As we edge closer to May, the digital marketing landscape continues to evolve at an unprecedented pace. The March Core Algorithm update from Google is still making waves, challenging us to adapt and refine our strategies.
Here’s what’s been happening and how it impacts you:
The Prolonged March Core Update
Even as we approach May, the March Core Update from Google continues to unfold, bringing with it a period of notable ranking volatility. This ongoing update diverges from previous ones, with multiple systems updating in tandem and reinforcing each other. This has led to sustained fluctuations in rankings, with the effects likely to persist even after the update fully rolls out. To stay ahead of these changes, keeping abreast of the latest insights and strategies is key. For a closer look at the unfolding situation and strategies to navigate these changes, check out this post from Barry Schwartz published yesterday:.
Have you noticed an uptick in Reddit threads appearing in your search results? This isn’t coincidental. The trend underscores Reddit’s growing importance in training Google’s AI to understand the nuances of human conversation across various topics. This development sheds light on the evolving interplay between social media platforms and search engine algorithms, offering valuable insights for those keen on tailoring their SEO strategies to align with these changes. It’s a testament to the dynamic nature of search and the importance of staying informed to remain competitive.
From the unveiling of Google’s ‘Ad intents’ to the latest in AI advancements across Adobe and Meta platforms, the tech world is brimming with potential game-changers. We’re here to decode these developments and provide you with insights on leveraging them for your growth.
Google’s algorithm updates are part of its ongoing efforts to improve the search experience for users. By understanding and adapting to these changes, businesses and website owners can better position themselves in the digital landscape.
Emphasizing high-quality, helpful content and ethical SEO practices remains essential for achieving and maintaining visibility in Google’s search results.
Ad Intents: Google introduces ‘Ad intents,’ a new ad format set to revolutionize blogger and content creator strategies. Google’s new ad format might seem off-putting at first, but it promises fresh opportunities for bloggers and content creators. Learn More
AI Innovations: From Adobe teasing OpenAI’s Sora for b-roll creation to Meta integrating AI in WhatsApp, the march of AI continues unabated. Sundar Pichai and Sam Altman share their visions for a future reshaped by AI, emphasizing its potential for societal transformation and abundance. Learn More
Legislative Changes and Impact: Google contemplates ceasing links to California news sites in response to regulatory developments, underscoring the tense intersection of tech and governance. Learn More
Last Thought
As we continue navigating these turbulent times in SEO and tech innovation, our commitment at Eminent SEO remains unwavering—to empower you with knowledge and tools to not just survive but thrive. The landscape may shift, but together, we can turn challenges into opportunities for unprecedented growth. I’m excited to explore this journey with you.
We Want to Hear from You
How have the recent SEO changes impacted your strategies? Are there any new technologies you’re exploring? Your insights are invaluable to us. Reach out through email or engage with us on social media. Together, we are stronger.
Until next time, Jenny Weatherall, CEO
SEO News Roundup
Google Stresses The Need To Fact Check AI-Generated Content
A Google podcast highlights the potential for factual errors in AI-generated content, stressing human oversight is critical.
Driving Business Success with Quality Website Design and Development
Today, we explore the meaning and significance of employing quality web design and development for businesses in today’s digital world. Read More ->
SEO Term of the Day
“Brand or Branding”
Definition:Your company logo, tagline, colors and visual collateral. This can also refer to the emotional response associated with your company and/or products. Brand reputation is built through controlling customer expectations and the social interactions between customers. Building a popular brand is what allows you to move away from commodity based pricing and move toward higher margin value based pricing.
When it comes to design, quality is everything. But, a quality website design is much more than aesthetic. It’s the usability. The expandability. The flexibility. The longevity. The creativity. We believe that a great website requires clean, responsive code, user friendly navigation search engine optimized page content and beautiful designs.
To Learn more about our High Quality Website Design and Development services, click below.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
In the ever-evolving landscape of search engine optimization (SEO), staying informed about Google’s algorithm updates is crucial for maintaining a strong online presence. Recently, Google announced a series of significant updates aimed at enhancing the quality and relevance of search results.
Let’s dive into the highlights of these changes:
March 2024 Core Update
Improved Quality Ranking: Google’s latest core update introduces enhancements to the algorithm’s quality ranking capabilities, focusing on delivering more relevant and high-quality search results to users.
Helpful Content System: This update places a greater emphasis on rewarding content that provides genuine value to readers, aligning with Google’s commitment to improving the helpfulness of search results (Source).
Enhanced Understanding of Link Signals
Link Signal Adjustments: As part of the March 2024 update, Google has implemented four key changes to how link signals contribute to a page’s overall ranking. These adjustments reflect the increasing complexity of Google’s ranking algorithm and aim to ensure that links remain a valuable indicator of content quality (Source).
The Broader Impact
Algorithmic Changes and Deindexing: Some websites have experienced significant impacts from the March 2024 core update, including algorithmic penalties and, in some cases, deindexing from Google Search. It underscores the importance of adhering to Google’s quality guidelines and focusing on creating helpful, user-centric content (Source).
Looking Ahead
Google’s algorithm updates are part of its ongoing efforts to improve the search experience for users. By understanding and adapting to these changes, businesses and website owners can better position themselves in the digital landscape. Emphasizing high-quality, helpful content and ethical SEO practices remains essential for achieving and maintaining visibility in Google’s search results.
Don’t forget to follow Eminent SEO on social media for real-time tips and news.
See ya online!
