01

What Machine Learning Means For The Future Of SEO

With the advent of the subset of artificial intelligence called machine learning (ML), the next big sea change for digital marketing is already on the horizon. Depending on who you ask, ML will either bring about a revolutionary simplification of SEO or usher in the next generation of complex, multi-tiered strategies. Where does the truth lie?

As with many things, I believe the answer lies somewhere in the middle. It is true that ML will have indelible impacts on the way we perceive SEO efforts, which may well simplify our interactions with search engines and how we build sites or create content. At the same time, effectively using the ML tools that will become available to marketers will likely still demand careful planning. How can you best prepare for this future? Take the time now to understand the impending impacts.

It's Time To Invest In Robust Content

Google's incorporation of ML models into its search products is no secret, but it is likely to evolve to even greater levels of sophistication in the near term. In a web environment where content is the key, the cornerstone of every plan, ML is on the way to rapidly acquire the ability to make quality determinations. Now, algorithms will assess factors such as keyword density, sentence structure and even phraseology to determine what content is most relevant to which users.

In other words, content for content's sake won't rank. You need to cater more specifically to user intent, and not just one intent but as many as you can imagine. With a rich multimedia content library, including videos, infographics, standard copy and more, standing out will become easier when you can put your focus on producing the best answers for user queries. Dropping buzzwords and blogging on hot topics isn't enough anymore; develop useful, evergreen content with real value for users instead.

Market To People, Not The Algorithm

In the past, SEO efforts relied heavily on an outsider's understanding of what goes on under the hood of Google's search systems, especially concerning link building. That task remains just as important as ever, but algorithms can now understand the quality and the usefulness of the links you include as well. This understanding is a blade that cuts both ways: ML rewards well-crafted pages with inherent value with higher visibility, but it likewise penalizes poorly structured pages with few or no links relevant to real users. Your goal, therefore, should be to begin with a different end in mind. Rather than developing strategies to rank, develop strategies to appeal to your users — they aren't the same thing.

It's not all about blasting content crammed with keywords and links out into digital space en masse anymore. Today, that only gets you dinged for spam. Instead, the ideal strategy is to develop marketing efforts that put the user back in the spotlight. Generate curiosity, answer questions and provide solutions naturally rather than within the strict artificial constructs of an SEO plan. Don't ignore the fact that link building and other fundamentals are still important, but trust that focusing on your users will yield more fruitful results as algorithms learn what people want to see.

Harness The Power Of ML Yourself

ML has a place within SEO architectures, too. While it is easy to think that your response should primarily be in reaction to changes on Google's part, why not take proactive steps to learn how to improve at the same time? ML models developed to analyze websites and the usage data they generate can reveal patterns that highlight new potential strategies.

For example, a model trained to assist with link building could identify pages that would benefit from more interlinking. Page optimization is an often-overlooked area, but there are real gains to realize by making improvements to existing pages and content first before investing in new or additional marketing. ML could tell you where your page snippets aren't meeting important metrics for relevancy or identify patterns of use that indicate untapped user desires, offering you the opportunity to build relevance and rank higher with pages that fully satisfy user intent.

Leave Ad Hoc Strategies Behind

Flying by the proverbial seat of your pants when implementing an online marketing strategy hasn't been the best approach for years, but it's certainly even less of an option going into the future. The future of the web looks very different from the 2010s, with mobile ecosystems and voice search only continuing to grow in relevancy. With ML focused on understanding user intent, page quality and more, it is a necessity to develop a well-rounded approach that sets clearly defined goals and implements metrics to understand progress and success. Take action now to develop a clear sense of how the current ecosystem functions, including ML efforts such as Google's RankBrain, and engage with professionals who can demystify these rapidly changing systems and help you to engage with them.

Invest The Time To Understand How To Respond To AI Developments

Now is the time to step back and re-evaluate SEO approaches in light of new and ongoing changes. ML is not a silver bullet to solve the woes of every digital marketing effort, but it is a fundamental development that will continue to transform the SEO landscape for years to come.

Now is the time to get in on the ground floor by embracing its potential and exploring how to apply it to your business, while remaining agile enough to respond to inevitable changes. Whether it is engaging with a highly skilled digital marketing team already well-versed in current and future ML trends, or perhaps even developing a model yourself, the future of SEO is one filled with exciting and innovative options.

02

Partnering with an Enterprise SEO Agency: What You Need to Know

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Choosing the right SEO agency can be a daunting task in itself.

Considering the complexity of what is needed from an enterprise SEO agency adds an entirely new level that can be overwhelming.

With so many SEO agencies popping up all over, how do you know which ones truly know how to optimize a website with the latest in Google’s algorithms without trickery or spam?

My experience over the last 20 years has found me on both sides of the fence.

I started my career building an SEO agency from a few people and a handful of clients to over 500 clients and staff of over 100 people in less than a year.

Cut to several years later (2006) and I’m on the other side for a large company interviewing for agencies to provide extra support.

The jump from working with a small to medium business into a large organization with corporate bureaucracy is not easy for any agency.

What Is an Enterprise Website?

