Marcus Tober - SEO Has Changed Forever – Why User Signals and Content Relevance Became the Most Important Ranking Factors

Marcus Tober

Ostrava, Czech Republic21st October, 2016

SEO HAS CHANGED FOREVER WHY USER SIGNALS AND CONTENT

RELEVANCE BECAME THE MOST IMPORTANT RANKING FACTORS

• Founder and CTO of Searchmetrics• Searchmetrics is a software company

(SEO/Content Marketing) with 220 people in Berlin, London, New York and San Mateo

• In love with SEO and SEARCH since 2001

Marcus Tober

searchmetrics.com/ostrava2016

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4

THE FUTURE ISDATA

(SCIENCE) DRIVEN

5

IN TWENTY YEARS, THERE WILL BE NO VEHICLES DRIVEN BY

HUMANS ANYMORE.

STATIC FLEXIBLE

ADAPTABLE?

THE EVOLUTION OF RANKING FACTORS

In the past In the present In the future

Be Formless.Shapeless.Like water.

Water can flow. Or it can crash.

Kiai!!!

RANK 1

If someone searches for: How to make a plumb line

RANK 42

Checklist

Definition

Instruction

Religion?

Kiai!!!

Be water, my friend.

Updates/Algorithm Changes Machine Learning/Rankbrain

Rankings

Search is flexible now

Ranking FactorsRelevance Evaluation

ALGORITHM

Users

Geoffrey Hinton a.k.a.

“The Godfather of Deep Learning”

Leading Researcher, Google

Legend in Neural Network Research. World renowned A.I. researcher.

Invented some of the core algorithms of Deep Learning back in the 80s

Working with Google since 2011

New novel concept:

Thought Vectors

Geoffrey Hinton

Capturing thoughts…

IMAGINE EMPTY SPACE

Every word gets a position in space

Cologne

Hamburg

Berlin

Munich

Visualizing RankBrain

Query sentences get a position in space.

What’s the weather going to be like in Ostrava?

Weather Forecast Ostrava


Using training data, similar query sentences(with similar results) are closely positioned

Queries and results get a position in space

Q

Result Scoring

RR

Good results rank better based on proximity


Google Home

Introducing NEW RANKING FACTORS 2016 – coming in November…

Google.com

*NEW RANKING FACTORS 201610x more complex

Industry

Topic/Search Intention

Topic ATopic BTopic CTopic DTopic E

Health Finance eCommerce Media Etc.

You?

BUT

Content needs to be differentdepending on User Intention

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20500

1,000

1,500

2,000

2,500

3,000

Desktop 2016 Desktop 2015

Ø Top10 2016: 1,633 2015 : 1,285

𝜌2015=0.07

𝜌2016=0.05

+21%

Word CountGoogle.com

If someone searches for: best short hairstyles

What they probably want to see is less text are more imagesor image galleries

If someone searches for: Plato´s allegory of the cave

What they probably want to see is valid and structured info and more text

If someone searches for: x-box unboxing

What they probably want to see is a video and no text

The user needs to feel happy with the result.

User Experience

But businesses often fail in providing the right contentfor the respective user intention

?

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

50%

Desktop 2016

Click-Through Rate

𝜌=0.46

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

Desktop 2016

Time on SiteSeconds

𝜌=0.11

Feel safe, use HTTPS.Whether you're booking tickets, buying clothes or purchasing items from an auction site, shop safely and securely online using HTTPS.

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Desktop 2016 Desktop 2015

Ø Top10 2016: 45% 2015 : 14%+31%

HTTPS

𝜌=0.19

Google.com

AlgorithmDesire

• Answer to questions

• Best User Experience• Smooth User Journey

• Crawlability

• Technical requirements• Evaluation of Relevance

Online-ContentRelevance for Human AND Machine

Content-Relevance can be analyzed by structure

AND

It actually has the highest impact on rankings

Content Structure

Landing Page

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Image

Image

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDX

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXKEYWORDXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

search query

Relevance of content without keywords to search query

Remove keywords from text

search query = keyword

Content RelevanceNEW Factor 2016

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200.10

0.11

0.12

0.13

0.14

0.15

0.16

0.17

0.18

0.19

Desktop 2016

Content RelevanceNEW Factor 2016

𝜌𝐷𝑒𝑠𝑘𝑡𝑜𝑝=0. 04

Google.com

Topic ExplorerTOPIC:„security system“

Topic Explorer

„security system“YELLOW

„[…]camera system“BLUE

TOPIC:„security system“

Search Intention

security camera systems

10 out of top 10 e-commerce websites for this keyword have an

„add to cart“ function above the fold

Keyword: “security camera systems”

E-COMM Introducing Relevance

Relevant Terms and PhrasesTOPIC:„security system“

Searchmetrics Content Experience Suite

1.

2.

3.

“Knowing is not enough, we must apply.

Willing is not enough, we must do!”

Bruce Lee

1. ACTIONYou are aware you need to create good content, but being aware

is not enough. You have to take action.

