mkirchhoff

M Posted 10 years 3 months ago

t 9 min read

Google continues to invest in the user experience and expand the diversity of universal results above the traditional text results, so it is imperative that content marketers stay up-to-date and evolve their universal content capabilities and offerings. BrightEdge Research has clearly indicated that users find images engaging and useful. Tweets with images receive 5 times the engagement, Facebook posts with images receive 39 percent more interaction and articles with images have 94 percent more views than those without.

For certain queries that are more visually relevant, Google has been working over the past year to improve the user experience. Last summer they introduced a carousel display for particular queries on mobile. When announcing the change, the search engine specifically mentioned that those looking for results such as Houzz idea books, Food Network recipes, Vines and Pinterest pins would be able to easily scroll through the different options to find the results that were the most applicable to them.

On May 17, 2016 the search engine giantannounced another change in their display. They began to use rich cards in the carousel for certain queries. Right now, this change is impacting movies and recipes. It is initially rolling out on mobile, but some are appearing on desktop as well. The possibility of the changes being introduced for other queries also remains open in the future.>

What does this mean for marketers?

Rich cards help to create a visually appealing listing for brands, allowing them to prominently display certain features that will draw in users. A great example would be a delectable image of a dish for a certain recipe site. When rich cards are used correctly, they can be an excellent way to attract traffic. Google says that they are experimenting to find more ways for websites to create rich previews, so even if you do not deal directly with recipes or movies, you still want to pay attention to these developments. Google has said that these changes will be initially rolling out over mobile, but that it is possible that they will be expanding to desktop.

This result for the best movies in 2015 was pulled off of desktop on May 24, 2016. The carousel on mobile covers the first 4 results on the SERP, which leaves only 1 regular result above the fold and will undoubtedly increase competition for this position. This forces brands to pay more attention to their optimization efforts, including their on-page optimization, content development process and distribution efforts. Organizations must again remember to prioritize data-driven content development strategies and the importance of having consumer value the primary focus of the entire optimization process.

Fact 1: The new display system also encourages brands to pay more attention to their rich markup. Using schema is a commonly overlooked opportunity, but with the increase in rich displays, brands need to make sure they do not neglect this step. If Google creates more rich displays in the future that are more applicable to your industry, doing the markup now will ensure that you are prepared and optimized from the first roll out.

How should marketers maximize their appearance in the rich card carousel?

All sites, but particularly those that deal with recipes and movies, need to maximize their schema. Google has issued guidelines to help brands who have recipe or movie-oriented sites optimize their appearance.

Fact 2: The search engine recommends that brands use JSON-LD in their markup to ensure that the data is properly understood and displayed.

Fact 3: They have also developed a new Search Console rich card checking tool that will help you see how many rich cards your site has been optimized for to ensure that you have done your markup correctly. If you have a recipe that you would like to have appear as a rich card, you need to follow Google’s system, which is explained here. You also want to make sure your markup includes a visually appealing image that will attract the desired attention when included on the carousel.

Fact 4: It is also important to note that Google has issued a few rules for website publishers to keep in mind when determining if their website would be eligible for this type of markup and rich card display:

• The markup has to be for a single, specific dish-- general topics such as ‘party ideas’ or lists of recipes on a single page will not be displayed in this format.
• If the recipe markup has a single review included, the quote must come from a real person or organization.
• You will need to provide an Item List markup to create a summary of your recipes that are on the list if you want the recipes included in a host-specific list.
• If you do have a host-specific site, then that site must include a summary page that has all the recipes in the collection. This is so that users who click on the summary link from the SERP can trust that they will see a page that includes all the recipes that are related to their search.

If you have a website that focuses on movies, Google currently only has the display host-specific carousel. You can markup your page for an ItemList, but this feature is still in experimental mode and will not currently show up on the SERPs. You should also note that Google currently wants links to sites that support autoplay. For more information about how to markup your site for a movie, visit the Google recommendations here.

Google continues to make changes and adjustments to the appearance of their search results in an effort to make results more relevant and attractive for their end user. The creation of the results carousel and the rich card is only the latest development in this process, although more are sure to come. Brands who want to ensure that their websites remain relevant and appealing to users should pay attention to these developments. Since the search engine is making it clear that they are paying attention to the visual appeal of rich markups, all websites should be taking advantage of the schema to make sure they are ready to maximize the appearance of their content whenever the opportunity arises. Learn more about SERPs and universal SERP elements in this post.

enewton@brightedge.com

M Posted 10 years 3 months ago

t 9 min read

With the growth of the Internet, the entire consumer purchasing process has changed - forcing SEO writing to the forefront of content marketing strategy. An estimated 67 percent of the customer journey now takes place digitally, with 81 percent of shoppers and 94 percent of B2B buyers saying that they conduct Internet research before purchasing a product. Customers use the Internet to learn about brands, products, and services that they might be able to use. They compare options and learn about the various potential solutions to their problems. For companies to succeed with these digital customers, they need to have a strong online presence. It is only by being visible in the channels that customers are using to search - such as organic search or social media - that brands have the ability to establish themselves to prospects. They will then be able to cast themselves as the reputable industry leader from whom consumers should make a purchase. SEO writing is a large part of developing that important reputation and brand reach. Strong writing can help organizations improve their ranking within the search algorithms while also being engaging for readers to encourage sharing and interaction.