Jenny Weatherall CEO, Eminent SEO
SEO News Roundup
Google Explains How CWV Is A Ranking Factor But Doesn’t Improve Rankings
Google podcast explains how Core Web Vitals is a ranking factor that paradoxically doesn’t improve search results
Email Marketing Strategies for Unprecedented Business Growth
Email is one of the most ubiquitous forms of communication on earth, yet many digital marketers fail to use it effectively. Read More ->
SEO Term of the Day
“A/B Testing”
Definition:A marketing and advertising technique used to experimentally compare two elements (A and B). Often used in Pay Per Click campaigns to compare two similar landing pages to see which one drives more conversions. Example: a different headline, picture or call to action.
If you are not sending out strategic emails and company newsletters, you are missing out on a fantastic marketing opportunity. It doesn’t matter if your company has a developed email list or has just started collecting email addresses through your website, there is immediate value to putting more time and effort into your email marketing strategy.
To Learn more about our powerful email and newsletter marketing services, click below.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Search engine optimization (SEO) has been a crucial tool in helping businesses ensure potential clients can find what they’re searching for on the internet for over 20 years!
While Google and other search engines aren’t exactly focused on your revenue, they are concerned about ensuring users come away satisfied that their internet search met their unique needs. So, in that way, they do indirectly care about your online sales. However, not every website is a store and not every store tracks sales, sothe search engine giant has constructed a complicated algorithm to prioritize only the best possible matches for a user’s intent.
While there have been many iterations of this complex set of rules designed to deliver the best set of results for any given query, Google officially added a concept called E-A-T to its Search Quality Guidelines in 2014. More recently they added an “E” to that acronym, now calling it E-E-A-T.
Learn more about why E-A-T, and now E-E-A-T, are so critical to your SEO efforts with our deep dive into these critical guidelines.
Understanding Google E-A-T and E-E-A-T
E-A-T is an acronym that stands for “expertise, authority, and trust,” three qualities any website must display to receive a high-quality rating from Google’s human search engine evaluation program as well as its AI algorithm. These Google search guidelines explicitly instructed human raters to carefully evaluate a page’s expertise on a given subject, perceived authority in its niche, and trustworthiness regarding its contents before assigning a page a quality rating.
This focus completely altered the search engine results that populated when users entered a query because it was no longer enough to conduct keyword research and stuff a page full of all the relevant keyword strings needed for Google to serve a given page. Now, to reach the top of Google’s search engine results page (SERP), websites must have relevant, quality content, and content creators must prove they have the necessary attributes to back it up.
While E-A-T was not intended to be a ranking factor – a factor that determines how well it serves the user’s intent according to Google’s algorithm – it does impact your website’s power to rank high on the SERP. To rank, your website must fill the user’s needs by matching relevant keywords, functioning well, and various other ranking factors. To be considered high-quality, your website must provide high-quality content and demonstrate – you guessed it – expertise, authority, and trust.
While E-A-T was intended to inspire better content and better-quality websites appeared on the SERP, work still needed to be done. Google continuously works to serve better results that meet user needs. As a result, Google E-A-T has now become Google E-E-A-T.
E-E-A-T, as you may suspect, includes the three major qualities of the E-A-T model but with one noticeable addition: the extra “E” now stands for “Experience.” Google has stated that moving forward, it will value experience along with expertise, authority, and trust, and it’s crucial for anyone with a website to understand how this changes how we search on the web. Whether SEO is second-nature to you or if your business is looking to expand your knowledge of Google’s Search Quality Guidelines, knowledge of E-E-A-T is a must.
The Components of E-E-A-T
Google E-E-A-T, also known as “Double E-A-T,” was officially implemented in Google search rater guidelines as of December 2022. Each component of this new set of guidelines is essential in creating a website and content that will rank when a user browses the web for relevant terms. Let’s dive into each component.
E: Experience
The first E is the newest addition to the guidelines, and it stands for experience. In other words, Google wants its raters to evaluate a page’s quality based in part on the experience demonstrated by the creator. For example, if you want to find information on certain health insurance programs, you may prefer to see results from the insurance company itself or an industry expert who is very knowledgeable in the subject. However, you may just want to gather opinions from insurance policyholders, which is why this first “E” is significant.
Search results will consider the content creator’s personal experience in the area in question, which is just one of the ways SEO has evolved over the years. Google once instructed its human raters that each individual is an expert in their own experiences, melding expertise and experience. Now, forum posts and social media posts, product reviews, and more content that demonstrates the creator’s personal experience may be prioritized.
E: Expertise
The second “E” in the model, expertise values extensive knowledge of a particular subject. Of course, experience and expertise are two different concepts entirely, but they also have their similarities. Both are key factors in this set of guidelines. For expertise, search engine raters are instructed to determine whether the creator has credentials or qualifications in the field for which they’re offering information.
There may be some overlap with experience, but there is a key difference, as experience doesn’t necessarily lend itself to expertise. In the insurance example mentioned above, a user may not be searching for insurance plan reviews by insurance clients and policyholders. Instead, they may want in-depth plan details from underwriters or other representatives of the company itself. Expertise prioritizes these types of results created by content creators and site owners who have the credentials necessary to become an expert on the subject.
For a website, this can mean insurance industry content from one of the major providers. For a content creator, this could mean analysis from a respected policy analyst.
A: Authoritativeness
The “A” represents authoritativeness. Rather than experience or expertise alone, authoritativeness values the creator’s overall reputation in the industry relevant to the user’s searches. For example, if you were searching for information about how the insurance claims process works, you’d want that information to come from a source with authority in the industry.
To evaluate authority regarding a search for the insurance claims process, Google search engine evaluators would consider Better Business Bureau, Yelp, and other industry ratings to determine the website’s authority. The content creator should not only be affiliated with the authoritative website but should also back that authority with citations or links to research or other authoritative pages.
