill Ideas If They Don’t Work

Remember, every time a user employs the site search, it means that they did not find what they were looking for in the first place. That means that the user journey you had mapped just went out the window. You will have to come up with another one to see how you can answer this query.

A4) Throw out your established user journey. If the user is going to site search, assume that they saw your normal entry points and thought they needed something else. #SEMrushchat

— Ryan Glass (@RyanGPhx) April 25, 2018

While an idea you came up with sounds awesome on paper, it may not give you the right results. The trick lies in balancing features, ideas vs. discovery. If your idea doesn’t help the customer in any way, such as improving the speed of search, then kill it!

A4: when it comes to design - i try to use the principle:

"reduce the time it takes from query to conversion"

users want an answer, if a cool facet or feature doesn't increase their speed - kill it #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

A4: but you really have to balance too many features vs. speed of discovery - great ideas are great, but if they're not understood or used... kill them dead. #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Make It Easy to Navigate

The search bar should be easy to find on every page of your site. If the user has to wade through a number of links and pages to get back to where they started, that means your site’s UX is not good.

A4: It has to be easy to find for a kick off and know exactly what it is. Then it has to be able to return exactly what has been searched or get near as damn it.
The look of a website influences behaviour, the look and feel cannot be overlooked. #SEMrushchat

— Kieran Ledger (@KJLedger) April 25, 2018

A great example is Google’s Search Engine. Not only is the search bar obvious and well designed but the results are also segmented into categories, such as images, maps, and videos, which makes it easier for the user to find what they are looking for. So, take a page out of their book and build assistive technologies, use keyword matches (like Google again), and design accurate search snippets. All this will definitely aid the user find what he is looking for a lot quicker.

A4. Well besides getting inspired by the giant ecommerce/travel sites, you can also get some inspiration from Google itself.

So why not use tabs by categories to make a user's life easier? So your equivalent to All/Images/Videos/Maps/News #SEMRushchat

— Igal Stolpner (@igalst) April 25, 2018

A4: make it fast, precise and provide suggestions while you type. basically, get inspired by google search ;-). #semrushchat

— Kevin_Indig (@Kevin_Indig) April 25, 2018

A4: don't just rely on 10 blue links.
- have keymatches (think adwords)
- build assistive technologies
- be obsessive about the search snippet design #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

Design It For the User – According To the Site

Sometimes, going the Google or Bing way may not work for your business. Instead of just having ten links and categorizing the search query, you can simply have great images of your products with detailed descriptions. If it is an e-commerce site, it could encourage conversions.

A4 your results layout can be whatever you want - you don't need to use the default or follow what Google or Bing do - big shiney images of products with all the details so they could purchase without going anywhere else is ideal on ecommerce. #SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

This does not mean cluttering up the search results page, it is simply ensuring that the user finds what they want quicker, without confusing the search results page. In turn, more content can be offered to the user as FAQs.

A4) Must be easy to use and fast to deliver answers. The heavy lifting should be behind the scenes as much as possible, not in a myriad of confusing options for the user.#semrushchat

— David Rosam (@davidrosam) April 25, 2018

Might be helpful to add an FAQ or popular articles section—where users can see them. #SEMRushChat - A4

— Narmadhaa (@s_narmadhaa) April 25, 2018

Mobile Optimization

Don’t forget your mobile users. Make sure that you optimize your site for mobile users as well and ensure that the search function works well on both mobile and desktop, especially since Google is all about mobile-first.

A4: Will design based on both mobile and web. Optimize mobile UI/UX experience using Amp. #semrushchat

— Veeraeswari (@VeeraeswariS) April 25, 2018

Direct CTAs to Open In a New tab

Enabling proper navigation can sometimes be helped along if all the CTAs open on new tabs without fail. This ensures that the user is never lost and can quickly come back to the home page if necessary.

A4

1. Have the search bar accessible in all pages of the website.
2. Enable proper Navigation.
3. Have a check on redirects.
4. Make sure links in CTA get opened on news tab.#SEMrushchat

— Krishna Rg? (@krishnarg22) April 25, 2018

Q5. Owning your own onsite search means you can boost content to the top, what are some benefits & risks of artificially boosting content?

Artificially boosting content is like a short-cut to getting attention to the content you deem important.

A5: ever wish you could call google and ask them to put your site on top?

you can do that with onsite search - however... there are risks #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

It can be tricky and can spell disaster for your business and have similar effects to keyword stuffing.

