enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 7 years ago

t 9 min read

As Google works to match users with the site that will provide them with the best possible results for their query, they also listen to the complaints and suggestions from users. The search engine has said that they understand the frustration users feel when they search for a topic and receive results that list several different pages within the same domain.

Consider, for example, the results you receive when you type in something related to jobs, health, or reviews of local businesses. Chances are, you will receive multiple results from Indeed.com, WebMD, and Yelp, respectively.

To combat this complaint, Google has announced that they will work to diversify the results they show on the SERP by limiting the number of times that a particular domain can appear in the search results for a particular query.

We wanted to discuss this update with our community to help everyone understand how this change might impact them.

What this update will do

Let’s first explore what precisely the update will do. Google reports that they will look at the domain of a website and limit the number of times it can appear for a particular search to two for most queries. For queries where Google thinks customers might appreciate receiving more than one results from a particular domain, the domain will appear more often.

Google also says that it will treat subdomains as a part of the standard domain. At the same time, at least as of their announcement, Google had not yet limited the number of times a particular company could appear in results if they had different geographic domains. For example, as of the roll-out, users could still see Indeed.com, Indeed.co.uk, and ca.Indeed.com all appearing within the same search results.

The search engine giant also notes that this change will only impact the main results. This means it will not impact snippets, images, videos, or other types of search results that might appear within universal searches.

The search engine also emphasizes that this update will need regular improvements, although it has completely rolled out. Users may still find errors in how the results appear, but Google says they will work on improving the results moving forward.

How does this update impact users

For users who had more than one page ranking for queries

For sites who have built up strong domains that dominate search results for key searches, this announcement might have been greeted with groans. It is true that those who once had multiple search results may find that their traffic and rankings on the pages in question will decrease.

We recommend that anyone who had multiple results appear for a single query use the BrightEdge platform to monitor their traffic and rankings on these key pages to see how the change might impact their results. See if you can determine which pages Google leaves on the search results and which ones they have bumped off.

If you do have pages that have been bumped off your top rankings with this update, look for other ways to leverage the material of the bumped page. You might consider:

• Optimizing the content for a related keyword to try and earn rankings on another keyword
• Building the piece out further and turning it into a gated item that you can send people to as your CTA from the highly ranked piece
• Shifting the piece to a more internal emphasis, linking to it from within your site to encourage engagement and having your sales team send it to interested prospects.

If you have international domains

Although right now Google still displays sites from the same company even if they have different geographical domains, that might change in the future. Therefore, brands should not rely on this permanently.

If you run multiple sites for different geographic locations, you want to make sure your hreflang tags are working properly. You do not want your country-specific site to get knocked off the front page in favor of your .com page.

If you struggled to rank when you often had to compete against major domains

We have written in the past about brands who have struggled to rank when going head-to-head with dominant domains, such as WebMD. Now these limits have provided these other domains a chance to improve rank.

To look for and capitalize on new opportunities, you will want to use BrightEdge to look for any chances to improve your rankings. Use Recommendations to make sure your ‘striking distance’ pages are fully optimized and ready to move up to the first page. Use BrightEdge Page Reports and Keyword Reports to monitor your rankings and traffic to see if you start to get jumps indicating you have used this update to your advantage.

Making sure your brand still shines on the SERP

Having multiple pages appear on the SERP for a single query provides powerful branding and traffic opportunities. Customers know that you are an authority within the field and that they can trust what you have to say.

Also keep in mind that this change only impacts the core results. That means image, video, and snippets will not change. To build your brand, use BrightEdge Data Cube to look for opportunities to optimize your content for these alternate types of universal results. Including quality images, videos, and optimizing material to improve your chances of appearing in a Quick Answer snippet will all make it easier for you to have multiple appearances on the SERP.

Google’s efforts to increase site diversity, like all updates, will hurt some sites while giving others a boost. Understanding how to best position yourself in the face of these changes, however, can help you achieve the best possible results.

enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 7 years ago

t 9 min read

Google recently announced some changes to their mobile SERP layout that are intended to make it easier for customers to recognize the branding of different sites and determine which pages they want to engage with. Read more about SERPs and the primary SERP elements.

Although the change might not be as dramatic as some other Google layout updates, it may have an impact on how organizations optimize their branding for mobile devices. It gives organizations the opportunity to catch users’ eyes immediately through images that appear at the top of each result, and every site should take advantage of this change.

