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Tag: search engine optimization

  • AI-Powered Search Is Here — Why It’s Time to Invest in SEO

    AI-Powered Search Is Here — Why It’s Time to Invest in SEO graphic

    Key Insights

    • AI-powered search is changing how users interact with search engines, reducing visibility and click-through rates for traditional organic results.
    • Foundational SEO tactics like high-quality content, structured data, and technical SEO remain essential for visibility in AI-generated answers.
    • AI search tools pull information from multiple sources, favoring authoritative websites that demonstrate expertise, trustworthiness, and topical relevance.
    • Optimizing for conversational, long-tail queries and structured formats like FAQs increases the chances of being featured in AI Overviews.
    • As AI-driven search expands rapidly, higher education, healthcare, and hospitality brands must prioritize investing in a tailored SEO strategy to stay competitive.

    The way people search is changing — fast.

    With AI-powered search engines generating rich, conversational answers on the fly, the traditional list of blue links is no longer center stage. Instead of just indexing keywords, AI search interprets intent, pulls context, and synthesizes content to deliver smarter, faster results.

    Even as AI evolves, one thing remains clear: SEO is still your ticket to visibility.

    But it’s no longer just about rankings — it’s about relevance. And that requires adapting your SEO strategy to show up in these new, AI-powered answers.

    We get it: Investing in SEO can feel like a long jam session with no clear chorus — especially if you’ve been managing things in-house with limited resources.

    You might be wondering…

    Do I have the resources to improve my SEO strategy? Or do we need an SEO agency to keep up with AI search?

    Here’s the truth: Waiting it out isn’t the move. Search engines are changing whether you’re ready or not — and the brands that act now are the ones that will stay visible later.

    If you’re in higher ed, healthcare, or hospitality, your audience is already searching differently. The right strategy will help you adapt your tactics, maximize your visibility, and stay ahead of the curve.

    Learn how investing in SEO can boost your marketing success and prepare your campaigns for AI search.

    Why Is SEO Important for Marketing Success?

    AI-powered search is rolling out across major search engines, changing how users interact with information. For marketers, this means one thing: The earlier you adapt, the bigger your competitive advantage.

    But here’s the kicker — despite all the buzz around AI, users aren’t abandoning traditional search. They’re blending AI tools with classic search queries, using both to explore topics, compare options, and make decisions.

    That means good, strategic SEO content is still the foundation of SEO success.

    If you ignore SEO now, you’re not just missing out on more traffic today — you’re setting yourself up to lose organic traffic when AI search fully integrates across platforms. Search engines will continue to prioritize content that’s relevant, well-structured, and aligned with user intent. If your content isn’t built to meet those standards, AI won’t surface it.

    Industries like higher ed, healthcare, and hospitality are already seeing shifts in how users search, especially as queries become longer, more conversational, and more nuanced.

    Having the right SEO strategy in place now ensures you’re not scrambling to catch up later.

    Ultimately, SEO is a long-term investment. Not just in rankings, but in sustained visibility, brand trust, and future-ready marketing. A smart SEO investment today lays the groundwork for success, no matter how the search landscape evolves.

    Common Hesitations About SEO Investment

    Let’s be real.

    Deciding to invest in SEO can feel overwhelming, especially for local brands trying to balance limited resources and big goals.

    Here are some of the most common reasons marketers hold back:

    “We’re already getting some traffic. Do we really need SEO services?”

    “SEO takes too long to show results.”

    “We tried SEO before and didn’t see much of a return.”

    “Our team doesn’t have the time or budget right now.”

    “Social media and paid ads are working. Isn’t that enough?”

    “AI is changing everything. Should we wait and see what happens?”

    These concerns are understandable, but here’s the truth: Your website is your most important digital asset — it’s the foundation of your online visibility.

    Your “Welcome, come on in!” sign in the digital world.

    Without SEO, it’s not reaching its full potential (or your prospective customers).

    Investing in SEO now means you’re preparing your brand to show up where it matters most. It’s a long-term strategy that drives organic visibility, builds trust, and brings in the right audience over time.

    With so many brands competing for attention online, SEO helps your site stand out to prospects by showcasing engaging online content that makes your brand an authority in your respective industry.

    And now that AI search is rolling out across Google and other search engines, SEO is more than just a nice-to-have. AI relies on structured, high-quality content to deliver answers. If your site isn’t optimized, it’s likely to be skipped over entirely.

    With the right expert guidance, SEO becomes a smart, sustainable way to grow — even in the face of constant change. If you’ve been waiting for the right moment, this is it. AI is changing the way people search, and SEO is the key to staying visible in that new reality.

    What Is AI-Powered Search?

    AI-powered search refers to search engines and platforms using artificial intelligence to generate direct answers, summarize content, and deliver more intuitive, conversational results. It’s a shift from traditional link-based results to dynamic, synthesized responses.

    Google’s version of this — AI Overviews, also known as Search Generative Experience (SGE) — compiles information from multiple sources and presents it directly at the top of the page.

    That means users often get the answer they need without clicking through, a growing trend known as zero-click search. For marketers, this translates to fewer clicks and impressions on traditional organic listings, especially since these AI summaries push results further down the page, shrinking visibility and hurting click-through rate (CTR).

    But there is a silver lining!

    If your brand is optimized for and shows up in AI Overviews, which results in a zero-click search, you still get the benefits of brand recognition. Over time, that brand recognition can lead to clicks.

    How Does AI Search Work?

    A robot using AI-Search

    AI search works by using large language models (LLMs) to understand the meaning behind search queries and generate natural, conversational responses.

    LLMs power tools like ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity.

    These models are trained on massive datasets to understand natural language and generate human-like responses, making them powerful engines for question answering, content generation, and semantic search.

    But there’s more. One of the key technologies enhancing LLMs is retrieval-augmented generation (RAG).

    RAG allows these models to pull in fresh, external information — such as up-to-date articles, databases, or brand pages — before generating a response. This results in answers that are more accurate, relevant, and timely, which is crucial for fields that require research or precision, like healthcare and higher education.

    Here are the key differences between LLMs and RAG:

    LLMs

    • Trained on massive datasets to understand and generate natural language
    • Responses are based solely on the data they were trained on
    • Knowledge quickly becomes outdated
    • Great for generating fluent, conversational text but may lack accuracy on recent topics

    RAG

    • Enhances LLMs by pulling in real-time or external data during response generation
    • Combines the language skills of LLMs with up-to-date information from knowledge bases
    • Produces more accurate, relevant, and current answers
    • Ideal for tasks that require fact-checking, recent developments, or specialized knowledge instead of relying solely on pre-trained data like LLMs

    How Will AI-Powered Search Impact Website Rankings and Traffic?

    AI-powered search will reduce visibility and organic traffic for websites that don’t appear in AI-generated overviews because it pushes traditional rankings down the page.

    To maintain traffic and relevance, marketers must optimize for inclusion in AI summaries through authoritative content and strong SEO practices. Focus on clear information architecture, topic clusters, authoritative writing, and optimized UX.

    Pro Tip: Prioritize solidifying your brand’s authority. You build trust and recognition if users consistently see your content surface in AI Overviews, even if they don’t click the first time. And when they do click, it’s because they see you as the expert.

    AI search is here to stay. You must invest in your SEO strategy to stay visible, relevant, and competitive.

    What’s an AI-Driven Search Campaign?

    An AI-driven search campaign is a strategic approach to SEO and digital marketing that’s designed to help your brand stay visible in today’s evolving AI-powered search environment.

    AI-driven campaigns require more than basic keyword research and on-page SEO. They prioritize semantic search alignment, structured data, entity optimization, consistent authority signals like backlinks, and high-quality SEO content. These elements help search engines understand and trust your brand, increasing the chances your content will appear in AI-generated answers.

    Even your paid ads strategy must adapt. If fewer users click through to organic content, your ad placements become even more critical in capturing attention and driving traffic.

    Ultimately, an AI-driven search campaign is not just an SEO investment — it’s a comprehensive strategy that aligns your content, site structure, and brand presence with how people search today and how they’ll continue to search in the future.

    How to Optimize for AI-Driven Search Engines

    As AI-powered search engines evolve, marketers must adapt their SEO tactics to maintain visibility. Optimizing for AI search means reinforcing foundational strategies while embracing new formats and technologies that support question answering and semantic understanding.

    Double down on SEO best practices

    AI search still relies on the fundamentals.

    Core SEO principles like E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) remain essential. Search engines prioritize well-researched, expert-driven SEO content from reputable sources. If you want to appear in AI-generated search results, you must demonstrate topical authority and earn high-quality backlinks from other websites.

    People-first content still wins.

    Google continues to reward content that provides all the information users are looking for — clearly and efficiently. AI search favors concise, relevant content that directly addresses intent and reflects a human tone.

    Structured data boosts visibility.

    Implementing schema markup (FAQ schema, local business schema, product info schema) makes it easier for AI to extract answers. Most websites miss this opportunity. Structured data signals what your content is about, improving your chances of being pulled into AI-generated responses.

    Shift toward AI-friendly content & formatting

    Structure content for AI comprehension.

    Break content into sections with clear headers, bullet points, and short paragraphs. Well-organized content improves readability and extraction by semantic search models.

    Optimize for conversational, long-tail queries.

    AI search interprets language naturally. Including long-form, question-based phrases aligns your content with how users search today. Focus on how people ask, not just what they type.

    Add FAQs and summaries.

    AI pulls from FAQ sections and concise summaries for question answering. Adding these elements increases your content’s likelihood of being featured in AI search results.

    Improve technical SEO for AI readability

    Page speed and mobile usability are non-negotiable.

    AI-generated results favor fast, mobile-optimized websites. Slow or clunky pages can be excluded entirely due to poor user experience. Clean site architecture and responsive design are critical for success.

    Technical SEO supports all your efforts.

    From crawlability to internal linking, technical SEO makes your content easier for AI to access and understand. Don’t overlook it — it’s the foundation of all AI search visibility.