A5: boosting is seldom done carefully, can swamp other results if over zealous! Can lead to similar effects to keyword stuffing. Use with extreme care #semrushchat

— Charlie Hull (@FlaxSearch) April 25, 2018

Here is a list of reasons why our chat participants think this won’t always be the best idea:

A5: Artificially boosting content is tricky. Make sure the content is really in line with what the consumer is looking for. You don't want to frustrate them with information that isn't helpful. #SEMrushchat

— Netvantage Marketing (@netvantage) April 25, 2018

A5) Biasing results could be a disaster. No matter what you, as a business, may want to put at the top, if it doesn't match the searcher's expectations, you're sunk. In the short term and the long term (think impact on brand)#semrushchat

— David Rosam (@davidrosam) April 25, 2018

A5) Big Risk is remembering why and how much you boosted content down the road. Next campaign or next product launch and you have to resculpt it all. Better to go with click-based rankings from retrieved set. #SEMrushchat

— Ryan Glass (@RyanGPhx) April 25, 2018

On the other hand, it can also be advantageous:

So how can you get it right?

A5 Benefits are that you can control what people get to see. If your sites framework is terrible for organic SEO then this will help a lot, but it must be done sparingly. Choose your main category pages and choose the terms you would like them to rank for.#SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

A5: I think you need to be careful with boosting content, you want to make sure its relevant to the user and the search intent. Don't get overzealous in displaying the content you think will perform, trust the data and user intent to guide you. #SEMRushChat

— Danny Ray Lima (@dannyraylima) April 25, 2018

Employ keyword meta-tags. Even if Google ignores them, your site search engine won’t, and, your content will be ranked better.

A5: remember keyword meta-tags? almost all site search engines still use them. Yeah, google will ignore them, but you'll rank your content on your site better #semrushchat

— JP Sherman (@jpsherman) April 25, 2018

A5 Then look at your top search terms and see where your audience go. If they are mostly choosing item 14 on your serp then promote that to the top - if it suites the business KPI. #SEMrushchat

— Simon Cox (@simoncox) April 25, 2018

The bottom line is – what the users want and what you think the users want can be vastly different. Unless you make data-backed choices, that are frequently updated with customer feedback, everything you do will just be guessing.

A5. What you think users want; and what users want are often not the same thing.

Tread carefully.

Make sure it's clear what's 'organic' (based on their search); and what's your attempt at a best guess etc. Use feedback+data to make your guesses better.

#semrushchat https://t.co/EqaTy0fJtr

— Ⓞⓟⓣⓘⓜⓘⓢⓔⓨ (@Optimisey) April 25, 2018

If you have optimized your on-site search right, then your organic search results should rank your best content anyway.

A5: the risk is not providing relevant results, the benefit is to get more traffic to the content you're boosting. I'd generally not recommend to do this, because if a user wants a certain piece of content she/he should find it through search organically #semrushchat

— Kevin_Indig (@Kevin_Indig) April 25, 2018

That’s all for today! Make sure you join us this week on #SEMrushchat as we do a live-site audit of https://ift.tt/2raFgcj!

SEO

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April 30, 2018 at 01:50PM

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Faster Fresher Better: Announcing Link Explorer Moz's New Link Building Tool

4/30/2018

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Faster, Fresher, Better: Announcing Link Explorer, Moz's New Link Building Tool

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Posted by SarahBird

More link data. Fresher link data. Faster link data.

Today, I’m delighted to share that after eons of hard work, blood, sweat, tears, and love, Moz is taking a major step forward on our commitment to provide the best SEO tools money can buy.

We’ve rebuilt our link technology from the ground up and the data is now broadly available throughout Moz tools. It’s bigger, fresher, and much, much faster than our legacy link tech. And we’re just getting started! The best way to quickly understand the potential power of our revolutionary new link tech is to play with the beta of our Link Explorer.

Introducing Link Explorer, the newest addition to the Moz toolset!

We’ve heard your frustrations with Open Site Explorer and we know that you want more from Moz and your link building tools. OSE has done more than put in its time. Groundbreaking when it launched in 2008, it’s worked long and hard bring link data to the masses. It deserves the honor of a graceful retirement.

OSE represents our past; the new Link Explorer is our fast, innovative, ambitious future.

Here are some of my favorite things about the Link Explorer beta:

It’s 20x larger and 30x fresher than OSE (RIP)
Despite its huge index size, the app is lightning fast! I can’t stand waiting so this might be my number-one fav improvement.
We’re introducing Link Tracking Lists to make managing your link building efforts a breeze. Sometimes the simple things make the biggest difference, like when they started making vans with doors on each side. You’ll never go back.
Link Explorer includes historic data, a painful gap in OSE. Studying your gained/lost linking domains is fast and easy.
The new UX surfaces competitive insights much more quickly
Increases the size and freshness of the index improved the quality of Domain Authority and Spam Score. Voilà.