What this mobile SERP change will mean

Google has explained that this change will place the URL and a small icon at the top of each result. The search engine giant expects that the placement of these features will make it easier for those browsing the SERP to know where the information comes from. This should help users determine easier which sites they want to explore.

How this impacts site owners

With the URL and small icon at the top of the search results, this provides site owners with a good opportunity for branding. Images naturally catch the eyes of users, which is why Twitter posts with images see 35% more retweets than those without.

With your image featured at the top of your result, it will catch the eyes of prospective visitors. It will also make it easier for these users to remember your site when it appears in multiple searches they make. This will improve brand recognition.

Google has also said that this new layout will make it easier for them to add more action buttons and search result cards in the future. If they proceed with this plan, it may provide more opportunities for customers to contact you or make a purchase from you directly from the mobile SERP. Optimizing product listings and meta descriptions with this potential in mind may help brands get in front of these future potential changes.

When you look at the new mobile SERP, it also appears as though ads are now a little harder to distinguish from organic results. All that distinguishes them is the placement of a small ‘AD’ label before the URL. This might increase the opportunities for brands to boost clicks and traffic through PPC, particularly on high-value queries.

How site owners can choose the image that appears with their organic results

For brands, the placement of the small icon with the URL at the top of the search results presents the greatest opportunity for improving branding. Therefore, organizations should pay close attention to how they select their image and ensuring that it has been set up properly to avoid missing out on this space.

To begin, carefully choose a favicon that properly represents your brand and will be memorable for users. People who see it should be able to quickly identify the brand, which will help them recognize your organization as they encounter it in different situations.

Google warns site owners that this image should not be suggestive, inappropriate, or contain any hate symbols. Failure to abide by this guideline will result in the favicon being removed and a default icon taking its place.

The favicon should also be a square with a size that is a multiple of 48. For example, it can be 48 px by 48 px, 96 px by 96 px, and so on.

Keep in mind also that not all image types are visible on all types of browsers. To ensure that your favicon can be seen on all of the browsers, use ICO, PNG, or GIF (not animated GIF) images. If you do not want to use any of these, JPEG would be the next best solution, as the only browser that does not support this type is Internet Explorer.

Once you select a favicon to use, keep your selection consistent. Do not regularly change it as this can hamper your branding efforts. Customers will not be able to recognize your organization as quickly, and Google might not see the change immediately.

Here are the instructions from Google for adding your favicon:

How our community should optimize for Google mobile changes

To ensure that your brand remains fully optimized for the opportunities this change presents, we recommend the following steps.

1. Carefully select your favicon and set it up following the steps and guidelines outlined above. This image offers you an excellent chance for branding and should not be passed over.
2. Test how your page results appear on mobile devices to ensure that you have followed the steps properly.
3. Use BrightEdge to monitor your clicks and traffic to see how the image placement impacts your site results.
4. Make sure your URLs are properly optimized to contain proper keywords so that when they appear at the top of the search result, they look appealing for customers.
5. Continue to take advantage of PPC for queries you struggle to rank for.
6. Optimize your product listings, site descriptions, and markup so that your website is ready should Google add more search result cards or action buttons to the SERP in the future.

Google continues to look for ways to create a superior search experience for users. As the SERP changes, brands need to pay close attention to ensure that they take advantage of each opportunity presented. The opportunities from branding here should not be passed over by any organization.

enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 7 years 1 month ago

t 9 min read

When it comes to SEO and optimization, building backlinks are a powerful tool in the marketing toolbox.

Backlinks draw people to your website who might not have otherwise discovered your content. The people who click through to your site from another website are also predisposed to trust what you have to say. They were visiting a website they viewed as trustworthy, and that website vouched for your site by linking to you. Therefore, the people who land on your page will be more inclined to engage with what you have to say.

Building backlinks can also offer powerful ammunition for SEO. Google works to understand how the various websites fit together and which ones customers will likely view as trustworthy. Backlinks help them better understand which brands other sites view highly enough to link to. Pages that cultivate a number of backlinks from other well-regarded websites will therefore be viewed as having a solid reputation within the digital ecosystem. This will boost the page’s ranking on the SERPs, thus attracting even more attention for the content.

