SEO has changed significantly over the last decade, largely because Google has continuously updated its algorithms to improve search results. These updates aim to better understand user intent, reward high-quality content, and discourage manipulative practices. From foundational changes like Panda and Penguin to more recent updates like the November and December 2024 core updates, each has shaped how websites rank and how we approach optimization. Below is a look at some of Google’s most impactful updates and what they mean for SEO today.
The Panda update marked a shift in SEO by targeting low-quality content and spammy practices. It penalized sites with thin content or those created solely to manipulate rankings, such as affiliate-heavy pages. Over time, Panda became part of Google’s core algorithm, reinforcing the need for meaningful, high-quality content that provides real value to users.
2012 – Venice
Google’s algorithm update Venice was a noteworthy update, as it showed that Google understood that searchers are sometimes looking for results that are local to them. After Venice, Google’s search results included pages based on the location you set, or your IP address.
2012 – Penguin
The Google Penguin update focused on eliminating manipulative link-building practices. It penalized sites with spammy or paid backlinks, shifting the focus to earning genuine, high-quality links. By 2016, Penguin became part of the core algorithm, emphasizing the importance of ethical and relevant link-building strategies.
2012 – Pirate
The Pirate update addressed copyright infringement by penalizing sites with repeated DMCA takedown requests. It aimed to reduce the visibility of websites sharing unauthorized content, ensuring legitimate sources were prioritized in search results. This update highlighted the importance of respecting intellectual property online.
2013 – Hummingbird
The Hummingbird update improved Google’s ability to understand the meaning behind search queries. Rather than focusing on individual keywords, it considered the entire phrase to deliver more accurate results. This shift encouraged natural, conversational content and reduced the need for over-optimized keyword stuffing. It also laid the foundation for advancements in voice search and semantic search technology.
2014 – Pigeon
Another bird-related Google update followed in 2014 with Google Pigeon, which focused on local SEO. The Pigeon update affected both the results pages and Google Maps. It led to more accurate localization, giving preference to results near the user’s location. It also aimed to make local results more relevant and higher quality, taking organic ranking factors into account.
2014 – HTTPS/SSL
Google introduced HTTPS as a ranking signal to encourage secure web connections. Sites using HTTPS gained a slight ranking advantage, promoting better data encryption and security for users. While initially a minor factor, it signaled Google’s growing focus on user safety and set the stage for security becoming a standard expectation online.
2015 – Mobile Update
Known as “Mobilegeddon,” this update prioritized mobile-friendly websites in mobile search results. As mobile usage surpassed desktop, Google aimed to ensure a better experience for users on smaller screens. While the immediate impact wasn’t drastic, it marked a clear shift toward mobile-first indexing, emphasizing the importance of mobile optimization for long-term SEO success.
2015 – RankBrain
RankBrain introduced machine learning to Google’s algorithm, helping the search engine interpret unfamiliar or complex queries. It analyzed past searches to predict the most relevant results, even for terms it hadn’t encountered before. While you can’t directly optimize for RankBrain, creating clear, helpful, and user-focused content ensures your site aligns with its goal of improving search relevance.
2016 – Possum
In September 2016 it was time for another local update. Google’s algorithm update Possum update applied several changes to Google’s local ranking filter to further improve local search. After Possum, local results became more varied, depending more on the physical location of the searcher and the phrasing of the query. Some businesses, not doing well in organic search, found it easier to rank locally after this update. This indicated that this update made local search more independent of the organic results.
The Speed Update made page load time a ranking factor for mobile searches, building on its previous importance for desktop. Slow-loading sites were more likely to see a drop in rankings, especially on mobile devices. This update reinforced the need for fast, seamless user experiences, encouraging site owners to prioritize performance optimization.
2018 – Medic
The Medic Update was a broad core algorithm change that heavily impacted “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) websites, such as health, finance, and legal sites. It appeared to prioritize expertise, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness (E-A-T) in content, especially for topics affecting users’ well-being. While it wasn’t exclusively aimed at medical sites, it underscored the importance of credible, accurate, and user-focused information.
The BERT update (Bidirectional Encoder Representations from Transformers) enhanced Google’s ability to understand the context of words in a search query. By analyzing words in relation to the ones around them, BERT improved how Google interpreted natural language and intent. This update particularly helped with more conversational or complex queries, making search results more accurate and relevant. For content creators, it emphasized the value of clear, natural writing that directly addresses user needs.
The Page Experience update introduced a new ranking signal combining existing factors like mobile-friendliness and HTTPS with Core Web Vitals. These metrics measured real-world user experience, focusing on loading speed, interactivity, and visual stability. While content quality remained the top priority, this update emphasized the importance of delivering a smooth and user-friendly browsing experience.
Announced in 2021, MUM introduced a powerful AI system capable of processing information across multiple formats and languages. It can analyze text, images, and videos to deliver more comprehensive answers to complex queries. For example, MUM can combine insights from various sources to provide layered, context-rich results. This update signaled Google’s focus on deeper understanding and more diverse content delivery in search.
First run in April 2021, these updates prioritized detailed, insightful product reviews over thin or generic content. Google rewarded reviews that showed expertise, included real-world usage, and helped users make informed decisions. It’s a key update for affiliate and e-commerce sites focused on providing genuine value. The update ran multiple times over the years.
2022 – Helpful Content Update
The Helpful Content Update targeted low-quality, unoriginal content designed primarily to game search rankings. Instead, it rewarded “people-first” content—material that genuinely answers user questions and provides a satisfying experience. Sites with lots of unhelpful or shallow content saw declines, while those focused on creating valuable, user-centric content were prioritized. This update reinforced the importance of writing with the audience in mind, not just search engines.
