The Constantly Changing World of Search
IGB Amsterdam Affiliate Conference 2017
The Constantly Changing World of Search
Introduction to Blueclaw
What I’ll be talking about - the Constantly Changing World of Search
Content Marketing, Link-Earning and Off-Site SEO
On-site Performance, Engagement and Interaction
Mobile, App and Voice Search
Summary + (gentle) questions
Search Content Marketing
PPCPR & Social
A few of our clients
Partners and Awards
Content Marketing for Link Earning and Off-Site SEO
“The objective is not to make
your links appear natural.
The objective is that your links
are natural.”
— Matt Cutts, former Head of Web Spam at Google
• SEO used to be about optimising your on-page content, and having an off-page strategy that resulted in inbound links.
• SEO is currently about optimising your on-page content, and having an off-page strategy that results in inbound links.
The difference is what we mean these days by optimising and strategy.
The State of iGaming SEO
Search engines are becoming ever-more effective at spotting (and delivering penalties to) ‘over-optimised’ sites with a dubious, unnatural link profile.
That’s a big deal for planning your own site content, but it’s also a big deal for the websites that you might want to link to you.
They have to safeguard their own SEO and link profile and so are fussy about who they link to.
So. It’s harder to get quality links – especially in iGaming.
The future of search in iGaming will be very different for companies that can successfully build a strong off-site SEO strategy, and those that won’t.
The Problem with SEO
Content Marketing For iGaming SEO
Winning quality coverage (and impactful links) requires an incentive for publishers and site owners.
The best incentive is objectively great content that makes readers rate the site more.
Content with a hook that is interesting but immediately understood is valued across pretty much all industries.
The iGaming SEO landscape in future will be split between those who understand this –and succeed – and those who don’t…and lose.
Content Marketing Process
Content
Identify
ListenLearn
Engage Compose
Establish opportunities through listening and exploring these
Create content that appeals either to the influencer or the trend
Identify key influencers, keywords and trendsetters in the social sphere
Evaluate on what content works well and appropriate timings
Target the content to influencers – social media users, bloggers and journalists
Case Example FA Cup Giant Killers
This content was developed on a vanity URL and then redirected to pass the associated power over to the clients domain. Here are some example links:
https://uk.sports.yahoo.com/news/revealed-league-two-side-biggest-185956237.html
http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/football/cardiff-vs-fulham-live-score-9583332?service=responsive
http://www.swanseacity.net/news/article/2016-17/swans-are-up-for-the-cup-3505022.aspx
http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/liverpool-news-transfer-rumours-live-12407986
www.netbet.com/multicultural-championship
This project was developed on the clients domain, this is due to the client being a recognised brand. Link examples below:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2016/06/09/euro-2016-one-in-three-players-could-play-for-another-country/
http://www.90min.com/posts/3302199-migrant-crisis-we-ll-be-backing-an-england-squad-where-over-half-could-represent-another-nation
http://www.rts.ch/info/sciences-tech/reperages-web/7791217-la-suisse-deuxieme-equipe-la-plus-multiculturelle-de-l-euro-2016.html
https://www.franceinter.fr/emissions/geopolitique/geopolitique-09-juin-2016
The future of iGaming search will see more of what we call collaborative SEO.
That means working with partners, industry experts, websites and publications to increase performance.
• If you’re an operator, you’ll be working even more closely with affiliates to help improve their SEO performance and create win-win outcomes. Collateral, consultancy, hands-on help – the best affiliates deserve your time and investment.
• To earn links and coverage, a greater emphasis will be placed on working with media outlets and responding to their needs in order to secure coverage, and the relationships that lead to a strong and natural link profile.
There is another, very important group that iGaming companies will have to work closely with – players themselves…
Collaborative Off-Site SEO
Engagement and Interaction
In future, quality over quantity won’t just be a cliché.
Search engines are in in the business of giving the right answers to users.
High bounce rates, lack of engagement and indications that visitors aren’t actually using your site all indicate that your site is the wrong answer – no matter how many links point to you.
Your site’s pages must offer the best user experience and be easy to understandand use. Visitors should be able to take action easily:
• Does the page answer the user’s question?
• Can the page be shared easily?
• Is the call to action clear?
• Does the page end the search?