Given the benefits of backlinks, businesses should understand the optimal ways to attract this type of positive attention. Here is what everyone should understand about backlinks and some of the best strategies organizations can use to build their backlinks.

Building backlinks

Building backlinks does present a challenge for many businesses. Since the early days of SEO, people have promoted backlinks to attract attention of Google and site visitors. Over the past few years, Google updates have cemented the idea for people that backlinks only offer value when they come from other quality websites and that brands should focus only on positive backlink building strategies. These strategies might take longer to start to produce results, but the value they produce is infinitely higher. When it comes to nurturing backlinks, quality remains the supreme criteria.

People sometimes note that brands can put ‘nofollow’ on the links within their site, and this diminishes the value the backlinks can provide for SEO purposes. While this is true to a degree, it does not eliminate the benefits of backlinks. To begin, the traffic the link drives remains intact. The trust that customers are more likely to have in the site upon their arrival also remains. The increased traffic and improved engagement metrics will still boost SEO for the site, even if it is not as dramatic as a standard backlink.

Surveys and research for building backlinks

Surveys and research offer you the chance to add something original to your industry, which makes it easy to establish yourself as an authority. Solid surveys and research will help you catch the attention of others in the industry and encourage people to build backlinks to your material. The content you produce can be used to support material that other people produce, which will then encourage building backlinks.

The research and surveys you produce will also likely interest those who participate in the survey. They will feel encouraged to read the results and may produce their own content on the final statistics and insights. This will naturally encourage additional content that links back to your results.

You can promote your surveys and research in third-party publications across your industry as well as social media. This will help the results of your work gain the most possible attention, and it will help you start building backlinks to yourself.

In general, original research and surveys offer strong opportunities for cultivating backlists as they offer more objective insights rather than just your opinion or impressions. It will encourage people to link to your material or at least mention it-- and the name of your company. This all works together to improve the reputation of your organization.

Newsjacking for building backlinks

Newsjacking can also provide valuable opportunities for producing backlink-ready material. By closely monitoring news sources and trends on social media, you can be ready to jump at potential topics as soon as they arrive, making your material among the first to be published in the industry on the topic. This increases your visibility and makes it easier to engage users.

As one of the first to discuss a particular rising topic, your content will attract attention on the SERPs. It will be easier to get your page ranked highly, which will boost the clicks and traffic your piece receives. You will then naturally increase the number of backlinks you receive as people find and then link to your content as they start to research this emerging topic.

Earning your place as one of the first leaders to discuss a particular topic makes it easier to further enhance your reputation and encourages people to listen to what you have to say. You present yourself strongly as a leader in the field and encourage people to remember your brand and organization.

Backlinks and the sales funnel

Building backlinks have value for brands throughout the sales funnel. They can play an important role in nurturing new leads and coaxing them through the path towards conversion. At the top of the sales funnel, the backlinks make it easier for brands to get their name and content in front of those interested in conducting research and learning more about solutions to potential pain points.

Newsjacking to nurture backlinks can be particularly beneficial for these top-of-the-funnel visitors. By producing content related to the latest trends and news within your industry, you will attract the attention of those just beginning to inform themselves about your sector.

Towards the middle and bottom of the funnel, customers want to see what sets you apart. For more information about how to nurture mid-funnel customers, read our post on creating material for the mid-funnel here.

Backlinks created through original research will help to establish your reputation as a leader within your industry. Prospective customers want to know why they should trust you over other brands within the industry. Original research and surveys that receive links within other industry publications will increase your positive brand mentions and your reputation as a thought leader. This will help you set yourself apart from others.

Measuring and building backlinks

As you engage in these positive link-building strategies, be sure to regularly monitor your progress to gauge your success. Don't forget to check in on broken backlinks that lead to orphan pages, too. The BrightEdge platform offers a backlink tracking feature that makes it easy to see how your efforts correspond with building backlinks. You can see which types of content and investments correspond with the greatest increase in backlink attention. You can therefore modify your strategy when needed and continue to build your backlist directory and the reputation of your site.

Backlinks offer your organization tremendous potential for building reputation and attention on the SERPs. By driving more interested traffic and giving your site an SEO boost, no brand can afford to overlook the potential for building backlinks. Use a content-driven strategy to increase the number of sites that link back to your page, and build your position within the industry, and exercise the power of the backlink throughout your sales funnel.