Category: Search Engine Optimization (SEO) Articles

This article is for all of those beginning marketers thrust into digital marketing for different geographies or global site awareness. Veterans can even appreciate the views we are going to show as hopefully they’re describe new screens and angles not previously considered. It’s time to explore audience languages spoken and locations users access your site from.

 

FIRST: Steps to View Website Audience User Languages spoken.

 

Step 1. Sign in to Google Analytics, Select Audience – Geos.

Sign in to google analytics and select the website and corresponding view. On the left navigation menu, select “Audience,” “Geo,” and then “Language.”

View Geo Languages in Google Analytics

 

Step 2. Select the date range in which you’d like to view demographic information.

Once you’re on the Language Overview screen, the date range selection will be on the top right of the window. Let’s select Q4 of 2020 as our date range.

select date range in google analytics for geo languages

 

Step 3. Update how we compartmentalize the data.

By Default, you will see “All Users” selected. If you go back to part 1 – selecting website traffic audience filtering in Google Analytics – we’ll use that same technique here to filter language by traffic type.

Click on the name “All Users.” A new dialog window appears. Take a moment to take inventory of all the options. You may want to select different options in the future (we’ll have a mobile traffic tutorial later). For now, uncheck “All Users” and check “Direct Traffic,” “Organic Traffic,” “Paid Traffic,” and “Referral Traffic.” NOTE: 4 options selected at once is the max allowed.

how to change user categories in google analytics geos

 

Step 4. Change the Goal Filter.

The First Goal (if you have any goals programmed into Google Analytics) will be selected. Take note of the filter to the bottom right that says “Conversions.” For now, lets change that filter to “All Goals.” Later you can adjust accordingly to view specific goals setup. NOTE: this option might not show up for you if you’ve never added goals into Google Analytics.

change conversion goal filtering in google analytics

 

Step 5. Analyze your Language Data.

It’s important to get familiar with a term called “lang-locale.” As you scroll down through these results, they’re categorized by lang-locale. The first two letters stand for the language, then a hyphen, and the last two stand for the location. In the vast world that is localization, slang, tone, dialect, etc. etc. etc. all matter, and google tries to communicate these difference at a 10,000 foot level.

google analytics viewing geo language data

google analytics language codes en-us

google analytics language codes zh-cn

The first two letters displayed as your scroll down through the data are ISO 639-1 language codes.

en – xx

The “en” in this example stands for English.

 

zh – xx

The “zh” in this example stands for Chinese.

 

The last two letters after the hyphen stand for locale. These two letters are based on ISO 3166-1 Alpha-2 two-letter country codes.

en – in    |    en – us     

The “in” in the first example stands for India, combined it means “English spoken in India.”

Whereas the “us” in the second example stands for United States of America, combined it means “English spoken in the USA.”

 

zh – cn

The “cn” in this example stands for China. Combine is means “Chinese spoken in China.”

 

You get the picture.

 

Understanding what can be gained from analyzing Language and Localization in Google Analytics.

At first glance, this data seems very simple, however it really is a powerful tool for marketers in charge of understanding where users are coming from. Recently a Fortune 100 client of ours discovered a vast audience in India simply from this data and spun up an internal project to begin localization to address. I cannot stress enough the importance of natively speaking to your audience and the power it has on conversion.

 

Leverage the ISO table for language codes and the ISO table for country codes to decipher any combinations you might see in your data.

 

Next, View Audience Locations in Google Analytics.

 

Step 1. Assuming your signed into Google Analytics, Select Location.

On the left navigation menu, select “Audience,” “Geo,” and then “Location.”

select geo location in google analytics

 

Step 2. If needed, let’s fix the Date Range, User Buckets, and Goals again.

Change the date range selection, on the top right of the window update the range to Q4 of 2020. Next, uncheck “All Users” and check “Direct Traffic,” “Organic Traffic,” “Paid Traffic,” and “Referral Traffic.” And finally, ensure “Conversions” is changed to “All Goals.”

setup our view for geo locations in google analytics

 

Step 3. Analyze the Location Data.

In our example, users in India view our site second to users in the United States. Now the numbers might not justify implementing a language tunnel or adjusting content throughout the site, however it could if the numbers were higher. By default you’ll see the top 10 locations for your specific site.

I might also want to gate content based on location or plan an expansion strategy. The power of understanding where users are coming from and how (organic, paid, etc.) is consistently underutilized by marketers.

top locations google analytics - USA and India

Where to go from here with Google Analytics?

In Part 1 of our Google Analytics Guide, we looked at how to view visitor traffic information in Google Analytics based on traffic type.

Part 2 we looked at Simple Demographics in Google Analytics (Age, Gender).

Need help?

We’re starting to get into a lot of Google Analytics data (and we’ve only scratched the surface). This is what we do and it’s not uncommon to need help. Even if it’s simply to ask a question, contact us any time.

 

 

 

This article is a simple guide for those marketers just learning Google Analytics or us veterans who simply haven’t had the time to dive into where things are located within the Google Analytics dashboard. Let’s look at the simple demographics: Age and Gender. Age and Gender tracking is marketing 101. These simple demographics are the building blocks for mature target audiences.

 

 

Steps to View Website Audience User Age and Gender using Google Analytics.

 

Step 1. Sign in to Google Analytics, Select the Audience Demographics.

Sign in to google analytics and select the website and corresponding view. On the left navigation menu, select “Audience,” “Demographics,” and then “Overview.”

how to select demographics in google analytics

 

Step 2. Select the date range in which you’d like to view demographic information.

Once you’re on the Overview screen, the date range selection will be on the top right of the window. Let’s select Q4 of 2020 as our date range.

change date range google analytics

 

Step 3. Analyze the data.

By Default, you will see “All Users” selected. If you go back to part 1 – how to select website traffic audience filtering in Google Analytics – we’ll use that same technique here to filter demographics by traffic type.

Click on the name “All Users.” A new dialog window appears. Take a moment to take inventory of all the options. You may want to select different options in the future. For now, uncheck “All Users” and check “Direct Traffic,” “Organic Traffic,” “Paid Traffic,” and “Referral Traffic.” NOTE: 4 options selected at once is the max allowed.

how to use google analytics to view age and gender

 

 

Understanding what can be gained from analyzing Simple Demographics in Google Analytics.

Demographics are the base for any good Marketing Strategy. More than likely age and gender are the first thing you’ll look at when building your yearly marketing plans. Why is it important? Compartmentalizing your Demographics by traffic channel can be the first step to understanding your marketing efforts’ dynamics.

 

Where to go from here with Google Analytics?

In Part 1 of our Google Analytics Guide, we looked at how to view visitor traffic information in Google Analytics based on traffic. Take a look here:

<< Read Part 1 – How to view Organic and Paid Website Traffic.

And if you ever find your demographic information a bit suspect, we can help interpret it and other more advance demographic information. Reach out for help, we won’t bite.

