This document summarizes a presentation on whether links are still important ranking factors for Google search. It discusses both sides of the argument. On one hand, Google says links are still important, but correlation studies on the relationship between links and rankings have been inconclusive. The document also presents data showing branded search volume may explain rankings more than domain authority from links. It concludes that while links may still help sites reach the top competitive tier, other factors like content, user experience, and brand awareness are increasingly important for determining search rankings. The key things SEOs should focus on next are optimizing for users through testing and improving content marketing to build their brand.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Rob Bucci | Snooping Into Google's Insights on Se...Distilled
Google is telling us what our customers are looking for; they've spent billions doing the research. All we have to do is pay attention. In this session, Rob will provide a guide for how you can take cues from Google, and create better strategies for gaining the attention of your customers at each stage of the purchase funnel.
Does Google still need links? - SearchLove San Diego 2017Tom Capper
Back in Google's early days, people navigated the web using links, and this made PageRank an excellent proxy for popularity and authority. The web is moving away from primarily link based surfing, and Google no longer needs a proxy - so what, in 2017, is the point in links?
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Michael King | Machine DoingDistilled
Machine learning is a concept that has is turning science fiction into real technology today. However, the applications of this technology seem daunting to marketers. In this talk, Mike King shares how marketers can take advantage of machine learning using ready made tools and tactics without knowing how to code.
SearchLove London 2018 - Tom Capper - The two-tiered SERP: Ranking for the mo...Distilled
Like it or loathe it, as SEOs we often find ourselves being asked to explain rankings, especially for highly visible head terms - but I’ve noticed in the last few years that for these most competitive terms, the normal rules don’t always apply. In this talk, I’ll dig into whether and how Google is going beyond our normal understanding of ranking factors, and how we need to react.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Will Critchlow | Knowing Ranking Factors Won't Be...Distilled
Under Sundar Pichai, Google is doubling down on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and they're not the only ones. The impact of the robot revolution will not be limited to the ranking of search results, and the impacts on the job market are the subject of endless speculation. Will has been researching the parts of our digital marketing jobs that computers can do better than we can. In this talk, he'll explore the boundaries of human and computer capabilities and show you how to combine the strengths of both.
SEO split tests you should run - Will CritchlowWill Critchlow
My BrightonSEO deck September 2016. Why and how to run SEO split tests, and some lessons we have learned from running our own tests via our DistilledODN platform.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Larry Kim | Hacking RankBrain: Four Strategies You’l...Distilled
RankBrain debuted last year as Google's third most weighted ranking signal and is currently leveraged for obscure long tail queries. However as RankBrain is perfected and refined, it will likely be used on more queries and weighted more heavily, and even displace links and on-page SEO factors as Google’s #1 SEO ranking factor in the distant future: SEO judgement day. This session will reverse engineer how RankBrain actually works, exposing four critical vulnerabilities and share unusual, yet completely white-hat ways to benefit from future Rankbrain updates. The biggest SEO ranking factor shift of all time is underway, moving away from links and keywords towards Rankbrain user engagement signals. Attend this session if you want your rankings to live. Join the resistance today!
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Rob Bucci | Snooping Into Google's Insights on Se...Distilled
Google is telling us what our customers are looking for; they've spent billions doing the research. All we have to do is pay attention. In this session, Rob will provide a guide for how you can take cues from Google, and create better strategies for gaining the attention of your customers at each stage of the purchase funnel.
Does Google still need links? - SearchLove San Diego 2017Tom Capper
Back in Google's early days, people navigated the web using links, and this made PageRank an excellent proxy for popularity and authority. The web is moving away from primarily link based surfing, and Google no longer needs a proxy - so what, in 2017, is the point in links?
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Michael King | Machine DoingDistilled
Machine learning is a concept that has is turning science fiction into real technology today. However, the applications of this technology seem daunting to marketers. In this talk, Mike King shares how marketers can take advantage of machine learning using ready made tools and tactics without knowing how to code.
SearchLove London 2018 - Tom Capper - The two-tiered SERP: Ranking for the mo...Distilled
Like it or loathe it, as SEOs we often find ourselves being asked to explain rankings, especially for highly visible head terms - but I’ve noticed in the last few years that for these most competitive terms, the normal rules don’t always apply. In this talk, I’ll dig into whether and how Google is going beyond our normal understanding of ranking factors, and how we need to react.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Will Critchlow | Knowing Ranking Factors Won't Be...Distilled
Under Sundar Pichai, Google is doubling down on machine learning and artificial intelligence, and they're not the only ones. The impact of the robot revolution will not be limited to the ranking of search results, and the impacts on the job market are the subject of endless speculation. Will has been researching the parts of our digital marketing jobs that computers can do better than we can. In this talk, he'll explore the boundaries of human and computer capabilities and show you how to combine the strengths of both.
SEO split tests you should run - Will CritchlowWill Critchlow
My BrightonSEO deck September 2016. Why and how to run SEO split tests, and some lessons we have learned from running our own tests via our DistilledODN platform.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Larry Kim | Hacking RankBrain: Four Strategies You’l...Distilled
RankBrain debuted last year as Google's third most weighted ranking signal and is currently leveraged for obscure long tail queries. However as RankBrain is perfected and refined, it will likely be used on more queries and weighted more heavily, and even displace links and on-page SEO factors as Google’s #1 SEO ranking factor in the distant future: SEO judgement day. This session will reverse engineer how RankBrain actually works, exposing four critical vulnerabilities and share unusual, yet completely white-hat ways to benefit from future Rankbrain updates. The biggest SEO ranking factor shift of all time is underway, moving away from links and keywords towards Rankbrain user engagement signals. Attend this session if you want your rankings to live. Join the resistance today!
By using a hypothesis model (similarly to CROs) for SEO, you can improve how effective your recommendations are. You can use SEO AB-testing to then measure the impact of those recommendations.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Emily Grossman | Mobile Jedi Mind Tricks: Master the...Distilled
May the mobile force be with you! There have been some big changes in mobile SEO, and the tactics that helped you yesterday may be as useless as a Stormtrooper’s blaster tomorrow. Instead, tap into the secret and subversive force of mobile marketing. From app indexing to mobile-friendliness, to predictive search and AMP, this session will explain the new skills that are required to be a mobile marketing hero.
CRO and SEO together: what happens when what's good for users isn't good for ...Will Critchlow
My CXL Live (#CXLLive) 2019 presentation looking at full funnel testing that combines SEO A/B testing with CRO split testing to help us all work together better.
SearchLove Boston 2017 | Will Critchlow | Building Robot AllegiancesDistilled
Under Sundar Pichai, Google is doubling down on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Computer capabilities are improving at a frightening rate, and there are already parts of our jobs that would be better off done by robots. In this talk, Will is going to highlight the areas where humans are falling behind and give you some tips on what to do about it.
SEO Tests on Big Sites & Small - What Etsy, Pinterest and Others Can Teach UsTom Anthony
There is an increasing necessity to properly test SEO changes. Here Tom outlines how Google's use of user signals and the increasing complexity of their algorithm make a purely 'best practice' approach no longer viable.
SearchLove London 2016 | Bridget Randolph | The Changing Landscape of Mobile ...Distilled
Mobile is becoming an increasingly important traffic channel, and given recent developments like app indexation and AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), as well as the addition of new types of devices like wearables and smart tech, understanding how it fits into the bigger search marketing picture is more crucial than ever. This session will take a look at the history of mobile search, how mobile search behaviour has impacted on desktop search, the growing significance of app content and developments such as AMP and app streaming within the search marketing landscape, and some thoughts on where the future of search is heading.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Will Critchlow | The Emerging Future of SearchDistilled
Will is going to discuss the ways that Distilled believes search is fundamentally changing, including compound queries, implicit search signals, user signals as a ranking factor, the move from keywords to intents, and the drive towards data-driven search.