All this, and we’re only in beta.

Dive into your link data now!

Here’s a deeper dive into my favorites:

#1: The sheer size, quality, and speed of it all

We’re committed to data quality. Here are some ways that shows up in the Moz tools:

When we collect rankings, we evaluate the natural first page of rankings to ensure that the placement and content of featured snippets and other SERP features are correctly situated (as can happen when ranking are collected in 50- or 100-page batches). This is more expensive, but we think the tradeoff is worth it.
We were the first to build a hybrid search volume model using clickstream data. We still believe our model is the most accurate.
Our SERP corpus, which powers Keywords by Site, is completely refreshed every two weeks. We actively update up to 15 million of the keywords each month to remove keywords that are no longer being searched and replace them with trending keywords and terms. This helps keep our keyword data set fresh and relevant.

The new Link Explorer index extends this commitment to data quality. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re thrilled to unleash this new tech.

Link Explorer is over 20x larger and 30x fresher than our legacy link index. Bonus points: the underlying technology is very cost-efficient, making it much less expensive for us to scale over time. This frees up resources to focus on feature delivery. BOOM!

One of my top pet peeves is waiting. I feel physical pain while waiting in lines and for apps to load. I can’t stand growing old waiting for a page to load (amirite?).

The new Link Explorer app is delightfully, impossibly fast. It’s like magic. That’s how link research should be. Magical.

#2: Historical data showing discovered and lost linking domains

If you’re a visual person, this report gives you an immediate idea of how your link building efforts are going. A spike you weren't expecting could be a sign of spam network monkey business. Deep-dive effortlessly on the links you lost and gained so you can spend your valuable time doing thoughtful, human outreach.

#3: Link Tracking Lists

Folks, this is a big one. Throw out (at least one of... ha. ha.) those unwieldy spreadsheets and get on board with Link Tracking Lists, because these are the future. Have you been chasing a link from a particular site? Wondering if your outreach emails have borne fruit yet? Want to know if you’ve successfully placed a link, and how you’re linking? Link Tracking Lists cut out a huge time-suck when it comes to checking back on which of your target sites have actually linked back to you.

Why announce the beta today?

We’re sharing this now for a few reasons:

The new Link Explorer data and app have been available in beta to a limited audience. Even with a quiet, narrow release, the SEO community has been talking about it and asking good questions about our plans. Now that the Link Explorer beta is in broad release throughout all of Moz products and the broader Moz audience can play with it, we’re expecting even more curiosity and excitement.
If you’re relying on our legacy link technology, this is further notice to shift your applications and reporting to the new-and-improved tech. OSE will be retired soon! We’re making it easier for API customers to get the new data by providing a translation layer for the legacy API.
We want and need your feedback. We are committed to building the very best link building tool on the planet. You can expect us to invest heavily here. We need your help to guide our efforts and help us make the most impactful tradeoffs. This is your invitation to shape our roadmap.

Today’s release of our new Link Explorer technology is a revolution in Moz tools, not an evolution. We’ve made a major leap forward in our link index technology that delivers a ton of immediate value to Moz customers and the broader Moz Community.

Even though there are impactful improvements around the corner, this ambitious beta stands on its own two feet. OSE wasn’t cutting it and we’re proud of this new, fledgling tech.

What’s on the horizon for Link Explorer?

We’ve got even more features coming in the weeks and months ahead. Please let us know if we’re on the right track.

Link Building Assistant: a way to quickly identify new link acquisition opportunities
A more accurate and useful Link Intersect feature
Link Alerts to notify you when you get a link from a URL you were tracking in a list
Changes to how we count redirects: Currently we don't count links to a redirect as links to the target of the redirect (that's a lot of redirects), but we have this planned for the future.
Significantly scaling up our crawling to further improve freshness and size

Go forth, and explore:

Try the new Link Explorer!

Tomorrow Russ Jones will be sharing a post that discusses the importance of quality metrics when it comes to a link index, and don’t miss our pinned Q&A post answering questions about Domain Authority and Page Authority changes or our FAQ in the Help Hub.

We’ll be releasing early and often. Watch this space, and don’t hold back your feedback. Help us shape the future of Links at Moz. We’re listening!