 

It’s time to dive into the ENDURANCE vault and share another huge inside peak and how we tell clients to format informational pages. Toward the end of 2020, we really want to help everyone understand just how important User Experience is, and laying out content properly really helps with engagement metrics that Google tracks.

Formatting a Landing Page for a Section of a Website

Let’s start by focusing on a landing page for an entire section of a website.

formatting content seo core webpageThis page introduces an entire section of your site. It could be a services page that describes the services your company offers. It might be more hierarchical and describing all the different kinds of cats you’re reporting on for a school project. Or it could be describing the many aspects of a particular topic (maybe the best features of a car).

We call this page a “core” page on a website. It probably goes in the main navigation and it’s important for users to know its’ there.

Here’s an example graphic:

JPG image of full content page layout example for core information pages

Laying out a Core Page of a Website

Now the core page of a website does not need to be laid out exactly like this example to reach #1 in search engine results pages. This is only an example layout.

TOP – Hero Area Content

hero area of main webpage

The Hero are really should describe the following:

    1. What this page is about
    2. Why this page provides value (or matters to the user)
    3. And how a user can learn more (or push to convert if applicable)
    4. Include H1 (think of this like a chapter title of a book or quick, one sentence abstract for a whitepaper)

Tier 1 Body Copy

Body Copy Layout for Tier 1 content

This might be my favorite part of a core informational page. This is where the storytelling really begins. This is where you can craft a narrative. This is where you can entice a user! Focus on what makes this page’s topic/focus unique. HOOK THE USER!

The Tier 1 Body Copy should include the following:

    1. Why this page matters! THE HOOK!
    2. Imagery (be sure to follow rules of image optimization)
    3. Lead with H2 tag [quasi optional]
    4. Call to Action (CTA) [OPTIONAL]

Tier 2 Body copy (Marketing Speak)

marketing copy for landing pages

Here is where you can push to convert. Hopefully, you’ve hooked your target, and they want to know more. This section could be your top three features explained with a link to view all the features. This could be the top three selling points for a user with a hard CTA. The pattern is three here. Pick three amazing somethings you want to convey and push to convert here.

Section should include

    1. Three important things! More information, marketing speak – they’re hooked, convert them.
    2. Imagery (include an image with each of the three points)
    3. Lead each of the three items with an H3 tag
    4. CTA the user here… it’s time with the flow of the content
    5. “View More” [OPTIONAL]
      • If these are benefits, features, etc. be sure to link to the next page (the deep dive on this specific item) and keep the flow going

Interstitial Call to Action (CTA)

interstitial call to action

Whatever the main point of your entire, overall site is… call it out here. If you’re selling products, lead to the shop page. If you’re providing services, push to a contact us page. If you’re a software as a service product, push to “request a demo.” This row/area of the page is entirely optional, but why not include it?

This section should include:

    1. Your CTA for the entire site.
    2. Great background imagery
    3. Optional h3 heading
    4. One-line elevator pitch – think of it like a tweet – get to the point

Tier 3 Body copy (Supporting information)

supporting content area - tier 3 body

Now we’re just placating to google search (sort of). The users will find value in this as well of course, but let’s add some content to boost our search presence while providing more information for user engagement. #ValueContent

Include:

    1. Supporting information.
      • Technical information
      • Statistics
      • User testimonials
      • Ratings/Reviews
      • Anything of value
    2. Include at least 2 sections, but feel free to have 4, 5, 6… even 10 sections
    3. Lead with H3 tags
    4. Try to include lists (ul/ol list items)
    5. CTA buttons or “learn/view more” are ok and optional. Be careful not to inundate users with CTAs

 

Landing Page Layout Example for Websites

This article is an example for people who might be struggling to make landing page layouts for core webpages on a website. We’ve tried to present many options in one example; the content itself is nested well and follows a progression, we’re trying to loop in customization, and we’ve got narrative + marketing on the same page. All while providing value and flow.

Is this what Google wants? We think so.

 

What about heading and sub-headings (h1, h2, and h3 tags)? How should I nest content properly?

We did list some of them as optional… the thing to remember these days is not to make sure you have h1 or h2 tags on the page in as much as your content is nested properly.

For example – DO NOT do this:

    • H1 – blah blah blah
      • H2 – lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum
        • H1 – blah blah blah
        • H1 – blah blah blah
      • H4 – asdf asdf asdf
        • H2 – lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum

This is not proper content nesting.

H1, H2, H3 etc. are all heading and sub-headings. Use them as such. You wouldn’t put a tertiary heading after a primary heading. Or a primary heading after a secondary heading. Nest your content properly.

For example – proper nesting:

    • H1 – blah blah blah
      • H2 – lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum
        • H3 – hehe haha hehe haha
        • H3 – hehe haha hehe haha
      • H2 – lorem ipsum, lorem ipsum
        • H3 – hehe haha hehe haha
        • H3 – hehe haha hehe haha
        • H3 – hehe haha hehe haha

 

Needing help with Landing Page Content

We all kind of need help 😉
Google is a black box. These recommendations really are what we’ve seen work + latest trends to get somewhere in the 50-60% confidence range. I think that’s the best we can do with Google. We really never know with any better certainty, and if someone tells you they do know with 100% accuracy, definitely don’t use their services.

If you need content help (content strategy, content marketing, content development, etc.) please feel free to reach out. In the least, we’ll give you an analysis you can take and do whatever you’d like with (complimentary btw).

There’s a lot to cover when it comes to a website’s link profile. Yet, it seems like such a simple topic; get a bunch of links, and your site gets known, right? Well, not really. In our estimation, to have a healthy and diverse link profile, there’s an approach and methodology. In this article we’ll cover the following:  

  • What’s a backlink?
  • What’s a natural link?
  • What’s an internal link?
  • What’s an external link?
  • How to check a website’s link profile.
  • What makes up a good site link profile?
  • How to maintain your site’s link profile.

header for what is a link profile

What is a website link profile?

Link Profile is external and internal linksIn the early days, Google’s algorithm was based on relevance (which they calculated as popularity). So how did they calculate popularity? The shear volume of links incoming to a website, web page, or website image. Now a lot has changed in the last 25 years, and while Google remains a black box (we SEOs do our best, but we don’t know with 100% certainty any of Google’s magic formulas), we know relevance is still a significant factor (although it’s calculated with much more complexity now than my popularity example afforded).

A link profile is comprised of two high-level factors: Internal and External Links. Internal links are anchor tags pointing to pages within your site. External links (also known as “incoming links” or “backlinks”) are links from other domains to your website. 

 

Which are more important? Backlinks (external links) or Internal site linking?

While this fluctuates, external links (backlinks) are still more important than internal links. If we were to put a numerical representation to it, I would estimate a 3:1 level of importance. If your budgeting for search engine optimization and your link profile is a line item, I’d focus 75% of resources on external link efforts and 25% (or less) on internal link refinement.

 

What are internal links?