SearchLove London 2016 | Tom Anthony | SEO Split-Testing - How You can Run Te...Distilled
Google is a black box, and for almost 20 years SEOs have run experiments and tested ideas trying to understand what makes the search engine tick. Until recently, it's been really hard to run robust tests that isolate the effects of SEO changes. At Distilled, we have been using new tools and statistical approaches to run split-tests. In this session, Tom is going to talk about how you can run your own A/B tests, some of the experiments we've run and the results we've seen, and share some thoughts about the future of SEO testing.
Ranking for head terms, the limits of ranking factorsWeLoveSEO
Tom Capper - Distilled
Like it or loathe it, as SEOs we often find ourselves being asked to explain rankings, especially for highly visible head terms – but I’ve noticed in the last few years that for these most competitive terms, the normal rules don’t always apply. In this session, I’ll talk through new data, examples, and real world tests to explore the hypotheses that Google is increasingly going beyond our normal understanding of ranking factors.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Emily Grossman | The New MobileDistilled
How has mobile marketing changed in the past year and how should your business react to best prepare for 2017 and beyond? Emily will discuss the what future holds for mobile optimization and how to rise above the rest of the pack in a mobile-first world.
TechSEO Boost 2017: Fun with Machine Learning: How Machine Learning is Shapin...Catalyst
Join JR as he shares a few projects that he had been involved with in the SEO space as well as recent technologies of particular interest to SEOs. He’ll also cover recent research and share thoughts on how Google is using machine learning. SEO is a data rich realm and machine learning thrives on data. Some of the limitations involve: access to data, cost of processing, and learning curve for platforms (and platform specialization). From query semantics, anomaly detection, ontologies, to having machines write descriptions for your images, you’ll learn what is available and how to get started.
March 27, 2018 at the Triangle Marketing Club in Raleigh, I did a presentation to marketing professionals on how to understand the importance, behavior, measurement & application of onsite search data to improve their marketing.
SearchLove Boston 2017 | Dom Woodman | How to Get Insight From Your LogsDistilled
In the SEO industry, we obsess on everything Google says, from John Mueller dropping a hint in a Webmaster Hangout, to the ranking data we spend $1000s to gather. Yet we ignore the data Google throws at us every day, the crawling data. For the longest time, site crawls, traffic data, and rankings have been the pillars of SEO data gathering. Log files should join them as something everyone is doing. We'll go through how to get everything set-up, look at some of the tools to make it easy and repeatable and go through the kinds of analysis you can do to get insights from the data.
SearchLove London 2015 | Will Critchlow | Practical Tips for the Future of ...Distilled
Having seen the changes from Google and observed the changes in our own behaviour, you may now be trying to figure out what to do differently to prepare for the future. Will has you covered, from making the most of new ranking factors and understanding what place apps and deep linking have in your plans, to creating content for mobile. This session will focus on the real-world changes you should be making right now to your web presence and campaigns.
3 New Techniques for the Modern Age of SEOTom Anthony
Tom talks about three areas that will effect SEO over the coming months and years. SEO split-testing is something that is immediately actionable for most SEOs. Machine Learning is something SEOs shouldn't learn, but should understand enough so they can leverage ML based platforms. Finally, Hub & Spoke business and technology architectures will mean SEOs may want to start thinking about optimisations being an input or output method, so they can apply previous learnings to new technology channels.
Success Beyond Links: How To Make Your Content More ValuableVicke Cheung
The line between advertising and marketing has become increasingly blurred, and branded content is everyone's business. Content for link building has long been a staple of search strategies, but how does it fit into the bigger picture of marketing in 2017? Vicke has been researching ways in which content can play a more direct role in adding value to a business beyond SEO gain. Putting linkbait aside, she will be offering insights into what it takes to make content that serves both a brand and those it wishes to convert.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Ross Simmonds | Content Chaos: Generating Tractio...Distilled
Ross will take a look at how taking risks on content and making investments can work out in a big way for brands and marketers. Whether it’s experimenting with content on Reddit, Slideshare, Quora or Instagram, Ross shares some of the best lessons he's learned over the years.
By using a hypothesis model (similarly to CROs) for SEO, you can improve how effective your recommendations are. You can use SEO AB-testing to then measure the impact of those recommendations.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Emily Grossman | Mobile Jedi Mind Tricks: Master the...Distilled
May the mobile force be with you! There have been some big changes in mobile SEO, and the tactics that helped you yesterday may be as useless as a Stormtrooper’s blaster tomorrow. Instead, tap into the secret and subversive force of mobile marketing. From app indexing to mobile-friendliness, to predictive search and AMP, this session will explain the new skills that are required to be a mobile marketing hero.
CRO and SEO together: what happens when what's good for users isn't good for ...Will Critchlow
My CXL Live (#CXLLive) 2019 presentation looking at full funnel testing that combines SEO A/B testing with CRO split testing to help us all work together better.
SearchLove Boston 2017 | Will Critchlow | Building Robot AllegiancesDistilled
Under Sundar Pichai, Google is doubling down on machine learning and artificial intelligence. Computer capabilities are improving at a frightening rate, and there are already parts of our jobs that would be better off done by robots. In this talk, Will is going to highlight the areas where humans are falling behind and give you some tips on what to do about it.
SEO Tests on Big Sites & Small - What Etsy, Pinterest and Others Can Teach UsTom Anthony
There is an increasing necessity to properly test SEO changes. Here Tom outlines how Google's use of user signals and the increasing complexity of their algorithm make a purely 'best practice' approach no longer viable.
SearchLove London 2016 | Bridget Randolph | The Changing Landscape of Mobile ...Distilled
Mobile is becoming an increasingly important traffic channel, and given recent developments like app indexation and AMP (Accelerated Mobile Pages), as well as the addition of new types of devices like wearables and smart tech, understanding how it fits into the bigger search marketing picture is more crucial than ever. This session will take a look at the history of mobile search, how mobile search behaviour has impacted on desktop search, the growing significance of app content and developments such as AMP and app streaming within the search marketing landscape, and some thoughts on where the future of search is heading.
SearchLove Boston 2016 | Will Critchlow | The Emerging Future of SearchDistilled
Will is going to discuss the ways that Distilled believes search is fundamentally changing, including compound queries, implicit search signals, user signals as a ranking factor, the move from keywords to intents, and the drive towards data-driven search.
SearchLove London 2016 | Tom Anthony | SEO Split-Testing - How You can Run Te...Distilled
Google is a black box, and for almost 20 years SEOs have run experiments and tested ideas trying to understand what makes the search engine tick. Until recently, it's been really hard to run robust tests that isolate the effects of SEO changes. At Distilled, we have been using new tools and statistical approaches to run split-tests. In this session, Tom is going to talk about how you can run your own A/B tests, some of the experiments we've run and the results we've seen, and share some thoughts about the future of SEO testing.
Ranking for head terms, the limits of ranking factorsWeLoveSEO
Tom Capper - Distilled
Like it or loathe it, as SEOs we often find ourselves being asked to explain rankings, especially for highly visible head terms – but I’ve noticed in the last few years that for these most competitive terms, the normal rules don’t always apply. In this session, I’ll talk through new data, examples, and real world tests to explore the hypotheses that Google is increasingly going beyond our normal understanding of ranking factors.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Emily Grossman | The New MobileDistilled
How has mobile marketing changed in the past year and how should your business react to best prepare for 2017 and beyond? Emily will discuss the what future holds for mobile optimization and how to rise above the rest of the pack in a mobile-first world.