    Build stronger authority & backlinks

    Brand authority is a top signal in AI search.

    AI models surface results from trusted brands. Google reviews, backlinks from high-authority domains, and consistent publishing all contribute to your site’s credibility.

    Brand recognition improves your chances of inclusion.

    If users consistently see your brand cited or referenced across the internet, it reinforces your reputation as a reliable source. In AI Overviews, where screen space is limited, being seen as a go-to authority is crucial.

    Now is the time to build.

    The exponential growth of AI in search means the window to adapt is shrinking. Whether you’re relying on organic or pay-per-click, investing in a smarter SEO strategy today ensures your site continues to show up tomorrow.

    Invest in SEO With Search Influence



    Drive more students with a personalized SEO strategy  

    AI-driven search is here, and the time to act is now. Staying visible on Google means investing in proven SEO strategies that prioritize high-quality content, structured data, and strong technical performance.

    At Search Influence, we specialize in helping brands in higher education, healthcare, and hospitality adapt to evolving search trends. Our team delivers AI-optimized SEO strategies that drive long-term results.

    In higher ed? With our SEO Roadmap, you get a custom plan to prepare your website for AI-powered search. Our roadmap helps you align your content, structure, and authority signals to stay competitive. It’s the perfect investment to set up your strategy for the future while also learning what it’s like working with an SEO agency.

    Don’t fall behind.

    Contact our award-winning agency to take the next step in optimizing your brand for the future of search.

  • SEO In-House vs. Outsourced: Should You Hire an Agency?

    Search Influence SEO

    Key Insights

    • SEO is crucial for online visibility, increased website traffic, brand recognition, and revenue growth.
    • While it may be tempting to handle SEO in-house, it’s essential to recognize that effective SEO requires meticulous attention to detail, constant monitoring, and adaptation to evolving search engine algorithms.
    • When deciding between in-house and outsourced SEO, consider your budget, the need to stay updated on SEO trends, your SEO goals, and the tech necessary for effective SEO.

    Incorporating SEO into your digital marketing strategy is paramount in today’s fiercely competitive online arena. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is one of the driving forces behind your business’s online visibility.

    It’s the key that unlocks the doors to higher website traffic, increased brand recognition, and, ultimately, greater revenue.

    When deciding the best route for your SEO success, it might be tempting to take SEO efforts into your own hands, especially if you have an in-house team with some digital marketing know-how.

    After all, who understands your business goals better than your employees? But before you embark on the journey of handling SEO in-house, it’s crucial to pause and reflect.

    Effective SEO isn’t just about understanding your business; it’s a multifaceted discipline that demands meticulous attention to detail, constant monitoring, and adaptation to ever-evolving search engines.

    In this blog post, we’ll delve into the debate of SEO in-house vs. outsourcing, offering insights and compelling reasons why entrusting your SEO efforts to a specialized SEO agency may be the smartest move for your business’s growth and online success.

    Skills & Knowledge for Effective SEO

    If you’re considering taking your SEO efforts in-house, the SEO skills you need to drive results include:

    Research and analysis

    Crafting a successful SEO strategy hinges on thorough research and analysis. This entails extensive keyword research and competitive analysis, the basis for well-informed SEO campaigns.

    Content writing

    Content remains central to SEO, demanding the creation of SEO-friendly materials. This encompasses everything from on-page optimizations to new content marketing pieces. Proficient content writers produce high-quality, engaging content that resonates with your target audience while also favorably positioning your site in search engine results.

    Technical SEO expertise

    Technical SEO is a critical facet of the SEO landscape. It involves optimizing website structure, enhancing loading speeds, and ensuring search engine compatibility.

    Website development

    Proper SEO goes hand-in-hand with seamless website development. SEO success often requires collaboration with web developers and graphic designers to create a user-friendly, visually appealing website. A well-designed website improves user experience and plays a pivotal role in SEO rankings. Search Influence’s web development team works with your existing website to execute our SEO recommendations.

    Outreach / PR for link building

    Link building is a fundamental element of SEO. Building valuable backlinks demands skillfully executed outreach and PR activities. These high-quality backlinks enhance website authority and visibility in search results.

    Data and analytics

    Data-driven decision-making is at the core of effective SEO. Leveraging advanced analytics tools, SEO practitioners monitor the performance of strategies, providing insightful reports.

    Analytics and lead tracking allow for adjustments and alignment of SEO efforts with your business objectives.

    These skills and knowledge areas are essential for anyone looking to successfully navigate the complex world of SEO. Whether you choose an in-house SEO team or partner with an SEO agency, understanding these foundational aspects is crucial for achieving favorable results in the digital landscape.

    Time Commitment for Successful SEO

    Effective SEO isn’t a one-time task; it’s an ongoing commitment that demands significant time and effort. Typically, you can expect to allocate anywhere from 25 to 50 hours per month for SEO-related activities. This allocation includes time spent on strategy development, execution, and continuous evaluation.

    SEO campaigns require meticulous planning and execution, involving keyword research, content optimization, technical SEO enhancements, and link building efforts. Managing this workload can overwhelm a small business or those with limited resources.

    Plus, SEO isn’t static. Search engine algorithms evolve, user behavior changes, and competitors adapt their strategies. To remain competitive, you must update your SEO strategies and tactics every three months. This iterative approach ensures your SEO campaign stays aligned with industry trends and search engine updates.

    It’s essential to take a step back and assess the performance of your SEO efforts annually. Determine which pages are excelling in search engine rankings and which are not. This evaluation allows you to reallocate resources and update your priorities for the following year.

    For many businesses, maintaining this level of commitment and staying up-to-date with the SEO world can be challenging. This is where SEO agencies and their teams of SEO experts come into play, offering the time commitment required and the expertise and ongoing training needed to ensure your business grows and thrives in the digital marketing arena. An agency’s dedicated marketing manager or SEO team can handle specific tasks and provide the time and skills to drive your business forward online.

    What You Get From a Skilled SEO Agency

    Outsourcing SEO to a skilled SEO agency offers many advantages that impact the success of your projects.

    Some of the benefits of hiring a skilled SEO agency include:

    • Access to and Knowledge of Tools: SEO agencies are equipped with a wide array of essential tools and resources for effective SEO management, such as Semrush, Ahrefs, and Google Search Console. These tools aid in keyword research, competitive analysis, and performance tracking.
    • Staying Up-to-Date on SEO Trends and Changes: SEO is a dynamic field with frequent algorithm updates and evolving best practices. SEO agencies are dedicated to staying current with these changes, ensuring your SEO strategy remains effective and compliant with industry trends.
    • Established Processes for Implementation: SEO agencies have well-defined processes for implementing changes and optimizations swiftly and efficiently. This systematic approach ensures a seamless execution of your SEO strategy.
    • Experience: SEO professionals within an agency have extensive experience working on various SEO projects. Their expertise allows them to easily navigate the complexities of SEO, offering solutions tailored to your unique needs.
    • Skills Across Specialties: A skilled SEO agency boasts a diverse team of experts, including content writers, researchers/strategists, and technical SEO specialists. This multidisciplinary approach provides you with a range of skills at your fingertips without the need to build and manage an in-house SEO team.
    • Data-Backed Strategy: SEO agencies base their strategies on data-driven insights. They analyze performance metrics to gauge the impact of your tactics on rankings, traffic, and lead generation, ensuring concrete evidence guides your SEO journey.
    • Diagnosing Underperformance: When your SEO efforts don’t yield the desired results, SEO agencies have the expertise to diagnose underperformance and recommend corrective actions promptly. This proactive approach is crucial for maintaining and improving your organic traffic and search engine rankings.

    Collaborating with an SEO agency grants you access to a team of seasoned professionals who can streamline your SEO efforts, enhance your online visibility, and confidently drive your business forward.

    An outsourced SEO success story

    The Tulane School of Professional Advancement (SoPA) partnered with Search Influence, an experienced higher education digital marketing agency, to enhance their online visibility and attract prospective students. Over this multi-year collaboration, Search Influence has implemented a suite of digital marketing strategies, including SEO, paid digital ads, and email marketing. These digital marketing tactics have increased enrollment across various programs, from bachelor’s to master’s programs and graduate certificates.

    One of the standout success stories from this partnership came when Search Influence helped Tulane SoPA bring an underperforming third-party Online Program Management (OPM) built microsite back from the dead.

    On the direction of Tulane SoPA’s former OPM partner, the private continuing education school hosted information about their information technology and cybersecurity degrees on a microsite separate from their main website.

    Tulane SoPA came to Search Influence with the following concerns about their microsite:

    • The look and feel (user experience) was inconsistent across the two properties.
    • The OPM did not allow Tulane SoPA to apply edits to the microsite, adding another layer of complication that made it difficult to capitalize on the IT undergrad program.
    • It was difficult to holistically analyze data and performance.
    • The former OPM partner owned Tulane SoPA’s microsite, which meant that a vendor change would prompt the loss of any SEO authority gained from the microsite.

    On top of the above concerns, Search Influence also recognized a separate set of challenges:

    • Running these two programs on individual websites proved to be a counterproductive strategy. The online visibility of both programs suffered as they couldn’t tap into the wealth of educational content available on the primary website. Conversely, the main website lacked the necessary depth of information about these programs and what they offered.
    • Both websites faced the risk of being flagged for duplicate content. Vital details such as tuition fees, the admissions process, and financial aid information were duplicated on each site, making them susceptible to search engine penalties. Neither site was positioned to organically rank well for IT or cybersecurity keywords, nor were they effectively nurturing prospective students interested in these programs to take the next step and apply.

    Search Influence used an SEO-first approach to migrate the OPM microsite pages into Tulane SoPA’s main site. At the end of the project, the microsite was completely sunset.