Sign up for The Moz Top 10, a semimonthly mailer updating you on the top ten hottest pieces of SEO news, tips, and rad links uncovered by the Moz team. Think of it as your exclusive digest of stuff you don't have time to hunt down but want to read!

SEO

via SEOmoz Blog https://moz.com/blog

April 30, 2018 at 01:36PM

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Google Begins Sending Mobile-First Indexing Notifications by @MattGSouthern

4/30/2018

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Google Begins Sending Mobile-First Indexing Notifications by @MattGSouthern

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Google has started sending emails to notify webmasters that their site has been migrated to mobile-first indexing.

The company announced last month that it would be sending notifications regarding mobile-first indexing, but today marks the first time anyone has actually seen them.

However, that doesn’t mean mobile-first indexing is just starting now. Google has confirmed that migration to mobile-first indexing began months ago.

Here is a look at the notifications Google is sending to webmasters who have verified ownership of their site with Google Search Console.

In case you cannot see the image above, here is what it says:

”Mobile-first indexing enabled for <URL>

To owner of <URL>

This means that you may see more traffic in your logs from Googlebot Smartphone. You may also see that snippets in Google Search results are now generated from the mobile version of your content.

Background: Mobile-first indexing means that Googlebot will now use the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking, to better help our (primarily mobile) users find what they’re looking for. Google’s crawling, indexing, and ranking systems have historically used the desktop version of your site’s content, which can cause issues for mobile searchers when the desktop version differs from the mobile version. Our analysis indicates that the mobile and desktop versions of your site are comparable.”

Google has previously mentioned that sites migrated to mobile-first indexing will see an increase in activity from the Googlebot Smarphone crawler.

SEO

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April 30, 2018 at 10:54AM

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3 Warning Signs Youre Optimizing for the Wrong Keywords by @casieg

4/30/2018

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3 Warning Signs You’re Optimizing for the Wrong Keywords by @casieg

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When we think about SEO, we think about keywords.

After all, keywords help guide everything from on-page strategy to blog creation and can even play a role in link building.

Keywords really are the foundation of a sound SEO program.

However, keywords can be deceptive.

Keyword research seems like it should be an easy task but taking the time to understand each word or phrase actually requires quite a bit of work and sound knowledge of both search results and audiences.

On top of that, keywords don’t always mean what you think they should mean.

The problem is, we don’t always know this right away.

In fact, for the clients I work with, we are continuously reevaluating and refining our keyword targets. The reason being?

At the onset of a program you don’t know as much about the landscape, so you are choosing your targets based on research, client feedback, competitors, and keyword data.

After you’ve been in a program for a while, however, you get a much better understanding of the space, the search results, the audience, and keywords themselves.

Enter content.

The same thing applies to how we write content and how we ensure we are using the right terms, for the right content and the right audience.

We don’t always get it correct on the first try and to be honest, one of the most frustrating things as a content marketer is creating a well-thought out piece that doesn’t perform nearly as well as it should.

What did I do wrong?

Well, it turns out, the answer may lie in your keywords. Your content may simply be using the wrong keywords.

The good news is there are warning signs to help you determine if this is the case. Let’s take a look.

1. High Bounce Rate / Low Time on Page

I’ll be honest, I’m not a huge fan of bounce rate. Primarily because when looked at in aggregate and/or without context, it can be misleading.

After all, there are many facets to a website and while a page may have a high bounce rate, that doesn’t make it a bad page (i.e., Contact Us).

However, if you are creating a piece of content that is intended to inform and drive an action, you don’t want them landing on a page and leaving.

Let’s take for example Client A:

Client A offers shipping and logistics solutions to businesses, specifically those shipping large quantities of goods. Many of Client A’s existing customers ship auto parts so to capture this audience, Client A created a page targeting keywords like ‘auto part shipping’ and ‘ship auto parts’.

Makes sense, right?

Unfortunately, no.

With a high bounce rate and low time on site, users weren’t staying on the page.

As we dug in more, we realized that while yes, people were, in fact, looking for those terms but they weren’t the right people.

The people looking to ship auto parts were people like you and I, individual consumers with one-off shipments and questions on how to do it.

What we needed to do to capture the business audience was to focus on the quantity element. The people we want are shipping in bulk and filling entire pallets.

By adjusting our content, specifically headlines and CTAs, to reflect our updated keywords, we were able to shift who we were reaching and in turn, lower our bounce rate, up the time on site, and more importantly, increase shipments.

While neither bounce rate nor time on site are perfect metrics, when analyzed in combination with overall performance, they can help you determine problem areas.