Between 2023 and 2024, Google rolled out a mix of core and spam algorithm updates to enhance search quality and combat manipulative practices. Core updates focused on refining how content is evaluated, rewarding pages that provide high-quality, relevant, and trustworthy information. At the same time, spam updates targeted tactics like keyword stuffing, spammy backlinks, and low-quality AI-generated content. These changes reinforced Google’s priorities: surfacing helpful, user-focused content while penalizing manipulative SEO strategies.
2024 – Site Reputation Abuse
Google is cracking down on site reputation abuse, including parasite SEO. This tactic involves using trusted domains to host unrelated third-party content, like payday loans or casino reviews, to manipulate rankings. Sites caught violating this policy risk manual penalties, which require removing or noindexing the problematic content to recover. Legitimate uses of third-party content, such as syndicated news or user-generated material, are still allowed when properly managed.
Google algorithm updates: What’s next?
Google continues to refine its search algorithms with a growing focus on AI-driven search experiences. Recent advancements, such as Google AI Overviews, show a shift toward providing users with more intuitive and context-rich results. These tools combine AI to summarize complex topics, pull insights from multiple sources, and answer broader questions in a concise way.
Looking ahead, we can expect updates to further enhance understanding of search intent, prioritize high-quality content, and improve how information is presented. At the same time, technical factors like site speed, mobile usability, and security will remain essential. For website owners, the key is to stay adaptable by focusing on creating helpful, accurate, and user-centered content while keeping an eye on emerging AI trends in search.
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http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-18 08:50:432024-12-18 08:50:43Get instant clarity on your SEO with the new Yoast SEO Dashboard!
It’s the festive season! Or it’s nearly Valentine’s Day, or the start of summer, or… You get the drift. People love to celebrate, which is why seasonal content tends to do well during those periods. So, should you put effort into creating content for the holidays? We think so! But you should be smart about it. Here are five tips to help you create good-quality seasonal content.
Why should you create seasonal content?
A big benefit of creating seasonal content is that you’ll stay top of mind. After all, your customers are probably looking for content to give them ideas for gifts, services, or events. By participating in the trend, you’ll show your audience that your business is relevant.
Of course, by having seasonal content, you’ll also be able to boost your brand’s visibility and traffic. Especially if you have content optimized for seasonal keywords! In short: most people get swept up by the holiday season, so it’s good to join the hype.
Tip 1: Create evergreen seasonal content
Good news for busy people! You don’t need to create a new piece of seasonal content every year. It’s way better to create one excellent Christmas post, for example, that you optimize every year. Preferably, you optimize it a month or two before the event or holiday takes place.
This will save you time, and increases the likelihood of your content actually ranking (since that usually takes a while). So, avoid adding years to your content. Don’t write a piece about: Best recipes for Hanukkah 2024. Just delete the year from the title, and you’re good to go.
If you do want to include the year in your title, don’t include it in your URL. That way, you can update the post and title each year without having to constantly create new posts and redirect the old ones.
Our Black Friday post has a year in the title, but not in the URL
What if you already have multiple content pieces about the same holiday?
If your posts rank well for different keywords and they get a decent amount of organic traffic, keep them. But if there is overlap in the keywords they’re ranking for and they get okayish traffic, it’s better to merge them into one big post. Just make sure the post’s content still makes sense.
Our tip would be to use the URL of the post that is performing the best. For the other posts, make sure you redirect them to the optimized post so people won’t hit a 404.
Tip 2: Do keyword research
Whether you want to write a new post or optimize an existing one, it’s good to do research. First, start with keyword research, so you know what your audience is searching for during specific events or holidays.
Tip: you can always look for variations of your core keywords! For example, you can add “holiday” or “guide” or “summer/winter” to them.
Just don’t create content for content’s sake. Only write content if you’re sure that your audience is looking for this information. At the end of the day, you want your audience to feel that your site has added value.
Tip 3: Do competitor research
Once you’ve picked out a main keyword, it’s good to search for that keyword in Google, for example. Analyze the top results. Are they blog posts or category pages? If they’re blog posts, what kind of articles are they? For example, if all the top posts are how-to guides then you probably have the best chance of ranking if your article is a how-to guide as well. Just make sure to write something different from what’s already out there.
Tip 4: Plan well ahead of time
It’s good to remember that people often search for gift ideas or tips for activities or recipes weeks in advance. This means you’ll need to have your seasonal content ready before the actual holiday! That’s why it might be a good idea to have a content calendar for your posts, so you won’t forget.
Plus, it’s good to publish new content early so it has time to rank. After all, once the event is there, you want your content to be findable by your audience. That’s why it’s also a good idea to make sure your content meets Google’s helpful content and E-E-A-T guidelines.
Tip 5: Keep your seasonal content updated
Even though you’ve created evergreen content, make sure to update it at least once a year—preferably a couple of weeks before the event or holiday itself. Let’s say you have a new tip, or one of your products is no longer being produced. By updating your content, you’ll ensure that your content is always relevant and helpful. Which your audience and Google will both like!
Don’t forget to republish your content as new!
Once you’ve updated your content, don’t forget to change the publish date. This way, people (and search engines) will know it’s been updated. Of course, if you have a feature on your site that shows both the publish and updated date, then this isn’t necessary.
So why should you republish or update your content? Again, it shows that your content is relevant and current. Because let’s be honest, how would you feel if you read a blog post with Tips for a perfect summer vacation and the date said 2018? You’d think it was outdated, right?
Tip: Our free Duplicate Post plugin allows you to easily rewrite and republish your posts! With the plugin, you can edit your posts without taking them offline.