The power of internal linkingInternal links on a website are the links each page has to other pages within the same domain. In other words, if your site is a house, it’s the bathroom telling you there’s a kitchen or the living room telling you there are three bedrooms. Internal links help users and search engines understand the full breadth of pages on your website. We use the term “Internal Link Mapping” when working on this for clients.

It might help to use a visual when thinking about an internal link map. Visualize for a moment a nature documentary that shows a spider web glistening in the morning dew. In this depiction, you can see the interconnected points and how each intersection of a spider web leads to another connecting point. If you focus on one intersection, you might not understand the full expanse of the entire web. But since each intersection (page) extends in multiple directions (links) it’s easier to understand the scale of the entire web (website).  

What are external links (aka backlinks)?

external links (backlink) sourcesA backlink is a link from a different domain pointed at a page on your domain. E.g., www.externaldomain.com has a link on its page pointing to www.yourdomain.com/your-product (a page on your website). Have high-quality and diverse backlinks is a huge golden nugget in the SEO world. A lot of SEO experts consider backlinks an element of off-site SEO.

External Links also come from other places: email, social media, paid traffic, etc. If backlinks are simply from other sites, external (incoming) links can come from anywhere. Maybe a newsletter, advertising campaign, or a plethora of different marketing mediums.

 It’s essential to have external links coming into your site. Remember how I stated relevance was still a significant factor? External links represent a signal to search engines that others find the content on your site valuable. The more authentic external links that point to your site, the more importance Google will place on your site (and page), and higher up the search engine results pages (SERPs) your site will go.

 

What is a good link profile?

A good website link profile is comprised of a well-curated internal linking scheme and healthy, trustworthy external links (backlinks).

How does my website get a healthy and unique backlink profile?

Having backlinks that are high-quality is more important than having a high volume of backlinks. One external link from a NY Times article is more valuable than 1000 external links from bobsfishshack.com.

 What is Link Diversity?

It’s also important to have diversity in the external links coming into your site. E.g., links coming from your social profiles, organic/paid traffic, high-quality websites (different domains), email campaigns, etc. are great! Think of diversity in links in two ways: the unique number of domains and the unique type of marketing mediums. External link diversity really is all about spreading the wealth.

 A quick list of factors to consider to improve external link diversity:

    • Source/Influence Level: Is that source trustworthy and influential in my industry? Where are the links coming from? Are they spread across different domains/mediums? Are backlink domains diverse and trustworthy? Etc. 
    • Marketing Mix: are the backlinks to my site coming from high authority sites? Are they coming from different marketing mediums (and what’s that distribution look like)? 
    • Domain Ratings: Are my backlinks real? Never buy backlinks that produce volume over quality. Do any of the links pointing to my site look fake and low-quality? Is there a bunch of links from the same site? Is the domain itself high-quality? Would I be proud to show my grandmother the site linking to mine? 

How do I improve my internal website links?

The easiest way is to start going page by page to ensure the content of the site is maximizing any opportunities to link to other internal content. For a page or article with 500-800 words of content, try to add one or two internal site links. Double that for 1000 – 1500 words, and so on and so forth.

The more extensive way to improve your internal link web is to create a hierarchical map that prioritizes the differing levels of your site and assigns internal link quantities at each level. You also want to add schema code that instructs google at which level each page is within your site architecture. Contact us to discuss the complexities of this step if you’d like more information.

 

SEO: How Do I check my website’s link profile?

We use a plethora of industry tools to check client link profiles. For external links, Google “website backlink profile analysis.” For internal link analysis, you’ll want to use a site crawling tool. There’s many out there and you can google something like “website crawl tool” to find what works for you.

 

 How can I maintain and monitor my backlinks?

Monitoring and maintaining a healthy external link profile really is just an exercise in using your favorite analysis tool (look right above this section for info on finding tools that work for you) at a consistent interval. What is a consistent monitoring interval? For smaller sites, you can get away with checking every six months or quarterly. For large or enterprise sites, we recommend monthly (if not quarterly at a minimum).

Steps for monthly link profile maintenance:

Each month do the following:

    1. Use your favorite tool(s) to analyze what’s going on with your link profile.
    2. Compile a list of the top 3 – mission-critical first – items you’d like fixed.
    3. Create a plan of attack to fix.
    4. Fix the items over the next month.
      1. Disavow any spammy domains in a backlink list
    5. Recheck the items with your favorite link profile tool(s) to ensure they’re fixed.
    6. Rinse and Repeat next month.

 

How will Google react to an influx of low quality, high volume links?

A better way to approach this might with a question like can competitors buy links to negatively impact my site? So if the question is, “how will Google respond?” that’s a hard one. Realistically, we see search engines drop sites in rankings all the time due to high-volume, low-quality link buys all the time! At the same time, John Mueller w/ Google says this:

 “We probably ignore them…”

john mueller being vague about disavowing links on twitter

 You can search Twitter for a million responses from @johnmu on if you should disavow spammy links or not. Our advice? YES, disavow any unnatural link placements and DO NOT buy high-volume, low-quality links. We simply don’t know if Google is counting them against you or not (regardless of what Mueller tells us, sometimes the evidence is contrary to his statements). If you need help on link buying, contact ENDURANCE.

 

 

The Gist on Website Link Profiles?

A large majority of what makes SEO work can be vaguely siphoned down into Link Profile + Content + Authority = Success. The Gist? A site’s link profile is massively important and if you’re having issues doing this yourself, just ask a question. We are always willing to answer or consult with you at no commitment or charge (I promise).

 

In our SEO Audit’s for clients (big or small), we check over one hundred individual items. We go as deep as we can.

What we check for in an SEO AUDIT – Checklist:

I’d like to share at a high level what we check for when we’re running an audit on a website. Here are the “buckets” of our SEO audit and a brief description of each so anyone can take this and expand on it. And let us know if you check something above and beyond that we simply forgot about:

complete seo audit checklist of items to look for

1. Robots.txt file

We know from Google that its search engine may or may not respect your entries in a robots.txt file, but it’s a great place to start.

Here are some of the things we look for in this bucket:

    • Does the file exist?
    • Does it specify where the sitemaps can be found?
    • Is there anything crazy listed (some regex is supported in the robots file and sometimes people put things in there that block a lot of great content)
    • Are you blocking appropriate content (e.g. you should block certain admin directories or gated content where applicable)
    • And there are many other things to check on a platform by platform level (hint, hint – magento?)

 

2. Canonicals

Canonical references (aka “canonical tags,” “canonical links,” or “canonicals”) are one of my favorite, underrated SEO items. In my experience, major ranking corrections have happened simply from fixing canonicals.

A few examples of what we look for with canonicals:

    • Do they exist on every page (“self-referencing canonicals”)
    • Are they formatted correctly (e.g. trailing slash? yes or no?)
    • Are there multiple on one page?
    • Are they correct/incorrect (e.g. pointing to non-indexable pages?)