An enterprise website is built with several complex databases pulled into one visually seamless interface including millions of dynamically generated pages and navigation with auto-generated content.

The larger the company and website, the more complex systems, teams and individual roles and responsibilities become.

Choosing the Right SEO Agency

A big factor in how your enterprise SEO agency will perform for you is having a clear understanding of what you will need them for once they are on-boarded.

Setting up expectations during the RFP process will not only help you weed out the capable from the not-so-capable, but will set you and them up for success in the long run.

Drafting up a business case with your agency and tools for SEO will help you get organized on your needs and what your plan is for your agency going forward.

The business case will also help communicate expectations with key stakeholders and gain buy-in.

Where to Find Enterprise SEO Agencies to Choose From

I personally have a list of agencies that follow me with new in-house roles and I recommend agencies as a consultant for clients depending on their needs.

Agencies will always say they can do anything but, from my experience, I know who can do what better and will always recommend accordingly.

If you don’t have your list, a tweet to SEOs or a post to a Facebook Group asking for recommendations can help. If you have time, attend a few conferences (e.g., SMX Advanced, Pubcon, Mozcon) to gather your list.

Peruse the booths, talk to speakers from agencies on the topics that your needs focus on, and talk to other attendees.

Get to know other SEO professionals at an enterprise level and ask them who they use, who they like, and why they like them.

If you are planning on reviewing a large number of agencies for a specific need, then a Request For Proposal (RFP) is needed, but not always necessary.

As long as you are clear on what your need(s) are and what your expectations are, you shouldn’t have any problem during the review process.

Allow each agency to chat with you one on one about your expectations, and present to a larger team as a second step.

I usually like to get a list of what the other teams would expect (in Groupon’s case, we have five SEO teams plus several business verticals across the global organization I needed to coordinate with).

This requires several meetings upfront but saves time and follow-up from unexpected questions when it comes down to the agencies presenting.

What Makes an Enterprise SEO Agency Different?

Agencies with enterprise-level experience will usually skip past the obvious fixes since they have an understanding that there could be business reasons for them.

An example is the Nordstrom website.

It’s a blaring SEO issue that anyone going to “nordstrom.com” is redirected to “shop.nordstrom.com”. I’ve always said that any SEO that didn’t bring that up don’t know SEO.

However, they should:

Continue with the understanding that there could be a business reason.

Follow up with the impact vs. effort it would take to fix it.

Be open to feedback with any pushback (or explanation) the SEO team might give during a review.

An agency that hasn’t worked with a complex, enterprise-level site might not understand that:

It isn’t as easy as it appears.

The business might not support it.

There could be legal reasons.

The fix might not be scalable.

Enterprise agencies will also understand that the level of engagement for a larger company might be higher than most of their smaller clients.

Enterprise SEO agencies need to be proactive since the SEO team at the company are more often distracted by all of the work that needs to get done.

Regular check-ins and open communication are critical to the success of the relationship. I have always worked best with agencies that have local offices and/or make frequent in-person visits.

The best agency I have ever worked with has an SEO manager that:

Sits in the office under contractor status with their own desk, company email, logins to tools and reporting.

Attends regular meetings between engineering and verticals across the organization.

In the end the relationship is that of an extension of the team that regularly communicates, proactively suggests growth strategies and foundational fixes, and follows through to ensure the work is getting done.

Managing Your SEO Agency

The key to managing your enterprise SEO agency is to keep the levels of communication flowing.

Give them the tools and access they need to become successful and help them champion any work they need through.

Too many times I have inherited strong and capable agencies that fell quiet with no actual work done in a matter of weeks, or even months. Frustrations were on both sides, to no one’s fault.

Contracts are always signed with positive optimism and a solid plan, but with communication dropping and little to no support, the agency can’t be successful and therefore your SEO will fall short.

Set up expectations and a plan (roadmap) of deliverables that the agency should follow. Be supportive where you can when they need you to be, and follow-through with other teams the agency needs to complete work as promised.

Have at least weekly check-ins with a clear list of what they are working on, what your team is working on, and expected delivery dates.

Talk through where you all are at with tasks for each, and always end with any recommendations they might have to keep the work flowing.

Monthly check-ins with key stakeholders always help to hold everyone accountable. Other teams can make use of the agency, but also need help understanding their role in work that needs to be done.

I like to end each quarter with a report on tasks completed and ROI on the projects or tasks completed more than 3 months prior.

In some cases, I have seen weekly, monthly and even daily reporting, but then the agency becomes a reporting agency rather than an SEO agency, and when the contract is up it isn’t renewed.

Find your sweet spot for communication and expectations, adjust as needed, and review the contract as often as you all feel it is necessary.

When you all are working together then you will see the success for SEO that both sides are there for.

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03

What You’re Probably Missing From Your SEO Strategy

Search Engine Optimization. What a buzz word. Most people have heard of it, some marketers may have dabbled in it, but there are very few people with a true understanding of what a real SEO strategy entails.

“But Carly, SEO is basic stuff,” you may say. “I know about optimizing for Google, writing meta descriptions, keywords, yadda yadda. I can just plug in Yoast and call it a day, right?”