2. Little to No Organic Visibility

It’s no secret that I am somewhat obsessed with content. I talk about it, write about it, tweet about it, and have it tattooed on my arm (OK, that last part isn’t true).

Content marketing is one of my favorite things in the marketing world. Why? Because, when done properly, it can drive phenomenal results, particularly from an SEO perspective.

Note that last part – from an SEO perspective.

Your content must have a goal and if your goal is to be found in search results, then how you write that content and choose keywords must be in line with what the search results are showing.

For example, if I am looking for visibility on the term [marketing automation] I will need to have content that details what marketing automation is.

Why?

Because the search results are filled with “what is” content, an answer box, and a people also ask box.

If your plan is to try and show up in these types of results with a product page, you probably won’t have much success

On top of that, if you really think about someone searching [marketing automation], it makes sense they’d be looking for information.

Someone searching [marketing automation software], however, is further along in their journey and in that case, a product page could work.

Your content must match the intent of the search results. If it doesn’t, re-evaluate the keywords you are targeting and perhaps the content itself.

The caveat to all this is you may write the perfect piece of content and not see results right away. Keep your eye on the prize.

Google Search Console can show you improvements in longer tail queries and adding cross-links from other locations can help provide additional visibility.

Still not seeing any movement? Maybe you need to enhance the content a bit more. Remember, there are always ways to make your content better.

3. High Impressions / Low Click-Through Rate

You did it!

You created a piece of content that is ranking for your target keyword, Search Console shows it’s getting impressions, and traffic to the page has stayed…the same.

What?

Unfortunately, this may be a sign you are optimizing for the wrong keywords.

In the world of PPC, half the battle is writing ad copy that gets the right people to click on your ad. Luckily for those running paid ads, they can see that data right away and make adjustments.

Those in the SEO/content space aren’t quite so lucky. By the time your content has enough data to help you make a decision, months may have gone by.

Always. Be. Evaluating.

We are consistently looking through Search Console to find keywords with high positions, high impressions, and low click-through rates. Here’s an example:

Once we have those keywords, we can take a look at the pages ranking and the search results themselves.

Is our content in line with the search results?
Does it match the intent of the other results?

In some cases, perhaps you simply need to update your HTML title to better encourage clicks but in others, you may find that even though your content is performing well in results, it’s not doing anything to help your business. You may need to shift the focus.

Aligning Your Keywords & Content

The key to a successful SEO strategy is ensuring your keywords and content are aligned properly. There is no point spending time creating content or optimizing your site if you aren’t going to reach the right people.

Remember, much of this comes down to understanding keyword intent. If you’ve been working on a site for a while, go back and re-evaluate keywords, check your landing pages, and update your pages as needed.

There’s no better feeling than creating something that drives real business results. While it may take time, aligning your keywords and content is the first step.

More SEO Resources:

Image Credits
All screenshots by Casie Gillette. Taken April 2018.

SEO

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April 30, 2018 at 10:29AM

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First batch of Google mobile-first indexing notifications goes out today

4/30/2018

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First batch of Google mobile-first indexing notifications goes out today

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For the first time since Google announced the rollout of the mobile-first indexing process just over a month ago, SEOs and webmasters are now getting notifications via Google Search Console of their sites being “enabled” for mobile-first indexing.

The notification reads “mobile-first indexing enabled for” and specifies the domain name of the site it was enabled for. Ari Finkelstein shared a screen shot of the notification with us.

It reads:

This means that you may see more traffic in your logs from Googlebot Smartphone. You may also see that snippets in Google Search results are now generated from the mobile version of your content.

Background: Mobile-first indexing means that Googlebot will now use the mobile version of your site for indexing and ranking, to better help our (primarily mobile) users find what they’re looking for. Google’s crawling, indexing, and ranking systems have historically used the desktop version of your site’s content, which can cause issues for mobile searchers when the desktop version differs from the mobile version. Our analysis indicates that the mobile and desktop versions of your site are comparable.

This is a big milestone since Google originally announced the mobile-first indexing experiment in November 2016.

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April 30, 2018 at 09:09AM

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How to Optimize Your SEO for Voice Search

4/30/2018

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How to Optimize Your SEO for Voice Search

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“OK Google, tell me where I can go to lunch today.”

And just so I don’t offend the Apple aficionados:

‘Hey Siri, is it going to rain today?”

What do these have in common?

They’re classic examples of the rising tide of voice search, and they signal a change in the SEO landscape that you can’t afford to ignore.