You can access the Rewrite & Republish feature via the WordPress toolbar or from the post overview
Seasonal content: the gift that keeps on giving
If you’ve got a solid post that you can update every year, you’ll ensure that you’ll give your audience helpful content. Plus, you’ll gain more traffic during seasonal events. Just make sure to update or write your content weeks in advance, so it has time to rank. All that’s left then, is to promote your content, for example on your social media channels or via email marketing. Good luck!
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-11 13:59:542024-12-11 13:59:545 tips on how to create good seasonal content
We love to say that SEO is always changing, and 2024 proved that true. There’s hardly been a year more challenging and exciting than that. But as we’re heading into 2025, we’re sure we have not seen the last of it. With everyone banking on AI, search, and the search industry are set for another sea change. In this post, we hear from seasoned SEO experts for their predictions on the future and how you can prepare.
2024 was a year with many newsworthy developments. We won’t review everything here, as that would need a book, but maybe someone will make a documentary about life as an SEO in 2024. Or maybe life at Google, as the search giant was central to almost all the big news.
Google deemed a monopoly
Let’s start with the biggest: Google faced a significant legal ruling when a federal judge declared it a monopoly in August. This landmark antitrust case found that Google’s dominance in the search engine market violated antitrust laws. Since then, there have been many discussions about potential regulatory changes and impacts on the broader search and tech industry. Currently, it looks like the DOJ will ask Google to sell off Chrome, among other things.
Google launched AI Overviews
In May, Google launched AI Overviews during its I/O event. This new feature uses AI to generate concise summaries in search results, aiming to make searches more efficient and user-friendly. This integration marked a significant advancement in using AI within search engines. AI Overviews are now available in most markets, but not the EU.
Google search documents leak
Around the same time, a massive leak of Google’s search API documentation occurred, revealing over 2,500 pages of internal documents. Although the leaked documents do not contain the algorithm’s secret recipe, they provide valuable insights into Google’s inner workings.
Core updates keeping everyone up at night
Throughout the year, Google’s core updates led to significant swings in search rankings and notable traffic changes for many websites. For many of us, it remains an ongoing challenge to adapt to evolving algorithms quickly.
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Additionally, in March, Google banned Parasite SEO, a practice that exploits high-authority domains for quick ranking. Google uses this ban to improve search quality and eliminate manipulative practices within its search ecosystem. This policy affected major sites like Time, Forbes, CNN, and the Wall Street Journal, as they were penalized for not adhering to Google’s guidelines.
OpenAI launches ChatGPT Search
In non-Google news, OpenAI introduced a search feature within ChatGPT in October, which was another groundbreaking development. This addition allows users to access up-to-date web information directly through the chatbot. As a result, OpenAI became a direct competitor to traditional search engines and offered a new way to find information online.
These were just some of the big events that happened in 2024. SEO is one of the most dynamic industries — there is never a dull moment! But this also means that you must stay informed about SEO trends for 2025 and be able to adapt to a rapidly changing environment.
We’ve asked several trusted experts for their predictions of what’s happening next in SEO in 2025. We’ll present their answers in themes, starting with the biggest one: the role of AI in SEO.
AI’s role in SEO
Artificial Intelligence is reshaping how businesses and professionals approach SEO. As AI tools become more advanced, they offer both opportunities and challenges.
Content generation and strategy
Arnout Hellemans (independent SEO consultant) believes AI will “massively” transform SEO strategies. However, he says, “The issue is that search engines will leave loads more content out of the index because it’s generic content already there.”
This means businesses must focus on creating unique and valuable content rather than relying solely on AI-generated text. AI can help keep content updated and assist in research, but human oversight remains critical. Hellemans suggests that while AI advances rapidly, “human oversight and rewriting is still really needed.” This balance ensures content remains relevant and engaging.
Streamlining content creation
Lily Ray (VP, SEO Strategy & Research at Amsive) points out that AI can make content creation much more efficient: “More and more companies will find ways to integrate AI into their content creation and optimization strategies. Outside of using AI to generate content, AI can create major efficiencies that streamline the content creation, such as analyzing and summarizing data, producing insights and text content at scale; generating metadata and structured data, and much more. While mass-producing AI content on a large scale can present SEO risks in some cases, using AI creatively and intelligently can dramatically speed up and improve the content ideation and creation process.”
Using AI for more than just content creation
Lily’s colleague Johnny Herge added that content writers will start using AI tools to do more than just produce content. “A new way many SEOs will succeed in 2025 is by using AI to help with the final product besides the copy itself. Coding is made infinitely easier with AI. Using AI will allow writers to make data analytics scripts or scripts that organize data and pull insights that would have previously required a writer to have a different skillset entirely. This likely will lead to writers being able to put forward much further quantifiable insights. ”
Kevin Indig (independent consultant) agrees: “AI + no-code offers SEO and other marketers powerful new workflows around building systems instead of working on single campaigns. I expect us to see many more examples of “systemization” next year, which will lead to smaller SEO teams with larger impact.”
AI and SEO tools will improve
As AI and SEO tools evolve, they will become much smarter. They don’t just identify issues but suggest fixes, making them incredibly valuable. Kyle Risley (Senior SEO Lead at Shopify) predicts, “SEO tools will evolve to be more proactive, shifting from merely identifying issues to offering comprehensive solutions. For small businesses with limited time and resources, these recommendations can help improve site quality, even without specialized SEO knowledge. Instead of simply noting “Your title tag is too short,” tools will suggest “Your title tag is too short. Click here to implement a better one.”