What is effective SEO writing?

When you sit down to develop an effective piece of textual content, you want to write something that provides immediate value for the reader. It should not just be a regurgitation of everything else on the web. You want to add your own expertise and point of view so that readers have a reason to come back to you specifically to learn more. Your writing should help establish you as a trusted leader within your niche. You should demonstrate a keen insight into the blog topics that matter the most to your intended audience so that you can be there to answer their questions and address their needs. At the same time, your content needs to be developed with the search engine algorithms in mind. The piece needs to clearly communicate to the search engine the topic and value of your material. Google will be looking to understand how your piece fits into the greater digital ecosystem as well as where it fits into your site. This will provide clues and insight about where to display it on the SERPs and for what queries. This means placing carefully-selected, thoroughly-research keywords in certain areas, paying attention to your site structure and taking the time to balance your content with your SEO efforts. Your SEO writing strategy needs to be attentive to effectively communicating both with your target audience and with the search algorithm.

How do I develop effective SEO writing?

• Step 1: Determine the goal you want to accomplish with this particular piece.

You will not be able to effectively write and engage prospects if you do not know exactly what you want to accomplish with a particular piece of content. You should look at the outline of your ideal customers and their buyer journeys and know how you want this particular piece of content to fit into that funnel. For example, is this piece of content going to be an end-of-funnel piece that encourages people to make a purchase? It might have more product mentions and comparisons about why your brand is superior to competitors. On the other hand, if the content will be for the top of the funnel, it will likely focus more on being informative about the industry and less about your company in particular.  

• Step 2: Review what others have written about the topic.

Considering that we produce 2.5 quintillion bytes of data every day, the vast majority of the conceivable topics available have been covered to at least some degree. By reviewing what the highest-ranking sites for your particular topic have developed, you will have a better idea of what people want to see when they search for this keyword. You can search for ways to improve upon what has already been created to maximize your potential ranking.

• Step 3: Create content that addresses the targeted audience’s need at this particular point in the buyer’s journey.

Once you know whom you are writing for and have an idea about effective strategies that will help you with this topic, it is time to develop the content. Seek to add your own unique perspective to the content so that customers see you as a trusted authority.  

• Step 4: Be sure to provide depth while also making the content easy to scan.

While you do not want to compromise on the depth of your material, it is important to still make your piece easy to scan. Most people are not going read each word you produce individually, they will quickly look over the material to see how relevant your content is to their needs. You want to pay attention to your headlines and make sure they are clearly relevant to the topic that brought the person to your page. You also want to use listing features, such as bullet points or numbered lists to make your ideas easy to explore and retain. Optimal page word count is now believed to be around 1100.  

• Step 5: Draft an effective title that draws people into your material.

An estimated 8 in 10 people will read your headlines but not go on to read your content. This gap is because brands do not make their headlines engaging enough. Their headlines do not effectively draw in customers and convince them that this will be the content that answers their needs. Using your keyword in your title helps to communicate your relevance. Using phrases such as ‘how to’, titles that indicate lists or words that otherwise pull in the reader will help you increase clicks. Generally keep your title around 70 characters or below to make sure all the words show up in the SERPs. Long titles that become like title tags can trigger Google to rewrite the title tag for the SERP.  

• Step 6: Optimize the content with keywords.

Your content should also be optimized with the keyword, but be careful - overuse, also known as ‘keyword stuffing’ - is a damaging SEO writing practice. Instead, aim to have a keyword saturation around one to two percent and make sure that it is always used naturally throughout your piece.  

• Step 7: Write an engaging meta description.

Although Google has indicated that they do not scan meta descriptions for ranking factors, that does not mean that this feature is obsolete. Meta descriptions influence how many people click through from the SERPs because they help to indicate the relevance of your content to the query. Writing a quality meta description that invites readers in so they can learn your valuable information will improve your clicks, your engagement and stickiness, and therefore your rank.  

• Step 8: Distribute the content and measure your results.

Once the content has been written and optimized, you then need to distribute it to the people you think will be the most interested in the material. Use a variety of different platforms, such as your social media platforms and your email lists to reach the people most likely to read and engage with the writing. Measure your results throughout the process so that you see how the response of your audience maps to your predictions. Use this information to guide your future content production. Creating an efficient SEO writing strategy and creation process will be the cornerstone of improving your brand reach and creating a strong brand presence. Understanding how to improve your writing will help you boost your online marketing success.  