 

3. URL and Site Structure

A URL structure really aids in customer experience. I know a lot of large content management systems (or custom enterprise websites) have unwieldy URL structures. There might note be anything you can do about it. However, if you are able to build out a great taxonomy and information architecture… DO IT!!!

Some hints of what we’re looking at with URL Structure:

    • Site Taxonomy (how are “things” classified on the site, are they set up to help the user find what they’re looking for)
    • Information architecture – really goes hand in hand with taxonomy…
    • Clean, short, and concise URL structure(s)
    • How much is the brand name in the URL (I’ll let you think more about that one)

 

4. Google Search Engine Operators

Use Google Search Operators to Find SEO IssuesGoogle Search Operators are designed to help users add logic to their search queries on google.com. Ahrefs has a good blog post that catalog’s a list of operators in use as of the time of this writing. Google’s search operators can really give some major clues on what wrong with a site. We have over twelve different operator queries we use to try and find issues. You should start with the “site:” and “inurl:” operators first. HINT: A good place to start is trying to find “admin” pages that shouldn’t be indexed. Start playing around with different queries (combine them) and see what you find. Share your operator combinations and I’ll share some of ours as well. 😉

 

5. Sitemap

A simple SEO checklist for a website sitemap:

    • Does one exist? Are there multiple? Is the sitemap added into search console?
    • Are they referenced correctly on the site or robots file?
    • Anything crazy in it – 404’d pages (hint: check search console)
    • Is there a visual/html and XML sitemap?
    • HREFLANG (if applicable)?

 

6. External Tools

External tools can help identify trends and patterns you might not think of. Yes, most of them cost money, but they’re worth the annual fee. Most of the SEO tools all do the same thing, so it’s a preference between Moz, Majestic, Alexa, Semrush, Ahrefs, etc. etc. etc. Find one that works for you; they all have an introductory trial.

A glimpse into the list of things we look out with external tools:

    • Keyword trends – not to be confused with a full-blown Keyword Research exercise.
    • Link Profile information (e.g. backlink health and trends).
    • Top and Trending Content.
    • Linked Domains (hint: spammy domains).
    • Overall Links – spot check them, you might be surprised what you find (malware, 404 errors, etc.).
    • And various other gaps.

 

7. Performance Testing

Check Site PErformance - seo audit

This can be a double-edged sword. You’re insanely excited to find performance issues with your site, however, fixing site performance issues found is where your challenge begins. Especially since at the beginning of 2020, Google’s search engine decided to really crack down on WordPress sites with bloated themes. Most of the performance tests guide you on how to fix the issues, the first two performance tests we use on a site are GTmetrix, and Google Page Speed. Google Page Speed test is more of a check after you’ve fixed everything from GTMetrix.

 

8. Site Crawl (includes Meta information)

This is another task where there are a million tools that conduct this sort of activity. If you’re new to using site crawls to find SEO issues, I might recommend using Ahrefs’ Site Scanning Tool called Site Audit. It’s easier to jump into vs. a scanner software tool you download to your desktop. SEO site scanners allow for a lot of technical SEO issues to be found without a lot of manual effort.

Here’s an entry-level list of items we look for with an SEO Site Crawl:

    • 300/400/500 level http status codes (errors).
    • List Canonicals per page.
    • Redirect Chaining issues.
    • NoIndex/NoFollow/NoImageIndex/etc.
    • Page Titles (missing, too long, too short, duplicates, multiples).
    • Page Descriptions (missing, too long, too short, duplicates, multiples).
    • Headings (missing, too long, too short, duplicates, multiples).
    • URL structure (weird characters).
    • Images (optimized? file name, file size, alt attributes?).
    • And so much more, check out your own scanning tool for all it’s features.

 

Check for Social Markup in your SEO Audit9. Social Markup

This one is interesting, a lot of people forget about this. Social Markup is important because it controls how users see your content when someone else shares it. More shares = more visits. And with each share you want to try to control the experience. You might not be able to control everything or what the user says, but you can do your best to specify imagery, links, titles, and descriptions. Ensure the following is installed: OG (Open Graph) tags, twitter card, and Pinterest. LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok use the OG tags (where applicable), but that might change.

 

10. SCHEMA (aka Microdata, aka Structured Data)

Schema is over ten years old now and we’re all still neglecting to use it. Schema helps tell engines what your page is about and the important items on the page to take note of. In another article about website mistakes to avoid, I gave an example of a recipe blog page and how important it is to tell google a specific page is a recipe so it’s not left trying to figure things out on its own! 

Here’s a peek at what we look for on a site when it comes to schema:

    • Is it inline or json?
    • If inline, are correct itemtypes showing at a minimum?
    • Is the organization node present at a minimum?
    • Is the webpage node present at a minimum?
    • If it’s ecommerce – are product details present at a minimum?
    • There’s so much more to schema, don’t get caught going down the rabbit hole…

 

Other SEO Audit items and how to start your own audit/analysis

Hopefully, this checklist of ten items is a great place to start. Feel free to share it with whomever and if you ask questions, I will dive deeper into a topic if you’d like. 

It’s also important to note that we ensure Google Analytics and Search Console are set up and we also suggest other tools (e.g. Quantcast) if we feel they’ll help as well. Or Mobile-first checklist items, this is a common problem with most clients. We also dive deeper depending on the type of site. If it’s a blog, we might ensure post authors and dates are present (with the appropriate schema). Ecommerce we dive really deep (breadcrumbs, internal search, gridwalls, oh my…). OR international sites it’s really important to get HREFLANG implemented.  The list goes on and on. The Gist? Get started with our list of ten SEO checklist items and BUILD FROM THERE! In no time, you’ll have a list that dwarfs ours and I look forward to hearing all about it!

 

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What we’re seeing first half of November…

  • Many people noticing significant changes to rankings across a variety of industries in the past week — Monday, November 4th to Sunday, November 10
  • Drastic ranking changes also occurring in local map packs
  • On Tuesday, November 12, Google Search confirms multiple updates
  • Google says they didn’t make an announcement because the updates were “not broadly noticeable”
  • Many disagree

November 12 Update: Google Search Confirms Multiple Updates

After much anticipation, Google Search announced that they had several updates in the first week of November. The leading search engine added that they regularly update the algorithm.

In following tweets, Google reminded webmasters that they will usually announce (and preannounce) updates when it’s broadly noticeable, in that many sites will notice a difference.

Google concluded the series of tweets by reassuring webmasters, “…we have updates that happen all the time in Google Search. If we don’t share about them, there is no particular actionable guidance to follow nor changes to make other than to keep focused on great content…”

Webmasters who felt the update was indeed broadly noticeable answered with retort.

Google’s Danny Sullivan responded to the sentiment, “Our job is to provide the best results we can. If we do an update, it may mean some sites get less traffic than before. Other sites that perhaps might have been under-recognized may do better.”

Still, several cases have emerged where long-term rankings suddenly sank for websites that had great content and followed all the rules.

