Are Rankings Relevant in 2013? - Ben Millar

PowerPoint Presentation

DE - Logo.pdf@4PsMarketing #4PsEDGE@Ben_4Ps

Welcome

Ben Millar

Digital Strategist @ 4Ps Marketing

@Ben_4Ps

\\192.168.33.1\Shared\4PsMarketing_Marketing\Marketing Images\Professional Staff Photos\Ben b+w.jpgWhat were going to talk about today

An Incredibly Brief History of SEO & Rankings as a Metric

Personalisation

Filter Bubbles

Magic Keywords

Building Bubbles > Building Links

Rankings & Personalisation: Close the gap

Nice, easy start to the day.

The 1990s

http://pop2k.files.wordpress.com/2010/08/golden_tamagotchi_rgb.jpghttp://hopeliesat24framespersecond.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/titanic_ver3.jpg?w=640http://i1051.photobucket.com/albums/s427/houstando/1322930348_1996_david-beckham.jpghttp://www.joergs-british-autographs.de/blair-sig.jpghttp://www.mtv.com/news/photos/v/vma_09/nyc/vma97_spice_girls_bennett.jpghttp://cdn.stereogum.com/files/2011/09/Tupac-Shakur-608x344.jpgCast your mind back to the mid-90s

A Very Brief History of SEO

Earliest Search Engines (Mid 90s)Keyword stuffing, keyword density

Backrub (Pre-Google)Quality and quantity of Links (PageRank)

Google (1998)Offsite and onsite

Googles First Home Page

http://img6.imageshack.us/img6/3572/googlefirsthomepage.jpgNOSTALGIA. And Heres what Google looked like at this time!

I know this is probably a silly question as theres no one under 30 in the room

Was anyone working in SEO at this time or in the late 90s?

I wasnt. I was mostly listening to UK Garage in Vauxhall Novas.

Rankings: A Meaningful Metric

http://www.wpromote.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/google-heat-map.jpgaol-search-dataLess Distraction, Less FilteringRankings were relevant because users were served pretty much the same SERPS from mid 90s to mid 00s

And there was less clutter in the serps

So of course youll remember the many infamous heat maps & AOLs leaked CTR data.

Rankings = visibility = traffic = conversions.

This Story was easy to understand.

But Search Changed

Personalisation in Google: A Timeline

Live testing Mar. 29th 2004

Integrated within Google search (signed-in users) Nov. 11 2005

Default to all users Dec. 4 2009

3 key dates

Smoking ban in Northern Ireland

Albanias worst ever power cut

Nepalise Government Mount Everest Climate Change in the Himalayas

The End of Rankings?

At this time everyone prophesised the end of the rankings. Articles, blogs, press

I dont think rankings matter anymore. Given the highly personalized, geo-targeted, socially-influenced rankings that Google and Bing provide today, no two people see the same search results in the same order.

Bit OTT! Approx 1 in 5 searches were personalised.

LIKEWISE the death of rankings was a bit OTT. They still exist now.

Is that because theyre useful or because marketers were used to reportings on rankings?

Were busy execs used to KPIs in the form of rankings as a easy-to-understand SEO glance?

Thats my argument to people who say Ranking = ego construct.

---

But, from a search perspective, we dont (or rather we shouldnt) live in that world anymore and we havent for some time

So lets take a look at exactly what personalisation entails.

57 Signals of Personalised Search

even when not signed in!In Eli Parisers TED talk (a man whom Ill refer to again in more detail later on) it was claimed a Google engineer stated there are 57 signals involved in personalisation.

So even when youre logged out of Google and with a clear cache and no cookies, Google is still personalizing search results for each user based on the search history of each IP address and your geographic location.

Why not test it? Do a couple of searches for the same terms at different locations (work, office, coffee shop), on different devices and see what turns up.

Now imagine if there are 57 signals. We know what a lot of them arebut 57?

Personalisation Signals: What Might they Be?