And if you take a moment to look, you’ll find that the voices telling you how to optimize for voice search are many and varied.

But what actually works?

Is there actually a way you can take steps in the right direction to help optimize people who rely on voice searches?

I believe there are, and I want to share them with you.

Before we get started improving your SEO though, I want to show you some overwhelming evidence that voice search is taking over.

What is voice search, and why bother?

The practical applications of voice search are still relatively new, but the feature itself has taken the world by storm.

These days, all you have to do is tell your device what you’re looking for, and it will do the searching for you.

Anyone with a smartphone or smart home device no longer has the Internet at their fingertips.

They have it at the tip of their tongue.

And let’s be honest, that’s just plain cool.

We’ve reached the “final frontier” of search technology unless telekinesis is discovered (which is highly unlikely).

But more to the point, in a rather illuminating study, Stanford University recently discovered that speech recognition technologies are now three times faster than typing.

So for businesses, this is a matter of user experience and delivering convenience to your customers in a rather innovative way.

And it’s already sending waves through the SEO world.

This is partly because these technologies just keep getting better and better with time.

Recent reports by Microsoft tout that their speech recognition has only a 5.1% error rate and works with a vast variety of languages.

Garage Screenshot 2

If you use Microsoft’s Cortana software, that’s good news.

But they’re not the only ones seeing success.

Google is on par with Microsoft, if not barely edging them out:

google accuracy

That means not only is voice search helpful, but it’s also competitive.

And when Google, Microsoft, and other major tech companies start competing, you can pretty much guarantee that you’re going to see some amazing changes in the coming years.

The inner workings of voice search are both surprisingly human and technical at the same time.

For the first time, computers can hear our voices and guess our true intentions with a staggering amount of accuracy.

Algorithms like RankBrain, which was confirmed in 2015, are already blowing our expectations out of the water with its ability to predict intent.

But speech recognition isn’t the only aspect that’s been improving.

Voice search systems are now able to do much more than just give you the top-ranked answer:

home devices

So the evolution of speech recognition is just one aspect to consider.

Amazon’s Echo devices can now perform over 12,000 different skills, which means they’re becoming a much more integral part in how we use the Internet.

And the sales numbers of these smart home systems only serve to drive that point even further.

In 2017 alone, more than 25 million smart home devices were sold and 11 million of those came in the final quarter.

For a technology that’s still in its infancy, that’s an impressive adoption rate.

Voice search is in our homes, on our phones, and even in our browsers now.

And that means people must be using these features on a regular basis for both work and leisure.

But this also means that if you’re not at the top of a search engine’s rankings, you probably won’t ever see results from voice search.

In fact, even being on the front page might not be good enough anymore.

In essence, this means that the number one spot on Google, Bing, and any other search engine is now more important than ever.

And since almost 40% of voice search users have looked up something online with voice search, you can rest assured that this trend will continue.

12 which of these apps have you controlled with voice

2017 saw a staggering growth of 178% in the utilization of voice search, and I’m confident that the coming years will see that figure grow even more.

So what does this mean for your SEO?

Besides needing to rank as the number one page, it means you have a lot of work ahead of you.

And to start things off, it means the basics of SEO are more important now than ever before.

Start with solid SEO

It may surprise you that I start off with the basics, but honestly, it shouldn’t.

The honest and hard truth about SEO is that it takes forever.

It took me years to start seeing large amounts of organic traffic for my brand, and I’m just one example.

Many fledgling companies that are leading innovation in their industries are fighting the giant, established corporations whose budgets dwarf theirs.

And because they’re newcomers on the playing field, they have to play the long game if they want to win.

This is especially true when it comes to voice search because the climb just got that much steeper.

In an enlightening study, Backlinko did some extensive tests on Google Home’s search results.

What they found won’t surprise any SEO enthusiast, but they prove the necessity of SEO basics quite emphatically.

For example, one of their findings was that load time affected performance significantly:

3 time to load

The top results of their voice search experiments had an average load time almost half of the top-ranked website on a traditional search.

And that means the already vital aspect of load times just upped the ante on-site owners.

Now, you’re not only trying to keep your visitor’s attention.

You’re also trying to grab the attention of a coveted voice search algorithm.

But that’s not all.

Much like with traditional search engine searches, voice search results preferred long-form content by a longshot.

20 average word count

This validates the message that many other marketers and I have been preaching for years.

The longer and more thorough your content is, the more likely you are to start ranking higher.

It may take you more effort, but it’s clearly worth it in the case of optimizing for voice search.

