SERPs: They're Not All About You - Keith L. Goode - Pubcon Austin 2016

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SERPs: They’re Not

All About You

Presented by:Keith L. GoodeChief SEO Evangelist, seoClarity

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What’s in a SERP Anyway?

“What you put on your website pages isn’t necessarily what shows up on the SERPs. Title tags, descriptions, and 3 pack lines can show almost anything on Google SERPs. This session will look at SEO techniques and systems for getting good click through rates to the page, while effectively controlling what shows up on the SERPs.”

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IT HAS NEVER BEEN ABOUT WHAT SEOS WANT

A Little History…

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Remember NOODP and NOYDIR?

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I have lived long enough to see the same eyes in different people.

I am looking at the eyes

of a man who wants

to stuff keywords in

his titles.

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Algorithm-Chasers Go All In On Temporarily Effective

Tactics

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Recommended Viewing/Reading

https://moz.com/blog/8-old-school-seo-practices-not-effective-whiteboard-friday

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Tap Into the Evolutionary Direction of the Algorithm

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Change Your Perspective, Change Your World

For more on Search Experience Optimization: http://bit.ly/1JKxigC

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IN THE SERPSHappening Now

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Did you know?Google is Rewriting Titles?

23%Titles for Top 5 Ranking URLs

Rewritten

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Did you know?Local Results Aren’t Just for Local Queries?

6.1%of ALL Keywords

Contain Local Listings

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Did you know?Google is Showing Instant Answer for Non-question Queries?

3.6%

of KeywordsContain Instant Answers

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The Happening #1:

NO! Not THAT Happening!

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Google is Reducing the Size of SERPs

16.3%Queries Show Fewer than 100 Results

Happening #1: Google’s Big Squeeze

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Happening #1: Google’s Big Squeeze

http://bit.ly/22vNuLi

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Happening #1: Google’s Big Squeeze

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Happening #1: Google’s Big Squeeze

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What Does it Mean for …?USERS SEOs

Who goes past Page 2 anyway?

Much harder to get baseline

ranking data?

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https://flic.kr/p/emQ7ku

What Do I Do With This Information?

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Realigning Metrics for True SuccessYes… But…

Traffic increases are a measure of online success

Stickiness and Conversion Rates tell you if it’s good

traffic or notRankings are

highly influenced by links

Links are earned as a result of a

Great Product or Great Content

Targeting keywords in

content establishes relevance

Being relevant for Topics, rather than keywords, establishes broader

Relevance

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Happening #2: Title Rewrites

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Happening #2: Title Rewrites

23%Titles for Top 5 Ranking URLs

Rewritten

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Happening #2: Title RewritesThe Problem:

What you want

What you get

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Happening #2: Title RewritesWe Looked at:

– Top 5 Ranking URLs for 50,000 Keywords– 200,000 SERP listings– Titles in Google vs. On Site

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1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 >1000%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Rewritten Not Rewritten

Happening #2: Title Rewrites

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1-10 11-20 21-30 31-40 41-50 51-60 61-70 71-80 81-90 91-100 101-1100%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%Happening #2: Title Rewrites E-Commerce

Edition

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Happening #2: Title RewritesReasons Google Will Change Your Title:1. Length2. Extraneous Text3. Extraneous Branding4. Duplication or Near Duplicates5. Hokey Markup :-) :: **

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What Can I Do?

https://flic.kr/p/a8vEBr

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Control What You Can Control• Keep Title Concise and Relevant• Mitigate Duplication on Search Refinement

Pages– Rel “next” and “prev”– Rel “canonical”– Nofollow and noindex for extremely granular search

refinements• Focus on Topics. Don’t Stuff with Tons of

Variations

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Happening #3: Lost Real Estate

“Hey! Yeah you! Users. Please scroll down. There are organic results down here.

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Why Enterprise SEOs Should Care About Local

>93%

In #1 position

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No Local Intent in

my search

Happening #3: Lost Real Estate

“Hey! Yeah you! Users. Please scroll down. There are organic results down here.

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Why Enterprise SEOs Should Care About Local

6.1%Of All Keywords

Contain Local Listings

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Knowledge Graph Instant Answers• Provide an answer to

specific queries• Answer comes from an

external source• External source

attribution provided

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Knowledge Graph Instant Answers

Wait! Did I ask a question?Sucks to be

in Position 5.

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Knowledge Graph Instant Answers

3.6% Keywords

Contain Instant Answers

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Knowledge Graph Instant Answers

15% - 30% CTR!

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What Works? What Doesn’t?

40

YES NO• How-To’s• Guides• Instruction

Instructional

• Weather• Stocks• GDP

Public

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Example of an Instant Answer

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Example of an Instant AnswerNote: being in Position 1 is not required.

Position 10

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Elements of an Instant Answer

In the Snippet:• Clear step-by-step

instructions• Friendly URLs

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Elements of an Instant Answer

Not “metal fence” but

“wrought iron.” RankBrain?

Position on page is not completely

above the fold

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Elements of an Instant Answer

Ordered or

Unordered List

List items are

H5 headers

H5’s are succinct and

clear

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More Information AvailableOn the seoClarity blog:

http://bit.ly/1SBt3XA

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Advancing A.I. = Personalized SERPs

=The perfect answer for you.

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Organizational Shifts to Match the SERPs• Democratize SEO in your Enterprise• Adopt a User-First Approach to Everything

– Yes: Adopt Best Practices– No: Don’t Focus on the Latest Tricks

• Focus on the Experience, Not the Engines

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Your Presenter

20 years of Online Experience– AMD– HomeAway.com– Builders Digital Experience– SpareFoot.com

Dell (4 years)– SEO Technology Lead, DCS (formerly eDell)– Technical SEO Instructor

Currently– Chief SEO Evangelist, seoClarity

www.linkedin.com/in/keithlgoode

@keithgoode

Keith L. Goode, Chief SEO Evangelist

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THANK YOU!

Happy Trails!