2. EFFORTAnd even if you really want to be successful but you don’t apply

the most effort you can, you won’t be successful.

3. DATAWithout a clear knowledge of what to do, action is based on guesswork. Use the best information/source you can get.

But I still haven‘t found what I‘m looking for!

Health E- Commerce Finance

Travel Media

Different Industries, Different Ranking Factors

WHY?

Because each Industry has to deal with different Search Intentions.

Spender Backpacker Intellectual

User Intention

Spender

Wants best product.A spender is not worried about money. His user intention is to find the best product no matter what the price is.

luxury rolex watch

Wants cheapest offer.A backpacker needs to save every penny, but at the same time he wants to visit the coolest possible locations.

Backpacker

cheapest bus ticket

Wants valid information.An intellectual person is hoping to find the most relevant and valid information on the web.

Intellectual

Plato´s allegory of the cave

Search Query & ExpectationsExample: „costume ideas“

???

http://www.today.com/style/61-awesome-halloween-costume-ideas-its-not-too-late-

steal-t2741

Rank #1

60+ part image galleryShort descriptionLinks to relevant pagesHigh Social Engagement

User Intention = Inspiration!

✓✓✓✓


https://www.savers.com/halloween/costumes/allRank #16

14 costume suggestions

No product texts

General footer text

User Intention ≠ Shopping!

✗✗✗


Different IndustriesDifferent Ranking Factors

Health E- Commerce Finance

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 201,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2,200

2,400

2,600

2,800

3,000

Finance

Word Count

T10 Ø: 1717 Correlation: 0.01

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 201,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2,200

2,400

2,600

2,800

3,000

eCommerce Health Finance

Word Count

T10 Ø: 20712474 1717

Correlation: 0.020.14 0.01

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 201,000

1,200

1,400

1,600

1,800

2,000

2,200

2,400

2,600

2,800

3,000

eCommerce Health Finance Desktop 2016

Word Count

T10 Ø: 2071 2474 1717 1633

Correlation: 0.02 0.14 0.01 -0.01

Ø

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2050

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

210

230

250

Finance

Internal Link Count

T10 Ø: 102

Correlation: 0.05

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2050

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

210

230

250


Internal Link Count

T10 Ø: 219143 102

Correlation: 0.060.14 0.05

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 2050

70

90

110

130

150

170

190

210

230

250


Internal Link Count

T10 Ø: 219 143 102 126

Correlation: 0.06 0.14 0.05 -0.07

Ø

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

eCommerce Health

Keyword in Title

T10 Ø: 43%44%

Correlation: -0.11-0.06

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


Keyword in Title

T10 Ø: 43%44% 30%

Correlation: -0.11-0.06 -0.02

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%


Keyword in Title

T10 Ø: 43% 44% 30% 54%

Correlation: -0.11 -0.06 -0.02 -0.04

ØGoogle.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 300

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

eCommerce

Referring Domains

T10 Ø: 272736Correlation: 0.20

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 300

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000

eCommerce Health

Referring Domains

T10 Ø: 272736 99526

Correlation: 0.20 0.02

Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 300

50,000

100,000

150,000

200,000

250,000

300,000

350,000


Referring Domains

T10 Ø: 272736 99526 38728

Correlation: 0.20 0.21 -0.02

Google.com

Machine Learning Rank Brain Content Relevance

? ? ? ? ? ? ?

BacklinksIn times of self-evolving Machine Learning/Deep Learning algorithms,

backlinks just become one out of many many other factors

SO…

SEO tactics have died and Traditional Ranking Factors are fading away

However…

Traditional Ranking Factors

Why SEO is not deadStartpoint of Purchases

Source: Forrester/ Internet Retailer B2B Buying And Selling Online Survey 2014

92% of Business Purchasesstart with Search

81% of Shoppers Research Online before buying

Source: Adweek/ +GE Capital Retail Bank’s Major Purchase Shopper Study 2015

B2B B2C

However: There are still factors that

every industry should follow in order to have

success.

H2O

The Ranking Factors are not rigid anymore, they are formless, shapeless and they adapt to the

object.

Good site architecture

Relevant link structure

Basic tag usage and structure

Page Load Time

Basic technics features are still important

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200

20

40

60

80

100

120

140

160

Desktop 2016 Mobile 2016

Ø Top10 Desktop: 126

Ø Top10 Mobile : 71

Internal Link CountGoogle.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 206

7

8

9


Ø Top10 Desktop: 7.84 sec

Ø Top10 Mobile : 6.98 sec

Page load timeSeconds Google.com

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 200%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%


Ø Top10 Desktop: 85%

Ø Top10 Mobile : 75%

Page has H1Google.com

HOW TO STAY RELEVANT?

Strategic (technical ) FactorsIndustry Specific Factors

“Adapt what is useful, reject what is useless, and add what is specific your

own”Bruce Lee

Quality, Relevance and Uniqueness of Content

Be water, my friend.

searchmetrics.com/ostrava2016