Engagement and Interaction
Topical
Authority
Usage Data (CTR,
Traffic, etc)
User Data &
Personalisation
UX (Speed, Mobile-
Friendly, etc)
Topic Modeling /
Hummingbird
Content Quality
Signals
Social Signals (Direct
& Indirect)
Moz: Which SEO Signals Are On the Rise?
Trust & Spam
Signals
Myth Busting
“Bouncing traffic doesn’t read my content”
• Bounce rate = Traffic that only visited 1 page
• Bouncing Traffic can be 2 sec, or 20 mins
• Bouncing traffic just didn’t convert
“Google analytics measures all time on every page”
“Average time on Page is an accurate reflection of all traffic hitting a page”
Misunderstood Metrics – Bounce Rates
Google can’t measure the time a user spent looking at the last page of their visit
This is because their recording is based on a click to the next page
This affects bouncing pages, because Google has no idea when they left.
What does Google measure?
The Long Click, Site and Content Quality (Panda) Link Patterns - Social Engagement, Links to Content…
“As users migrate to mobile,
page load time is perhaps the
most important
metric we have.
If you can’t load pages
fast enough, you can’t compete.
Consumer expectations in a
mobile-led world are extreme.
— Howard Mittman, Condé Nast
Impact of a 1 Second Delay in Load Speed:
•8.3% Increase in bounce rate
•3.5% Decrease in conversion rate
•9.4% Decrease in page views
•38% of smartphone users have screamed at, cursed at, or thrown their phones when pages take too long to load
•Google says 2.4 seconds is the optimum load time for a site to encourage engagement and reduce bounce rates.
For SEO and simply to maximise on-site conversions, iGaming search marketers must factor in engagement, speed and performance.
Mobile, App and Voice Search
Mobile searches already outnumber desktop and tablet searches, and by 2020, 20% of mobile searches will be voice searches, according to Comscore.
That’s a lot of searches. iGaming companies need to act now to take advantage of how voice and mobile search differs.
There are 2 trillion Google searches each year
Mobile Engagement and User Intent
I-want-to-know moments
• 66% of smartphone users turn to their phones to look up something they saw in a TV commercial
• 66% of smartphone users turn to their phones to look up something they saw in a TV commercial
I-want-to-do Moments
• 100M+ hours of “how-to” content have been watched on YouTube so far this year I-want-to-buy Moments
• 91% of smartphone users turn to their phones for ideas while doing a task
I-want-to-go moments
• 2X increase in “near me” search interest in the past year
• 82% of smartphone users use a search engine when looking for a local business
I-want-to-buy moments
• 29% increase in mobile conversion rates in the past year
• 82% of smartphone users consult their phones while in a store deciding what to buy
iGaming companies need to be where players are, anticipate their needs and react to capitalise on opportunity. A huge part of that is making life easy and seamless for potential players.
#brightonseo
Anticipate Player Questions
Players search in different ways via voice. Rather than typing in a few keywords, they use natural language to ask real questions. You need to know
what those questions are.
Show you Know The Answers
Use sentences in your on-site content that include the full question and answer, precisely to maximise your chances of turning up in voice search
results, and featured snippets in the SERPS.
Consider the structure of your answer, and look into how content is picked up by featured snippets.
Optimising for Voice Search in iGaming
“While user numbers can be
hard to pin down, research
shows that two out of five
mobile users already use their
phones to place some sort of
bet, with mobile betting
predicted to exceed 40% of all
online wagering by 2018.”
— Julie Anderson, VegasMaster
Gaming App Optimisation
• Make sure app names are short, keyword-focused easy to remember and less than 25 characters long
•Optimise all icons, screenshots and video for search engines, as well as app store visitors.
•Use detailed, keyword-focused but human descriptions of your app and make sure it is linked to from your main site.
•Translate app store content into all of your target languages to maximise reach
Summary
The Future of Search: Integrated SEO
Technical, on-site excellence as standard for user experience, voice, mobile and more
A content marketing and PR-driven approach to collaborative SEO
An integrated and data-driven approach to search – quality over quantity
Technical
ContentKeywords
LandingPagesRankings
ROI
Links
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Q + A
Want to talk more? Visit our SEO Clinic at F11