Another way to think of this component is to think about the content’s overall relevance to the publishing site. An insurance blog on a major insurance company’s site demonstrates plenty of authority. However, the same blog post on a cooking site is irrelevant to the purpose of the site and may be rated as poor quality as a result.
T: Trustworthiness
Arguably the most essential component of these guidelines, trustworthiness takes the larger website, the content creator, and their content into account and determines if they can be trusted. If the content is factually inaccurate or the creator is unclear about their sources, the page will likely receive a poor quality rating. In addition, the larger website should function well and demonstrate that it is worthy of user trust.
For example, websites should be clear and concise with brand credentials, ideally including an About Us or similar page. In addition, the site should have security protocols, especially if it hosts financial transactions. A website with more ads than content is also a red flag for raters, as they may deem the website poor quality. For content creators, providing truthful, well-written content, including links or citations of other trustworthy material – or even earning linkbacks to original content because the creator is well-respected as a trustworthy source – are essential ways to demonstrate trustworthiness.
Why E-E-A-T Matters
As you can see, all of these components are interrelated, which is why all are used together to determine the quality of your website or its content. When someone heads to Google to enter a query, Google’s algorithm factors your relevance to the query and other ranking factors into whether it will serve your content to the user. However, it will use your personal experience, expertise, authoritativeness or reputation, and overall trust to determine the quality of your content and your website as a whole.
High-quality content from high-quality websites is prioritized in order to give Google users the best experience, and that perception of quality also holds true for the users who find their way to your page. The E-E-A-T model is crucial in filtering out results that are malicious or unhelpful when they are exposed to Google’s human rater teams. When your content is viewed by someone searching for information in your niche, it should demonstrate your E-E-A-T to ensure the user will continue viewing your information and maybe even make a conversion on your page.
Implementing E-E-A-T SEO
E-E-A-T SEO is essential in optimizing your website and its content. Attention to these four critical components of your quality rating can ensure you continue to rank well for relevant searches and drive essential traffic to your site. Just as importantly, quality content created with E-E-A-T in mind can help increase user trust in your content and ensure they will continue to engage with your website.
Keep in mind: Google hasn’t changed the original E-A-T model, but it has expanded it to include results that demonstrate valid experience. Attention to experience and all other aspects of E-E-A-T can help businesses make adjustments that will improve their search rankings.
Here are some tips to consider along the way:
Always Write Your Content For People
If your content is difficult for the average person to enjoy or digest, they may leave your site and head elsewhere. Your content should benefit people first, whether it’s through offering personal stories, providing advice, or answering questions. The goal should always be to engage the user first. Even if a visitor doesn’t turn into a buyer after their first visit, a great experience can lead to email subscribers, social shares, earned links, repeat visits and future buyers… and the good news is, all of this is also good for SEO!
Update Your Content
While your content may have drawn in new readers at one point, it risks becoming outdated – and losing E-E-A-T – the longer it sits. Keep the information you post updated regularly, and be sure you always have something to share at regular intervals so your page content stays fresh. You should also be regularly evaluating your SEO practices to ensure your content adheres to the latest guidelines.
Be Transparent
Transparency and trustworthiness go hand in hand, and both can elevate your website drastically. Be as clear as possible about who you are, what credentials you have, and why people should go to you for information. If you don’t already have an “About Us” section, it’s time to create one now. If you’re working with other experts, be open about that and link back to their content to share in their E-E-A-T.
Other ways to highlight who you are and add trust:
Blog authorship, including a name, picture, bio and links to relevant social sites
Contact us page
Phone number
Live chat
Address
If you are a local business, you should have a map to your store. If you are an online shop, you should have a clear way for customers to contact you for support. Google Quality Reviews are looking out for these things in particular.
Build Your Link Profile
Earning backlinks from authoritative sources helps ensure your E-E-A-T scores improve with Google by signaling that other websites also see your content as worthy of talking about. Relevant, quality links have always been an important aspect of website SEO. Simply having quality content is not enough. Others have quality content as well. What makes yours better? Offsite signals, such as links from third party websites, act as a vote to help support where content should rank in the search engine result pages for the thousands of results that come up for any given query.
As you can imagine, more links and from higher quality sources will have a bigger impact. However, that’s easier said than done. You have to have the type of content that will attract and earn links. A good way to do this is by conducting research and producing useful assets such as guides, infographics, videos, and other informational content. Quality assets can earn links naturally over time, but initially it does take effort. Link builders use techniques like outreach, PR, citations, directories and guest blogging to try to earn their pages new links.
Value Credibility
Even if you are an expert in your field or already a trusted brand in your niche, it is crucial to back your content with information from credible sources. News outlets, academic databases, studies, and research papers are all examples of credible sources. If your business is found to be using illegitimate sources, your trustworthiness will drop tremendously. We try to stick to government sites, scientific studies, medical journals and established research sites, such as educational institutions that publish their findings.
Be Careful with Ads
Advertisements are used to bring in revenue, and while that’s fine for your business, you may want to consider your approach to ads overall. Google’s human raters are instructed to diminish page quality ratings for landing pages with intrusive or overwhelming ads. That means search engines will filter out your website if it notices your overabundance of ads, as both search engines and users will find your site untrustworthy or at risk of being clickbait.
Curate a Variety of Content Types
While we’ve already mentioned content types that can lend E-A-T to your page and increase your chances of earning linkbacks, like infographics, whitepapers, calculators, quizzes, games, case studies, research, and more, it’s now just as important to focus on that first “E.” Include content on your page that speaks to the experiences of either your site owner or people who have interacted with your organization.