    As a result of this strategy, Tulane SoPA:

    • Enhanced their content’s richness by implementing comprehensive front and back-end content optimization and expansion strategies
    • Ensured the microsite’s search engine prominence remained intact during a seamless technical transition
      Solidified its position as a prominent leader by actively refining conversion strategies and introducing supplementary inquiry forms

    Search Influence’s expert SEO knowledge and implementation fixed Tulane SoPA’s website woes and helped them drive more prospective students to their site.

    The results below look at a year-over-year comparison to the three-months prior to the migration (to account for seasonality).

    • 90% increase in total organic traffic
    • 456% increase in organic blog entrances
    • 890% increase in organic blog traffic
    • 895% increase in new users to the blog
    • 54% of organic website traffic is attributed to the blog in this time period, compared to just 10% prior.

    This success reflects the expertise of an outsourced SEO agency in driving targeted results and leveraging industry insights to optimize websites. It demonstrates the value of outsourcing SEO tasks to dedicated specialists and the potential for substantial business growth through practical SEO work.

    Search Influence SEO

    Questions to Ask Yourself When Making Your Decision

    What’s our organization’s budget for SEO services?

    When deciding between in-house SEO or outsourcing SEO services, consider the following financial factors:

    • Initial Investment and Ongoing Costs: Understand the distinction between one-time setup costs and monthly or annual expenses. Also, consider potential overruns or unexpected costs that may arise during your SEO journey. You will be responsible for these unforeseen costs if you choose in-house SEO.
    • Cost of an In-House SEO Expert vs. Agency Retainer/Fees: Compare the cost of hiring and maintaining an in-house SEO team to the fees associated with an SEO services agency or freelance SEO expert. If you choose to outsource SEO, it may be more expensive upfront but will save you money and headaches in the long run.
    • Tools and Software: Evaluate the availability and cost of essential SEO tools and software needed for effective SEO campaign management. Can your in-house team afford the necessary digital marketing software?
    • Training and Conferences: If you choose an in-house SEO specialist, you must set aside funds for courses, webinars, and potentially attending SEO conferences for your SEO professional’s ongoing education and skill enhancement.

    While hiring a skilled SEO agency for your higher education marketing can help you craft successful campaigns, Search Influence understands that might not always be in the budget.

    That’s why we created an SEO workbook to help higher ed markets take charge of their online campaigns.

    Do we know the latest SEO best practices and trends?

    When deciding between in-house SEO or outsourced SEO services, you should consider the following:

    • Internal Expertise: Assess the current knowledge level of your internal teams or SEO manager and identify any gaps in expertise that might require external training or assistance.
    • Stay Up-to-Date: Recognize the frequency of search engine algorithm updates and the importance of staying ahead in a constantly evolving field.
    • Dedicated Learning Time: If you can’t allocate regular time for your team to learn and stay updated on the latest SEO best practices, ensuring continuous improvement, you should consider hiring an SEO specialist agency.

    What are the goals of our SEO project?

    When deciding between in-house SEO or SEO outsourcing, you should consider the following:

    • Short-Term vs. Long-Term Goals: Define immediate objectives and long-term SEO strategies to ensure your SEO efforts align with your business goals.
    • On-Page vs. Off-Page Optimization: Determine the balance between improving on-page website elements and addressing off-page SEO factors to achieve your desired results.
    • Local vs. National Focus: Decide whether to prioritize local search optimization or expand your reach to a broader national or global audience.
    • Integration With Other Marketing Efforts: Understand how SEO will fit into your overall marketing strategy, including its integration with PPC, social media, and email marketing efforts. Most SEO agencies can handle all your digital marketing needs.

    What does a staff member or agency need to learn about our niche?

    When deciding between in-house SEO or SEO outsourcing, you should consider the following:

    • Unique Challenges of Niche Industries: Recognize potential obstacles or limited resources specific to your niche sector that may impact your SEO strategy.
    • Specialized Knowledge: Consider the specific information needed to understand keywords, your target audience, and the intricacies of your industry, which will be vital for practical SEO work and content creation.

    Do we have the technical skills and software subscriptions necessary for effective SEO?

    When deciding between in-house SEO or an outsourced agency, you should consider the following:

    • SEO Toolkits: Review the availability of tools for keyword research, link building, and on-site optimization to ensure you have the necessary resources for your SEO campaign.
    • Website Infrastructure: In order to implement effective SEO, you must have someone who knows how to evaluate your current website’s SEO-friendliness and then determine whether migrations or significant overhauls are needed.
    • Analytics and Reporting: Ensure access to robust analytics tools that allow you to measure and report on the progress of your SEO efforts effectively.
    • Integration Capabilities: Before deciding to bring your SEO in-house, you should determine if you know how to integrate SEO tools with other marketing and analytics platforms to streamline your SEO operations and improve overall efficiency.

    After considering your SEO goals and industry knowledge, it will be easier to decide between an in-house or outsourced SEO strategy.

    Should You Outsource SEO Services or Build an Internal Team?

    Considering that 68% of online experiences begin with a search engine, you can’t afford to ignore SEO.

    But should you build an in-house team or hire an agency?

    Several key takeaways emerge when deciding between outsourcing SEO services and building an in-house team. Your choice depends on various factors, including budget constraints, existing expertise, the need to stay current with SEO trends, and your specific project goals.

    One critical consideration is the remarkable potential of partnering with the right SEO agency.

    When you collaborate with a skilled agency, they don’t merely provide services; they become an extension of your team. This partnership can yield immense cost savings, as agencies have the tools and expertise required for efficient SEO results.

    Search Influence Can Help Your Business Grow

    As a leading SEO agency in New Orleans, we understand the significance of being found online. That’s why we’ve spent nearly 20 years helping businesses just like yours find success.

    Our dedicated experts have honed their SEO skills through years of strategizing, testing, and developing cutting-edge methods to ensure potential customers can discover your business.

    Take Search Influence’s In-House vs. Outsourcing SEO Quiz to answer whether partnering with a higher ed digital marketing agency is the right approach for your institution.

    Your journey to digital success starts here.

    Image Sources:

    Image 1: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1531545514256-b1400bc00f31?auto=format&fit=crop&q=80&w=2874&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D

    Image 2: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1516321318423-f06f85e504b3?auto=format&fit=crop&q=80&w=2940&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D

  • Google officially launches AI Overviews for search

    Google officially launches AI Overviews for search

    Google announces AI Overviews are available for all US searchers

    Google is trying to steal your searches, what can you do about it?

    At yesterday’s Google I/O, Google announced it is rolling out “AI overviews” for all US searchers.

    Without getting too geeky, the AI Overviews are “retrieval augmented generation,” where essentially Google looks into its large language model (i.e. big ol’ database of knowledge) and compares what’s there to search data to build a better answer.

    If you’d like more information, Barry Schwartz has a good review on Search Engine Land.

    Google Screenshot AI Overview Example - Datasite - Dataroom Providers

    If you’ve been watching what Google is doing with SGE (Search Generative Experience) during its beta, you may have seen that the Google “answers” are sometimes incorrect and potentially distract searchers away from the valid results below.

    What this means is that the “10 blue links” and the maps we were used to are pushed even further down the page.

    AI Overviews are only part of the problem, though. Google is also putting more ads at the top of the page, meaning your winning map or organic search is lower still.

    This is not the time to freak out, though. We are very early in this rollout, and at Search Influence we’ve been testing how to keep you on top even with these changes.

    If you’re a Search Influence client, look forward to some interesting new tactics in your SEO strategies.

    For the past decade, when we’ve said “search,” we’ve meant Google. In the coming decade, we may be talking about searches on any number of engines, apps, and devices.

    At Google, as in life, change is the only constant. Look forward to updates as we get further in our testing.

  • Effective SEO Strategy Must-Haves: Why Partner With Search Influence

    Effective SEO Strategy Must-Haves: Why Partner With Search Influence

    seo best practices

    Key Insights

    • Not all SEO strategies are created equal. Effective SEO strategies demand a customized approach that takes into account the unique goals and challenges of a business.
    • Search Influence uses three pillars to drive SEO strategy: boosting search rankings, empowering local SEO, and enhancing technical SEO.
    • Partnering with a skilled SEO agency can make all the difference in your online advertising success.

    Search Influence isn’t just part of the SEO industry — we helped shape it.

    Since bursting onto the SEO scene in 2006, we have helped clients across countless industries climb search engine results pages and reach their goals. We maintain a firm hold as thought leaders in the digital advertising industry by speaking at conferences, writing guest blog posts, and sharing insights on podcasts.

    Our team fuels growth by constantly seeking inspiration from the many other prolific thinkers in the digital marketing and SEO world.

    After reading What Does “Strategy” Actually Mean to CMOs?, our thoughts returned to our recent SEO research study with UPCEA, where we learned that 51% of universities don’t have an established SEO plan.

    In this blog post, we’ll share the benefits of a true, customized search engine optimization strategy and pull the curtain back on our process.

    Search Influence’s SEO Best Practices

    At Search Influence, we value increasing your website’s traffic and search volume. However, we know that the bottom line for your business is a strategy that converts those visitors into inquiries and revenue.

    Through a medley of strategies, we help you gain more organic traffic.

    Our four pillars of a successful SEO strategy:

    1. Boosting topical relevance: Our team conducts thorough keyword research to identify the most relevant keywords for your business. We then optimize your web pages with these targeted, conversion-friendly key topics, ensuring that your website appears prominently in search results when potential customers seek your products or services.
    2. Empowering local relevance: We strengthen your online presence by focusing on local SEO strategies. By optimizing your website to reinforce your physical location, we ensure your business remains competitive in local search results. This approach makes it easier for nearby customers to discover and connect with your company.
    3. Driving authority: We bolster your website’s credibility and influence through strategic link building. By linking to reputable websites within your industry and adding internal links from across your own website, we signal to search engines that your content is valuable and authoritative. This practice helps to satisfy Google’s E-E-A-T requirements.
    4. Enhancing discoverability through technical SEO: We pay close attention to the technical aspects of your website to improve its overall performance. This includes many technical settings that help Google better access your site, as well as optimizing your website for mobile users, because a positive user experience is crucial for encouraging conversions. A user-friendly interface ensures that visitors can effortlessly navigate your site, increasing the likelihood that they will take a desired action.