Search HistoryLocationBrowserThe Computer We UseThe LanguageOperating System & VersionScreen Resolution

Time Taken to Type a QueryTime Spend on a SERPSDaily Volume of RequestsAverage Position of a Clicked ResultTimeDateTopic of Ads ClickedFrequency of Ads Clicked

Frequency of Google.com Vs. Toolbar UseHistorical Use of I Feel Lucky buttonEnter Key Vs. MouseUse of Advanced Search OperatorsUse of IiGoogleFrequency of TyposUse of Autosuggest

One curious character,Rene Pickhardt a Webscience PHD Student began to imagine what they might be.

He got to a few dozen and gave up!

Some we know about, some were not so sure about, someWHAT!?

Now as SEOs theres some we know about and can demonstrate and CATER TO

Personalisation Based on Location

Car park in London signed out

Personalisation Based on Location (Mobile)

photo2.jpgphoto.jpgCar park in London signed out (mobile)

Personalisation Based on Search History

Google knows Ive looked at E-consultancy before.

Personalisation Based on Personal Sharing

Of Course Google+ Changed things with Search, plus your world.As did Facebook in Bing.Then theres the other Google properties Youtube, FlickR.And of course Linkedin.

Personalisation Based on Previous Query

You can clearly see in this SERPS youre being shown a the WIKI page for California because you recently searched for flag.

So what?

What is the net sum of all of this personalisation?

Well its FILTER BUBBLES!

http://www.synerjis.co.uk/portfolio/media/bubbles/Bubbles%20White%201024%20x%20768.jpgThat personal ecosystem of information thats been catered by these algorithms [Eli Pariser, The Filter Bubble]

figurative sphere surrounding you as you search the Internet. [Shira Lazar, CBS News]

Filter Bubbles are refined and tailored subsets of results which provide you with information you are in some way already connected to based on your demographic, the behaviours you have demonstrated online and the connections you have.

Eli Quote:

Shira Quote:

Filter-Free

popular internet sites represented by bubbleshttp://www.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/DuckDuckGo.pngSo, to clarify, personalised search has led to filter bubbles which has exacerbated the variation of results between users in organic search.

Why does this concern us?

Well theres 2 very distinct points to make.

Ethical - now

Us as marketers later

The chap Eli Parisner whom I mentioned earlier gave a Ted Talk, actually gave his TED talk about Filter Bubbles: he is primarily concerned with the ethical. He Believes;

(a filter bubble), seeing more and more of what you already agree with, and less and less (relevant and important) opposing viewpoints. This effective filtering is troublesome when looking for raw information on a subject.

Many people use Google as a starting point. Hence it should be neutral; unbiased.

A world constructed from the familiar is a world in which theres nothing to learn ... (since there is) invisible autopropaganda, indoctrinating us with our own ideas. [Eli Pariser]

Duck Duck Go, which Elis involved with, exists (or rather the USP is) because they want people to break free from their filter bubbles.

The Motivation Behind Duck Duck Go

We believe any tailoring of the organic results should be opt-in and not opt-out.

In arecent Pew Report,65% of people said personalized search was a "bad thing" since "it may limit the information you get online and what search results you see" compared to just 29% who said it was a "good thing" because "it gives you results that are more relevant to you." When asked a different way 73% said they were "Not OK" with it because it was an invasion of privacy.

Quote 1 & The user does not know about filter bubbles!

Quote 2

OUR CTO, Matt Stannard believe this is akin to Chinas censorship of the net.

Where is the transparency?

The Experiment

AbortionGun ControlObama 6th Sept. 2012131 UsersGabriel Weinberg @ Duck Duck Go

This was the firstin a seriesof experiments we're doing to explore the state of Google search tailoring -- the fact that different people see different results on Google based on who they are.

Not scientific, not a masterpiece.

Page 1 ONLY.

I know what youre thinking wheres the little pic? Bad day for news.

Note these are informational searches sensitive topics. Neutrality is important here.