For example, if you provide a service or sell a product, create content that demonstrates the personal experiences that led you to create and perfect your offerings. Then, provide a place for clients to leave a review, feature testimonials, or create video content that gives an up-close-and-personal view of how people experience your brand.
Consider YMYL
When you are publishing content on YMYL content, trustworthiness matters even more.
YMYL (Your Money or Your Life) topics are those that Google has categories as those that could significantly impact your readers’ financial safety and stability or personal health and well-being. Common YMYL topics include finance, medicine, and current events.
E-E-A-T is important for YMYL SEO because misinformation on such topics can cause harm to the following:
The individual consuming the content
People impacted by the actions of the content viewer
Communities influenced by the behavior of those who engaged with the content
Here are a few examples of Google YMYL subjects:
Definitive YMYL subjects:
emergency escape routes during a hurricane
updates on ongoing violence
details about buying prescription medication
health-related information on chronic illnesses, mental health disorders, and treatment options
legal advice on critical matters such as divorce, child custody, or bankruptcy
financial guidance on investments, retirement planning, or tax preparation
educational resources for standardized tests, college applications, or career planning
information on government programs, benefits, or assistance
critical safety instructions, such as handling hazardous materials or first aid procedures
cybersecurity best practices and identity theft protection measures
Potentially YMYL subjects:
weather predictions
reports on a car crash
advice on when to change your toothbrush
home maintenance recommendations
travel advisories and safety tips
nutrition and exercise guidelines
parenting advice and child development information
personal finance tips, such as budgeting or saving strategies
workplace safety protocols
recommendations for electronic device usage and care
Unlikely YMYL subjects:
music award recipients
updates on a local high school football game
a music video
movie, book, or product reviews
trivia, fun facts, or quizzes
celebrity gossip and entertainment news
hobbies and leisure activities, such as gardening tips or knitting patterns
video game updates and release information
recipes and cooking techniques that don't involve health claims
art, photography, or creative writing showcases
There are numerous other YMYL subjects. However, Google states that quality evaluators must exercise their judgment in identifying whether a page falls under YMYL content. These pages must exhibit the highest degree of E-E-A-T.
While E-E-A-T and YMYL may not be direct SEO ranking factors, they are essential aspects to consider when producing high-quality content.
The Future of E-E-A-T
One of the best aspects of SEO is that it continues to evolve and improve how people can access the web pages most relevant to the things they need. SEO will never hit a limit, as there's always something to improve. Whether it's optimizing the algorithm or creating new tools to weed out the bad actors, Google is committed to updating and adjusting its guidelines – which means it's essential your SEO practices can evolve right along with the internet's primary search engine.
E-E-A-T SEO designed to highlight your experience, expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness, is the new standard for high-quality websites producing high-quality content. If you're struggling to make the most of these four quality pillars, your website will be struggling to draw in users searching for relevant content who are ready to engage with your brand. Fortunately, the team at Eminent SEO can help.
Consult Eminent SEO for Search Engine Optimization
Whether you're struggling to build a backlink profile, unsure how to create engaging content, need to improve your website authority score, or are creating a website from the bottom up, Eminent SEO can help you generate leads and improve your online marketing strategy. With the help of SEO tools and our knowledge of digital marketing, we can help your business earn trust with Google and gain the visibility you need to meet your organic marketing goals.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
Welcome to the latest edition of Eminent SEO’s newsletter and the last one we send in 2022! WOW!
This month, we’re continuing our deep dive into recent SEO news and changes, with a special focus on the helpful content system update pushed out by Google last week.
The update was Google’s first major push towards offering semantic richness across all languages, including English, Spanish, German, French and more.
This means that search engine algorithms can now better interpret and understand the context of queries made in different languages – something that will improve overall search results and make them more accurate for users around the world!
Well, it could lead to improved visibility in international markets as well as a more tailored results page when using localized keywords. It also places an even greater emphasis on having quality content – both written in the correct language and optimized for search engines. Additionally, this new system has opened up opportunities to create automated content which could help marketers save time and resources when creating materials for multiple countries or regions.
This is yet another example of how quickly technology is changing the landscape of digital marketing. Just look at platforms like chatGPT which have managed to pull in huge audiences with their unique approaches to AI-generated content – something that has been made possible by advances in natural language processing (NLP) technology over recent years.
We are now seeing a much greater emphasis placed on providing helpful information in search results; something that Google is striving for with its ‘zero-click’ search initiative – meaning users don’t have to click through to a website to find what they need but instead get all the relevant information directly from the SERP (Search Engine Result Page). This further reinforces why it’s so important to ensure your website is optimized for SEO, giving you a better chance of appearing higher up in these helpful search results pages.
As always, it’s key to keep up with all these latest updates if you want your business or brand to remain competitive online – so make sure you’re following SEO news and adjusting your strategies accordingly!
Over here at Eminent SEO we are busy strategizing for 2023. It’s time to evaluate what worked… and what didn’t in 2022. If you need help mapping out your marketing strategy for next year, book a free consultation with me! And, if I don’t talk to you before then, Happy Holidays from all of us here at Eminent SEO and cheers to 2023. I have a feeling something great is in store!
– Jenny
Congratulations to Inessa on her first anniversary as Digital Marketing Strategist at Eminent SEO!
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
As we dive headfirst into 2021 here is what you need to know about the changing digital landscape if you’re a business owner or marketer….
Marketing Tips & News
Good to Know in SEO
In December, 2020 Google rolled out their first core algorithm update in 7 months.