TechSEO Boost 2017: Fun with Machine Learning: How Machine Learning is Shapin...Catalyst
Join JR as he shares a few projects that he had been involved with in the SEO space as well as recent technologies of particular interest to SEOs. He’ll also cover recent research and share thoughts on how Google is using machine learning. SEO is a data rich realm and machine learning thrives on data. Some of the limitations involve: access to data, cost of processing, and learning curve for platforms (and platform specialization). From query semantics, anomaly detection, ontologies, to having machines write descriptions for your images, you’ll learn what is available and how to get started.
March 27, 2018 at the Triangle Marketing Club in Raleigh, I did a presentation to marketing professionals on how to understand the importance, behavior, measurement & application of onsite search data to improve their marketing.
SearchLove Boston 2017 | Dom Woodman | How to Get Insight From Your LogsDistilled
In the SEO industry, we obsess on everything Google says, from John Mueller dropping a hint in a Webmaster Hangout, to the ranking data we spend $1000s to gather. Yet we ignore the data Google throws at us every day, the crawling data. For the longest time, site crawls, traffic data, and rankings have been the pillars of SEO data gathering. Log files should join them as something everyone is doing. We'll go through how to get everything set-up, look at some of the tools to make it easy and repeatable and go through the kinds of analysis you can do to get insights from the data.
SearchLove London 2015 | Will Critchlow | Practical Tips for the Future of ...Distilled
Having seen the changes from Google and observed the changes in our own behaviour, you may now be trying to figure out what to do differently to prepare for the future. Will has you covered, from making the most of new ranking factors and understanding what place apps and deep linking have in your plans, to creating content for mobile. This session will focus on the real-world changes you should be making right now to your web presence and campaigns.
3 New Techniques for the Modern Age of SEOTom Anthony
Tom talks about three areas that will effect SEO over the coming months and years. SEO split-testing is something that is immediately actionable for most SEOs. Machine Learning is something SEOs shouldn't learn, but should understand enough so they can leverage ML based platforms. Finally, Hub & Spoke business and technology architectures will mean SEOs may want to start thinking about optimisations being an input or output method, so they can apply previous learnings to new technology channels.
Success Beyond Links: How To Make Your Content More ValuableVicke Cheung
The line between advertising and marketing has become increasingly blurred, and branded content is everyone's business. Content for link building has long been a staple of search strategies, but how does it fit into the bigger picture of marketing in 2017? Vicke has been researching ways in which content can play a more direct role in adding value to a business beyond SEO gain. Putting linkbait aside, she will be offering insights into what it takes to make content that serves both a brand and those it wishes to convert.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Ross Simmonds | Content Chaos: Generating Tractio...Distilled
Ross will take a look at how taking risks on content and making investments can work out in a big way for brands and marketers. Whether it’s experimenting with content on Reddit, Slideshare, Quora or Instagram, Ross shares some of the best lessons he's learned over the years.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Marcus Tober | Ranking Factors in a Mobile-First ...Distilled
With Google rolling out the mobile-first index in 2017, the performance of a website’s mobile version is more relevant than ever. In this session, Marcus will reveal the most important mobile Ranking Factors, with a particular focus on content. Secondly, we will illuminate keyword opportunities with a much larger search volume on mobile, and analyze user needs and content demands that differ between desktop and mobile. By analyzing brands’ websites that exhibit outstanding mobile performance, you’ll take away best practices for mobile search optimization in 2017.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Wil Reynolds | Intonation Matters: A New Approach...Distilled
Most of us search to solve a problem as quickly, easily, or thoroughly as possible. Once you decide your job is to help people find solutions to problems, you have to hear from them, not least because keyword research is lacking understanding of a searcher’s emotions. How many people searching for Rolex's today are dreamers vs. actual buyers, and how would you market to each group separately? You have to talk with them. Don't have time to talk to users? Google is a great proxy for what people want, and Wil will show you how to start turning keyword research into an empathetic exercise.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Joel Klettke | Don't Buy Your Customer a Beer: Ho...Distilled
Want to convert better? Then you need to learn how to steal your best copy right out of your client's mouths. In this session, Joel will share a proven process for collecting and then translating customer feedback into copy that obliterates objections and moves prospects to act.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Kirsty Hulse | Low(er) Risk Link Building Tactics...Distilled
Whilst links should still be something we try to earn in 2017, we should begin to think of them as an added bonus, rather than a primary objective. Kirsty will share tactics of how to secure links without huge time and resource investment, to minimize the risk and diversify the positive impact of link building in a content world.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Tom Critchlow | The State of ContentDistilled
It’s time for a look at the landscape of content in 2017. Tom has worked with content businesses large and small, and will walk through the trends and technologies that shape content distribution today. Looking at different platforms, business models and influencers, there will be insights for anyone who publishes content to the web.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Jes Stiles | WhatsAppening with Chat App Marketin...Distilled
Chat apps have grown to have more monthly active users than traditional social networks, but how do you leverage that reach for your brand? Diving into the world of messaging apps and their chatbots, Jes will discuss case studies of successful strategies; highlight tactics and practical tips for optimal user engagement; and look to the future to see how chat apps are positioning themselves against traditional websites and the potential impact of this.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Travis Wright | Social Business, Content Advertis...Distilled
In this session, Travis will share thoughts on a company-wide social business strategy, discuss tactics around organic content amplification and account-based content advertising. The final portion of his presentation will focus on the components that drive a solid marketing technology stack within your business. There will be jokes, gifs, and fist bumps for everyone one in attendance.
Why do some pieces of "10X" content make the leap while others languish in obscurity? Rand examines the common elements that make for success vs. failure in this analysis of 99 unique pieces of extremely high quality content pieces.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Annie Cushing | Avoid Panic Attacks With a First ...Distilled
We’ve all been there: the site goes down; organic traffic plummets; your emails hit the Promotions tab; your AdWords keywords turn to (not set) … you get the idea. We’re talking about the stuff that PTSD for marketers is made of. Annie will show you how to set up a first-alert system in Google Analytics to let you know the first sign of trouble before it’s too late.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Larry Kim | Content Marketing MoneyballDistilled
The content marketing bandwagon is ridiculously crowded and the vast majority of your efforts go nowhere - 99.9% of content gets fewer than a thousand shares and the average conversion rate from all this stuff is less than 1%. What’s a marketer to do in 2017 and beyond? Spoiler alert: the answer has virtually nothing to with the conventional wisdom of creating “quality content”. In this session on content marketing strategy, Larry will introduce new tactics for creating and cloning unicorns - the rare l content that does remarkably well on all channels, and even converts well, too.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Greg Gifford | Dr. Evil’s Guide to Utter World Do...Distilled
With the rise of mobile, everyone needs Local SEO. Using his own extensive research, Greg will discuss how Local is more necessary than ever before, and share his latest tips on local optimization and advanced tips for getting maximum visibility in local searches. He’ll also dig into Facebook Ads for local SEO ending with some of his most creative and unique ideas for better ad performance.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Purna Virji | Conversions in a Landing Pageless W...Distilled
How will customers transact in a landing pageless world? The reality is, our digital purchase behaviors have been changing rapidly in small but growing segments such as Amazon image search or ordering pizza from Dominos via your Xbox. We’re reaching a point where the landing page - and sometimes even keywords - are not necessary anymore. In this session, Purna will explore emerging search trends such as artificial intelligence, messaging commerce and conversation as a platform to uncover what we need to be doing now to best prepare.
SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Hana Abaza | Aiming for Impact: A Conversion-Cent...Distilled
We’ve all been in the room when someone asks the golden question: How do we get more traffic to our content? Here’s a better question: How do we hit our goals with the least amount of traffic possible? Changing the question can lead to a totally different approach to content marketing. One that prioritizes quality, conversion and impact. In this session, Hana will cover the core drivers of high-impact content including establishing content/market fit, advanced persona driven strategies and optimization.
SearchLove London 2016 | Marcus Tober | Why User-Focused Content is the Death...Distilled
With the evolution of machine-learning approaches, like RankBrain, coupled with the importance of content relevance, old-fashioned SEO tactics have died a sudden death – and traditional ranking factors are following suit. Today’s challenge for every digital marketer is to uncover specific user intent. In this session, you will learn how to meet the needs of your online audience by using data-driven technologies, and create the perfect content for every stage of the customer funnel.
SearchLove London 2016 | Larry Kim | Hacking RankBrain and Other Machine Lear...Distilled
Machine-learning based search algorithm, RankBrain, quietly debuted last year as Google's third most weighted ranking signal. It may displace links and on-page SEO factors as Google’s #1 SEO ranking factor some day in the distant future: SEO Judgement Day. This session will reverse engineer how RankBrain and other machine language enabled algorithms actually work, exposing critical vulnerabilities. We’ll also share unusual ways to greatly benefit from future updates. Attend this session if you want your rankings to live.
My presentation about the 7 Deadly Sins if Marketing at Target Marketing Mag's virtual conference. We cover a ton of stuff including:
- Metrics Driven Marketing
- Audience Segmentation
- Selling vs. Nurturing
DOWNLOAD THE LATEST VERSION AT: http://www.thetransferinstitute.com/en/resources/canvas/
Technology transfer canvas. Plan the technology transfer process
The partnership canvas creates empathy between two prospective partners on the strategic importance of the partnership to each. The canvas can be used as a stand-alone tool to quickly identify a partnering opportunity. But for full strategizing value, it’s better to use it in conjunction with the business model canvas.
The partnership canvas has been tested in various workshop settings with students and entrepreneurs. It has demonstrably contributed to better partnership discussions. Parties become clear about each other’s strategic objectives. Also, they learn from each other about the various opportunities there are to partner. It’s not a matter of making one grand master plan for an offer the partner can’t refuse, but more of finding out together what the opportunities are.
SL London 2022 - Algorithm Updates Method and MadnessTom Capper
Often individual updates seem random or arbitrary, or just reverse the fates of the previous update. But is there a general direction over time? What kind of sites have trended upwards, and was it algorithm updates that did that for them?
Google likes to say that if you make good sites and content, updates will reward you. But this isn't really true. Clearly, in the optimisation and experimentation of the Google algorithm, good sites cannot only move upwards. Sometimes they will be tested in a higher position than makes sense given their relevance, after which they must come down.
In recent times, we've also assumed that changes in rankings result quickly from changes in sites. And yet, SEOs will often say that algorithm updates are rewarding them for long-past changes. Which of these narratives are true? Are they compatible?
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Tom Capper - The Two Tiered SERP: Ranking for the Mo...Distilled
Like it or loathe it, as SEOs we often find ourselves being asked to explain rankings, especially for highly visible head terms but I’ve noticed in the last few years that for these most competitive terms, the normal rules don’t always apply. In this session, I'll talk through new data, examples, and real world tests to explore the hypotheses that Google is increasingly going beyond our normal understanding of ranking factors.
Using metrics to influence developers, executives, and stakeholdersLarry Maccherone
The evening before the space shuttle Challenger explosion, engineers at NASA caught what they thought was a potentially catastrophic risk with the o-rings considering the unusually cold temperature expected for the morning’s launch. They brought the issue to management attention but failed to influence the final decision enough to stop the launch. As a leader in your organization, your failure to influence may not cost lives but it could be “catastrophic” for your business.
Keyword research is one of the first and most basic tasks that SEOs learn. And yet, it's strewn with pitfalls and ubiquitous errors, even for experienced practitioners. In this talk, Tom will talk you through the various ways the wrong data can lead you astray, and how to leverage the right techniques for the right tasks
"What?", "So what?", "NOW WHAT?" How to influence people and accomplish changeLarry Maccherone
The evening before the space shuttle Challenger explosion, scientists at NASA caught what they thought was a potentially catastrophic risk with the o-rings considering the unusually cold temperature expected for the morning’s launch. They brought the issue to management attention but failed to influence the final decision enough to stop the launch. Your failure to influence may not cost lives but it could be “catastrophic” for your business. This talk presents my top tips for using data to influence others toward better decisions.
Learning outcomes:
- The do's and don'ts of visualization
- How others lie with data
- What makes an effective dashboard
- How to communicate uncertainty
Did you know that dedicating team members to a single team doubles productivity? Do you know what levers will cut your time to market in half? Did you know that teams that most aggressively control their simultaneous work in process (WiP) have as much as a 75% reduction in released defects? How much of an impact do the simple things like holding regular retrospectives have on performance?
Groundbreaking research on the performance impact of software engineering practices derived from tens of thousands of teams across a wide variety of industries and contexts!
This session answers the questions your organization is asking.
You want it when? Probabilistic forecasting and decision makingLarry Maccherone
Before the space shuttle Challenger explosion, a group of engineers identified a potentially catastrophic risk. They brought the issue to NASA management attention but failed to influence the final decision enough to stop the launch. As a leader in your organization, your failure to influence may not cost lives but it could be “catastrophic” for your business.
Learn how to get action and behavior change from your analysis. Steer the emotional elephant of your organization and appeal to the risk tolerance level of your stakeholders. Avoid your own cognitive biases and those of your executives.
SearchLove London 2017 | Rob Bucci | Reverse-Engineering Google's Research on...Distilled
The SERP is the front-end to Google's multibillion dollar consumer research machine. They know what searchers want. In this data-heavy talk, Rob will teach you how to uncover what Google already knows about what web searchers are looking for. Using this knowledge, you can deliver the right content to the right searchers at the right time, every time.
Rob Bucci, CEO at STAT Search Analytics | @STATrob
Google is telling us what our customers are looking for; they’ve spent billions doing the research. All we have to do is pay attention. In this session, Rob will provide a guide for how you can take cues from Google to create better strategies for gaining the attention of your customers at each stage of the purchase funnel.
Eric Enge reviews Panda Ranking Signals. This includes how it was built, tools used by Google for measurement, and the types of metrics that Google may be using.
Similar to SearchLove San Diego 2017 | Tom Capper | Does Google Still Need Links? (20)
SearchLove London 2019 - Will Critchlow - Misunderstood Concepts at the Heart...Distilled
The basics of SEO are technical accessibility, relevance, quality, and authority. Or: can it be crawled, does it meet a keyword need, and is it trustworthy? In each of these areas, we need to build on solid foundational understanding, and find the areas where advanced understanding will give us an edge. Will’s recent research has shown common gaps in understanding, and highlighted interesting advanced topics. In this wide-ranging session, he guarantees you’ll learn something, and you’ll come away with training guidelines for the basics.
SearchLove London 2019 - Stacey MacNaught - Actioning Search Intent: What to ...Distilled
Search Intent analysis can give us a ton of really insightful data. But what do we do with it all? In this session, Stacey talks us through using data acquired through Search Intent to create revenue and traffic driving assets on your website. She'll share practical examples of using this data to win back previously lost rankings and generate more ££ through organic search.
International SEO is difficult at the best of times. Maintaining and, hopefully, growing organic search traffic through phased re-architecture and migration of multinational and multilingual organizations is even more complex. Together we’ll look at specific challenges and opportunities from recent complex project examples.