Content Best Practices

Check out a recent piece on content marketing: A New Era of Content. The paper is based on industry research by BrightEdge and iProspect; it packs a number of content and online marketing best practices into 20 short pages.

maspillera

M Posted 10 years 3 months ago

t 9 min read

Competition is fierce in the modern digital marketplace. More than three-quarters of both B2B and B2C companies use content marketing in their promotional efforts and at least 50% across both sectors say that they will be increasing their budgets in the coming year. This means that brands need to be even more attentive to how their company measures up to the competition on the SERPs, including measuring links with a backlink checker. Considering that an estimated 81% of shoppers and 94% of B2B buyers will conduct online research before making a purchase, your position in the algorithm has quantifiable value for your brand.

Succeeding despite this fierce competition forces brands to use intelligent insights to understand how their material is resonating with their audience and how those reactions are becoming conversions and revenue for the company. A backlink checker can be a valuable instrument in this process because it provides irreplaceable comprehension of the quality backlinks and their number. It is important to note, however, that this is just one part of a full platform that can help you maximize your content’s potential. When a backlink checker is combined with other powerful SEO and monitoring functions, your understanding of your content and its performance will be extraordinary.

The role of a backlink checker in your success

Backlinks remain an important part of content marketing. They help to show the placement of a particular piece of content within the greater digital ecosystem. When other reputable sites link to your page, they are vouching for the quality of your material.

On the other hand, low-quality sites will not benefit your SERP. Although Google claims that spam sites linking to your page will not hurt you, many site owners prefer not to take the chance and disavow any negative links to prevent potential backlash. You can disavow links through Google Webmaster.

A backlink checker can help you monitor your backlink profile so you are immediately notified should any poor-quality sites link to you. It also provides understanding of potential link building opportunities so that you can gain more positive inbound links that will benefit your site. Since you can monitor which pages are gaining positive backlinks, you will also have a better idea about which content is resonating the most with your audience.

When you take advantage of all the potential found in the backlink checker, it is an incredible resource that will give you a considerable amount of insight that can help you succeed. It is important to remember that this is just a small piece of the platform, however. Feel free to test your knowledge of other important aspects with BrightEdge Digital Marketing Quiz or SEO Quiz.

Using a backlink checker as a part of the larger picture with an SEO platform

While understanding how many people are linking to your work and in what context is important, the value from this reputation and traffic really comes from business growth and revenue. For this reason, backlinks should be treated as an important piece in a complex puzzle.

Using a backlink checker by itself will lead to five main pitfalls:​

1. You will be unable to judge whether your new backlinks are contributing to greater traffic.
2. You cannot tell if your new backlinks lead to more revenue.
3. It will not be easy to understand how your page performance is improving week-over-week, month-over-month or year-over-year.
4. You will be unable to gain a complete picture of how well your content efforts are reaching the right people and answering their needs.
5. The checker will not provide you with optimization advice about how to attract more traffic that could result in the needed backlinks.

You want to have a backlink checker SEO system that easily integrates with the rest of a complete research and monitoring platform. The checker will then be able to add immediate value to your brand. You'll easily be able to report your efforts in SEO reports. On BrightEdge, our backlink solution is a lot more robust than a simple backlink checker. It is just a few clicks away from critical dashboards and capabilities, including StoryBuilder, Data Cube, and Page Reporting. These pages will complement the information you glean from your backlink monitoring, enhancing your understanding and increasing your actionable insights. For example, you can use BrightEdge's backlink report to see how often people are linking to your content from high-quality pages. You can then click over to Page Reporting portion and see the exact statistics for that page and how well it is drawing traffic. You will be able to tell if the increase in backlinks is correlated with an increase in engagement or visits. You can also use StoryBuilder page to see how those backlinks and traffic line up with revenue, conversions or other metrics that align with your goals for the campaign.

With the StoryBuilder, you can compare your progress week-over-week, month-over-month and year-over-year, allowing you to build a complete picture of how well your optimization efforts result in business growth. The Data Cube can then offer additional insight by computing your Data Cube score. This number will give you a summary of how well you are reaching your intended audience and meeting their needs. The higher your score, the better you are performing. You can also use Data Cube to gain a better understanding of potential brand opportunities, such as by comparing your site to a competitor or researching the keywords you rank for that could be further optimized to move from page 2 or 3 up to page 1.

 

In the increasingly competitive world of online marketing, brands want to make sure that they have the insight they need to succeed. A backlink checker will provide you with important information about the success of your SEO efforts in attracting inbound links while also providing limited insight into how many people read and appreciate your content. When you combine this with the power of the rest of the BrightEdge platform, however, you gain intimate insights about your SEO efforts, people’s reception of your content, and how your online marketing efforts impact the bottom line.