What’s more, it was also shown that how well your content performs on social media does play a role in your ranking on voice search.

14 number of shares

The average for voice search results may seem rather high, but if you’re creating and sharing the best content, it’s just a matter of time before you see numbers like this.

And the more consistent your efforts, the sooner they can start paying off.

So, we’ve seen that these three basic elements of SEO do indeed affect your ability to rank for voice search.

Those are just three examples.

The Backlinko study I’m citing goes on to show a dozen more ways that basic SEO features affect your chances of becoming the result of a voice search.

And perhaps more importantly, numerous sources have shown that your overall page rank seems to be the top factor that affects your chances of hitting this coveted spot.

where featured snippets tend to rank

An impressive yet daunting 99.58% of voice results are from the top ten pages in a traditional search.

Which means not ranking in the top ten gives your page a mere 0.42% chance spread out with millions of other search results.

If you win with those odds, you could probably just buy a lottery ticket and retire instead of fight for SEO rankings.

You see my point here.

The basic SEO practices are where you should start, simply because without them you’ll have a minuscule chance of being the top voice search result.

So the first and most important step for anyone interesting in cracking the voice search code is to learn and implement the basics of SEO

By starting here, you’ll have solid foundations for your brand to grow on.

And once you start to see results, you can implement some of the more specific practices when it comes to optimizing for voice search.

Focus on conversational keywords

Once you’ve settled in on your basic SEO, you’ll want to take a closer look at your keywords to make sure that a voice search can pick them up.

This is because search engines like Google have started the practice of looking for natural language when providing the top results.

dialogue

While this is a rather technical representation of that process, really what it boils down to is how conversational your content is.

If you can keep your content easy to approach and read, Google will pay more attention to you.

Finding a way to be conversational, even for more serious brands, is a challenge that’s unique to voice search.

And this trend is only increasing because as of 2017, the majority of phrases used in voice search were considered “natural or conversational.”

conversational

Seven out of ten voice searches are made with the type of speech we use today.

That includes contractions, slang, and colloquialisms that may not come naturally to your writing style.

But if they get put into a search engine, that means they have the potential to be a keyword.

So how do you implement these keywords without ending up on r/FellowKids?

Start by conducting some thorough keyword research.

Then, dig into some of the keyword usage and trends of voice search.

For example, look at how most voice searches are actually being phrased as questions.

1000 voice searches 3 5263

People using voice search are asking search engines for advice on different elements of their lives.

Questions like “how do you cook a turkey?” or “where is the best burger in town?” are being asked to devices that use voice search.

And as you can see, companies are lagging behind in their effort to create keyword-optimized snippets that seek to answer these questions.

Which means there’s plenty of room for your brand to start making up the difference.

And one of the easiest ways to start with this trend is to use trigger words, as more than 20% of voice search results begin with these words.

That might not sound like a lot but think of the vast areas of application even the top trigger word could have for your business.

Let’s say you sell shoes.

Here are some examples of posts you could create that might lead to a hit from voice search using just the word “how:”

How to size for shoes without the right tools
How to quickly replace your shoestrings
How to tie your shoes as quickly as possible

Do you see how all of these might come up in a voice search?

All it takes is someone to say “OK Google, teach me how to tie my shoes as quickly as possible” and you have a potential hit.

You get more exposure simply because you emphasized a trigger word in your post.

And these are just a few examples.

There are more studies that provide lists of the popular words used in voice searches, like this one from Ahrefs:

599c93c4ce0313.80793491

While many of these suggestions are still young, they’re a great place to start when considering your keyword usage.

And as voice search continues to evolve, so should your keywords.

SEO is a process that will never end and you have to treat it as such.

As long as you stay vigilant in your efforts to continually optimize for conversational keywords, you’ll increase your chances of popping up in a voice search result.

Create content optimized for featured snippets

Once you’ve mastered your SEO basics and fine-tuned your keywords, it’s time to look into the final big element of optimizing for voice search.

Aside from a strong domain and content, you need to create a way for search engines to digest and regurgitate your content easily.

That goal is accomplished by optimizing your content for the featured snippets that often appear in the “rank zero” position above the normal search results.

This is an element that you’d be unwise to ignore because Google has explicitly stated that featured snippets help with mobile and voice search rankings.

In practice, these featured snippets are often used to help users find quick answers to questions, like in this example:

green grass

In a regular search, this result would let you quickly skim for your answer and be on your way.

With a voice search, however, the search engine has to give an audible response to the query.

That means these snippets are often the result that’s read aloud to the user.