One person commented:

November 11 Update: Signs of Unannounced Google Search Update

Our Observations

On a week over week comparison of Monday, November 4th to Sunday November, 10 we’ve noticed some changes to our clients’ organic traffic.

One ecommerce client is seeing an organic traffic increase of nearly 17%.

Screenshot of an ecommerce client’s Organic Traffic potentially impacted by a November 2019 Google Algorithm update.

 

Another client (also ecommerce) is seeing an organic traffic increase of 29%.

Client potentially impacted by a November 2019 Google Algorithm update. Organic Traffic screenshot from Google Analytics.

 

A client in the behavioral therapy space (services nationwide) is seeing an increase of 44%.

Organic traffic snapshot of a client who provides therapy services potentially impacted by a November 2019 Google Algorithm “Turkey” update. 

 

Several other clients have also seen a lift, although not as significant as the clients above.

One client who specializes in corporate training has seen an increase of nearly 11 percent.

Organic traffic snapshot of a corporate training client potentially impacted by a recent Algorithm Update in November.

 

While another client in the fitness space is seeing an organic traffic increase of nearly 8 percent.

Organic traffic snapshot a client in the fitness space.

 

We’re also seeing an upward trend across websites focused on local SEO.

A credit repair company is seeing gains of nearly 25 percent.

Credit repair company seeing positive organic traffic changes.

 

Another organization in the cannabis space is seeing a lift of 55 percent.

Cannabis organization seeing 55 percent increase in organic traffic.

 

While a jewelry store saw an increase of nearly 16 percent.

Local jewelry store company seeing organic traffic increase.

Others’ Observations

We’re not alone in our observations. The SEO community is buzzin’ about signs of an unannounced Google update rolling out.

Unofficially dubbed the “Turkey Update” or “November Update,” the impact appears to be wide-reaching, affecting websites across multiple industries. It’s been favorable for some, but many have suffered great losses.

One SEO reported gains and losses across a variety of industries.

Another tweeted that multiple food and lifestyle blogs are seeing traffic drops of over 30 percent.

Owners of high-traffic travel websites have also reported drops:

 

The local SEO community is also reporting volatility. Members of r/bigseo have reported changes to the local SERPs. Likewise, several members within the Facebook groups that ENDURANCE participates in have also seen major drops.

This has been confirmed by BrightLocal’s SERP monitoring tool, RankFlux, which has detected volatility in the last week. They reported seeing “fluctuation across all industries…the possibility of changes to the local algorithm.”

We will keep you up to date as this unfolds. Stay tuned.

 

If your website has been affected by the recent update, contact us for a consultation.

Here’s the Lowdown on the BERT Google Algorithm Update (And What it Means for Your Website)

For many years, Google has ignored common words such as “and”, “or”, “of”, “to”, “for”, “a”, and others. The reasoning was mainly due to the amount of time and lack of relevance many of these terms had affected search inquiries. But in a recent algorithm update, a few of these words have become a pivotal aspect in deciding where search results will rank.

As only one piece of this major Google update, common words are part of a much larger emphasis that is now being placed on long-tail keywords and the natural language people use in search inquiries.

There are a few things everyone should be aware of as it appears this update is only the beginning of a much larger plan to change the entire mindset behind search engine optimization.

 

What Was the Recent Google Update?

Known simply as BERT, this algorithm change made a significant impact on the rankings of about 10% of sites and pages across search results. The update placed an emphasis on improving the search engine’s understanding of the context within an inquiry as opposed to simply looking at each word individually.

In their statement about the changes, Google said that it will have a better grasp of “more conversational queries, or searches where prepositions like ‘for’ and ‘to’ matter a lot to the meaning”. In turn, the update will make it easier for people to search in a more natural way that they would normally speak, as opposed to trying to think of the relevant keywords they need to include within the search query.

Looking deeper at the way someone would naturally search for something means that Google is placing an even bigger priority on its ability to answer questions and understand the real search intent behind every search.

A before and after comparison of the BERT update
A search result for a long tail query before and after the BERT update

 

How Will the BERT Update Affect Websites?

In their statement about BERT, Google said the changes will focus more on search queries than it will on websites. But this still means your content will have to be optimized to be worthy of relevant results.

With an understanding that this major change is focusing on natural language, this is going to have a serious impact on websites and pages that have poorly written content. Regardless of the keyword research and usage, if a page isn’t providing details within context that flows and provides answers, it is likely to see a dip in the rankings.

Basically, Google is saying that if a person is reading your content and can’t grasp the point or the main idea behind what you’re trying to say, then the search won’t be able to either. This extends to the structure of a page, the use of images, proper internal linking to relevant content, and ensuring that everything within the site is important to the topic.

 

Sites that Were Affected by the Google BERT Update

Only one out of every ten searches were impacted by these changes, leaving many people with limited concern about their place on search engine results pages (SERPs). But as with any Google update, some companies and specific websites saw either positive or negative fluctuations in their search rankings once BERT was rolled out.

A handful of news sites including The New York Times saw their rankings dip immediately following the update. Experts predict the drop was due to the algorithm’s emphasis on long-tail keywords and the fact that many news providers are often focused more deeply on simpler, shorter search terms.

Google has made it clear that these updates were only the beginning of a bigger outlook for a new way of looking at the natural language used in searches. So while this may not have impacted the other 90% of searches yet, it is a good time to take a look at your own content and make some changes to prepare for possible future adjustments.

A search query and featured snippet after the BERT update
A featured snippet example of BERT in action. Notice how the snippet is able to interpret the meaning of the query, despite not having all of the keywords in the title tag.

 

What to Do After the BERT Update

Google’s Danny Sullivan has stated that you can’t optimize for BERT and that Google is still seeking to reward great content.

If your rankings have dropped, it’s likely your pages are failing to satisfy search intent or your content is poorly written. BERT is about understanding natural language queries. You can make sure your content is worthy of a spot in SERPs by satisfying search intent, offering unique value and writing for people.

Think about the ways people would ask about what you do, what you offer, or how your business/service solves a problem. From there, provide both the questions and the answers within your website content in relatable, easy-to-understand ways that demonstrate your authority, knowledge, and relevance in your industry.

Remember: Write with people in mind.

 

Do You Need Help After this Recent Google Update?

Whether you were part of the initial 10% who have been affected by BERT or you’re part of the lucky 90% who has been given a head start, there’s no time like the present to improve your website content and SEO.

Here at ENDURANCE, we’re fully committed to keeping up with Google algorithm changes as they’re rolled out to ensure everyone we work with gets the most up-to-date and effective SEO services.

Get in touch with our team today and learn about all the ways we can help you improve your search rankings, marketing efforts, and more!

8 SEO Trends Going Into 2020

In an ever-changing digital world where robots are conducting surgeries, people are ordering groceries online, and digital forms of currency are being traded for thousands of dollars, it sometimes feels impossible to keep up with the times.

Similar to fashion fads, tech developments, and other constantly changing industries, trends in SEO seem to come and go with the wind. Or at least with every Google algorithm update.