Why we care? Whenever Google updates its algorithms, it means that your website can do better or worse in the organic search results. Knowing when there is a major Google algorithm update gives us a date to point to in order to understand if it was something we changed on the website or something Google changed with its ranking algorithm that requires us to modify our strategies.
Social media has taken on greater significance for consumers and marketers as 2020’s events have forced more digital communication, but the ways of using it are evolving.
Why we care? Planning content and marketing strategies looks a little different than in previous years. While it’s true that change is constant in marketing, 2020 shook up the industry so dramatically that many marketers are now revisiting everything from target buyers to user experiences and even their brand purpose.
Why we care? We’ve all been warned that identity verification was going to be coming to Google Ads since March 2020, and yet it’s beginning has been a little shocking. Google Ads’ poor wording of their email to paid ad managers made it seem like they would be showing the full name of the individual – which is very concerning for agencies – who are working on multiple Google Ads accounts, along with the personal privacy for anyone creating ads through the platform. It was later clarified that only the name of the company whose ad it is will show, along with their business location.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Google Medic Update Proves User Experience Is King
A Google algorithm update that rolled out at the beginning of this month delivered a major shake-up to websites belonging to health care organizations. Many are calling it the “Medic Update.”
Health care sites began seeing big fluctuations in their rankings at the beginning of the month, and in many cases, the changes were not positive.
Although the algo update affected the health care industry the most, it appeared to affect a few other industries, according to Search Engine Roundtable, such as:
eCommerce
Business
Finance
Technology
Entertainment
Google claimed it was simply a routine “broad core algorithm update,” the same as it releases several times each year. But to us, we know this wasn’t a run-of-the-mill algo update, especially since we have various types of health care clients.
How Do Health Websites Respond?
The best response to Google’s de facto new guidelines for health care sites is to stay the course, meaning keep trying to improve on the quality of your content and user experience (UX). Don’t give up on organic SEO!
Also, if your website is offering medical advice, make sure it’s coming from a medical expert. Or, at the very least, make sure it’s signed off by and attributed to a medical professional. This will help with search engine trust and a little Google concept called “authorship.”
“Worried about the ‘medic update’? There is no fix – nothing quick and easy, anyway. The algorithm change didn’t target health sites exclusively; many websites in other categories were negatively impacted, as well. Why? The truth is, people are making better websites these days and Google expects more. If you want to rank with Google, there’s no secret: Continue to work on improving your website, make better content and create a better overall user experience. That’s what it takes.”
– Jenny Stradling, CEO of Eminent SEO
Featured Resources
Creating better content and UX is always recommended, and that’s what we do (for resellers also)! Here are a couple of articles that illustrate what we mean:
Beware Boredom: Keeping Your Content Marketing Strategy Fresh in 2018
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Google’s brief experiment with “zero results” answers – where simple queries would only produce a single, Google-provided result in response – struck many as a bad omen of things to come in the world of SEO.
An example from April of the temporary search engine change:
After all, how are you supposed to get traffic to your website when the search engine pages for your targeted keywords only display one featured snippet – and perhaps a handful of sponsored links?
While the Google zero results experiment appears to be dormant for the time being, it should serve as a sign of things to come. Here, we’ll take a closer look at Google’s new strategies, as well as how demand generation can help you take advantage of the recent changes.
Google Zero Results Show It Aims to Be a One-Stop Shop
As website owners and content creators, you’ve likely noticed that, in recent years, the amount of space dedicated to organic search results on Google’s first page has been shrinking. Sponsored ads dominate the top results now, and they are increasing more indistinguishable from the organic search results.
It’s not just paid ads boxing out algorithmic search results. Google’s own services, such as Google Flights, receive preferential treatment over similar third-party services like Kayak, Expedia and Hotwire.
And even when Google does not have its own in-house services to place at the top of a search results page, it’s taking steps to make sure that users have no need to navigate away from a Google property.
For example, during the 2018 World Cup soccer tournament, Google users who searched the phrase “world cup soccer” were shown information taken from other websites. Users would find team standings, player stats and upcoming matches, all without ever having to leave the search results page.
Yes, this feature might have been convenient for the people wondering which team Brazil would face in its next matchup. However, its mere existence surely ruffled the feathers of website owners who had hoped that their coverage of the tournament would drive organic traffic to their site.
Demand Generation Puts Eyes on Your Brand
It’s clear that the search engine giant is focused on taking a larger and larger portion of total web traffic and keeping it planted right on its own web properties. If it doesn’t have to direct attention your way, it won’t. The only winning move is to build so much demand for your brand that Google has no choice but to defer to you in order to satisfy its users.
Many SEO experts are calling this new strategy “demand generation.”
5 Winning Demand Generation Strategies
Here are five of the most effective steps that you can take to increase demand for your brand. When implemented effectively, these tips force Google to shine a spotlight on your products, services or your website in general.
1. Up Your Content Creation Game
Creating and sharing awesome content is an integral part of any successful demand generation strategy. If you already maintain a blog or publish articles on your website, consider ways that you can make your posts even more valuable to your visitors.
Start by asking yourself if you are providing content with original information, or if you’re just rehashing information that users can find elsewhere. Be the first one to shine a light on new trends and data. Or better yet, be the first one to the party by performing and sharing your own original research.
2. Share Your Best Stuff for Free
A key element in building demand for your product or service is cultivating trust between your audience and your brand. One of the best ways to build trust is by providing consumers with your very best stuff free of charge.
This might seem counterproductive, but if your audience knows that you create things that add value to their life, they will be sure to view your brand as a valuable resource in the future. Additionally, those who value your free product, tool, resource or service are more likely to share it with others in their extended network. The recipients of your free giveaway thus morph into de facto ambassadors for your brand.