SearchLove London 2019 - Dr. Pete Meyers - Scaling Keyword Research: More Isn...Distilled
Traditional keyword research has been a numbers game, but as SEO evolves, more is no longer better. SEO in 2020 will require deep keyword insight, including understanding brand influence, search intent, synonyms, and content. Findings from enterprise case studies suggest better ways to approach keyword research at scale.
SearchLoveLondon 2019 - Faisal Anderson - Spying on Google: Using Log File An...Distilled
Log File Analysis is rarely touched on by the average SEO... but you're missing out on data that is pure gold. Imagine not "guesstimating" how Googlebot and other crawlers behave on a website with traditional crawling tools and actually knowing how Google is crawling a client's site? Imagine not having to play by the 1000 row limit in search console (without delving into the coding or the API) and having limitless data? All of this and more can be done with Log File Analysis.
Learn how to actually get log files from clients (without making their brain hurt from excessive SEO jargon) and handle different Log File Types & how to diagnose any crawling issue by analysing crawling rates by sub-folder or by crawl depth, seeing behaviours on low value add URLs, reviewing how Googlebot behaves based on page speed and much, much more!
This talk is for any level of SEO, and starts from the absolute basics to more advanced checks that can be performed quickly to bring massive value to clients and reveal big wins for any website.
SearchLove London 2019 - Rory Truesdale - Using the SERPs to Know Your AudienceDistilled
It’s easy to get swept away by monthly search volume and to forget that behind every search there is a person with a specific motivation and set of needs to fulfil. This talk will look at how you can use Google’s algorithmic rewriting of the SERPs to help you identify those motivations so you can effectively optimise for intent and query context to improve the ranking performance of your landing pages. This talk will also help you understand how you can use this information to create more tailored online experiences for your prospective customers and how the same workflows can be applied for more general business intelligence insights.
SearchLove London 2019 - Rand Fishkin - The Search Landscape in 2019Distilled
In this broad look at search trends and searcher data, Rand will explore the key changes affecting search marketers and those seeking to earn influence through Google. From zero-click searches, to tough choices on structured data, to the new ways Google is using information consensus and weighting particular types of authority, this presentation will make every marketer a more strategic thinker about search.
SearchLove London 2019 - Jes Scholtz - Giving Robots an All Access PassDistilled
Optimising crawl budget and encouraging search engine indexation are concepts most SEOs are familiar with. But the devil is in the details. Especially as best practices have altered in recent years and will do so again with the introduction of indexing APIs by both Google and Bing. Should you control crawlers with robots directives? Or XML sitemaps? Or submit via the APIs? Or just let Google figure it out? In this session, Jes will delve into the optimal way to get your content into search engines fast.
SearchLove London 2019 - Heather Physioc - Building a Discoverability PowerhouseDistilled
Search is a channel that can’t live in a silo. In order to be its most effective, search teams have to collaborate successfully across paid, organic, content and more. Get tips for integrating and collaborating from the hard knocks and learnings of merging an organic, paid and performance content team into one Discoverability group. Find out how we went from three teams of individual experts to one integrated Discoverability powerhouse, and learn from our mistakes and wins as you apply the principles in your own company.
SearchLove London 2019 - Andi Jarvis - The Science of PersuasionDistilled
Scientists have been studying how the brain works to try and unlock its secrets for hundreds of years. Since the emergence of marketing in the 1950s, many people have focused on how the brain affects our buying behaviour. In this presentation, Andi will breakdown the research and give you some tips that can improve your conversion rates.
SearchLove London 2019 - Luke Carthy - Finding Powerful CRO and UX Opportunit...Distilled
An SEO crawler is a staple tool in any SEO pro's toolkit, but have you ever considered using such a tool to seek out powerful CRO opportunities? Luke is an out and out ecommerce expert who'll be sharing tips and takeaways on how to leverage custom extraction with an SEO crawler to improve ecommerce conversion rates and enhance UX.
SearchLove London 2019 - Greg Gifford - Doc Brown's Plutonium-powered Local S...Distilled
With the assistance of Doc Brown, Greg's back from the future with a detailed playbook for Local SEO in 2020. If you're working with a business with a physical location or that serves customers in a particular geographic area, this presentation will outline exactly what you need to do if you want more visibility in local searches in 2020. Learn how Local SEO is different, how to write and optimize content, how to build local links, how to make a better first impression with Google My Business, and how to rock your customer reviews. You'll learn everything you need to know to help your business stand out from competitors and attract more customers in 2020.
SearchLove London 2019 - Sarah Gurbach - Using Qualitative Data to Make Human...Distilled
Sarah will be presenting a variety of ways that search marketers can acquire and analyze qualitative data to compliment ever-present quantitative data. These methods include customer interviews, on-site recordings, tools and polls and surveys. She'll be showing you how to process all this data and will provide real-life examples of how this has been used with previous clients.
SearchLove London 2019 - Marie Haynes - Practical Tips for Improving E-A-TDistilled
By now you have likely heard of Expertise, Authoritativeness and Trust and its importance in Google's algorithms. But how do we improve a site's E-A-T? This talk will give real life examples of sites that made changes to their E-A-T and saw traffic increases shortly afterwards. The goal is to send you away with a list of things you can accomplish to help improve in this area.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Rand Fishkin - Building Influence in 2019Distilled
As web marketing undergoes its biggest shift in a decade, how we impact audiences needs to evolve. In this presentation, Rand shows how web marketers in content, search, social, and advertising (+ influencer marketing) can shift their strategic and tactical investments to align with what the big platforms offer, and how consumer behavior has changed, too.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Courtney Cox Wakefield - Voice Search and Instant An...Distilled
The introduction of voice answers and featured snippets requires significant time investment for SEO teams that are already struggling to keep up with expanding scope. This session will help digital marketers scale their instant answer research and optimization to get quick results without stretching contributors too thin.The introduction of voice answers and featured snippets requires significant time investment for SEO teams that are already struggling to keep up with expanding scope. This session will help digital marketers scale their instant answer research and optimization to get quick results without stretching contributors too thin.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Tom Anthony - Search in 2020: Technologies That Will...Distilled
Signed exchanges? ITP? SEO is a constantly updating discipline, and to succeed we have to understand the technologies the web is running on. The current pace of change is high and there are a wealth of changes that are going to impact how we do effective SEO. Signed Exchanges mean Google can serve pages from your domain from their servers. Intelligent Tracking Prevention means that your analytics are about to be transformed. Googlebot updates may increase the pressure to adopt new web technologies to compete. In this session Tom is going to outline some of the important changes, help you understand what they mean for your SEO efforts, and show you how you can prepare.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Derek Gleason - Benchmarking Success for Client Site...Distilled
There's only one KPI that every client has: more. More traffic, more leads—more of whatever metric you're reporting. Ten percent growth? Why wasn't it fifteen? Six hundred shares? Why wasn't it 1,000?
If we can't set relative, valid benchmarks, we can't set expectations. Reporting becomes a Sisyphean task.
This leads to friction with our direct contact and—critically—weakens the ability of our data to translate throughout an organization.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Kameron Jenkins - The Modern Search Writer’s ToolkitDistilled
A few minutes in your favorite keyword research tool, a few minutes reading top results in Google, and a few hours drafting... that post will perform, right? Not so fast. The landscape is more saturated and algorithms are more mature than ever before. We need to think bigger. In this talk, Kameron will share what tools are in her “full-stack writer” toolkit along with clear examples of what this looks like put into practice.
SearchLove Boston 2019 - Joy Hawkins - 10 Ways to Get Results with Local SEODistilled
In this session, Joy will be going through various case studies of real clients and highlighting what exactly she did to improve their Local SEO results and what the impact was.