Wrong. So very wrong, my friend.

There’s more to SEO than you probably realize because it’s constantly changing. I didn’t want to fall behind, so I enrolled in the Moz SEO Essentials Certificate course. If you’re looking to upgrade your marketing knowledge and save yourself from becoming an SEO dinosaur, I highly recommend it. But if you want to save some time and money, stick with me as I run through the world of SEO.

What exactly is SEO?

We’ll start with the basics. Moz defines search engine optimization as “the practice of increasing the quantity and quality of traffic to your website through organic search engine results.”

Okay, so what does that actually mean? Let’s break it down a bit further. Getting tons of website traffic is great, but what you really want is quality traffic — relevant leads that are actually interested in what you offer. There are many ways of getting users to your websites, like display ads and direct linking, but SEO is focused on organic traffic coming through Google, DuckDuckGo, Bing, and other search engines (seriously, some people actually use Bing).

How it works

Though you may think of Google as the mysterious genie that can answer all of your questions, there’s a lot that goes into assembling that magical list of search results. Google is constantly sending out Googlebot spiders to find what pages exist on the web. These little bots crawl known websites and find new ones through links. Next, they index what they found. They attempt to understand the content by looking at page titles, keywords, and formatting structure. Using all of this information, Google serves and ranks specific pages based on a user’s search query.

It is estimated that Google uses over 200 ranking factors to determine where your page lands in search results. Ultimately, proper SEO will help you adhere to those factors.

Setting up an SEO strategy the right way

Good SEO starts with a good strategy. Moz suggests you stick to their tried-and-true methodology, which includes 5 stages: Research, Audit, Optimize, Amplify and Iterate. Where lots of marketers go wrong is they skip right to Optimize because it contains the more high-profile tasks like titles, URL slugs, descriptions, and other metadata. While those things are important and have a lot of value, they’re just a small piece of the puzzle!

If there’s one key takeaway from this blog, let it be this: Do not skip the Research and Audit stages. Conducting proper keyword research will set a solid foundation for the rest of your strategy. Not only is it a great exercise to see where your brand fits in a competitive industry, but it’ll also help set the stage for building new web content and give a comprehensive view of your strengths and weaknesses at different stages of the funnel.

Keyword research for dummies

One of the easiest ways to build out a good keyword list is by setting up a matrix, Mr. Anderson. You can start by creating a grid that is sorted by Sales Funnel and Semantic Topics. Some examples of topics might be your buyer’s needs, buyer personas, or product/service line.

Why are the sales funnel stages relevant, you ask? It’s estimated that around 80% of searches are informational. This means the searcher is usually at the top or middle stage of the sales funnel, and they may not even know what their problem is yet. Since these searches are further away from conversion, there are generally fewer ads to compete with for keywords. It’s easier (and cheaper) to capture the audience at the top and guide them through the funnel rather than capturing them at the bottom.

Once you’ve built out your matrix you can create a keyword list from each cell. Moz suggests 400-500 keyword variants per cell. That may seem like a lot, but there are tons of handy tools out there to make your life easier, like the Moz Keyword Explorer. When you’re finished building your list, it’s time to filter and sort to identify target keywords. You want to look for keywords with high search volume, a high organic click-through rate, and a low difficulty ranking.

Finished? Then you’re well on your way to becoming a master SEO strategist. With this matrix at your fingertips, you can move through the next stages of the SEO Methodology by mapping your new keywords to the right pages. You’ll keep coming back to this matrix throughout the optimization process, so keep it handy.

Google is constantly changing its algorithms

Even if you follow this SEO methodology to a T, your SEO strategy will never truly be finished. In the field of marketing, everything is constantly changing and SEO is no different.

Over the years, Google has made significant changes to how, what, and why its search engine algorithm shows results. Does anybody else remember the good old days, when searching for something on Google resulted in a long list of plain ‘ol, blue links? Search the same query today, and you’ll likely be bombarded by Google Ads, image results, similar questions, map packs and more. You’ll probably have to scroll quite a ways before you find an actual organic link.

A comparison of Search Engine Result Pages: Then and now.

I’ll let you in on a little secret: Google doesn’t want you to leave Google. Okay, maybe everyone knew that already. If you stay in the search results, you’re more likely to click on an ad and make them some money. Google is making updates to its algorithm now on a monthly, if not weekly basis. While most of these changes are insignificant and go unnoticed, you have to stay ready for when something major happens.

These revolutionary updates — like mobile-first indexing — can completely change how links are shown and ranked organically. When mobile-first indexing dropped in 2018, businesses with slow, non-mobile sites waved goodbye to organic traffic. The strategy you use today could be useless tomorrow. The only constant is change.

What’s next?

Thankfully, Google usually announces what and when they’ll be doing. They’re also kind enough to provide tips and tricks on how to prepare for the coming changes. We recommend following the Google SearchLiason Twitter account to help stay on top of any changes. For more insights and strategies, check out Moz, Yoast and Search Engine Land. There’s no shortage of resources online to help you through SEO. The first step in becoming a master is admitting and understanding that you’re not a master. There’s a lot to learn and there’s no time like the present to get started.
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