If your content isn’t set up to easily fit into a featured snippet, then even a highly-ranked page could be passed up for the next result.

It’s also worth noting that these featured snippets have started to display video too, which means your written content isn’t the only option.

haircut

To put it simply, your goal should be to provide easily digestible and repeatable information that can be evaluated and shared quickly.

This bears up under the microscope of various marketing experiments.

Many SEO blogs have started recommending that content creators start considering length more closely when it comes to optimizing for these featured snippets.

587d656c8d7739.01548867

If you’re used to writing three to four sentence paragraphs, it’s recommended that you change that practice immediately.

Even lists are feeling the burn, with a maximum of only eight items and potentially only 64 words.

If you’re used to creating step-by-step guides in a list format, you’ll need to change your approach for voice searches.

What’s more, the Speech Guidelines that have been published by search engines like Google seem to indicate less than 30 words is best for any piece of content you think could be a snippet.

speech guildelines

I count 44 words in that snippet, and Google says that’s too long.

Whereas in this example, Google prefers the shorter snippet even though the answer is incorrect:

guidelines

This result is only ten words, so it’s clear why it would be optimized.

It’s shorter, more to the point, and thus deemed a better answer by the search engine’s algorithms.

And while other factors like authority will factor into the actual answer given by Google, this clearly illustrates the point that succinct is always better.

Now, this trend toward shorter replies might seem odd to some.

After all, the replies are being read aloud.

Why can’t they be longer?

You have to remember that usage of voice search is already quite varied.

gender usage 002

Most of the searches performed by users are in public or with others present, which means that a short-and-sweet result will provide the smallest amount of interruption.

This is where brands that have stiffer, more professional voices start to suffer.

If you’re unable to quickly and clearly address a concern or answer a question, you’ll have a harder time ranking in a voice search.

This may mean that you need to reevaluate some of the more foundational elements of your voice in the future.

If you think this trend won’t affect your industry, I invite you to think again.

More and more sites are adopting the practice of creating featured snippets that help bolster their ability to reach “rank zero” and provide useful information from a voice search.

rise of featured snippet optimization articles in 2017

In just a few years, interest in featured snippets has tripled.

With its growing popularity, it’s quite possible that your competitors are already optimizing for this feature and you should be too.

And aside from simply shortening your content, there’s actually one other element you can focus on to try and edge out the other results on a search engine.

That method is to go back and brush up your site’s FAQs.

You may not have heard much advice about your FAQs lately, but the importance of this content is making a comeback.

Since they’re already designed to be custom-built phrases meant to answer common questions about your products, industry, or brand, it’s natural that they would take the limelight when it comes to featured snippets.

It’s the best place for your visitor or a search engine to find answers, which means you need ways to anticipate what questions they will ask.

One way to accomplish that is by using a service like Answer the Public.

atp

All you have to do is enter your keyword, and then their system will give you the most searched for questions that center around that word.

While it’s marketed as a tool for PR firms, it also has a great application for marketers when it comes to voice search SEO efforts.

Once you get a list of questions to answer from Answer the Public, I also recommend checking out a service like StoryBase to double check for any missed opportunities.

storybase

Much like Answer the Public, StoryBase will let you find the sweet spot between your message and what users are actually searching for.

If you optimize your content and FAQs according to these questions, you’ll be more likely to land in a featured snippet down the line.

And that means your SEO will be that much better for a voice search.

Conclusion

Voice search may be newer, but it’s already playing an important role in the way SEO is accomplished.

With yearly improvements and an astounding adoption rate, this trend is one that you simply can’t ignore.

If you want your brand to act as an authoritative source for voice search results, you have to start by implementing basic SEO practices.

Optimize your on-site elements like word count, time to load, and image use to start building your SEO efforts from scratch.

And don’t neglect off-site elements like backlinking or social media sharing.

All of these efforts will lay the foundation for a search engine to start ranking you higher.

Then once you get the basics covered, start optimizing your content with conversational keywords.

Since voice search queries are typically conversational in nature, this helps set you up for success as more questions are asked.

Finally, make sure you create content that will fit neatly into a featured snippet.

These “rank zero” results are often the top choice of voice search results, which means they’re exactly where you want to be.

Just remember that all SEO takes time.

You won’t be a success overnight.

But in a few years, you can dominate your space with ease.

What tips or tricks have helped you rank for voice search?

The post How to Optimize Your SEO for Voice Search appeared first on Neil Patel.

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via Neil Patel https://neilpatel.com

April 30, 2018 at 09:05AM

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