Mastering Multi-Touchpoint Content Strategy: Navigate Fragmented User JourneysSearch Engine Journal
Digital platforms are constantly multiplying, and with that, user engagement is becoming more intricate and fragmented.
So how do you effectively navigate distributing and tailoring your content across these various touchpoints?
Watch this webinar as we dive into the evolving landscape of content strategy tailored for today's fragmented user journeys. Understanding how to deliver your content to your users is more crucial than ever, and we’ll provide actionable tips for navigating these intricate challenges.
You’ll learn:
- How today’s users engage with content across various channels and devices.
- The latest methodologies for identifying and addressing content gaps to keep your content strategy proactive and relevant.
- What digital shelf space is and how your content strategy needs to pivot.
With Wayne Cichanski, we’ll explore innovative strategies to map out and meet the diverse needs of your audience, ensuring every piece of content resonates and connects, regardless of where or how it is consumed.
When most people in the industry talk about online or digital reputation management, what they're really saying is Google search and PPC. And it's usually reactive, left dealing with the aftermath of negative information published somewhere online. That's outdated. It leaves executives, organizations and other high-profile individuals at a high risk of a digital reputation attack that spans channels and tactics. But the tools needed to safeguard against an attack are more cybersecurity-oriented than most marketing and communications professionals can manage. Business leaders Leaders grasp the importance; 83% of executives place reputation in their top five areas of risk, yet only 23% are confident in their ability to address it. To succeed in 2024 and beyond, you need to turn online reputation on its axis and think like an attacker.
Key Takeaways:
- New framework for examining and safeguarding an online reputation
- Tools and techniques to keep you a step ahead
- Practical examples that demonstrate when to act, how to act and how to recover
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
The digital marketing industry is changing faster than ever and those who don’t adapt with the times are losing market share. Where should marketers be focusing their efforts? What strategies are the experts seeing get the best results? Get up-to-speed with the latest industry insights, trends and predictions for the future in this panel discussion with some leading digital marketing experts.
In this presentation, Danny Leibrandt explains the impact of AI on SEO and what Google has been doing about it. Learn how to take your SEO game to the next level and win over Google with his new strategy anyone can use. Get actionable steps to rank your name, your business, and your clients on Google - the right way.
Key Takeaways:
1. Real content is king
2. Find ways to show EEAT
3. Repurpose across all platforms
How to Use AI to Write a High-Quality Article that Ranksminatamang0021
In the world of content creation, many AI bloggers have drifted away from their original vision, resulting in low-quality articles that search engines overlook. Don't let that happen to you! Join us to discover how to leverage AI tools effectively to craft high-quality content that not only captures your audience's attention but also ranks well on search engines.
Disclaimer: Some of the prompts mentioned here are the examples of Matt Diggity. Please use it as reference and make your own custom prompts.
Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?Cut-the-SaaS
Discover the transformative power of AI in content creation with our presentation, "Is AI-Generated Content the Future of Content Creation?" by Puran Parsani, CEO & Editor of Cut-The-SaaS. Learn how AI-generated content is revolutionizing marketing, publishing, education, healthcare, and finance by offering unprecedented efficiency, creativity, and scalability.
Understanding
AI-Generated Content:
AI-generated content includes text, images, videos, and audio produced by AI without direct human involvement. This technology leverages large datasets to create contextually relevant and coherent material, streamlining content production.
Key Benefits:
Content Creation: Rapidly generate high-quality content for blogs, articles, and social media.
Brainstorming: AI simulates conversations to inspire creative ideas.
Research Assistance: Efficiently summarize and research information.
Market Insights:
The content marketing industry is projected to grow to $17.6 billion by 2032, with AI-generated content expected to dominate over 55% of the market.
Case Study: CNET’s AI Content Controversy:
CNET’s use of AI for news articles led to public scrutiny due to factual inaccuracies, highlighting the need for transparency and human oversight.
Benefits Across Industries:
Marketing: Personalize content at scale and optimize engagement with predictive analytics.
Publishing: Automate content creation for faster publication cycles.
Education: Efficiently generate educational materials.
Healthcare: Create accurate content for patients and professionals.
Finance: Produce timely financial content for decision-making.
Challenges and Ethical Considerations:
Transparency: Disclose AI use to maintain trust.
Bias: Address potential AI biases with diverse datasets.
SEO: Ensure AI content meets SEO standards.
Quality: Maintain high standards to prevent misinformation.
Conclusion:
AI-generated content offers significant benefits in efficiency, personalization, and scalability. However, ethical considerations and quality assurance are crucial for responsible use. Explore the future of content creation with us and see how AI is transforming various industries.
Connect with Us:
Follow Cut-The-SaaS on LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, and Medium. Visit cut-the-saas.com for more insights and resources.
Top 3 Ways to Align Sales and Marketing Teams for Rapid GrowthDemandbase
In this session, Demandbase’s Stephanie Quinn, Sr. Director of Integrated and Digital Marketing, Devin Rosenberg, Director of Sales, and Kevin Rooney, Senior Director of Sales Development will share how sales and marketing shapes their day-to-day and what key areas are needed for true alignment.
Financial curveballs sent many American families reeling in 2023. Household budgets were squeezed by rising interest rates, surging prices on everyday goods, and a stagnating housing market. Consumers were feeling strapped. That sentiment, however, appears to be waning. The question is, to what extent?
To take the pulse of consumers’ feelings about their financial well-being ahead of a highly anticipated election, ThinkNow conducted a nationally representative quantitative survey. The survey highlights consumers’ hopes and anxieties as we move into 2024. Let's unpack the key findings to gain insights about where we stand.
Mastering Local SEO for Service Businesses in the AI Era is tailored specifically for local service providers like plumbers, dentists, and others seeking to dominate their local search landscape. This session delves into leveraging AI advancements to enhance your online visibility and search rankings through the Content Factory model, designed for creating high-impact, SEO-driven content. Discover the Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy, a cost-effective approach to boost your local SEO efforts and attract more customers with minimal investment. Gain practical insights on optimizing your online presence to meet the specific needs of local service seekers, ensuring your business not only appears but stands out in local searches. This concise, action-oriented workshop is your roadmap to navigating the complexities of digital marketing in the AI age, driving more leads, conversions, and ultimately, success for your local service business.
Key Takeaways:
Embrace AI for Local SEO: Learn to harness the power of AI technologies to optimize your website and content for local search. Understand the pivotal role AI plays in analyzing search trends and consumer behavior, enabling you to tailor your SEO strategies to meet the specific demands of your target local audience. Leverage the Content Factory Model: Discover the step-by-step process of creating SEO-optimized content at scale. This approach ensures a steady stream of high-quality content that engages local customers and boosts your search rankings. Get an action guide on implementing this model, complete with templates and scheduling strategies to maintain a consistent online presence. Maximize ROI with Dollar-a-Day Advertising: Dive into the cost-effective Dollar-a-Day advertising strategy that amplifies your visibility in local searches without breaking the bank. Learn how to strategically allocate your budget across platforms to target potential local customers effectively. The session includes an action guide on setting up, monitoring, and optimizing your ad campaigns to ensure maximum impact with minimal investment.
Come learn how YOU can Animate and Illuminate the World with Generative AI's Explosive Power. Come sit in the driver's seat and learn to harness this great technology.
The session includes a brief history of the evolution of search before diving into the roles technology, content, and links play in developing a powerful SEO strategy in a world of Generative AI and social search. Discover how to optimize for TikTok searches, Google's Gemini, and Search Generative Experience while developing a powerful arsenal of tools and templates to help maximize the effectiveness of your SEO initiatives.