AI agents and AI brandbuilding
Jes Scholz (independent Growth Marketing Consultant and SEO Futurist) says, “AI agents will be all the hype, but very few SEOs will actually change their strategy. Only the bold will have the buy-in to take tactics to the cutting edge. But this will be needed as LLM-powered surfaces (AI Overviews, ChatGPT, etc.) start slowly but steadily eating into traditional search. Quick win AI visibility tactics, like best of listicles, will rise and fall like the meta keyword tag of old. Brand building on popular RAGd platforms will likely emerge as a dependable strategy. But no matter what, now is the time you can win the HoM/CMO/CEOs attention.”
Google’s AI Overviews will evolve
Kevin Indig predicts that Google’s AI Overviews will evolve: “I expect AIOs to morph into other formats next year, similar to how they contain products in shopping. Right now, they look like Featured Snippets, but I expect Google to keep iterating. I also expect them to roll AIOs out even further to monetizable queries, widening the gap between what’s measurable and what’s happening in the search results even more.”
Mark Williams-Cook(SEO Director at Candour) adds: “We’ve long seen the trend of Google trying to keep searchers on their SERP, and with their recent announcement they have reduced the cost of generating AIOs by 90%, I think it’s obvious we’re only going to see more of them. However, AI in the form of LLMs does open new doors, especially with content creation, without falling into the no-value trap of having AI write your content for you.”
Yoast SEO expert insights for 2025
Carolyn Shelby – Principal SEO at Yoast
The balancing act of SEO professionals In 2025, the big shift in SEO will be balancing diversified visibility with unified messaging. As AI-powered platforms, alternative search engines, and social discovery tools like TikTok, ChatGPT Search, and even Reddit increasingly influence how users find information, businesses can no longer rely solely on Google to drive traffic. Success will come from creating a consistent, authoritative presence across these fragmented ecosystems.
SEO professionals will need to ensure brand messaging remains cohesive and trustworthy across all channels while adapting to each platform’s unique requirements. Structured data, multimedia content, and a deep understanding of user intent will become critical to connecting the dots between platforms and maintaining a seamless user experience. In 2025, SEO will evolve into an integrated marketing discipline where visibility and messaging work hand in hand to build lasting trust and engagement.
Adapting to zero-click searches
The rise of zero-click searches is changing how businesses approach SEO in 2025. Getting clicks can be harder as users find answers directly on search result pages. Here are our experts’ predictions on this challenging topic.
Maintaining visibility
Arnout Hellemans suggests that you “start looking at other platforms (both search engines and AI interfaces) and try to understand how you can be included in their answers (think Claude, ChatGPT, Bing, Brave search engine). By doing this, you can ensure your business remains visible even when traditional clicks decrease.”
Building a brand following
Building a strong brand presence is essential. Arnout advises businesses to focus on “proper marketing, such as building a following or fans. Visibility will start shifting away from Google; I think this is where we will find plenty of opportunities.” Engaging with your audience on social media and other platforms helps maintain interest and loyalty, even if users don’t click through to your site directly.
Leveraging AI and alternative channels
Kyle Risley says, “As clicks become harder to come by in organic search, there are pretty much two options for organic acquisition: hang on to as much of your remaining click share as you can and activate new traffic acquisition channels.” This could mean looking at channels like TikTok and YouTube. These platforms are gaining traction as starting points for user journeys. Businesses can create engaging content on these channels to reach new audiences and drive traffic.
Becoming a source for AI Overviews
Gus Pelogia (Senior SEO Product Manager at Indeed) notes that being a source in AI Overviews can be more relevant than getting clicks: “Imagine searches displaying a brand’s blog as a source (e.g. software listicles). If one of the players is the main source for AI Overviews, they’ve more control over the message vs competitors. Could they change the wording to say better things about them?
“I’d guess many people will see an AI answer mentioning a few brands and what’s being said about them, and later, they will move to each brand’s website to evaluate their options. That specific search was a zero-click, but there’s a new one happening directly to your company’s website.”
“It’s interesting that clicks will decrease, but since AI Overviews are a RAG (AI answers validate with sources), many pages will still have a reason to exist since they’ll validate the AI answer. This is intent-dependent. Many informational, common-knowledge queries won’t require new articles or have a brand impact.”
Reddit is not going away; make use of it
Kevin Indig doesn’t expect Reddit’s growth to slow: “Searchers want connection and a non-commercialized space. I expect Google to improve at showing Reddit posts that are not outdated or thin. The implication is that domains must compete for one less spot since Reddit takes up many top spots in the search results. On the other hand, it becomes a valuable pool of audience insights and engagement. Brands that develop a playbook to grow their visibility on Reddit have a chance to improve their sentiment and create loyal customers.”
Expand your data tracking
Aleyda Solis predicts that tracking pixels, SERP features, and clicks vs. no-clicks will become fundamental: “Start monitoring your overall SERP visibility and click behavior: Your SERP features shifts — AI overviews included — pixel visibility from the top, as well as clicks (and no-clicks) shifts per content type and SERP feature, to focus your SEO strategy accordingly.”
Yoast SEO expert insights for 2025
Alex Moss – Principal SEO at Yoast
The evolving role of the SEO: It’s more than just “SEO” As an SEO professional, I’ve witnessed a dramatic shift in our field, particularly in 2024. While the traditional “SEO” title remains, it has become an increasingly outdated term. Our role is expanding, becoming more multifaceted, and demanding a broader skillset. We’re no longer solely focused on optimizing for Google; we’re becoming Discovery Optimization Experts responsible for ensuring brands are found across the entire digital landscape.
Several factors drive this shift, including the rise of AI-powered search engines like ChatGPT and Perplexity and the growing importance of platforms like TikTok and Reddit as legitimate discovery channels.