    Effective SEO Strategy Step 1: Needs Analysis

    The first step in Search Influence’s process is getting to know you, your website, and your competition.

    In house, we call this a needs analysis.

    In this crucial step, we delve into understanding your unique requirements and challenges, ensuring that our SEO efforts align seamlessly with your goals and objectives.

    Our needs analysis process forms the bedrock upon which we build our SEO strategy, providing valuable data and context for optimizing your online presence.

    Our needs analysis process:

    • Learning your goals and objectives: By aligning our efforts with your goals, we ensure our actions contribute directly to your success. We collaborate with you to define what you want to achieve with your SEO endeavors. This may include enhancing online visibility, driving more targeted traffic, or increasing conversion rates.
    • Competitor analysis: We conduct a comprehensive competitor analysis to outperform your competition in the digital landscape. By identifying areas where your competitors excel and areas where they fall short, we can employ strategies and tactics that will help to set your website apart.
    • Technical audit: Our team conducts a meticulous technical audit of your website. By uncovering any technical issues or areas of improvement, we pave the way for a smoother user experience and improved search engine rankings. This audit thoroughly examines your website’s internal links, on-page optimization, and overall technical SEO health.
    • Content assessment: We assess your existing website content for its quality, relevance, and keyword optimization. Ensuring that your content aligns with your target audience’s interests and is optimized for relevant target keywords is crucial for attracting organic traffic and retaining user engagement.
    • Link profile analysis: Our team dives deep into your link profile, evaluating the quality and quantity of your inbound links. A strong and reputable backlink profile enhances your online authority and search engine rankings. We identify opportunities for acquiring high-quality backlinks and eliminating toxic links that may harm your SEO efforts.

    This process enables us to tailor our SEO strategy to your specific needs and maximize the impact of our efforts, ultimately catapulting your website content to new heights of online visibility.

    Effective SEO Strategy Step 2: Keyword Research

    Conducting keyword research is pivotal to understanding how users search for products or services related to your business.

    Our steps:

    • Brainstorm seed keywords: We create a list of core or seed keywords directly relevant to your products or services. These keywords are the foundation upon which we will build your keyword strategy. We discover these initial keywords through discussions with you about your industry and products to learn the words you use and the words your audience uses.
    • Utilize keyword research tools: Keyword research allows us to cast a wider net and capture a broader audience for your business. We leverage tools that uncover an array of related keywords and keyword phrases that users commonly enter into search engines.
    • Analyze search volume: During this step, we closely examine each keyword’s search volume to understand its popularity and potential impact. This data helps us prioritize the keywords more likely to drive significant traffic to your website.
    • Assess keyword relevance: We assess keyword relevance to ensure that the chosen keywords align with your audience’s search intent. This alignment verifies that visitors arriving at your site are genuinely interested in your products or services — leading to conversions, not just clicks.
    • Select targeted keywords by topic: We organize your selected keywords by topic, making it easier to create content that resonates with users’ interests. This strategy improves your website’s ranking on search engines and enhances the overall user experience by providing cohesive and informative content.
    • Balance keyword volume and competition: Our goal is to identify keywords that offer a favorable balance for your specific objectives. Highly competitive keywords may require more time and effort to rank for, while low-competition keywords may not drive enough traffic.

    Effective SEO Strategy Step 3: Creation of the Strategy

    Every client is unique, and your SEO strategy must reflect your distinct goals and challenges.

    Search Influence understands this diversity and crafts individualized strategies that align with your requirements.

    While the specifics may vary, here are some examples of tactics that we might include in your strategy:

    Keyword and on-page SEO optimization

    At Search Influence, we optimize your on-page SEO by ensuring that relevant keywords are seamlessly integrated into your website content, meta tags, and headers.

    Additionally, we create high-quality, keyword-rich content that directly addresses user intent, improving your website’s visibility on search engines.

    By including keywords and structuring your content for skimmers, swimmers, and divers, we improve your website’s readability and search engine ranking.

    Technical SEO

    We fine-tune technical settings that make it easier for Google to access your site, like implementing proper HTML markup and sitemaps, and configuring robots.txt files. We improve your website speed and mobile-friendliness to enhance the overall user experience of your website.

    Link building

    Our team builds high-quality, relevant backlinks from authoritative websites to boost your domain authority. Links are like votes for your website, and you must have more to win!

    We also avoid low-quality or spammy backlinks that could harm your site’s reputation.

    Content marketing

    Our content marketing strategy revolves around creating informative, engaging, and shareable content. We also employ social media and email marketing to increase content visibility and reach.

    Local SEO

    Local SEO is especially important for businesses with physical locations.

    For businesses targeting a local audience, we optimize your Google Business Profile listing and local citations. Encouraging customer reviews and ratings helps enhance your local reputation.

    User experience (UX)

    We focus on enhancing website usability and navigation to reduce bounce rates and improve user satisfaction. Additionally, optimizing for mobile devices caters to a mobile-first audience and ensures adherence to mobile SEO best practices.

    Schema markup

    Implementing schema markup provides search engines with structured data about your content, enhancing the appearance of rich snippets in search results.

    Search Influence employs all the tools at our disposal, including Google Analytics and other industry-leading SEO tools, to craft these individualized SEO strategies. We align each strategy with your specific goals, target audience, and unique challenges.

    Whether it’s optimizing page titles, improving page speed, or fixing broken links, we harness our expertise to ensure your website ranks higher for Google searches and provides an exceptional user experience.

    Search Influence’s Effective SEO Strategies for Higher Education

    As discussed earlier in this blog post, a majority of higher education institutions across the country lack a proper SEO strategy.

    Search Influence and our higher education marketing partners at UPCEA believe improving SEO must be a top priority for universities. We help universities build and deliver better SEO strategies through original research studies and our SEO Roadmap for higher education institutions.

    Our team of experts has years of experience helping universities boost their SEO rankings.



    Drive more students with a personalized SEO strategy  

    Tulane SoPA + Search Influence = SEO Strategy Success

    When Tulane SoPA came to us looking for ways to boost organic traffic for their recently launched human resources program, we dove straight into our process to identify the strategy.

    We implemented five common tactics to increase their SEO rankings:

    #1: We optimized the degree page content

    optimized content per page

    Search Influence always prioritizes including the primary keyword and related keywords in headlines because they are an SEO ranking factor. This small attention to detail, amongst others, can help you get to the first page of the SERPs.

    In the example above, you can see where we included the keyword “online bachelor’s degree in human resources” and similar variations throughout the content. All the keywords are closely aligned to the program name, as they often will be.

    We incorporated keywords into the headings, the on-page content, and other related linked pages.

    #2: We optimized metadata with targeted keywords

    optimized title tags and meta descriptionsTitle tags and meta descriptions are closely related to content but are not shown directly to a user on the web page. A searcher will see them when your webpage appears in a Google search.

    Google search sees your title tag as the page title and uses it to learn what your page is about.

    Therefore, it’s the most important tag to optimize with keywords while avoiding keyword stuffing.

    Meta descriptions influence CLICKS to your site, but they do not influence RANKING.

    A well-optimized meta description will include the brand name, keyword, geo, if necessary, and relevant information about the program.

    Let’s go into more detail by reviewing the title tag examples for different Tulane SoPA programs above.

    Sample 1: This is for an online course, where the degree name closely matches how prospects search, and the wording is specifically tuned to variations of the particular keyword “human resources degree” — pretty straightforward.

    Sample 2: This page is about general legal studies, but there’s also info about Tulane SoPA’s paralegal certificate since the degree helps you get your paralegal certificate. It’s crucial here to optimize this title tag for both topics.

    Sample 3: Let’s say your degree name doesn’t match how prospects search. In that case, you can naturally work in the keyword, like in the example here.

    #3: We built links directly to deep pages across Tulane SoPA’s website

    build links

    The above example is a news article in a local business publication. This was published as the result of a press release. You’ll see a link to the school’s homepage and specific degree pages.

    Another place you can build deep links is through profiles on sites like niche.com. The above example shows links to the overall degree/program page and directly to key the degree pages.

    #4: We used accessiBe to improve Tulane SoPA’s website accessibility

    accessiBe widgetMaking your site accessible to all is of the utmost importance.

    To do this for Tulane SoPA, we utilized accessiBe to make their website fully compliant and accessible to those with disabilities.

    #5: We fixed technical errors on Tulane SoPA’s website

    fix technical errors

    Technical errors can include a wide variety of things, such as 404s/broken links, crawlability issues, HTTPS, speed, and schema errors.

    We used Semrush and Google Search Console to identify and fix these issues for Tulane SoPA.

    Learn More About Effective SEO Strategies With Search Influence

    In digital marketing, the distinction between an SEO strategy and an effective SEO strategy can be the difference between existence and success.

    Partnering with an experienced SEO agency helps you build the powerful online presence your business needs.

    At Search Influence, we understand that crafting a genuinely effective strategy requires expertise, dedication, and a deep understanding of the ever-evolving digital landscape.

    Contact us today to learn more about our digital marketing services.

     

    Image sources:

    Image 1: https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1523875194681-bedd468c58bf?q=80&w=2942&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.0.3&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D

  • Organic & Paid Search: Stretch Your Advertising Budget With this Dynamic Duo

    Key Insights

    • Marketers who invest in paid search but don’t use SEO miss out on valuable opportunities to grow their brand, impact, and results.
    • Paid search offers immediate, measurable results, while organic search provides long-term, cost-effective benefits. Both are essential for a balanced marketing approach that captures the ideal target audience.
    • When you leverage these strategies in tandem, you can stretch your advertising budget further and gain a higher return on your investment.