Key Takeaways:
Understand how search engines work
Be able to find out where your users search
Know what is required for each discipline of SEO
Feel confident creating an SEO Plan
Confidently measure SEO performance
10 Video Ideas Any Business Can Make RIGHT NOW!
You'll never draw a blank again on what kind of video to make for your business. Go beyond the basic categories and truly reimagine a brand new advanced way to brainstorm video content creation. During this masterclass you'll be challenged to think creatively and outside of the box and view your videos through lenses you may have never thought of previously. It's guaranteed that you'll leave with more than 10 video ideas, but I like to under-promise and over-deliver. Don't miss this session.
Key Takeaways:
How to use the Video Matrix
How to use additional "Lenses"
Where to source original video ideas
Most small businesses struggle to see marketing results. In this session, we will eliminate any confusion about what to do next, solving your marketing problems so your business can thrive. You’ll learn how to create a foundational marketing OS (operating system) based on neuroscience and backed by real-world results. You’ll be taught how to develop deep customer connections, and how to have your CRM dynamically segment and sell at any stage in the customer’s journey. By the end of the session, you’ll remove confusion and chaos and replace it with clarity and confidence for long-term marketing success.
Key Takeaways:
• Uncover the power of a foundational marketing system that dynamically communicates with prospects and customers on autopilot.
• Harness neuroscience and Tribal Alignment to transform your communication strategies, turning potential clients into fans and those fans into loyal customers.
• Discover the art of automated segmentation, pinpointing your most lucrative customers and identifying the optimal moments for successful conversions.
• Streamline your business with a content production plan that eliminates guesswork, wasted time, and money.
The Secret to Engaging Modern Consumers: Journey Mapping and Personalization
In today's digital landscape, understanding the customer's journey and delivering personalized experiences are paramount. This masterclass delves into the art of consumer journey mapping, a powerful technique that visualizes the entire customer experience across touchpoints. Attendees will learn how to create detailed journey maps, identify pain points, and uncover opportunities for optimization. The presentation also explores personalization strategies that leverage data and technology to tailor content, products, and experiences to individual customers. From real-time personalization to predictive analytics, attendees will gain insights into cutting-edge approaches that drive engagement and loyalty.
Key Takeaways:
Current consumer landscape; Steps to mapping an effective consumer journey; Understanding the value of personalization; Integrating mapping and personalization for success; Brands that are getting It right!; Best Practices; Future Trends
Digital marketing is the art and science of promoting products or services using digital channels to reach and engage with potential customers. It encompasses a wide range of online tactics and strategies aimed at increasing brand visibility, driving website traffic, generating leads, and ultimately, converting those leads into customers.
https://nidmindia.com/
33. @THCapper
“And I can tell you what they are.
It is content. And it’s links pointing to your site.”
Andrey Lipattsev, Search Quality Senior Strategist, Google
https://youtu.be/l8VnZCcl9J4
37. Classic examples:
●HTTPS migrations pre-2016
●302s are as good as 301s
●Subdomains are as good as sub-folders
●CCTLDs are as good as .com
@THCapper
51. Potential Mechanisms
1. Complete coincidence - Nicholas Cage and drownings are in fact unrelated
(!)
2. Linearity - both cheese consumption and bedsheet-related deaths are
trending linearly, and thus loosely correlated
@THCapper
52. Potential Mechanisms
1. Complete coincidence - Nicholas Cage and drownings are in fact unrelated
(!)
2. Linearity - both cheese consumption and bedsheet-related deaths are
trending linearly , and thus loosely correlated
@THCapper
53. Potential Mechanisms
1. Complete coincidence - Nicholas Cage and drownings are in fact unrelated
(!)
2. Linearity - both cheese consumption and bedsheet-related deaths are
trending linearly, and thus loosely correlated
3. Reverse causation - it is in fact drownings that cause Nicholas Cage films,
not vice versa
@THCapper
54. Potential Mechanisms
1. Complete coincidence - Nicholas Cage and drownings are in fact unrelated
(!)
2. Linearity - both cheese consumption and bedsheet-related deaths are
trending linearly, and thus loosely correlated
3. Reverse causation - it is in fact drownings that cause Nicholas Cage films,
not vice versa
4. Joint causation - both cheese consumption and deaths in bedsheets are
related to increasing affluence (& effluence)
@THCapper
61. @THCapper
Moz Study My Study
17,600 queries from KWP 4,900 queries from STAT
Top 50 results Top 10 results
62. @THCapper
Moz Study My Study
17,600 queries from KWP 4,900 queries from STAT
Top 50 results Top 10 results
Desktop only (?) Desktop & Smartphone
63. @THCapper
Moz Study My Study
17,600 queries from KWP 4,900 queries from STAT
Top 50 results Top 10 results
Desktop only (?) Desktop & Smartphone
Mean Spearman correlations Mean Spearman correlations
119. @THCapper
1.At the competitive, data-rich top end,
links mean increasingly little
2.But, for now, links might be a big part
of what gets you into that shortlist.
120. Has it already happened?
What could replace links?
What should you do next?
124. User testing for SEO: Places to start
1. Panda surveys
@THCapper
https://youtu.be/At51X-aZ4Y4
125. User testing for SEO: Places to start
1. Panda surveys
2. Click-through rate experiments
@THCapper
126. User testing for SEO: Places to start
1. Panda surveys
2. Click-through rate experiments
3. Plain old CRO - especially focusing on initial bounce
@THCapper
127. User testing for SEO: Places to start
1. Panda surveys
2. Click-through rate experiments
3. Plain old CRO - especially focusing on initial bounce
4. All of the above: Mobile first
@THCapper
128. User testing for SEO: Places to start
1. Panda surveys
2. Click-through rate experiments
3. Plain old CRO - especially focusing on initial bounce
4. All of the above: Mobile first
None of this is new!
@THCapper
So, back in September, I was in Seattle for MozCon
And this guy, who you may recognise as an up and coming face in our industry, gave a talk on link building
During his introduction, Rand said something that really got me thinking -
about how Google has gone from being a link analysis company, with a conceptual understanding of how users surf the web,
To being a machine learning company that uses real world data to inform its results.
In 1998, people navigated the web using links.
Pages with lots of links in and out of them were the equivalent of the day of search engines
and being a small number of links away from one of these key nodes was a big deal.
It meant you were popular
For a whole bunch of reasons, Google no longer needs a proxy for popularity
For example, Google is a browser
- imagine the data collection opportunities if you ran the world’s biggest browser and you wanted to figure out which websites are most popular
A lot of research platforms in our space buy data from ISPs - Moz, Similarweb, Hitwise, for example
It’s expensive and limited.
But Google IS an ISP.
And of course, they’re a dominant search engine - they know what people search for, and what they do next
And this to name just a few of the ways that pagerank could be rendered redundant as a way of figuring out whether something is popular.
And of course, compared to those methods, links are a pretty dirty signal.
That’s our fault - we, as an industry, have polluted this data
Rand’s conclusion that was we should understand what Google is trying to understand via links, and we should optimise for that
In other words, we should build links that might genuinely drive high quality traffic
Today, I want to take this a step further, and ask whether Google needs to use links at all
Before we any further: At no point may you Tweet this
If you do want to tweet something during this deck, tweet this.
I’m advocating a little skepticism, not a complete paradigm shift
Here are the three questions I aim to answer -
we actually could have easily asked these 3 questions 5 years ago, and some people were doing
But today I want to talk through their 2017 answers
Right, question 1.
If Google abandons links as its primary off site ranking factor, what next?
This is actually something that, at Distilled, we often ask candidates in interviews. We say, if you had to build a search engine today, with access to Google’s resources, but only with your design, how would it work?And people whose background is in SEO often talk about links. People without an SEO background NEVER say links.The better answers of either kind, talk about machine learning.