But as each year passes, knowledgeable marketing professionals are able to identify these SEO trends and use them as a means to promote and advertise for companies of all shapes and sizes.

As long as your SEO team is up-to-date on the most recent developments, you can ensure your business shows up on search engine results pages (SERPs), thus helping to boost traffic to your website.

 

1. Using Video for SEO

From the 1.8 billion users on YouTube to the rapidly expanding video features on social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram, the marketability of videos is unlike any other. This is one SEO trend that is here to stay, already overtaking written content and other forms of online promotion.

Video for SEO is a trend that will become a new standard

Videos are now an essential staple of effective marketing funnel automation for companies who want to streamline their advertising and boost their sales processes. They can be used on landing pages, in marketing emails, and on social profiles, making every avenue more engaging and dynamic to the viewer.

The most crucial aspect of using video for SEO is the ability to hold the attention of whoever is watching and lead them to a clear call-to-action at some point during the clip. While you avoid being too “salesy”, every video you promote should provide tremendous value to the viewer, whether it be informational, entertaining, or to solve a problem.

2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) for SEO

The concepts of artificial intelligence (AI) have been around for hundreds of years. But it hasn’t been until the last few years that it has become a reality for everyday people to benefit from its use. As one of the latest SEO trends, it is interesting to see how AI is impacting industries all over the world.

AI-powered SEO is more dominant now as web developers, marketing agencies, and other online companies are learning how to automate key pieces of websites. These tactics allow a business to focus on simply producing relevant content while allowing the AI efforts to boost the site’s traffic.

Even though this concept is rapidly turning into a pivotal part of online marketing, there still aren’t many companies offering services related to AI for SEO. But if you can find the right team to help you with your SEO strategy, getting ahead on this growing development will have a major impact on your company’s future.

3. Voice Search

“Alexa, what are the biggest SEO trends this year?”

A smart device with Voice Search capabilityEven Amazon’s artificial intelligence system knows that voice search is one of the key patterns your business should be looking into right now. Millions of people across the world now own smart devices like the Amazon Echo, Google Home, and the Apple HomePod. These systems are pre-formatted with thousands of functions that can be accessed instantly with the user’s voice.

 

The main question is how could a company benefit from these unique learning machine gadgets? To get your business on the map with this new opportunity, you’ll need to think about the way people ask questions and present the answers to those inquiries through either written content or engaging videos.

Using long-tail keywords, conversational techniques, and focusing on local SEO practices, you’ll be more likely to find yourself providing answers to the questions asked of Alexa and other smart systems.

 

4. No-Click Searches Among the Biggest SEO Trends

Have you ever typed a question into Google and had the answer instantly pop up in big, bold letters? Welcome to the world of zero-click searches. Google SERPs are now able to recognize exactly what a person wants to know and provide them with a solution without ever having to click away from the initial results.

Though you may not get a site visitor by showing up as the answer to one of these queries, the level of trust established in your business will pay huge dividends to your ability to rank other pages across the search engine.

Site authority is still a big deal when it comes to ranking higher. And if you focus on previous tactics we’ve mentioned like using long-tail keywords and answering questions people are asking, you’ll be much more likely to show up for pages people will need to click on for more information.

5. Less Paid, More Organic SEO Tactics

While paid advertising strategies like pay-per-click (PPC) and social media ads aren’t going anywhere, more people are beginning to recognize the difference and are developing “ad blindness” across platforms like Google, Facebook, and Instagram. This leads many of them to automatically skip by the paid ads and go straight to the organic results.

These paid options are also constantly increasing their prices due to the high level of competition expanding to nearly every industry. To save money, more companies are placing a larger emphasis on organic SEO trends as a means of making their way to higher search rankings.

While there are many options for boosting organic SEO traffic, some of the best approaches include:

  • Detailed keyword research
  • Great content that adds value
  • On-page and off-page website optimization
  • Emphasis on user experience (UX) and customer experience (CX)
  • Local SEO

6. More Snippets at the Top of Google Results

Snippets, also commonly known as “Position 0” in Google rankings, are the most sought after spot for any marketing or SEO professional and their clients. They are the first organic result that comes up in search following the paid ads. Bordered by a thin black box, they tend to stand out the most as people are looking for items online.

A Featured Snippet search result

Nearly all featured snippets are already ranked within the top 10 search results. But the Google algorithm has become highly intelligent in recognizing resources that offer extra value to searchers, placing them in the featured section.

As more keywords are targeted and companies focus on identifying the search intent behind an inquiry, we’ll begin to see many more results show up in these snippets. It will be one of the top SEO trends to watch for over the next year or so.

7. Bounce Rate & Click-Through Rates are Bigger Factors

Although they have essentially always been ranking factors for search engines like Google, your website’s bounce rate and click-through rate (CTR) are now considered two of the most important pieces of your SEO strategy.

For clarification, the bounce rate involves the amount of time spent on your website and whether the viewer leaves the site after only viewing a single page. While the click-through rate covers any time an individual is led from a landing page to another part of your website by clicking a link to another piece of content.

The most fundamental ways to avoid low rates on these two ranking factors are by providing high-quality, engaging content that is creative and provides value. Every page on your website which someone can access from an external link should be keenly focused on user experience and provide clear, concise calls to action that lead them to the next stage of your marketing funnel.

8. Mobile Optimization is More Vital than Ever

For years now, mobile web traffic has outmatched desktop use across nearly every platform out there. And yet nearly 31% of search results that show up on the first page when viewing on a desktop are different than the results shown on a mobile device.

Users searching the web on their mobile devices.

This is because too many companies aren’t optimizing their websites for mobile viewing. Even if a site visitor somehow finds your un-optimized website on their smartphone, they will almost always recognize it immediately and hit the “Back” button right away. Talk about taking a hit to your bounce rate.

As you search for a team to build your website, ensure they know the proper strategies to create responsive pages that are optimized for mobile-first viewing. Without these basic steps, your site traffic will take a major hit in both search ranking and in its ability to convert leads into sales.

Trust a Team that Stays Informed of Current SEO Trends

The approach you take to properly executing search engine optimization will be the most important aspect of your company’s ability to be found online both now and in the years to come.

As future SEO trends come and go, it is essential that you have a team that can keep up with the changes. Otherwise, your website will do little more than disappear into the crowd of billions of search results across Google.

The crew at ENDURANCE stay in the know with constant research, A-B testing, and other marketing strategies.

 

Learn more about how we can help your SEO and online presence by contacting us today!

 

Search engine optimization (SEO) is no longer a commodity for companies. It has become a necessity if you plan on running a successful business in today’s market. From keyword research to site crawling and taxonomy, there are many details required to ensure best SEO practices. It can take years to become a true expert at search engine optimization.

And while SEO can occasionally feel more complicated than quantum physics or Greek philosophy, there are a few things you learn if you spend enough time studying it.

Who knows? It may even teach you a life-changing lesson or two.