    Already diving into the world of paid search? You’re likely experiencing satisfactory — if not excellent — returns on your investment. Your click-through rates are healthy, your conversion funnels are a work of art, and the ROI numbers speak for themselves.

    But, why stop at one win when you can score a double?

    The ROI potential of organic search is often underestimated, yet its impact is monumental. With organic search, you invest in a long-lasting asset that continuously draws in high-quality traffic and gains.

    By leveraging both paid and organic search, you create a powerhouse that maximizes your budget and outperforms each strategy used in isolation.

    paid vs organic search

    Comparing the Advantages of Organic Search vs. Paid Search

    Organic search refers to the unpaid search engine results that appear when you type a keyphrase into a search engine, such as Google, Bing, or Yahoo.

    Organic search differs from paid search in two primary ways: You don’t pay for high-rankings, and you earn those rankings based on how relevant your content is to the user’s search query.

    The higher you rank in the organic listings, the higher the traffic to your website.

    Data from Brightedge shows organic search constitutes over 53.3% of all website traffic, while 15% comes from paid search.

    However, despite pulling in a lion’s share of page visits, organic search shouldn’t trump your paid efforts, and vice-versa. Choosing one approach at the expense of the other only risks leaving valuable opportunities on the table.

    Organic and paid search are complementary marketing strategies. When used together, they yield results much greater than the sum of their individual parts.

    Benefits of paid search

    Paid search is popular for a reason. It’s fast-acting, easily adaptable, and you can measure its performance down to the most granular details.

    Some of the top benefits you get by investing in this marketing strategy include:

    • Immediate visibility: Unlike organic search, which can take time to yield results, paid search offers immediate visibility. As soon as your ads are set up and approved, they can appear in relevant search results, driving instant traffic to your website.
    • Targeted reach: Paid search allows for precise targeting based on a variety of factors, such as keywords, location, demographics, and device type. This level of targeting ensures that your ads are shown to a highly relevant audience, increasing the likelihood of conversion.
    • Measurable and actionable results: Paid search offers detailed metrics and insights into your ads’ performance. This data helps you assess the effectiveness of your campaigns and make more informed decisions. You can optimize by testing different ad creatives, landing pages, and keywords.
    • Cost-effective: While you pay for each click, the ability to set a budget and bid strategy allows you to control your spending. Additionally, the targeted nature of paid search can lead to higher conversion rates, making it a cost-effective advertising method.

    Benefits of organic search

    When marketers invest in an organic search strategy, they’re investing in the tried-and-true practice of search engine optimization (SEO). This technique involves optimizing a website to appear higher on the search engine results page.

    Successful SEO encompasses many different moving parts, including:

    • Keyword research: Identifying and targeting specific keywords relevant to your business helps tailor your content to attract qualified traffic.
    • Link building: Acquiring backlinks from reputable websites boosts your site’s authority, which can improve its ranking in search engine results.
    • On-page optimizations: Improving elements like titles, meta descriptions, headers, and content itself ensures that both search engines and users find your pages relevant and valuable.
    • Technical SEO: Optimizing your website’s underlying code, speed, and structure makes it easier for search engines to crawl and index your content.
    • Local SEO: Optimizing your site for local search helps you rank higher in geographically relevant queries, making it easier for local customers to find you.
    • User experience (UX): Enhancing your site’s usability and navigability keeps visitors engaged and signals to search engines that your site is user-friendly.

    Each of these tactics plays a distinct role in optimizing your site for a better position in organic search results. When utilized correctly, effectively, and efficiently, they can lead to several compelling benefits, such as:

    • Increased organic traffic: By optimizing for relevant keywords and creating quality content, SEO helps increase the visibility of a website in search engine results, leading to more organic traffic.
    • Improved user experience: In revamping the structure and content of your website, you make it easier to navigate, which can improve the overall user experience.
    • Higher conversion rates: Through targeted optimization, SEO can attract more qualified leads to your website, leading to higher conversion rates, as visitors are more likely to take desired actions.

    Why You Need a Paid Search + SEO Strategy

    Adding SEO to your paid search strategy isn’t about dishing out hefty dollars or doing extra heavy lifting to reap results.

    This one-two punch is about working smarter, not harder. When you adopt a comprehensive strategy, your paid and organic search efforts merge to inform each other for a budget-friendly, high-impact approach.

    SEO is one of paid search’s biggest allies and strategic influences. It works to bolster the impact of your pay-per-click (PPC) ads by offering numerous advantages, including:

    • Brand credibility: If your site ranks high in organic search for relevant keywords, it may enhance your brand’s credibility and authority. This trust can translate into higher click-through rates for your paid search ads.
    • Improved quality score: Google’s Quality Score considers the relevance and quality of your landing pages. If your organic search efforts result in well-optimized landing pages, it might indirectly contribute to a higher Quality Score for your paid search ads, leading to lower costs and better positioning.
    • Shared insights: Your paid search campaigns can gain data from your organic search efforts, including effective keywords and user behavior. With these insights, you’re able to ensure more effective targeting and ad creation.
    • User experience and relevance: Successful organic search optimization involves creating relevant, engaging content that resonates with users. By leveraging this content in paid campaigns, like Google ads, you create a consistent user experience that enhances conversions.
    • Double visibility: Appearing in both organic and paid search results increases your overall brand visibility and reinforces your message, making users more likely to engage with either your organic result or paid ad.

    Use case: Paid search & SEO for improved keyword visibility

    Seeing double doesn’t always mean it’s time to visit your nearest eye care clinic.

    In the search engine marketing world, double visibility for certain keyword searches opens the door to increased brand awareness, clicks, and conversions.

    By occupying both paid and organic real estate on the search engine results pages (SERPs), you crowd out competitors and offer multiple avenues for potential customers to interact with your brand.

    Our higher education client, Tulane SoPA, reached double visibility in the SERPs for the keyword “MPA degree New Orleans.”

    mpa degree nola

    The top page, flagged as “sponsored,” is the university’s paid search effort, and it leads to the corresponding landing page for the Master of Public Administration program.

    mpa degree nola

    Tulane SoPA’s organic listing for the MPA degree lies just below Google’s “People Also Ask” feature, still on page one.

    Interested prospects searching for the perfect MPA program in their preferred locale are met with multiple signals pointing them to Tulane SoPA. When they click through to one of the pages, Tulane SoPA has higher chances of increasing their conversion rates.

    The ROI Potential

    The ROI of an organic vs. paid search strategy may look different, but they don’t have to be mutually exclusive. With a combined search strategy, you can do more with your marketing and have better returns, without breaking the bank.

    Used in tandem, paid and organic search stretch your budget further. Their complementary inner workings drive more conversions and dollars to your brand, particularly by:

    • Increasing overall traffic: By targeting different segments and stages of the buyer’s journey, both paid search and SEO can drive more traffic, improving overall reach and potential conversions.
    • Increasing conversion rates: Utilizing insights from both channels can lead to better targeting and more relevant content, thereby increasing the likelihood of converting visitors into customers.
    • Offering data-driven optimizations: Using data from both channels allows for more informed decisions and continuous optimization of both organic and paid strategies, leading to improved performance and ROI.
    • Allocating resources strategically: Understanding the performance and ROI of both channels enables you to strategically allocate resources, investing in areas with the highest returns.

    Increase Your ROI With SEO & Paid Search Experts

    Sticking to just one marketing channel is like running a race with one shoe. You might still finish, but you’re hobbling your chances for a winning performance.

    A superior marketing strategy is holistic, leveraging both the quick returns of paid search and the sustainable growth offered by SEO.

    At Search Influence, we put these winning, comprehensive strategies within your reach. With over 15 years of experience offering custom solutions, analytics-based strategies, and results you can measure, we are your partner in optimizing your full potential.

    Interested in learning more about merging organic and paid search in your strategy? Let’s talk about it.

     

    Image Sources:

    https://bit.ly/45ZC5pN

  • Will Scott’s Higher Ed SEO Blog: A Must-Read Journey on Search Engine Land

    higher education seo

    Search Influence CEO and Co-Founder Will Scott had the opportunity to contribute a blog to Search Engine Land — a leading publication on digital marketing, advertising technology, and the MarTech landscape.

    In his blog, “How Higher Education Is Failing at SEO,” Will shares his vast knowledge and the findings of Search Influence and UPCEA’s 2023 Higher Ed SEO Research Study.

    Will Scott’s Search Engine Land Blog SparkNotes

    Will’s blog pulls highlights from the UPCEA SEO research study to discuss the perception and comprehension of higher education SEO amongst marketing leaders.

    The research findings might surprise you.

    “84% of marketing departments see SEO as a core part of their marketing strategy, but half (51%) do not have an established SEO strategy.”

    Will explains some possible reasons for this disconnect and how higher ed institutions can overcome these challenges.

    Will believes there is SEO opportunity for higher ed institutions

    While “there’s no silver bullet for higher education SEO,” higher ed institutions do have a unique competitive advantage.

    “Given the importance of relevance and trust (surely you’ve heard of E-E-A-T), there are few more trusted websites than those associated with educational institutions. So as an academic unit within a university, your ability to appear for relevant searches is amplified. All you need is great content,” Will writes.

    In true Will Scott fashion, the experienced SEO expert describes how higher ed institutions like yours can leverage Google Search Console and optimized content writing to your benefit.

    The Higher Ed SEO Experts at Search Influence

    We get it — SEO can seem overly complex and, because of that, daunting to implement.

    But no matter where you are in your SEO journey, we are here to provide the support you need to flourish online.

    Contact us today to learn more about all of our digital marketing services.

  • ChatGPT: Data Mining and SEO With OpenAI and Bing

    ChatGPT: Data Mining and SEO With OpenAI and Bing

    Table of Contents

    Key Insights

    • Pubcon Austin 2023 might as well have been called “The State of AI SEO.” And it was fantastic.
    • ChatGPT and Bing GPT are a really easy way to toe the water of AI for data mining and SEO.
    • Development in AI, in all forms is moving lightning-fast. You need to be there, and you also need to be thoughtful how you engage.