3. Cultivate Client Reviews
When it comes to demand generation, there is perhaps nothing more valuable than cultivating positive client reviews. The reasoning behind this one should be pretty intuitive. After all, it’s easy to hear a business owner’s big talk and dismiss it as empty bluster. A verified client testimonial, on the other hand, is much more credible, for obvious reasons.
Whether it’s a landing page testimonial, case study or customer interview, the voices of satisfied clients are powerful demand generators and should be part of any complete marketing strategy.
4. Guest Posts Get the Word Out
If you are looking to branch out and reach a new audience, publishing guest posts in popular publications in your space can produce fantastic results. Guest posting is great because you have the opportunity to position yourself as a thought leader in your field while also drawing attention to your own brand.
When guest posting, it is important to remember that publications with a large following will generally only accept content from established writers, so it helps to start by submitting to smaller outlets before working your way up the ladder.
5. Social Media Is King (for Demand Generation)
There are few tools more powerful than social media when it comes to demand generation for your business. By regularly engaging with your audience through channels like Twitter, Facebook and Instagram, you can cultivate a loyal following that associates your brand first and foremost with the product or service you provide.
To make the most out of your social media presence, it is important to constantly test which kinds of posts generate the most response. It’s going to differ from industry to industry, so you will probably have to tinker with it for a while until you find the sweet spot.
Reshares, likes and comments are a great metric to measure a post’s impact, allowing you to zero in on your target audience. And once you know what works, you can make use of automation tools to schedule future postings, ensuring that you share content at the optimal time.
Start Generating Demand Today!
Now, demand generation might not be necessary for every industry, but if you want to thrive in today’s search engine landscape, you now have a better sense of how to get started.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Around September of this year, Google placed new restrictions on advertising keywords related to searches for addiction treatment. This had a tremendous impact on addiction treatment centers around the country that relied on Google AdWords campaigns as their primary digital ad source.
In fact, word on the street is certain centers have been hit so hard they are cutting staff, selling their facilities and even going bankrupt.
Why Did Google Crack Down on Addiction Treatment Ads?
As a long-time addiction treatment marker myself, I have watched the recovery industry evolve over the last 12 years. Over that period of time, I have seen a lot of shady marketing practices in general. I mean, a ton.
However, what has become even more alarming over the last few years has been shady (sometimes even illegal) addiction treatment center business practices. I even recently wrote a blog post directed to addiction treatment centers as an open letter on what NOT to do: Dear Addiction Rehab Owners.
Those of us who preach ethical marketing saw this coming and said it would happen. Overnight, Google decided to stop selling ads for a giant number of “addiction treatment” related search terms, including “rehab near me,” “alcohol treatment” and thousands of others.
Imagine the SHOCK around the country as the $35 billion addiction treatment industry discovered its primary lead generation source was practically shut off overnight.
Google told The Verge in a statement:
“We found a number of misleading experiences among rehabilitation treatment centers that led to our decision, in consultation with experts, to restrict ads in this category. As always, we constantly review our policies to protect our users and provide good experiences for consumers.”
Isn’t This a Loss for Google?
Uh, yes. Some of the top-searched rehab terms were going for $100-plus per click! We know addiction treatment centers that were spending millions of dollars a year on Google ads alone.
But, you know what a bigger loss is? The 570,000 people who die annually from drug and alcohol use every year in the United States. According to National Institutes of Health drug facts, that number breaks down to more than 480,000 deaths related to tobacco, about 31,000 due to alcohol, nearly 22,000 due to overdose on illicit (illegal) drugs, and close to 23,000 due to overdose on prescription pain relievers.
If those deaths don’t shock you, let me give you something to compare that too. This is the list of the top 10 causes of death in the United States every year:
Heart issues: about 630,000 people die of heart disease annually
Cancer: a source of roughly 596,000 deaths annually
Chronic lower respiratory disease (a collection of lung diseases): 147,000 deaths
Accidents and unintentional injuries: 136,053 deaths
Stroke: 140,323
Alzheimer’s disease: 110,561
Diabetes: 79,535
Influenza and pneumonia: 57,062
Nephritis and nephrosis (kidney issues): 49,959
Intentional self-harm (suicide): 44,193
If you combine alcohol and drug related deaths, we are talking about 90,000 annually. Doesn’t that place substance abuse and addiction number 7 on the list?
People are dying! And, the saddest part? They are dying because they aren’t getting the help they need.
Although this stat is outdated (real-time stats on this stuff are hard to find!), the 2013 National Survey on Drug Use and Health found only 10.9 percent of the individuals who needed professional substance abuse actually received it.
We can do better. We MUST do better.
How Can Addiction Treatment Centers and Marketers Do Better?
Unfortunately, this crackdown wasn’t rolled out based on the legitimacy of the facility or its advertising agency, like the organic rankings have been. This change impacted all treatment centers and their marketing agencies, legitimate or not.
It’s not fair, but Google never claimed to be fair. One bad apple might have not ruined it for the rest of us, but a LOT of bad apples did. And you know what? Good.
You heard me.
I’m tired of shady business practices. I am tired of seeing the greed in this industry. I am tired of getting calls for “grey hat” marketing practices from treatment centers who still think they have to trick Google in order to win.
I am tired of finding misinformation on legitimate sites (yes, I see you spammy rehab marketers and your regurgitated, ill-researched content). I am tired of seeing zero value being placed on quality and ethics. I am tired of auditing digital brands only to find crap.
Wake up, addiction treatment providers and marketers! This is not why we do business. We MUST find a way to do better.