 

Here are seven:

  1. Give and You Shall Receive

Effective SEO comes from providing value first.When you start running a business, it feels like a lifetime before you finally get the first few hundred views on your new website. One of the things you’ll learn quickly is the power of backlinks. Backlinks can help you rank for your target keywords thereby increasing your site’s visibility. The hardest part was finding a relevant, authoritative website willing to link to our client’s websites.

Thankfully, I figured out that the best way to get links is by first producing really great content. By providing unique and really useful information, people will naturally link to you. Before long, we were acquiring links without having to implement “link outreach” tactics.

Recently, I was reminded of an experience as I watched a friend start a side business. They had always been there when someone needed a babysitter or a helping hand. And when this person decided to start a business, everyone was more than happy to help them out in return.

 

  1. Failure is a Good Thing

No one starts a business with the goal of failing. You invest in a new website, you research everything, generate content, and you wait. Hopefully, everything you do ends up working and your investment of time and energy will pay off.

The odds are stacked against any new business as most startups fail within their first year. It takes time to understand SEO and to figure out how to find a niche audience who is willing to pay for your product or service. You may have to restart with an entirely new business model or you may be forced to remove some of your content that wasn’t engaging enough.

I learned the hard way about SEO optimization, keyword stuffing, and other technical details. While I didn’t want to fail, it was these failures that ultimately taught me how to successfully implement proper SEO techniques. More importantly, it made me realize how most achievements are only reached after a few failures take place along the way.

 

  1. Always Test Assumptions

When you are creating a website, some practices have concrete evidence of being effective while others take a bit more time and testing. If it were possible to foresee every problem or opportunity, no one would have a problem becoming rich and successful. It is only through trial and error people learn what works best.

A/B testing, trial projects, and other techniques help you determine if something is going to work on your site before you take any risks. Even without these tests, your assumptions can end up getting you into trouble. If you invest too heavily in a new strategy or advertising technique that doesn’t work, you can bankrupt your business in no time.

In life, we often have to test our assumptions. Quitting a job, buying a new home, starting a new business, and other life activities involve some level of risk. You can’t get rid of all the risks or always know how things will turn out, but you can exercise caution, prepare, and learn as much as possible before you make the leap.

 

  1. Embrace Change

Some people say only death and taxes are certain, but change should be added to the list as well. One of the only things you can be certain of is change. From the moment you are born, the world around you is constantly in flux as you live, learn, and grow.

In the same way the leaves on trees change, the SEO industry will change

Google Panda, Google Penguin, and Google Hummingbird are only a few of the many updates which web designers and those in the SEO industry have endured over the years. Things are constantly changing online whether you want them to or not. If you want a successful SEO strategy to continue thriving, you’ll need to adjust as these new developments arise.

And if you want to achieve greatness or find happiness in life, you have to go with the flow. Whether you are going for a new job promotion or just started a new relationship, you have to embrace change or get left behind.

 

  1. Focus on What Matters

When people first start using SEO, they often place too much focus on the little things. You only have so much time and you will end up wasting your limited resources if you try to focus on everything. While basic practices are important, instead of spending all of your time answering comments or finetuning your captions, you should be creating great content, researching effective keywords, and building your strategies.

In life, the same thing is true. It feels like we spend each day constantly busy with appointments, work, and errands. Before long, we lose sight of the important things and get lost within the minutiae.

Rather than watching life pass by, we have to embrace it head-on. It is our passions in life which matter most. Whether your passion is found in a relationship or at work, devote yourself to it and don’t get distracted by the unimportant things.

 

  1. Worrying is Pointless

In the movie Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, the main character Newt Scamander says his philosophy is that “worrying means you suffer twice.”

You can only do so much when you run a website. After creating the perfect SEO plan and putting into action, there comes a time when you simply have to sit back and see what happens. There is no point in worrying about factors you can’t control.

There will always be competitors who try to target the same keywords. You will always have to deal with algorithm updates which re-rank your site. Worrying about all of these things will only leave you sleepless and anxious.

The same thing is true for the rest of your life. There is no point in worrying about what could happen while you are still dealing with everything in the present. Plan as best as you can for the future and allow it to take care of itself.

 

  1. A Great Team Makes the Difference.

A strong SEO team working togetherThis may be difficult for some to accept, but no one can do everything on their own. Even the most talented people have to sleep at some point. While your business can operate around the clock, you can’t possibly stay awake and keep working forever.

Especially when it comes to SEO, you need a strong team, or you will never get a chance to sleep and live your life.

While most people think about teams at work and at a sporting event, your team at home matters as well. Your family and friends are your support system during the good times and the bad. If you don’t have a strong team at home or in your life, it makes problems at work much harder to deal with.

And don’t forget to support your team in return. If you have an amazing team at your side, you should make it a point to return their support and encouragement. This will encourage them to continue their efforts while showing your appreciation for their support.

 

Life-Changing Lessons from SEO

Many people spend years learning new skills and gaining knowledge for their career field. Because they spend so much time learning the ropes, they rarely realize what their job is teaching them in return. If you take a moment to stop, think, and pay attention, your career could be giving you a life-changing lesson.

Search engine optimization is a tool we use for our jobs, but it is also a way of looking at the world. Valuable lessons are all around us, but we don’t always take the time to look around and notice them. While it wasn’t my goal to learn life lessons from SEO, I picked up a few things along the way without even realizing it.

 

If you’re interested in working with our SEO team, reach out and say “Hi!”

Old-school SEOs (Search Engine Optimization strategists) may disagree or even focus solely on the technical aspects they know (and can see) have tangible results. Some strategists have told me brand means nothing to them, that brand involvement with SEO is a figment of some inexperienced marketer’s imagination they only pitch to prospective clients to try and hook them.

While I do believe inexperienced advertising executives say the silliest things, I’m about to share a story with you about a client who did not adjust their SEO strategy after we warned them about the brand concerns we had and the results speak for themselves.

SEO and Branding work together - Header

 

How we Build Brands at ENDURANCE

First, let’s talk about how we build brands at ENDURANCE (to provide context for the situation). In short, we build brands by creating and defining five specific pillars:

  • Brand Promise
  • Brand Aspiration
  • Brand Appearance
  • Brand Audience
  • Brand Assets

It’s not rocket science, and it’s not even that different from how other agencies do it. It is the steps we believe are necessary for Medium to Enterprise sized businesses to complete before their brand really takes off. Each pillar goes into much more detail, but here is a sentence or two about what each one means:

 

brand seo decisionsBrand Promise

The Brand Promise is your Elevator Pitch. It’s what describes your uniqueness, your values, and your vision.

Brand Aspirations

A company’s aspirations are the “greater good” desire(s) of the company. It’s the aspects of the business that should be projected out onto customers.

Brand Appearance

This is what people always default to when some states “make me a brand.” It’s the logo, colors, and other elements presented to customers

Brand Audience

When creating a company (or developing a brand) it is important to put on paper the solutions your company solves for… It’s hard to be successful if this doesn’t happen. This includes defining a target audience.