    [bctt tweet=”According to @w2scott, ChatGPT and Bing GPT are a really easy way to toe the water of AI for data mining and SEO.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    Introduction

    I attended and presented at Pubcon Austin a couple of weeks ago (February 2023) and came away with a ton of new ideas to use ChatGPT for SEO and how to do more effective ChatGPT Data Mining.

    ChatGPT Data Mining - Miners, mining for data as imagined by Midjourney

    Typically, a major conference will put out a call for speaking ideas months in advance. Pubcon is no different, and in the early fall of last year, the organizer Brett Tabke did just that.

    At the time, I had nothing that I was super passionate about presenting.

    But, since the winter holidays, I have been obsessively playing with OpenAI ChatGPT and a dozen or so AI content tools.

    I reached out to Brett Tabke, the organizer of Pubcon, and shared my idea for a talk. He was happy to make room for me on a panel — after giving me the requisite grief for being so late.

    If you’d like to see that presentation, I have it online here: Chatbots, AI Content, And The Marketer’s Conundrum.

    It turns out that earlier, Brett had put out a call to all of the speakers to ensure they addressed AI in their presentations. So, without knowing it, I was ahead of the curve.

    Brett presented a mind-blowing keynote, which gave me some great ideas for better use of the tools, and other presentations showed me some amazing tactical tricks.

    What Is ChatGPT and How Can You Use It for Data Mining and SEO?

    ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence (AI)-based chatbot system that uses natural language processing (NLP) to generate conversations.

    It keeps track of the conversation’s flow, context, and previous questions and answers.

    This makes it a valuable tool for both data mining and SEO since you can iterate on an idea and get well-formatted (mostly accurate) answers due to its training in the large language model (LLM).

    With ChatGPT, you can also ask complex programming language queries and get accurate responses in conversational format — perfect for understanding customer behavior, getting statistics for content, or even the kind of granular location-based information you need for local SEO.

    For years, the tech industry has embraced AI. Examples include IBM Watson, Tesla, and more. I detailed a few of these in an article I wrote for Near Media.

    ChatGPT’s wide range of applications makes it a great interdisciplinary tool — you can use it to learn new AI models, build generative AI tools, or even translate natural language input into other languages.

    It’s a revolutionary example of how machine learning can make everyday jobs more efficient.

    In short, ChatGPT is a powerful tool with a wide range of applications — perfect for data mining and SEO.

    Now, What About Bing GPT

    In addition to discussions of ChatGPT, there was a keynote from Bing’s Fabrice Canel. During his keynote, Fabrice gave the entire audience access to the new Bing GPT.

    Interestingly, I had received my preview access the day prior.

    It’s important to understand that Bing GPT is not ChatGPT. Bing’s GPT includes the knowledge of the underlying OpenAI LLM, plus the Bing search index.

    This is really useful because you can do things like feed it a URL and have it output the data you’re looking for.

    Screenshot: Bing GPT Fresh Data Pubcon Austin 2023 Speaker Roster

    As you can see, Bing GPT either breaks down or gets bored and stops with the table. There are also some OpenAI GPT limitations in text input and output size.

    But the data is great, and because it’s able to use the Bing search engine, it’s fresh findings.

    On the contrary, if you ask the same question to ChatGPT, you get a combination of made-up and outdated information. And, though not apparent here, it took ChatGPT a long time to think about this one.

    Screenshot: ChatGPT Making Up A Pubcon Speaker Roster

    The only one of the above speakers who actually made it to the podium in 2023 is Aleyda Solis, and that was definitely not her topic.

    Also, notice how Bing GPT actually cites its sources. It’s clear the Bing folks are thinking about how this technology can continue to add value to the copyright holders whose content is driving their answer.

    [bctt tweet=”Bing GPT cites its sources. The Bing folks are thinking about how this technology can add value to the copyright holders whose content is driving their answer.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    If you’re using it to do ideation or organization for SEO, ChatGPT is probably safe.

    You can’t, however, trust ChatGPT data mining to give 100% correct results. So, it’s critical you fact-check everything ChatGPT creates.

    I have no doubt that for the lazy SEO, ChatGPT will be abused and ultimately become a tool with which they accidentally injure themselves, like a hammer bouncing back and hitting them in the head.

    Some Other SEO ChatGPT Use Cases

    Writing code is only one of the many well-documented examples of use cases for ChatGPT.

    Other interesting examples show how ChatGPT can answer complex questions like formatting text in HTML and schema.org markup.

    [bctt tweet=”ChatGPT can answer complex questions like formatting text in HTML and schema.org markup.” username=”@SearchInfluence”]

    It can even organize data into tables, as shown in the example above.

    And because of the ChatGPT response methodology, you can iterate on your initial question until you get the right answer. I find that I often have to create follow-up questions to get to the prompt I’m looking for.

    ChatGPT also has what they call “reinforcement learning models” that enable it to take feedback and improve.

    So, back at the office, we found ourselves preparing for an upcoming industry conference, UPCEA, where our Director of Sales and Marketing, Paula French, will be presenting alongside one of our clients, Alicia Jasmin of the School of Professional Advancement at Tulane University.

    The UPCEA conference organizers share a list of attendees but don’t provide their contact information. We are presenting, we have a booth, and we have some sponsored research launching.

    So, we want to get the word out to the attendees.

    We have a new marketing associate starting, and we were planning to have them go through the list and find better contact information for the attendees we were hoping to connect with.

    I had the idea that it might be possible to paste information from that list into ChatGPT and ask it to fill out the remainder.

    It worked!

    But more on that in a bit.

    Natural Language Processing With Structured Responses

    Here is an example of a ChatGPT response that finds and organizes data in a way that is now useful for an SEO practitioner — or anyone interested.

    I asked ChatGPT for neighborhoods arranged by city within the greater New Orleans area. And it gave me a well-organized response.

    Obviously, this is not a comprehensive list, but you can see the opportunity for using this mind data for SCO coming almost directly from ChatGPT.

    I asked: “table of neighborhoods arranged by city for the greater New Orleans area”

    ChatGPT answered:
    Sure! Here’s a table of neighborhoods arranged by city for the greater New Orleans area:

    Neighborhoods
    New Orleans Algiers, Audubon, Bayou St. John, Black Pearl, Broadmoor, Bywater, Central Business District, City Park, East Carrollton, East Riverside, Faubourg Marigny, French Quarter, Garden District, Gentilly, Holy Cross, Irish Channel, Lake Terrace, Lakeview, Leonidas, Lower Ninth Ward, Marlyville, Mid-City, Milan, Navarre, Riverbend, St. Anthony, St. Claude, St. Roch, Touro, Tremé, Uptown, West End
    Metairie Airline Park, Bonnabel Place, Bucktown, Causeway, Clearview, East Bank, Fat City, Kenner, Lakeview, Metairie Terrace, Old Metairie, Pontchartrain Gardens, Severn, West Esplanade
    Kenner Chateau Estates, Driftwood, Grandlake, Greenlawn Terrace, Highway Park, Kenner, Lincoln Manor, Louisiana Trace, Quail Ridge, Roosevelt Gardens, University City
    Gretna Algiers Point, Aurora Gardens, Garden Park, Gretna, McDonoghville, Mechanickham, Westwego
    Westwego Westwego, Nine Mile Point
    Harvey Barkley Estates, Barkley Place, Beechwood, Bellevue Gardens, Beverly Knoll, Brown Derby, Cottonwood Place, Dutch Gap, Harvey, Heatherwood, Magnolia Trace, Manhattan, Woodland West
    Marrero Ames Farms, Barataria, Lincolnshire, Marrero, Oak Forest, Oak Cove, Oakmere, Plantation Estates, Pritchard Road, Westwood
    Terrytown Terrytown
    Belle Chasse Belle Chasse

    Note: This is not an exhaustive list but includes some of the more well-known neighborhoods in the Greater New Orleans area.

    Chatbots As Personal Assistants

    So, about that attendee list…

    … I don’t want to expose the information of random conference attendees I don’t know. And, knowing that ChatGPT occasionally gives really authoritative-sounding wrong answers, I figured I could use the speakers at the recent Pubcon to demonstrate this point.

    Sometimes, one has to iterate to get the prompt right and, as a result, get the desired response.

    I heard it said in a recent presentation that “prompts are the new code.” I think the act of writing prompts for ChatGPT is actually good relationship training. You learn how to ask for exactly what you need without a whole bunch of fluff or drama 🙂

    [bctt tweet=”Prompts are the new code.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    So, here’s a table of the speakers at Pubcon Austin. I had to paste information from the website into ChatGPT to give it the core data.

    Screenshot: Pubcon Speakers and Sessions Organized by ChatGPT

     

    I also had to iterate on this a couple of times because ChatGPT is funny, and sometimes, it will stop giving output for no clear reason.

    I find it best to think of ChatGPT as a person. It helps avoid frustration when you cannot connect on the point you’re trying to get across.

    OK, So, we’ve got our core data.

    Now, I want to enhance it with contact information.

    Normally, ChatGPT will refuse to respond to inappropriate requests, like giving you what it thinks is private information — even though it knows the answer. That data is out on the Internet somewhere; otherwise, ChatGPT wouldn’t know it.

    Email is one of those items. Ask for an email address, and ChatGPT politely declines.

    Screenshot: ChatGPT Inapropriate Request - Rand Fishkin's email

    Nope! Not going to give me Rand’s email address. However, look how nicely it directs me to Rand’s website to make contact.

    But, for some reason, if you ask for it in a table, it will give it to you.

    Listen. I know how SEO and marketing folks are. Now that you know this, you’ll abuse the crap out of it, and they’ll kill the feature. Please, please only use it when you need it and recognize that, sooner or later, it will go away.