Start by putting your clients first. Start by laying out a clear goal and mission. Start by agreeing to do things ethically. Start by working with other industry professionals that care about getting results AND are passionate about making a difference.
The only way your brand stands a chance in the long run is to do things the right way. Otherwise, it will catch up with you. It always does.
What Should You Replace Your Addiction Treatment AdWords Campaign With?
As a multi-channel marketing agency, we have always suggested a custom brand and marketing strategy for our addiction treatment center clients. There is no single marketing channel that will ever supply any business with all of its leads indefinitely, especially when you consider the ever-changing digital landscape.
Typically, our addiction treatment center clients will have a campaign that includes several tactics and digital channels of marketing:
Quality Website Design and Images
Professional Landing Page Optimization
Technical Website SEO
Optimized Content and Meta Data
Website Blogging
Brand Asset Development
Organic Search Engine Marketing
Local and Geo-targeted Marketing
Social Channel Management
Paid Social Ad Campaigns
Newsletter and Email Marketing
Testing, Tracking and Custom Reporting
We may also supplement with Google or Bing paid ads, but we have never relied on them. Why? Too expensive, higher cost per admit and lower conversion rate than the organic channels.
However, if you have recently been hit hard by the Google AdWords “rehab” related keyword restrictions, here are some channels you can explore:
Social Paid Ads
Yes, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and even Snapchat can generate addiction treatment leads when done properly. Facebook and Instagram ads are killing it for our clients right now.
Inbound Marketing
It’s not a quick fix, but utilizing custom landing pages, gated assets and email campaigns with smart, automated workflows can have a big long-term impact on your brand reach.
Geo-targeting
It’s not just “local marketing” anymore. Google gets to decide what search queries are considered local and which ones are not. You must optimize your website and ad strategies for the geo-targets you want to rank for. (Looking for more? Ask us about geo-fencing.)
Video Marketing
We can talk about video for days, but I’ll just say this: videos are valuable assets for your brand. But, not all videos are created equally. A well-researched video strategy can drive the entire marketing campaign. 2018 is the year to invest into video.
Website and Social Chat
A surprising number of treatment centers think online chat won’t work for them. Well, I am here to tell you something: it does work, and I know because I see the conversions from our client chat campaigns. If it isn’t working for you, you’re doing it wrong.
Conclusion
When you are in an industry that is known for false advertising, illegal patient brokering and bidding wars, it’s imperative you take the time to A) put ethical business practices into place, and B) hire a company who can guarantee they are doing the same.
If you need an agency that understands the addiction treatment industry and cares about quality, ethics AND the bottom line, give us a call. Let’s make something special together.
CEO, Business Consultant, Researcher and Marketing Strategist
Jenny Weatherall is the co-owner and CEO of Eminent SEO, a design and marketing agency founded in 2009. She has worked in the industry since 2005, when she fell in love with digital marketing… and her now husband and partner, Chris. Together they have 6 children and 3 granddaughters.
Jenny has a passion for learning and sharing what she learns. She has researched, written and published hundreds of articles on a wide variety of topics, including: SEO, design, marketing, ethics, business management, sustainability, inclusion, behavioral health, wellness and work-life balance.
If you are a member of the SEO community, or if you spend your time searching lots of keywords and phrases using the Google search engine, you may have seen the appearance of more knowledge panels on the right-hand side of the results in the past week or so.
The above screenshot shows an example of the knowledge panels that are now showing for certain keywords. In this case, a search for the keyword “SEO” brings up a SERP with a knowledge panel for the phrase “search engine optimization.”
Much like the knowledge panels that show up when you search for a business by its brand name, the knowledge panel gives a definition of the word you are searching (as defined by Wikipedia) and suggestions of other related terms.
While these knowledge panels started showing up just before the long Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and started with very general terms and keywords, the number of keywords and terms that now have knowledge panels associated with them has been growing exponentially in the past week.
So what does this potentially large change mean for SEO?
How Will Keyword Knowledge Graphs Affect SEO and Rankings?
Being that this change (a 30 percent jump in knowledge panels, as of Nov. 27) happened over a holiday weekend, it signals that not only does this appear to be a big change that will cause mixed reviews among users, but it appears that Google may be determined to keep long term. The company slipped the update under the radar while many were traveling, visiting family and enjoying their holiday meals.
Is the Google Knowledge Panel Replacing Rich Snippets?
One way that this has already affected SEO is with rich snippets – those little answer boxes that show up above the organic results that are supposed to offer the best or most concise “answer” to a searched term or phrase.
As Dr. Peter J. Meyers noted in his excellent initial article on the recent knowledge graph changes, the rollout of these knowledge panels has already started to “eat” existing rich snippets that were in place for the same keyword SERPS just a week before. While this is an immediate change that may cause traffic or ranking losses for some keywords, the impact doesn’t seem to be wide at this point.
It seems the biggest concern that the changes created was about the appeal or long-term worth of optimizing for rich snippets – concerns that rich snippets might be going away or diminished in the future. However, since the terms affected are very general terms and it seems that most of the “replaced” snippets were definitions of the term, we don’t believe that there will be a widespread negative loss of snippets at this point.
Product Knowledge Graphs
The changes that certainly got those in the SEO community worried and confused have to do with the knowledge graphs for products.
The appearance of a knowledge graph defining a product caused many to wonder if Google was losing the “intent” of the user searching term. How many users that search the term “HDMI cable” do you think are looking for the definition of the product?
Regardless of whether you were seeking the definition, shopping deals, videos about, or manufacturers of the product, the definition is currently firmly planted on the SERP. While this may seem unnecessary, it does also make sense, seeing as how there is usually a Wikipedia definition within the organic search results for most searchable terms.