The Results: [Abortion]

US: Abortion (off)

Subjects: 48

Orderings: 11US: Abortion (on)

Subjects: 43

Orderings: 8The Results: [Gun Control]

US: Gun Control (off)

Subjects: 43

Orderings: 10US: Gun Control (on)

Subjects: 40

Orderings: 8The Results: [Obama]

US: Obama (off)

Subjects: 49

Orderings: 11US: Obama (on)

Subjects: 45

Orderings: 11What Did They Discover?

We saw about as much variation in the off state as the on state.

No ordering received a majority across the whole study, and several orderings were only seen by one or two people.

We saw a lot of different links (not just orderings). And we also saw a lot of different news results within the news blocks.

The news varied a lot. In theObamasearch, news was the first link. Some people were getting Fox News while others got the LA Times and a few people got other stuff.

Talk about the slide:

and one vital thing on top.

And,

We stumbled upon magic keywords.

Magic Keywords

A magic keyword is a search that can transform the Google results of later searches.

Searching for Social Security after Taxes

Like the flag & country example earlier.

Labelled You Searched for& Bolded last instance of taxes

More Magic

Taxes

Social Security

Health Care

Abortion

Ohio

Election

Do these keywords relate to you?No one knows the scope of magic keywords.

Variations of the Magic Keyword

How many links are inserted

Which links are inserted

Which order they are inserted in

Where they are inserted

Which later searches are transformed

How many later searches are transformed

Transformations across on/off states

Transcends private browsing

magic keywords have their own internal variation, presumably based on personal factors.

Yes for Obama, No For Romney

Political Ramifications here.Is this right?

What about if: You recently searched for cheap flatpack furniture; heres Ikea.

Conclusions

The Filter Bubble is real and important

Political & Sociological ramifications of biased personalisation

Filter Bubbles = real & Important. There are ethical implications.

But what about as marketers?How can we use our understanding of filter bubbles to our advantage?And should our filter-bubble-bursting strategies alter our SEO reporting practices and how we look at rankings?

Squeeze Into More Filter Bubbles?

Google+ [Friends]If one of your friends +1s a page its more likely to show up in your personalised results.

Google+ [+1 Brands]If you +1 a page, that page is more likely to show up in your search results.

Google+ [Brands Share]If you +1 a brands G+ page, anything that brand shares on G+ is more likely to show up in your search results.

Perhaps the single most important thing you can do to burst into more bubbles is to get active on Google plus.No more excuses. No more not us industries.

Google employee bonuses 25% bonus. Its here to stay.

I dont like it. STOCKHOLM SYNDROME.

Identify influencers. What they +1 effects their friends search results so get them to +1 you page(s)

Fan acquisition. Trade off giveaways for +1s on a CPA basis in the knowledge that youll be able to remarket to them; altering their search results.

What about celebrity endorsements? Snoop Doog 5 Million +1s. Is he an influencer of your target audiance? Influence their results with a +1 & a product share.

But of course meaningful metrics; quality not quantity. Fan acquisitions might not be worthwhile.Maybe direct traffic is? | Increases in avg. pos. of rankings | Brand Awareness | conversions with G+ as a touchpoint

---The other thing about filter bubbles?The basics:RESEARCH AND REAFFIRM YOUR TARGET MARKETWHERE ARE THEY, WHEN ARE THEY THERE AND WHAT ARE THEY DOING?Tailor your content and content distribution to match (more on this later)Like, Pin, Join, link, share, comment, post, blog GET INTO more bubbles---Steph had a good point on this: re brand term competitors theyre in your bubble. Get in theirs!

The Future of Search

make your World feel smaller.

In the future you become the query.

Itll be very hard for people to watch or consume something that has not in some sense been tailored for them.Quote 1, 2 3:

HOW CAN YOU BE MORE PERSONALISED SEARCH FRIENDLY?