Brand Assets

This is probably the easiest to define of the five. It’s the company hierarchy, processes, and other intangibles that go into day to day operations.

 

So, when we (ENDURANCE) build or augment a client’s brand, we do so by using the guidelines and principles in each of these pillars.

 

Why SEO and Branding Matter – An Intro to the Client.

Let me introduce you to our client. Now the client name, situation, products, etc. have all been anonymized or changed (I would never discuss a client using their real information – especially an existing one).

Let’s use a dead car company as an example  – Pontiac – our client was “Pontiac.”  Imagine the Great Recession never happened, and Pontiac still exists. (Again, not our real client, we’re picking on a dead car company for our story).

We signed Pontiac (not really Pontiac) on search optimization services. Usually the first month of this service is a ramp-up and analysis period. We conduct keyword research, technical & conversion audits, competitor analysis, and more. We dive into the fire headfirst to get to know as much about our client’s business as they’ll allow. It was during this first month we discovered two branding problems with Pontiac:

 

The Two Branding Problems:

Our client had a problem that traversed two of our five branding pillars

    1. Brand Aspirations
    2. Brand Audience

To vaguely over-generalize the issue, it came down to:

    • Who did Pontiac want to be?
    • What products did they want to sell?
    • And who did they want to sell them to?

brand decision and the impact on seo

Did Pontiac want to be a luxury car with all the bells and whistles? Did they want to focus on the top income earners (let’s say 10% of U.S. market) and sell cars that only the wealthy could afford (existing business model).

Or did Pontiac want to make good quality cars at a decent price? Focus on the middle-class (maybe 50-75% of the market). Become an option for everyone, making all kinds of different car models across the income-level spectrum?

 

We arrived at this problem while conducting our SEO services.

Traction was being lost for Pontiac in the luxury game. Not only was it a time when consumers were buying less and less of Pontiac’s power-hungry luxury vehicles, the consumer trend for purchasing luxury vehicles over the past five years was in decline. Competitors were also taking bites out of the market, amplifying the long-term drop in revenue.

From the SEO perspective, we needed to do one of the following:

  1. A) Own the luxury market out right and push out the competition,
  2. B) Not only win-back the luxury market but also expand (the client was very interested in competitors that made luxury cars and others in the goliath mid-range markets)
  3. C) Pivot entirely. Change brand aspirations, go on the offense by attaching a broader and larger group of customers (brand audience)

 

A DECISION HAD TO BE MADE…

 

Unfortunately, that decision was never made.

The client never decided on a clear direction. Instead, they elected to half-ass option B above without a clear strategy, plan, or budget. No changes would be made to products, pricing, place, or promotion. I pick on these four things on purpose. If all someone knew about Marketing were the four P’s that would be enough.

Not only did our client not provide clear direction on the future of Pontiac, but the only direction we were given was to satisfy both audiences within the existing commitments.

  • Sell Luxury cars (Product) to the wealthy and middle-class customers without a change to the approach, messaging, or tactics.
  • Make the sale with existing inventory. We will not be making new car models that align to middle-class price points (Pricing).
  • The sales will occur at the same dealerships they always have. We will leverage the same sales staff whom are used to serving the needs of our higher-end customers (Place).
  • The same advertising in the same channels will be used (Promotion).

 

The Results of Ignoring Brand in SEO

Bad Brand DecisionIt has been over one and a half years since we initially consulted with the client on their plight. After only a few months our SEO services were converted to content development only (trying to message two audiences with products meant for only 1 of them).

We jumped out of a lake and into an ocean. Without spending another ten pages on why, trust me when I state that the audience to buy expensive luxury cars is vastly different and more targeted to that of an audience interested in general automotive consumption.

We Were in a No-Win Scenario

 

How did we know these Brand Decisions (or lack thereof) Impacted SEO?

Eighteen months of warnings and conversations never led to action, and just last month we decided to do an audit.

We wanted to know if the recommendation we gave (which I haven’t really spoken to) would have made a difference. Not only did we find out it would have, we discovered the results of inaction had been catastrophic.

From our audit activities, I present you a single key indicator (the silver bullet if you will):Data Table: Results of ignoring Brand Decisions in SEO

Keyword movement and the resulting traffic implications (graphic on the right)

 

Parsing the results

See, what happens when you can’t decide on brand aspirations and audience targeting is you’re left to play somewhere in the middle. And Google doesn’t like somewhere in between.

Luxury Car ALPHA, a product ripe with luxury descriptions and imagery targeted to a finite individual, became Luxury Car ALPHA laced with keywords to satisfy both audiences. The content structure changed to accommodate both. ALPHA was priced high with all the bells and whistles; it was priced high with all the bells and whistles for a middle-class soccer mom.

 

We were sending signals to search engines that we had a high-end product with high-end equipment, amenities, and price – but someone looking for a mid-range Honda civic should buy it.

 

To the right is 18 months’ worth of SEO damage due to a lack of brand direction.

 

The Gist of the Story? Brand Matters in SEO… Immensely!

 

What if the client decided to continue with their existing trajectory?

make a decision with brand and seoGreat! We can work with that. If someone shares with you that they usually sell 100 green apples a month but there is a problem and they can’t figure it out. Then, we (ENDURANCE) come back and say the green apple market is declining over the last five years by 1 apple a month, but it should stabilize around 75 apples per month in the next 18 months – oh and by the way, here’s some market size data on red, purple, and yellow apples – our recommendation is to do XXX… Client, what do you want to do?

If the client replies, we want to own the green apple market, all 75 per month, LET’S GO!  We jump for joy and do our best to have our client #1 year-round.

The problem in our story was the client wanted to play in all four markets (green, red, yellow, and purple apples). However, they were offering only green apples at green apple prices to red, yellow, and purple apple consumers. A contradiction we advised against multiple times.

 

What if the client decided to do both (and do it right)?

Awesome! Plans could be hatched; actions could be taken. The client would need to product red, yellow, and purple apples and adjust the pricing, and where they were sold (understandably a lot to take on). Green apples could be sold to green apple customers, red apples to red apple customers, and so on and so forth. We would focus on success metrics in each of those markets

What if the client decided to pivot 100%?

Not a problem! If the red, yellow, and purple apple audience accounts for 1200 apples a month, and the client elects to ditch green apples all together, that may be a smart bet. We pivot with them and roll.

 

The Point?

BRAND decisions were needed.

Decisions were not made.

As a result, SEO tanked.

 

How to avoid the Brand & SEO pitfall(s) described above.

The above example is only one instance, we see examples all the time where brand considerations impact SEO.

If you’re unsure, just ask!

No, we won’t charge you for a conversation. Heck, we give advice all the time to non-customers (if you don’t believe me, post your question below and we’ll answer it).

If you want to work with us and have the means, we really hope we can make you proud. If you don’t but need guidance getting pointed in the right direction, we’ll do our best.

Contact Us for your Brand + SEO inquiries »