Furthermore, the perception of SEO as purely a marketing function is misguided. SEOs bring a unique understanding of the digital ecosystem far beyond traditional marketing. We should be more involved in high-level business decisions that shape a company’s online presence, influencing everything from website design to content strategy to product development.
The future of SEO is exciting, but our value still tends to be underrated. Our skillset will need to expand further yet again, practicing through experimentation.
The rising importance of video content
Video content is becoming a key component of SEO strategies in 2025. Its engaging nature offers a unique way to connect with audiences.
Video-first approach
Mark Williams-Cook says, “I expect we’ll see many smaller businesses take a ‘top-down’ approach with content now, meaning they will go video first – and I think this is really smart. Video content is cheap, fast to make, and a natural way to pull real insight out of people. With the tooling we have now, it’s easy to automatically produce transcripts, which in turn, LLMs can rewrite into a more traditional ‘article’ style. This approach means you’ll get the video to share over multiple platforms, which is not only hard for AI to replicate but how a lot of people prefer to engage in content.”
Google’s focus on video content
Lily Ray confirms that “video content is increasingly essential, as Google prominently features YouTube and sometimes TikTok across various surfaces, like Search, Discover, Google News, the Video tab, Short Videos, and more. Site owners should be well-versed in changes to how Google indexes video content and expands their text content into visual formats.”
“As it relates to video indexing, Google now requires that a video be the focus of an indexed watch page for the video to get indexed (“Google indexes videos only from indexed watch pages.”) Using YouTube to host the video is another way to ensure that the video is indexed, but be sure to use VideoObject structured data to “connect” your watch page to the YouTube video for the watch page to get video rich features in search results.”
Interactive engagement
Gareth Hoyle emphasizes that “video will also continue to gain importance due to its interactive nature and engagement. AI video will continue to grow, but like the EEAT signals above, curated and well-engaged real video will help businesses showcase themselves to Google’s algorithm and their current and potential new customers.”
E-commerce SEO shifts
The landscape of e-commerce SEO is evolving, particularly with changes in how Google handles shopping queries. Businesses need to adapt to these shifts to stay competitive. These are some of the predictions our SEO experts had to share.
Google Shopping tab focus
Kevin Indig expects “the new Shopping Tab experience to become the default experience for shopping queries. As we’ve seen before, Google often tests a new experience in the shopping tab and then moves it to the main tab. The implication is that e-commerce SEO becomes more about optimizing product pages as Google becomes the new category page.”
Optimizing product pages
As Google will likely integrate more e-commerce features directly into search results, businesses must optimize their product listings. With the emphasis on product pages, businesses should ensure that these pages are detailed and informative. This includes high-quality images, detailed product descriptions, customer reviews, and clear pricing information. Structured data markup can enhance how products appear in search results, increasing visibility and click-through rates.
Product feed accuracy
Accurate and organized product feeds are crucial. Kyle Risley highlights the importance of having “well-organized and error-free product feeds” as search engines increase the visibility of organic product listings. This requires regularly updating product information and ensuring consistency across platforms.
Adapting to new channels
As consumers begin their shopping journeys on platforms like TikTok and YouTube, businesses should consider expanding their presence on these channels. Creating engaging product videos and leveraging social commerce features can attract new customers and drive traffic.
Sign up for our monthly SEO news webinar Learn more about the SEO trends and predictions of 2025 with insights from industry experts. Join our free monthly installments of the SEO Update by Yoast to learn strategies that drive results. Reserve your spot today.
Today, brand authority is vital if you want to perform well in search results. As search engines evolve, they will develop new ways of determining how valuable your brand is. Building a good — human — brand is one of the best ways to stand out from the crowd.
Targeting branded queries
Aleyda Solis emphasizes that it’s all about brand optimization: “Brand optimization becomes key. It’s clear that Google wants to feature real, authoritative brands at the top of the SERPs, which is also helpful for increasing CTR and optimizing conversions. Grow your brand authority by understanding your company brand positioning and considering it in your SEO strategy: Target your branded queries, specify your brand details with structured data, optimize your knowledge panel details, etc.”
Focusing on EEAT
Gareth Hoyle highlights the importance of EEAT (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) referenced content: “As Google continues to improve its ability to weed out low-level, auto-produced AI content, EEAT-referenced content will become increasingly important and visible as Google increases trust based on what it knows about the author rather than just the words on the page. I am sure it will be an ongoing battle as spammers and content sites continue to churn out page after page of content, but the personal brand will help the cream rise to the top.”
Local SEO trends for 2025
Local SEO is essential for small and medium-sized businesses attracting nearby customers. As we move into 2025, businesses should focus on a few key areas.
Google Business Profile optimization
Keeping an updated and complete Google Business Profile is essential. Freelance SEO expert Arnout Hellemans emphasizes that a “regularly updated Google Business Profile and a fully completed profile will be extremely important.” This means ensuring that all business information is accurate and up-to-date. Regularly adding new photos, responding to customer questions, and posting updates can make your business more appealing to local searchers.
The power of reviews
Customer reviews significantly impact local search rankings. According to Arnout, reviews with the “right sentiment,” particularly those discussing “the services received and results,” are crucial. Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews, highlighting their experiences with your services. Responding to positive and negative reviews shows that you value customer feedback and are committed to improving your business.
User experience (UX) enhancements
Improving user experience is key to boosting SEO performance. A smooth and intuitive website keeps visitors engaged and encourages them to explore more.
Form validation and friction reduction
Arnout Hellemans highlights the importance of “proper form validation on lead forms and checkout.” Ensuring that forms work correctly and are easy to use can prevent user frustration. Make sure users can easily fill out and submit forms without errors.