    It’s also important to remember, like in the example above with fictitious speakers at Pubcon Austin 2023, that ChatGPT sometimes makes stuff up and does so in a really authoritative way.

    So, as I said, ask (for it in a table), and you shall receive.

    Name Company LinkedIn Page Email
    1 Gary Illyes Google https://www.linkedin.com/in/garyillyes/ [email protected]
    2 Dave Rohrer North Side Metrics https://www.linkedin.com/in/daverohrer/ [email protected]
    3 Aleyda Solis Orainti https://www.linkedin.com/in/aleyda/ [email protected]
    4 Martha Vanberkel Schema App https://www.linkedin.com/in/marthavanberkel/ [email protected]
    5 Pat Strader Data Agility Group https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-strader-28972/ [email protected]
    6 Lazarina Stoy Brado Creative Insight https://www.linkedin.com/in/lazarinastoy/ [email protected]
    7 Dave Davies Beanstalk Internet Marketing https://www.linkedin.com/in/beanstalkdave/ [email protected]
    8 Ryan Jones Razorfish https://www.linkedin.com/in/ryanmjones/
    9 Eric Enge Perficient https://www.linkedin.com/in/ericenge/ [email protected]

    And this was the prompt:

    Screenshot: ChatGPT Prompt Data enrichment with email and LinkedIn link

    I cannot stress enough that there is a very high likelihood some of the above data is wrong.

    It’s also important to consider that starting from a very specific example, like my use of the Pubcon agenda, may lead to brushing up against copyright protection issues.

    Brett, we’re cool, right?

    [bctt tweet=”I cannot stress enough that there is a very high likelihood some of the above data is wrong.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    Frequently Asked Questions About ChatGPT for SEO and Data Mining

    Is it legal to use AI to write content?

    Today, yes. However, there are current court cases working their way through the system that may limit some of the uses.

    Bing is ahead of the game today, given their attribution of source documents in their chat output.

    What are some of the ethical concerns with AI content?

    The biggest concerns I’ve heard are about attribution and disclosure. Google has said they don’t have a problem with AI content, but they believe there should be disclosure.

    Does this mean that if you used AI tools to help you generate an outline or develop ideas, you must have that as a postscript? Not in my opinion.

    How long until the robots take over?

    They’ve already taken over. You may have missed it.

    In the first piece I *wrote* on the robot uprising, the content points out the risk of misinformation and the impact on jobs.

    We may have to learn how to be good servants to our robot overlords in order to survive.

    [bctt tweet=”We may have to learn how to be good servants to our robot overlords in order to survive.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    What are some other concerns?

    Given these approaches to machine learning are based on the big bad Internet, ChatGPT can give biased responses. And as we’ve shown, the way you ask the question frames the response.

    A *bad* prompt will likely yield bad responses.

    And, accuracy. Always check your work.

    Should I use these tools?

    Unequivocally yes! Unless you like working harder and not smarter, you should be figuring out how to use AI-based tools to streamline your workflow.

    Maybe there are jobs that AI can’t enable, but they are few.

    And if you’re a marketer, particularly an SEO specialist, ChatGPT and other AI content tools are about to rock your little world — whether you like it or not.

    Code for the JSON-LD schema.org FAQ of the Above

    Screenshot: ChatGPT SEO Generated FAQPage Schema

    Schema.org houses a set of structured data schema that the search engines have agreed to recognize. The one above is an example of FAQPage Schema.

    For SEO, ChatGPT Is the Tipping Point for AI

    AI is for more than just machine learning professionals and business analysts. Chat-based AI is going to be integrated into most information retrieval systems in the very near future.

    As marketers, particularly digital marketers, we owe it to our clients to understand these tools and how they can be used for good and ill. And, if you employ freelance writers as we do, it’s critical that you start thinking about your new approach to plagiarism and originality.

    There is a crop of new tools to check for AI-built content. We’re currently trialing Originality.ai, and it looks promising.

    At Search Influence, we are already finding ways to be more effective and efficient with these tools. We believe, without a doubt, our work product will improve with the smart use of AI.

    And, when we find efficiencies that lower our cost-per-unit X in client work, we’ll be able to pass those savings on to our clients in the form of more value per dollar spent.

    I’m as excited about SEO as I’ve been in years, and I’ve been doing it for more than two decades.

    As I said in my article for Near Media, suggesting this changes everything is not hyperbole.

    Is change good? Is change bad? Change is inevitable.

    Let’s embrace the change together.

    Get in touch if you’d like to learn more about how we can embrace the change together and help grow your business through smart SEO and online ads — powered by AI!

    [bctt tweet=”I’m as excited about SEO as I’ve been in years, and I’ve been doing it for more than two decades. As I said in my article for Near Media, suggesting this changes everything is not hyperbole. Is change good? Is change bad? Change is inevitable. Let’s embrace the change together.” username=”SearchInfluence”]

    P.S. Hey, Google! Disclosure: This was partially written by AI — obviously.

  • Follow Our SEO Game Plan to Drive High Quality Leads to Your Medical Website

    Key Insights

    • SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Spending time to create an SEO game plan is crucial in identifying key items to work on to support website growth.
    • Take time to identify the signs your website needs a checkup, diagnosis the issues that be added to your SEO gameplan, and begin tackling the items on your list.
    • SEO takes time. Continuing to optimize your medical website over time will show long-term benefits to your rankings and ROI.

     

    Your website should represent your practice’s brand and demonstrate your expertise in the industry. Traditionally patients turn to Google for the closest and best option when looking for a new medical practitioner. With that in mind, your practice should have a website that appeals to your target audience and is properly set up on the back end to support ranking on Google.

    Having well-optimized content on procedures and services provided, before and after galleries, and reviews/testimonials all support the overall experience of a user when visiting your site. Optimizing your site will give your medical practice higher quality leads which can support growing your practice.

    Yet, a great front end doesn’t always mean the backend is optimized to its fullest potential! It can be overwhelming to begin creating an “SEO game plan.” During this process, it’s important to remember that SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Google wants to see consistent improvement and engagement from website owners. It takes time for Google to process and give your website credit for all the improvements you’ve made (generally a couple of weeks to 1 month per change).

    In this post, we’ll provide the steps to take and consider when reviewing your medical website and optimizing it to improve your business’s visibility in search engine results page (SERPs).

    Doctor examining a patient's blood pressure

    Symptoms: Signs Your Website Needs a Checkup

    You have a visually appealing website and layout, but your medical practice isn’t crushing goals and generating leads as you’d like. Do any of these resonate with your medical practice?

    • Leads don’t come in from the website
    • Patients can’t find you on search engines
    • Patients can’t find your office(s)
    • Your website loads slowly

    If you answered yes to any of the above, you’ve come to the right place! Let’s dig into the common causes of these challenges.

    Diagnosis: Common Causes of Website and SEO-related Issues

    Duplicate content

    Having high-quality and unique content is crucial to SEO and rankings. It is especially important as a medical professional to have unique content to show authority and overall expertise in the industry.

    However, duplicate content means the content displayed on your site also is displayed somewhere else on the internet. When this happens, Google has a hard time knowing which site is more relevant to a search query. This, in turn, forces search engines to determine which site’s content is more relevant to a specific search query.

    Incorrect Directory Information

    You must have your name, address, and phone number (NAP) consistent across the internet. Since many medical offices share one main address with unique suite numbers, ensure you have your suite numbers outlined in all listings online to keep your NAP consistent.

    As medical offices move to new buildings or expand, updating directories online to display correct information is a step sometimes missed in the move. This can add to the challenge of your patients having trouble finding your practices’ office because Google will display outdated information.

    Clunky, outdated websites that don’t load quickly

    Data suggests lower load times lead to a drop in overall conversions because a patient will bounce off a slow loading site to find another provider.

    There are plenty of free tools to utilize to consistently monitor your site speed. When partnering with a Healthcare SEO team, this is something that is included within your campaign and monitored for improvements.

    User experience

    A common reason a user leaves a website is that they can’t find what they were looking for. When a user visits your medical website, is it user-friendly? Is your navigation easy to digest and navigate?

    Website Responsiveness

    Your website should be a responsive website that is mobile-friendly and works seamlessly across all devices, whether a user is visiting it on a mobile device or tablet. Having a responsive website means your layout is flexible to screen size and adjust accordingly depending on the device. This is important to have as it offers a user a good experience regardless of what device they decide to visit you on.

    Contact form is missing, buried, or lacks a call to action

    When a patient visits your website, they should have a clear call to action (CTA) along with steps to follow after the CTA is complete. It is common that a patient would hesitate to fill out an on-site form due to unclear required fields.

    Doctor writing medical records at a desk

    Treatment: Procedures Needed and Expected Outcome

    Just as each patient is different and has different priorities, so do websites. There are many ways to diagnose your website and create an “SEO Game Plan.” You should triage website issues on a case-by-case basis.

    Taking a step back and completing a full SEO needs analysis is crucial to begin your SEO journey. Our team reviews a site’s health and identifies strategic areas of opportunity for improvement in the following areas:

    • Technical on-site SEO
    • Local search visibility
    • Link health
    • Content and keyword optimization
    • Website user experience
    • Conversion rate optimization

    As mentioned, SEO is a marathon, not a sprint. Typically, executing tactics happen over time. As each medical practice has its own priorities and time budgets to support these efforts, it can take time to get everything in place to begin seeing results. This all depends on the time and effort the medical practice is willing to put in.

    Generally, the tactics below are a standard of care for a website that needs the full treatment:

    • Re-write and expand website content for priority services and procedures. As website content goes live on your site, you may see an improvement in rankings in 2-3 weeks for that given topic.
    • Improve site navigation
    • Update local directory listings
    • Creating clear call-to-actions across the site for conversions
    • Redesign website (long term play)

    It is important to recognize that all websites can utilize optimizations from a user and technical perspective. Allocating time and resources to spend on analyzing your medical site’s needs is crucial in making sure you are set up for success.

    For more information on optimizing your medical website, contact the experts at Search Influence.