A whole variety of things:

If youre a multi-site bricks & motar operator then localised search strategies are easierKeep Bounce rates down across ALL devices good content, compelling CTAs (upsteam/hitwise)Language & local factorsSpread of traffic sources: direct traffic helps encourage bookmarkingIn case it wasnt clear enough SEO AND SOCIAL are having a dirty affair. Embrace it.

What about the future of the SERPS?

Lower CTRs & SERP Bait

CTR-Curve-Google-vs-Bing-SlingshotSEOUniversal Search

Instant Search

Knowledge Graph

Universal SearchInstant SearchKnowledge Graph

& more to come?

CTRs are declining.

Have been for a while famous study from slingshot. 10,000s searches.My data isnt quite as gloomy.

Lets look at a SERPS.

Better SEO, Less Clicks?

Look at all the things you can get from the SERPS why click?

What the shop looks like.Where it is on a map.Address.Phone Number.Opening Hours.Nearest Opening HoursReviews, aggregate & actual.

This puts a real emphasis on refining and understanding your keyword sets.

But understanding which keywords are informational | Navigational | Transactional & likelihood of converting = you can apply the appropriate measurements, and more importantly the right effort to them.

So, rankings

The Problems With Rankings

Do not tell the full story

Time Consuming & Expensive

Old Fashioned, dated methodology

Not all bad.Provides some benchmark. Easy, but misleading.But how many are you tracking?How are they grouped?Technology issues.

Its an industry problem

But if I was the CEO of

& what would I do if ranking reports were abolished tomorrow?

Alternatives to Rankings

% Share of traffic from a target group(s) of keyword(s)brand versus non-brand

converting versus non-converting

Total number of unique keywords driving organic traffic to the sitebrand versus non-brand

converting versus non-converting

Total number (or volume as a %) of landing pages receiving organic trafficBrand versus non-brand

Converting versus non-converting

Page views generated by non-brand trafficEspecially useful for media business

Conversions assisted by organic searchbrand- versus non-brand

OBVIOUSLY brand awareness, goals, conversions, transactions and revenue.

But not applicable to all websites.

Not applicable to all stages of the journey.

But If You Must Continue to check Rankings

A More Meaningful Metric in a World of Personalised SearchAverage Position in AnalyticsRanking

Explain.What is avg. pos?Disparity means?Answer:

Takeaways

RankingsAre you taking the right approach?

PersonalisationAre you bursting bubbles?

Magic KeywordsAre they salient to your industry? Will they be?

Do you need help training/re-educating?We Can help.

Any Questions?

@4PsMarketing #4PsEDGE@Ben_4Ps

Further Learnings

http://booksellers.penguin.com/nf/shared/ImageDownloader/1,,~opt~customer~prod-ss5~pc2~US~4~static~images~covers~9781594203008B_jpg,00.jpgReferences

http://www.distilled.net/blog/seo/dont-build-links-build-bubbles/http://connect.slingshotseo.com/a-tale-of-two-studies-establishing-google-bing-click_through-rateshttp://www.ted.com/talks/eli_pariser_beware_online_filter_bubbles.htmlhttps://duckduckgo.com/abouthttps://en-gb.facebook.com/about/graphsearchhttp://marketingland.com/yahoos-mayer-in-the-future-you-become-the-query-31721http://www.thefilterbubble.com/Click to edit Master title style

Click to edit Master text styles

Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

\\192.168.33.1\Shared\4PsMarketing_Marketing\Marketing Images\Logo\Email_Logo.png

20/02/2013

Click to edit Master text stylesSecond level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

\\192.168.33.1\Shared\4PsMarketing_Marketing\Marketing Images\Logo\Email_Logo.pngClick to edit Master title style

Click to edit Master subtitle style

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level


Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level




Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level


20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

\\192.168.33.1\Shared\4PsMarketing_Marketing\Marketing Images\Logo\Email_Logo.png20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level


20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level



Second level

Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

20/02/2013

20/02/2013


Third level

Fourth level

Fifth level

Business

Are Rankings Relevant in 2013? - Ben Millar