Removing distractions is also crucial. Arnout advises focusing on “the removal of distractions like pop-ups on every page.” Pop-ups can be annoying and disrupt the browsing experience. Limiting their use or ensuring they’re relevant and easy to close can help maintain user attention.
Leveraging SEO communities
Joining SEO communities can be a game-changer for people looking to enhance their knowledge and network. These communities offer support, insights, and opportunities that can drive growth.
Growth of global SEO communities
Jo Turnbull (Founder and Marketing Consultant at Turn Global) mentions that by 2025, there will be “the growth of global SEO and digital communities.” This growth is particularly beneficial for smaller brands aiming to build authority. Being part of a community provides access to shared experiences and advice from peers facing similar challenges.
Jo says, “We have seen a growth in members of some communities such as Women in Tech SEO, The FCDC and the DMU (a community for freelancers) over the past few years and many communities will continue to grow in 2025. SEO Office Hours has had over 60k views and regularly has between 30 and 40 live attendees per episode. As of November 23rd, there have been 50 episodes.”
“The International Search Summit, run by WebCertain, has grown to over 600 attendees, but when it first started in Barcelona, there were just 50. Search London has been running for nearly 14 years, and we have grown to now run events in Barcelona. They sold out of tickets just by promoting on social media and within our network.”
Support and learning opportunities
SEO can often feel isolating, especially in smaller companies where one person handles most of the SEO tasks. Jo notes that these communities help individuals who “look for external support” as they navigate frequent updates and changes in SEO. Participating in events, webinars, and online forums provides valuable learning opportunities and informs members about the latest SEO trends and techniques.
Building networks and careers
Being active in an SEO community can also open doors to career opportunities. Networking with other professionals can lead to collaborations, job offers, and new projects. Jo points out that people join communities to “feel and be supported,” learn from one another, and advance their careers.
Conclusion to SEO in 2025
As we move into 2025, staying on top of SEO trends is more important than ever. The events of 2024 have shown us how quickly the landscape can change, from legal rulings and algorithm leaks to shifts in digital strategies. These changes underscore the need for you to remain agile and informed.
Join our monthly SEO news webinar to keep up with these changes and gain deeper insights. Alex and Carolyn — our resident SEO experts — talk you through all the latest developments. It’s a great opportunity to stay informed about the latest trends and strategies. Please sign up today and learn how to navigate SEO in 2025. Let’s continue to learn and adapt together.
Do you have any thoughts or predictions about SEO in 2025 to share? Please comment on this post!
Google’s Search Engine Results Page (SERP) offers more than just a list of links. Its layout can change based on what you’re searching for, presenting various SERP features tailored to your needs. You might see different elements like featured snippets, shopping options, or local listings and also AI Overviews. Understanding these can help you navigate the results more effectively. This guide will help you identify and differentiate between the paid and organic results you encounter.
Search features are elements on a search engine results page (SERP) that provide information beyond the standard list of links. They include things like featured snippets, image packs, and knowledge panels. These features make it easier for users to quickly find answers and relevant information in search results.
Google Search is really rich with information these days
A new SERP feature: Google AI Overviews
AI Overviews are a new feature in Google’s search results. They use artificial intelligence to create concise summaries that answer user queries quickly. These summaries appear at the top of search pages, providing immediate information without the user needing to click through links, although links are provided. This feature helps users find the information they need faster and increases the visibility of diverse websites.
Google AI Overview provide a new way of accessing information from search
It depends on what you’re searching for
What the result page looks like largely depends on what you are searching for. If you’re searching for a product you can buy, Google will show shop results on the SERP. For example, when we searched for hockey equipment for an eight-year-old, Google showed us this:
An example of a product search on Google
This results page starts with shopping results, with images on top. On the left-hand side, you will see all kinds of filters to fine-tune your product search as well. To enter the Sponsored section, you must pay Google – note the word ‘sponsored’ in the upper left corner. After those results, the first is an ad, which is another paid result. And then the organic results start.
However, if you’re searching for information about the planet Neptune – because your son is writing an essay about that – you’ll encounter a different-looking SERP:
Different searches show different SERP features on Google
These search results do not show any paid or sponsored results. At the top, you’ll see an AI Overview for the topic, and on the right, you’ll notice a knowledge graph with lots of information about the planet Neptune. There’s even an interactive diagram to learn more about what Neptune looks like.
The default page of Google’s search result is a page on which different results appear. Google decides which results fit your search query best. That could be ‘normal’ results, but also news results, shopping results or images. If you’re searching for information, a knowledge graph could turn up. When you’re searching to buy something online, you’ll probably get lots of shopping results on the default result page.
Google Search has many options than just regular search
You can apply some filters on the search results yourself if you want to. You can, for instance, click on ‘images’ if you’re searching for an image. This allows you to browse through images only. You can also choose ‘shopping’, ‘maps’, ‘forums’, ‘videos’, ‘news’ and ‘more’.
Google shows both paid results and organic results. It can be pretty hard to notice the difference between the two. The ads usually appear on top of the search results. Sometimes it’s only one ad, but Google can show more ads as well. This depends on how many people search for a certain search term and who wants to pay for it.
There are many sponsored listings in Google
You’ll recognize the paid result by the word Sponsored shown in front of the link to the website. The shopping results in Google are also paid results: a company pays Google to appear in the shopping results. If you want to advertise on Google, you should check out Google Adwords.
Organic results
Google’s organic results are all non-paid results. According to Google’s algorithm, the organic results shown first are the best fit for the user’s search query. Search Engine Optimization (SEO) improves the chances of ranking in organic search results.