The cleverest answers are around machine learning, of course
This is a slide from Larry Kim’s presentation at SearchLove London.What this shows, is that over time, the higher ranking positions are gaining click through rate. Despite 4 ads, despite answer boxes, and so on.And I think Larry is right when he says that one persuasive explanation of this is that it is a signature of machine learning - of Google procedurally optimising its own results for click through rate.I’ll tell you a story about what this looks like in the real world later
Another option that you might not have thought about in this context is brand
Quantifying brand is of course something that the marketing industry has struggled with for perhaps a century or more now
But this is elementary for Google
Branded search, click through rates, maybe even signals from gmail, appstore and so on.
There’s no reason for Google to stick to one signal, of course
In fact, Google has been working on this problem for years
although this article says Last updated April 2015, it was actually first published in April 2014.
And basically this concerns the use of popularity, which porn sites do have, as opposed to authority, which they don’t have
But the difficult bit is picking all this apart, because of this.
It’s very difficult to figure out which factor or factors are actually moving the needle, when they’re also so closely related to one another
Way back in March last year, Google had come out and said that rankbrain was its third most important ranking factor, and someone asked in this Q&A what 1 & 2 were.
And this search quality strategist at Google said, without explicitly giving a hierarchy, that they were content and links.
So, pretty unequivocal from Google there. Links are still the big thing.
Google has come out routinely over the years with bad SEO advice
Some classic examples.And these cases, in my view, tend to be examples of Google getting more complicated than Google itself understands
Just because links are an input, doesn’t mean they’re interacting with rankings in a way that’s easy to understand (more on this from Will)
And, to complicate matters further, they also had this statement about domain authority - i.e., it’s not a thing, which rather confounds our traditional understanding of links as a ranking factor.
Nonetheless: Google’s answer to our question is still no. Links are important, Google says.
Now this is slightly unfair, because these aren’t exactly analogous - but this is what happens when we compare Moz’s domain authority correlation with those two we just looked atThe maximum, by the way, is 1, which the drownings come impressively close to
I’m going to talk to you about four potential mechanisms.
You don’t have to remember what they’re called, I just want you to consider each possibility when you’re looking at, for example, a traffic drop on the same day as a Google update.
Some mechanisms to think about before you claim that, for example, your work created an uplift
So these two lines are perfectly correlated, because they’re both straight - and this can be a big problem when looking at trends over time, like cheese consumption
Or in our case that whenever a site ranks first, it gets a load of links
This last point is the badger
And that would explain, in one fell swoop, all of these correlation studies
So we have to say that, having failed to control for this, all those correlation studies are actually pretty inconclusive
I just talked to you about this Moz study, and I actually decided to replicate it, and look at how brand awareness and links compare
I talked to you earlier about this Moz study
I talked to you earlier about this Moz study
I talked to you earlier about this Moz study
I talked to you earlier about this Moz study
I talked earlier about how quantifying brand awareness is actually pretty difficult
I’m using this as a proxy for brand awareness(If you want to know how to pull branded search volume for around 20,000 domains, come talk to me afterwards)
This graph shows a data point for every site in my 10,000 pages of search results, with domain authority on one axis and branded search volume on the otherIt turns out that Domain Authority and Branded Search Volume are, as I alluded to earlier, already pretty closely related, but which is the better predictor of rankings?
So the first thing to note is that using Moz’s methodology, branded search volume outperforms their best domain level link-based ranking factorA second and slightly less useful point is that domain authority is far more weakly correlated in my study than theirs - perhaps because I’m only using the top 10
Nonetheless: If you would be concerned if I told you that your DA had dropped, then you should be looking at this metric AT LEAST as closely
So when I looked at this data using regression analysis, I found that both of these variables were incredibly powerful -
we’re talking about getting to 99.99999…. And 56 more 9s, % significant
You might be familiar with this metric from CRO, where 95% is considered the benchmarkThat’s 56 9s
And that’s 95
But when I looked at this for client data rather than the big sample, typically only taking 500-1000 keywords, I noticed this
But when I looked at this for client data rather than the big sample, typically only taking 500-1000 keywords, I noticed this
And I’m not the only one finding thisThis graph is from Marcus Tober’s presentation at SearchLove London, and it shows rankings across the bottom vs. the average number of referring domains on the vertical axis - and it turns out that in the health vertical, the correlation is actually the opposite to what you’d expectNow neither Marcus nor I are saying that more links makes your rankings drop, but the point is that this is nuanced and that under certain circumstances links are fairly irrelevant
This graph shows baserank over time for two sites - baserank being the ranking if we ignore SERP features like answer boxesSo, what do we notice about this graph?
Three things
Both sites are all over the place on a week by week basis
Three things
This graph shows baserank over time for two sites - baserank being the ranking if we ignore SERP features like answer boxesSo, what do we notice about this graph?
Three things
Our traditional understanding of what could cause this falls into these three buckets.
We don’t have time to get stuck into wayback machine now, but you’ll have to take my word for it: neither of these sites had substantive changes in this period
This is Moz’s record of every known algorithm change, which is available publicly on their website if you haven’t seen it.Obviously the algorithm is continuously evolving, but the the only named update during this period is related primarily to local packs.
So, these graphs are from Majestic. They show newly discovered links over time.
Neither site was rapidly gaining links in the run up to that drop, which is the blue area on the left
In fact the biggest spikes on FlyingFlowers’ graph are comparable to the smallest weeks on Interflora’s.Incidentally it’s also not a question of link velocity - the above charts for August and September do not represent a significant departure from their historical norms
So that leaves us without a sensible explanation for this
And it’s not just those two sites by the way - when we add in the other competitors, this whole SERP is all over the place.
My suggestions as to what Google is looking for in these iterations is this - aesthetics and price
This is the Interflora page, which dropped away, and what I notice on this page is how busy it is, and the prices that are stuck up there.
This is Flying Flowers - It’s a much lighter site, and the average price of a product on the homepage is about 30% less.
That’s the biggest difference between these two sites - the actual content is nearly identical. But it’s all about that first impression.
Fleximize is a company that sells small business loans, and worked with Distilled on a content campaign
Okay, so this is a graph from STAT of their commercial keywords.
You can see that in the middle of this graph, they go from having 4% of their keywords ranking between 4 and 10, to having the same number ranking between 1 and 3, where they’d previously had none
- so this is still early days for their SEO success -
And they also gain a bunch of extra keywords in the 11-20 bracket
But if we look at how this happened - first there was a content piece which gained 168 referring domains, and did nothing to their commercial rankings
Then another smaller one gained 22 referring domains, still nothing
Then a piece gains 191, and suddenly everything moves
Will and Rand did a Whiteboard Friday on this way back in 2012
But Panda was arguably the first big jump in Google looking to understand what users were looking for, so you could do a lot worse than replicating their research with your own site
This is one of the types of thing that falls under SEO split testing - changing half your category pages, for example, with some alternative meta descriptions, and playing around with it to see what makes you more trafficI’m sure you’ll hear more about SEO split testing over the next couple of days
Doing what you can to avoid that jump back to the search results when they do actually click through
And of course, in all of these activities, do them first for mobile then figure out how it applies to desktop, not the other way round
None of this is new!
It’s just more important than ever that you get it right.
(Vicke stealing this slide)
This looks a lot like what has gone before
My deck should be seen as part of a two part series with Vicke’s which you’ll see later today
What it all comes down to is this
So rather than trying to keep up, aim for what they’re aiming at, and optimize for people
What could replace links: I’ve talked about brand and user signals as two prime candidatesHas it already happened: Depending on your particular circumstance, quite possibly
What should you do next: Focus on optimising for the things that Google is trying to optimise for