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  • How Clever Copywriting Can Improve Your SEO

    In the digital world, your marketing team can’t afford to lose track of SEO best practices. Google is smarter, attention spans are shorter, and the competition is fierce. To drive more traffic to your website, avoid copy that falls flat. In an online world full of skimmers and scanners, the best way to grab attention is by committing to an SEO copywriting strategy that’ll make you a VIP on the search engine results page. To do so, you’ll need to learn what sets quality SEO writing apart from copy that serves other promotional purposes.

    Specialized Copywriting Techniques

    Although colorful descriptions and flowery language can land you on The New York Times Best Sellers list, it’s unlikely that they’ll help you earn repeat customers. SEO copywriting serves to support sales and marketing goals, and the strategies used to do so make this writing technique a key player in marketing efforts. You want to effectively target prospects, drive them to your website, and earn plenty of conversions—in a perfect world, this would be a seamless process. Unfortunately, this isn’t the case for every buyer’s journey. If you’re keen on ramping up conversions in a world of digital hopscotch, the recipe for successful SEO copy includes these crucial ingredients:

    • Keywords and keyphrases
    • Clear calls to action (CTAs)
    • A skimmable format: H2s, we’re lookin’ at you!
    • Strong internal links

    Person scrolling on a glittery pink mouse

    SEO Copywriting in Action

    Now that you have the recipe, it’s time to get cooking.

    Keywords and Keyphrases

    So, what makes keywords “key” words? You want to identify words and phrases that are being used in search queries. For instance, if you’re a clothing retailer trying to promote and sell a product that you’ve listed on your website as a “winter long-sleeved top,” you’re likely to have better luck optimizing your content by using a more relevant search term or keyphrase: “checkered wool sweater.” If you’re still drawing blanks, there are tools on your side to boost your confidence in the keywords you choose. SEMrush allows you to research keywords and phrases and analyze various metrics, including search volume, competitive density, cost per click (the average price in USD that advertisers pay for keywords that trigger their ads), and much more! Be careful not to overdo it though, because stuffing too many keywords in your copy can run your readers away (and can bore Google, too.)

    CTAs

    Delicious copy is useless if you leave your leads hanging. You’ve got cute sweaters, so what? You have to direct your site’s visitors to the next step after they’ve read your blog post, browsed your service pages, or scrolled through your list of products. When it comes to calls to action that convert, let’s be clear about this: you need to provide easy-to-follow next steps. After reading your content, do you want users to sign up for a mailing list or purchase a ticket to an event? Nothing’s clunkier than “To learn more, contact us by filling out our form or calling 555-555 and register for our webinar!” Nail down one specific purpose for each piece of content and identify the clear next step for the site visitor. The last thing you want to do is conclude your beautifully written piece of content with a jumble of desperate pleas followed by a mess of tracking to sort through.

    H2s

    You have a very short time window to attract and delight your website’s visitors—in fact, you only have about 15 seconds. To beat the buzzer, you’ll have to ensure that the user can easily get the gist of your copy before deciding to read further. Wondering how to make the magic happen? Relevant, clever H2s. People are naturally drawn to lists and numbers, and you need to work these into your business’s SEO formula so that your content is not only pleasant to Google’s bots, but human readers as well.

    Internal Links

    Think about how you search for products or services online. If you click on something that isn’t helpful…adios! You wouldn’t waste your time digging deeper into a website that doesn’t seem relevant to your search from the start. Keep this in mind when you link to other pages within your copy. When writing user-facing anchor text, you should always make sure that it reads as a “sneak peek” of the landing page it leads to.

    Cat wearing glasses inspecting something on their laptop

    A Breakdown of the Do’s and Don’ts

    Do:

    • Sprinkle relevant keywords throughout the copy
    • Provide a clear call to action
    • Break up your copy with H2s
    • Include internal links

    Don’t:

    • Clutter your content with filler and fluffy language
    • Overwhelm the reader with never-ending, chunky paragraphs
    • Include links that aren’t related to the on-page content

    Ready to start writing? Great copy is just a piece of the puzzle when it comes to effective SEO strategies, and Search Influence knows how to bring it all together. We help businesses grow online by developing tailored SEO and digital marketing gameplans for each of our clients. Tell us what your business needs and let’s make it happen today.

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  • Unfamiliar With “SEO?” Here’s Why Search Engine Optimization Is Important

    Magnifying glass zooming in on SEO

    I entered the digital marketing industry in 2012 when Search Engine Optimization was a simple blend of keyword stuffing and link building. If anyone suggests those strategies still hold up, then they’re living in the past. SEO has changed because the search behavior of consumers has changed. According to Google, 84% of Americans are shopping for something at any given time, in up to six different categories. During their journey, shoppers are searching online, verifying references, reading reviews, connecting with local businesses, and (the most important step of all) converting.

    The once linear buyer’s journey has become a multilateral experience full of content consumption, brand impressions, strategic ad targeting, online searches, remarketing, and email marketing. To be successful, brands must be present in the ever-changing and always competitive online market.  As digital marketers, our job is to connect searchers to the right businesses, and SEO is one of the most effective ways to do that.

    What Is SEO?

    SEO allows businesses to connect with the right audiences by increasing the quality and likeliness to convert traffic to a website while improving brand recognition.

    The way Google connects businesses with audiences is through its algorithm, which changes about 500-600 times a year. The algorithm is intended to keep up with consumer behavior and keep searchers from ending up on untrustworthy websites. To quickly connect searchers to businesses, Google’s algorithm includes some of the most popular “checklists” that searches have indicated are important.

    Can I trust them?
    Are they located close to me?
    Do they offer the service I need?
    New call-to-action

    How SEO Works

    The three most effective constituents for any SEO campaign include content, brand authority, and local presence.

    Content

    Content helps answer the question “Do they offer the service I need?”

    It looks like on-site content, blogs, videos, whitepapers, email marketing, infographics, content marketing, product descriptions, information about the business’s history, and social posts.

    Shoppers consume content differently on mobile devices than on desktops and through different avenues like video, blogs, graphics, and social posts. Content is the most effective way to communicate who you are and what you do to search engines and your audience. This gives businesses a great opportunity to get creative and engage with audiences outside the traditional text of website content.

    Website content

    Create and optimize unique content for each service or product that you want to rank for next time a user is searching. For example, a lawyer who specializes in personal injury should have dedicated pages for each practice area they offer like medical malpractice, car accident, wrongful death, etc. Having dedicated pages for “medical malpractice” precisely and effectively communicates to Google that the content on these pages strictly focuses on “medical malpractice.” This strongly impacts content relevance and organic rankings when people search “medical malpractice lawyer.”

    A click to a site, organic or paid, is a very strong sign of a user’s level of intent and conversion. On-site content should be used to communicate competitive advantages, prices, products, and services. Onsite content should deliberately be written in to drive conversion behavior, with strong calls to action like “call now”, “sign up for our newsletters”, “contact us today”, or “buy”.

    Videos

    Research by HubSpot suggests that using videos on landing pages will increase conversions by 86 percent.

    Businesses need to communicate their message and engage with their audience. A video can be a 30-second teaser for a series of blogs, 2-minute testimonials of a happy client, or 5-minute highlight summary of a recently sponsored community event. Videos are great for users engagement and even better for product promotion.  Almost 50 percent of internet users look for videos related to a product or service before visiting a store.

    Blogs

    According to HubSpot, companies that published more than 16 blog posts per month got about 4.5 times more leads than companies that published zero to four monthly posts.

    This type of content should be slightly more engaging and address identified topics and related topics interesting to the audience. Blogs should always be shared on social, and including videos is a great way to complement the content and increase engagement.

    Brand Authority

    New call-to-actionThis helps answer the question “Can I trust this businss?“

    It looks like earned media like press releases and brand mentions, industry recognition and noted awards, customer reviews, backlinks for all off-site work and publications, and Google posts.

    88 percent of people trust a review from a stranger as much as they would a referral from a friend or family member. Having reviews on your site builds trust with readers while highlighting customer satisfaction. Potential customers trust user-generated content, and all businesses should encourage their clientele to leave reviews or have a dedicated strategy in place to generate them.

    Other ways to increase brand awareness off-site are through earned media publications like brand mentions and press releases. Anytime a business has a newsworthy topic like a major event, community sponsorship, new leadership, or a new location, creating and publishing a press release can establish brand trust and awareness while gaining reputable backlinks.

    Brands should always assure they are receiving link backs from any third party publications and sponsorships. Not only do links build trust with Google, but it also provides a way for referral site traffic from other sources and sites.

    Local Presence

    This help answer the question “Are they conveniently located to me?”

    It looks like local on-site content, correct and consistent listings on maps like Google, Apple, Yelp, and Bing, and showing up in Google’s Maps Pack.

    While consumer behavior continues to move off of the streets and onto the internet, communities supporting local businesses stay strong. In 2018, HubSpot’s data stated that 72 percent of consumers who did a local search visited a store within five miles. Being found locally is crucial, especially for businesses in the service industry like landscapers, restaurants, groomers, mechanics, etc. According to Google, mobile searches that include the phrase “near me” have grown by 500 percent in the last two years.

    Google graphic showing the dramatic increases in near me searches

    So how can businesses communicate they are in fact “near” searchers? First, make sure that you claim and optimize the correct name, address, and phone number across the major local directories like Google, Apple, Yelp, and Bing. Also, build out local landing pages for each location on-site to include a map, local content, hours of operation, and directions. Check out our location page for a concrete example.

    The way consumers search for dresses, landscapers, and car dealers will continue to change, and therefore the digital marketing industry will too.  Just as our campaigns have strayed from the simplicity of keywords and link building, our marketing campaigns will continue to develop and change. In an everchanging and competitive industry catered to consumers, businesses must have a strategy to be successful. If you don’t, Search Influence’s digital marketing experts can help you develop one. Call us at 504-336-3379 to learn more.

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