Snippets
The search result page consists of a number of snippets. A snippet is a result Google shows to the user in the search results. A ‘normal’ snippet usually looks like this:
A regular Google snippet
Google shows the title in blue, the URL in grey, and a description of the page. You’ll also encounter rich snippets on the SERP. A rich snippet shows extra information between the URL and the description. A rich snippet looks like this:
A rich result as shown in Google search
In this snippet, a picture of the ice cream is added. You can see the recipe’s rating and the time it takes to prepare this type of ice cream. A rich snippet contains much more information than a normal snippet does.
Besides snippets, images, videos, news results, shopping results and maps, Google also shows some other elements on the SERPs.
Knowledge Graph panel
The Knowledge Graph Panel appears on the right side of the search results. According to Google, this information is retrieved from many sources, including the CIA World Factbook and Wikipedia. Information from the Knowledge Graph is used to answer spoken questions in Google Assistant and Google Home voice queries.
An example of a knowledge graph panel Google search feature
People also ask
This box appears somewhere between the organic search results. It’ll suggest questions related to the search query you typed in. You’ll encounter these related questions in the organic search results if you’re searching for Minecraft. Clicking on one of the suggestions will directly answer the specific question.
Google’s People also ask search feature
Featured snippets
A featured snippet, aka answer box, is a highlighted search box that answers the question you type in the Google search bar. This featured snippet box is situated above the regular organic search results. Featured snippets often appear as a paragraph or a bulleted list, accompanied by an image.
Featured highlight answers directly at the top of the Google search results
When you search from something locally, the Local 3-pack can show up to highlight three related local businesses. It’s a Google search feature that provides information such as business names, addresses, phone numbers, and customer reviews. This feature is often integrated with Google Maps. It helps users find directions and learn more about local businesses.
This search feature shows three local result based on the query
Image pack
The image pack search feature shows a collection of images related to a search. Typically shown in a grid or carousel format, they allow users to quickly browse visual content without leaving the search page. For some searches, images are a better fit than just regular links or other SERP features.
An example of an image pack in Google’s search results
Top stories
Top stories is a search feature on Google that displays the most recent and relevant news articles. This section typically appears near the top of the search results, highlighting breaking news and timely updates. It includes headlines, publication names, and often images to quickly inform users about current events.
Google’re Top stories feature shows the most important news
Conclusion about SERP features
Google’s search engine results pages can show various elements: the search results (so-called snippets), AI Overviews, a knowledge graph, a featured snippet, an answer box, images, shopping results, and more. Some of these elements will show up depending on the type of query and the data Google finds. You can add structured data to your page so Google can show a ‘rich’ snippet, providing more information about your product or recipe, for instance.
You can pay Google to make the snippet of your page end up high on the search results page as an ad. Or, you can optimize your pages for the search engines – and users! – so it will rank high organically. That’s SEO, and that’s what we write about!
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-05 11:00:532024-12-05 11:00:53Features of the Google Search Engine Results Page (SERP)
The world of SEO keeps evolving and changing, which is why it’s important to keep developing your own skills. An excellent way to do this is via hands-on experimentation. In this post, I’ll share three valuable lessons I’ve learned from my previous ventures.
A bit of background information: I started experimenting with SEO in 1999 without realizing it, when I created a South Park fan website. This was done via my early foray into the fundamentals of HTML and having fun with the site through different experiments. I discovered that by manipulating meta keywords, I could influence search rankings. Nowadays, that tactic wouldn’t fly, but it’s still incredible that I learned about SEO this way rather than the more predictable entry through my first professional jobs!
It didn’t stop there, though. I kept learning by starting my own businesses and creating my own websites and plugins, which gave me invaluable insight into customer behavior, product development, and marketing. Plus, I gained a deeper understanding of website structures and functionalities, which we all know is invaluable for technical SEO.
Tip 1: Embrace experimentation
It’s unsurprising, then, that my first piece of advice is: embrace experimentation. That’s how I learned most of what I know. Simply start by experimenting on your own personal website or create a new site to work with. If you use tools like LocalWP, you can freely experiment without impacting live websites.
And don’t shy away from getting your hands dirty with code! Writing code might seem daunting at first, but I promise you it pays off. I taught myself coding in PHP around 2002 and figured it out quite quickly, approaching code like a puzzle I needed to solve. If I could figure it out on my own during my teenage years (when the technology was in a much earlier stage), then you can too.
Explore new technologies and platforms
We all know WordPress is great. I think so too. It’s a truly unique and amazing platform to get started with, because it allows you to extend and experiment with plugins, as well as being able to create custom websites to your heart’s desire.
In recent years, more CMSs (content management systems) have launched as well as really upping their game to the wider market. Whilst a lot can be good for simpler needs, my preference always naturally returns to WordPress as my experiments and scaling attempts will always eventually hit a wall with other CMSs out there.
Create that website for someone else
After you’ve experimented and gained an understanding of websites and SEO, people you know may start to ask you to build one for them, or help out with one they have already. Whilst this may sometimes seem annoying at the time, it’s a great opportunity to experiment with someone live on the web so you can create a use case for your work.
Working with different people and businesses will make sure you encounter different challenges and opportunities to develop new skills. This will ultimately enhance your SEO capabilities.
Tip 2: The importance of a customer-centric mindset
One venture I learned many lessons from is from when I owned a bar with my wife. Whilst this was far from SEO, it taught me many lessons, some of which I apply in my job today.
It’s the same with any business, online or physical. If you understand who your customer is, you can create content and products that resonate with them. This will make them much more likely to become your customers. With a physical business, it’s easier to engage directly with the customer, but in the digital world this can be more challenging. You can learn a lot by engaging with individual customers or end-users directly through a video call or meeting them in real life—try to do this for your clients or the company you work for.