This change simply takes the wiki out of the organic search results – which, in many cases, means the Wikipedia article wasn’t a helpful search result and took up one of the precious few first-page positions.
How Granular Will Knowledge Graphs for Terms Go?
General terms that generate a knowledge graph may be bothersome for a few users, but we can see how having one makes sense in most cases. The remaining question is how deep and detailed will Google go with the knowledge graph?
And, will having knowledge graphs for the most detailed search terms cause negative effects for SEO strategists and businesses targeting those terms? At what point is a search detailed enough to not need a definition?
Once this line has been drawn, we can understand better how this will warrant changes to one’s SEO strategy – if changes are even needed.
Until we know more about how far these changes will stretch, I think it is too early to be making long-term strategy changes. However, if your SEO campaign relied heavily on traffic coming in from the definition of certain terms, I would say that this type of strategy was on its way out anyway.
In the meantime, the best way to protect your SEO strategy from being heavily impacted by across-the-board changes like this is to have a diverse strategy. Don’t put all your keyword portfolio eggs in one basket: Focus on long-tail keywords, go after low-hanging-fruit opportunities, and don’t let your strategy get stale.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
Eminent SEO News: Team Eminent Goes to Space … Kinda
We’ve been able to let our inner nerd out so far this month! Not only was May the 4th a pretty big day at the Eminent office – thanks to “Star Wars Day” – but we went as a team to see the new “Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2” the following day.
And the day after, many of us went to the Chris Rock stand-up show in downtown Phoenix! We would share a few photos from it but … we couldn’t use our phones in the venue because apparently the show was being taped for a Netflix special.
So that’s how our month has gone so far. How about yours?
What’s New in SEO: Google’s New ‘Project Owl’ Aims to Make Search Answers More Reliable
Try as it might, Google has its work cut out for it when it comes to fighting back against web content that’s misleading or outright false.
Recently, the tech giant launched “Project Owl” to minimize the amount of fake news and problematic content that shows up in search results. Perhaps the best news in this new campaign is the fact users will get to play a role in weeding out the iffy content that occasionally shows up for certain search queries.
According to Search Engine Land, Google’s new attention to “problematic searches” will target content that is:
Partially or entirely made up
Heavily biased
Based on rumors, conspiracies or myths
Offensive
Derogatory
Which Areas of Search Will ‘Project Owl’ Target?
Project Owl also aims to improve:
Autocomplete search suggestions
Featured snippet answers (the information that is prominently featured when you ask a very specific question in search)
The visibility of authoritative content
To accomplish this, Google is taking new steps to identify and boost authoritative content, as well as opening feedback forms for users to opine on search suggestions and featured snippet answers.
For example, this is the form you can access if the search engine delivers a featured snippet for your query:
Google is on record saying these “problematic searches” only occur 0.25 percent of the time, but that still adds up to more than 1 million such occurrences each day. Let’s hope Project Owl elicits a better search experience for all of us, and don’t let your blog posts or website content get caught in the owl’s wrath!
Featured Service: High-Quality Blog Post Production
You don’t want to churn out blog content that will be flagged as “fake news,” heavily biased or problematic. If your business could use help with producing informative, engaging blog articles, talk to the experts at Eminent SEO.
Not only are our blog posts image-rich and highly optimized for search, but each article we produce is well-researched and aimed directly at one of the client’s target audiences. We also use the best linking practices (inks to highly authoritative sources, not too many links per page, etc.) when writing, which helps with search rankings in a number of ways.
To find out more about how we can take your blog and start using it to build up your search engine rankings and overall web presence, give us a call at 800.871.4130 today or visit our Blogging Services page.
Consumers demand choices, more than ever before. With Generation Z moving into the forefront of retail business owners’ minds (as they should), the face of the retail online shopping experience is only part of the larger picture.
There are a handful of different avenues a link builder can take, but the end goal is the same: to get a certain page or website to rank higher in the search results than those belonging to similar competitors.
Thank you to all our readers and subscribers! Until next month’s newsletter, if you’d like to stay in touch with Eminent SEO, please visit our blog or use the icons below to find us on social media.
Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.
After all, how are you supposed to get traffic to your website when the search engine pages for your targeted keywords only display one featured snippet – and perhaps a handful of sponsored links?
And even when Google does not have its own in-house services to place at the top of a search results page, it’s taking steps to make sure that users have no need to navigate away from a Google property.
Yes, this feature might have been convenient for the people wondering which team Brazil would face in its next matchup. However, its mere existence surely ruffled the feathers of website owners who had hoped that their coverage of the tournament would drive organic traffic to their site.
Around September of this year, Google placed new restrictions on advertising keywords related to searches for addiction treatment. This had a tremendous impact on addiction treatment centers around the country that relied on Google AdWords campaigns as their primary digital ad source.
Unfortunately, this crackdown wasn’t rolled out based on the legitimacy of the facility or its advertising agency, like the organic rankings have been. This change impacted all treatment centers and their marketing agencies, legitimate or not.
The above screenshot shows an example of the knowledge panels that are now showing for certain keywords. In this case, a search for the keyword “SEO” brings up a SERP with a knowledge panel for the phrase “search engine optimization.”
The changes that certainly got those in the SEO community worried and confused have to do with the knowledge graphs for products.
Google is on record saying these “problematic searches” only occur 0.25 percent of the time, but that still adds up to more than 1 million such occurrences each day. Let’s hope Project Owl elicits a better search experience for all of us, and don’t let your blog posts or website content get caught in the owl’s wrath!
