On the heels the big Google search documentation leak in May, I spent two days with the best, brightest and most innovative folks in the SEO industry.
I attended MozCon– an SEO marketing conference in my home city of Seattle, WA.
Among the highlights, I got to meet my online SEO friends IRL.
But of course, the content was also mind-blowing.
And the timing for this conference could not have been better.
The General Manager of Moz, Ethan Hays, opened the conference with this statement:
“In the last 10 months, SEO has changed more than in the last 10 years.”
Truth.
The way I approach SEO today is significantly different than the way I approached SEO when I launched my first website in 2017.
But, this is the truth for any platform.
The way we approach Instagram today looks nothing like the way we approached it several years ago.
Whatever the channel, change is the name of the game.
So, yes, SEO has changed. But, people are still searching. And so, we adapt.
Here are the major themes that I heard talk-over-talk at MozCon:
1) SEO is increasingly about the person behind the click.
User interactions and engagement matter more than ever.
Tech, content and backlinks are your ticket for entry into the search listings, but to rise to the top?
You’ve got to engage.
✨ That looks like creating perspective-led, original content that searchers can’t find on every other website.
✨ That looks like concluding the searcher’s journey. Google tracks clicks and they look to see if poeple are bouncing back to the search listings after visiting your page.
✨ That looks like converting. Google can tell if folks are clicking on links to go further into your site, subscribe to a newsletter, book a call or make a purchase.
I mean, these don’t sound like bad things to me. To me, this sounds like “make great content that DESERVES to rank.”
2) "Basic information is a basic commodity"- Bethan Vincent
With AI on the scene, Google is FLOODED with information. Its poor little bots are simply overwhelmed. And so, Google is on a mission to reduce UNORIGINAL content in its index by 40%.
For your content to do well, it’s got to do things that AI can’t do.
✨ It’s got to take a stand. Color your content with YOUR opinions, perspective and stories.
✨ It needs to showcase people and their experiences. Case studies, collaborators, your own transformation.
✨ It needs to literally show people. Include original photos and VIDEO. Pages containing video are more than 50% more likely to show up on the first page of search.
AI can’t (yet) fake a video.
Once again, this boils down to “create great content.”
Yes, this takes more work and creativity than simply producing dry, encyclopedic posts (my favorite🙃), but it’s simply forcing us to do a better job for our people.
3) Increasingly, search placement is a reward for being great in OTHER places on the internet, not just on your website.
That means, Google is looking at the whole internet to understand your business and your brand. And it’s using that information to help decide who ranks well in search.
✨ Don’t just write for your website.
✨ Create videos on YouTube, guest on podcasts, contribute to forums, write guest blog posts, pursue media mentions-
✨ Consider a wider marketing ecosystem that includes your website, leads back to your website but is ultimately larger than your website.
To me, this is the biggest change we’re seeing: BRAND matters more than it ever has.
But these brand building activities are SMART and I hope you’re doing them anyway.
These are the activities that directly put you in front of new audiences, create relationships with your colleagues as well as drive clicks back your website (which directly improves your SEO).
No doubt, SEO is changing. In fact, it feels like we’re entering an era of “Online Visibility Optimization” rather than simply “Search Engine Optimization.”
Buuuut optimizing for Google will always be a part of it.
Because your website is your digital home.
And people are WITHOUT A DOUBT still going to Google to solve their problems.
And websites are still getting served up as answers.
Stick with me, I’ll make sure you’re on the cutting edge of what’s happening so you can keep showing up.
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