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I don’t spot ranking factors anymore. All I spot is idiosyncratic satisfaction.
A bid of tweets from Danny Sullivan, hunt liaison astatine Google, astir doing things for Google vs. users acceptable the SEO country connected fire. The main point: Focus connected users, not Google.
Screenshot from X (Twitter), March 2024 (Image Credit: Kevin Indig)
Every polarizing constituent has 2 opposing camps. SEO is nary exception.
Camp One believes that Google tin measure, understand, and reward idiosyncratic satisfaction. All that matters is helping users to execute their goals. Google is smart.
Camp Two believes contented optimization, tech SEO, and nexus gathering are the keys to occurrence successful SEO. Machines travel algorithms, and algorithms travel equations. Google is lazy and stupid.
But determination is simply a 3rd camp: Both are true.
Image Credit: Lyna ™
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The astir simplistic exemplary of SEO: Technical optimization, contented optimization, and backlinks get you changeable astatine the Top 10 results, but beardown idiosyncratic signals get you successful the Top 3 – granted you deed user intent.
This simplified exemplary is close successful my experience, but it clashes with world successful 5 ways:
1. Google’s systems aren’t flawless. They don’t ever reward the champion content. Some spam tactics inactive work. Some commodity content inactive ranks. Long-tail answers are terrible.
Ranking Reddit results higher was a astute thought, but galore answers are questionable. SEO is afloat of ifs and whens – the explanation of algorithms.
2. User journeys are non-linear. I excessively often speech astir the funnel, but the amended exemplary consists of intent, tons of interaction points, and a purchase.
Customers exposure themselves to acquisition triggers done friends, societal networks, ads, oregon serendipity: I spot a chill garment successful a YouTube video and instantly privation to bargain one.
Then, they spell done cycles of exploration and evaluation: I Google garment articles, ticker YouTube videos, and work reviews.
Eventually, they find an connection they similar and propulsion the trigger: I spell to site.com and bargain the shirt. User travel complete.
Nonlinearity makes the interaction of contented harder to measure. A highly important portion mightiness get tons of postulation but nary conversions. Attributing gross to that portion is precise difficult.
3. Google has lied about utilizing idiosyncratic signals successful ranking. Is it besides lying astir different things?
4. Practically, I ever spot a affirmative interaction erstwhile adding much “best practice” elements to the page.
One constituent successful question connected X (Twitter) was things similar writer bios, people dates, oregon array of contents. Whether Google’s strategy actively looks for and rewards them oregon users similar them, they person a affirmative impact.
5. My biggest conflict and disapproval is the subjectivity and imprecision of statements similar “helpful content,” “good for users,” oregon “user experience.”
What does that adjacent mean? Taken advertisement absurdum, you tin reason that astir everything is being bully oregon atrocious for the user. It’s excessively subjective and simplistic.
A amended attack to navigating the confusing authorities of SEO is simply a premix of SEO, conversion complaint optimization (CRO), and bully ‘ol marketplace research.
CRO and SEO are connected astatine the hep and should person ne'er been separate.
From here is however pros bash conversion complaint optimization:
Over the past 2 decades, the roles of SEO and CRO lived and grew successful isolation. At the aforesaid time, we’re preaching to teardrop down silos successful organizations. In engineering, we’re breaking monolithic applications isolated into microservices. Most Growth and merchandise organizations enactment successful squads wherever members of antithetic crafts travel unneurotic to signifier a radical pursuing the aforesaid goal. So, wherefore are SEO and CRO inactive 2 antithetic crafts?
Both commencement with idiosyncratic intent and extremity with removing friction:
Successful Conversion Rate Optimization rests connected 3 halfway principles:
- Understand idiosyncratic intent, motivation, and friction
- Run experiments
- Focus connected concern impact
Understanding what users are trying to execute (intent, similar buy, evaluate, question inspiration, lick a problem), what motivates them (price, features, value, status), and wherever they brushwood friction is cardinal to processing unsocial ideas alternatively of blindly copying/pasting them from blog articles.
CRO playbooks paired with marketplace probe tin reply “what’s champion for users” overmuch amended than what galore respect arsenic “pure SEO.”
Market probe tin illuminate underserved topics independently from hunt volume.
Hotjar and Mouseflow are invaluable tools, but often the lone ones successful a loop that tin clasp a batch more.
Talking to users, either straight oregon async, has to beryllium backmost connected the paper astatine a clip erstwhile async video tools and AI marque it simple, fast, and businesslike to larn from users. Writing this condemnation feels truthful basic, but we’re conscionable not doing it due to the fact that we’re stuck successful aged mindsets.
Old ways are almighty drugs due to the fact that they forestall america from having to get uncomfortable and larn caller things. But aged ways besides forestall america from adapting. Risky business.
Search measurement is the champion proxy for a marketplace we person successful marketing. But it’s arsenic tricky arsenic utilizing productivity for economical growth.
From the inaccuracy and flaws of hunt volume:
In summary, hunt measurement is:
- Not disposable for galore keywords, particularly transactional keywords
- Often inaccurate
- Averaged implicit the year, which means that seasonality is not reflected astatine all
- Backward looking
But selecting topics to make contented for isn’t enough. We besides request much idiosyncratic input for the essence of content.
Aggregators recognize that rule overmuch amended than integrators due to the fact that their attack is truthful product-driven, and SEO teams typically are housed nether the merchandise org.
It’s overmuch little communal for integrators to get qualitative idiosyncratic feedback connected contented oregon behaviour adept interviews earlier writing. Some of the champion integrator brands person in-house specialists, and it shows.
Tech SEO, which is mostly enactment done for Google, remains important nary substance the campy you’re in.
Google has go allergic to unhealthy sites and commodity contented arsenic it hits the limits of its ain resources. Just focusing connected the idiosyncratic is simply not enough.
Image Credit: Kevin Indig
This tract had a method contented that caused galore pages to beryllium indexed. Organic postulation instantly tanked.
“Perhaps we request to talk much intelligibly that our systems are chasing what radical like, truthful if you “chase the algorithm,” you’re behind. If you pursuit what radical like, you’re up of the algorithm.”
One of my unpopular opinions is that you should pursuit the algorithm. Actually, you privation to beryllium conscionable connected point.
But since you request to periodically set arsenic Google’s algorithm changes, you’re ever somewhat chasing.
Why wouldn’t you privation to beryllium ahead? Because you ne'er cognize however acold up of the algo you are and erstwhile it volition drawback up with you.
Google rewards what works. If being up of the algo was rewarded, radical would accommodate their playbooks.
It seems similar the clip is ripe, possibly overripe, for much CRO successful SEO. But don’t hide to marque the instrumentality happy.
“You person to fto it each go, Neo. Fear, doubt, and disbelief. Free your mind.”
One much thing: I’m speaking astatine Digital Olympus Summit successful Eindhoven connected May 31st. Reply to get a escaped ticket. I person two. First come, archetypal served.
https://twitter.com/searchliaison/status/1770867218059800685
https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1725275245571940728?s=46&t=4yrtKrhbqQkgyl9GmwSB6Q
Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal
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