Build a strong (online) community
An interesting story of brand loyalty: one day the bar received a one-star review on TripAdvisor. The reviewer said they were happy with their visit in general – with great service and wine – but there was a dog in the bar, which seemed unfair considering that the dog was 3 tables away from the customer and that it’s a dog-friendly bar (as most are in the suburbs). However, this does happen to businesses from time to time and we replied to the review. Back at the bar, some regular customers noticed the review and decided to add their own—all 5 stars. Three days later, the review was removed. This brought our average rating up as a result, which also improved our ranking within TripAdvisor.
This really brought home that not only can a disproportionately negative review have real consequences for a business and its owners, but also showed how brand loyalty counts for so much.
By nurturing and maintaining a relationship with your audience, people will talk about you online and offline.
Tip 3: Be mindful of niche trends
Remember NFTs? Non-Fungible Tokens are a form of digital asset all powered by the blockchain and were extremely popular during 2020-2022. You may have seen a couple of them, including Bored Ape Yacht Club—a generative NFT collection—or a single NFT by Beeple sold for $69.3m.
During its increased popularity, I co-founded an NFT marketing agency. One SEO tactic I used was to utilize my existing agency and create a landing page there to sell the service, using the site’s existing relevance and authority. As a result we began ranking quicker than any other agency was attempting to, whilst also using our newly built site to do the same. Building something from the ground up is a long process but is still worth it, as even the new agency’s site ranked independently and earned its own authority.
Avoid putting all your eggs in one trendy basket
Whilst the NFT marketing agency gave me a lot of invaluable experience and garnered new connections, the trend—and therefore the business—didn’t last.
This experience highlighted the limitations of niche trends for me. It was a great learning experience, but it taught me that trends are usually not a solid foundation for any long-term goals you might have. Whilst it’s great to go “all in” on a new venture, ensure that your current one is supported enough or balance both until one gets to a position you make yourself redundant in the other.
Get experimenting!
I hope this post helps nudge you to explore beyond business as usual. After all, the best way to enhance your SEO and other professional skills is by experimenting!
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-12-03 13:17:352024-12-03 13:17:35Enhance your SEO skills through experimentation
Every business owner with a website is looking for ways to get noticed in the search results. There are loads of tactics to rank well as a local business, but unfortunately, there is no silver bullet. As with most things SEO, this is a combined effort. One of the ways to get noticed is by offering customers up-to-date information like opening hours and contact information. You can do this using Google Business Profile, formerly Google My Business. But what is it exactly, and why is it so important for local SEO?
Before we start, it’s good to know that Google recently changed its name from Google My Business to Google Business Profile. But even with its new name, Google Business Profile is still your one-stop shop for managing your business information and how it will be presented in the search results. It is an essential tool to adjust how your business is shown in Google Maps, the Knowledge Graph, and organic search results. According to the most recent edition of Whitespark’s Local Search Ranking Factors Survey, Google My Business remains the biggest driver of local SEO success, with reviews coming in second place.
You can manage your business listing by adding NAP details, opening hours, photos, etcetera. There are even unique options to show multiple ways to shop (delivery or curbside pickup). In addition, you get many other options, like managing the reviews your customers leave behind. As you might already know, reviews should be a critical part of your local SEO efforts.
Want to learn more about local SEO and how to get higher rankings in the local search results? Our Local SEO training helps you improve your online presence and attract more online and offline visitors.
How does it work?
Getting started with Google Business Profile is easy; you make an account and claim your business. After filling in your details, you need to verify your business. You can choose between receiving an automated call or text with a verification code, or receiving a real-life postcard from Google at your specified address with the verification code. Some businesses may need to verify with a video. You may have to verify with more than one method. So, why does Google want you to verify your account? They want to ensure that you’re telling the truth and that you’re the business owner listed at the address. Google has a special page that helps you check your verification status.
Once verified, you can fill in all the necessary details and check how your listing is doing. You can get regular insights to see how many impressions, clicks, and subscribers your listing got over time. It’s a great way of getting a feel for how Google and customers perceive your business.
Keep in mind that Google My Business (or Google Business Profile) is not the catch-all tool for your local SEO. It has to work in tandem with your other off-page and on-page SEO efforts. You probably won’t climb the charts if your profile is inaccurate, but you won’t reach the top without a well-optimized site and localized content. These things go hand in hand.
Ranking factors
Google Business Profile uses many factors to determine rankings for businesses. We’ll highlight the three most important ones:
Relevance
Distance
Prominence
Relevance
Relevance determines how well your business fits the search intent of the customer. Is your focus identical to what the customer needs, or are you a bit opaque about what your company does? Vagueness doesn’t rank or sell. Be as clear as you can be, and keep your focus. That way, Google knows what people can expect from you and will be more inclined to show your business in the search results.
Tip: When setting up your profile, Google offers you common services that you can add to your category of business. It’s smart to include these, because they will help your business get found. We’ll talk about these in more detail later on.
Proximity
Proximity is a well-known factor for ranking local businesses. And quite logical when you think about it. You can’t rank in a local search for dentist in Philadelphia when you have located your company in Manhattan. However, the exact way Google determines which businesses to show in a local search is unknown, and it can be pretty hard to rank in a given area. Other factors play a significant role as well. It helps to say you are located in a particular area and show it by having local-oriented content around your business on your site. Google uses what’s known about the searcher’s location to present the most relevant local businesses.
Prominence
Prominence is all about the activity around your listing; this could be the number of reviews, events, local content, et cetera. It also helps to have loads of quality links to your site. It is somewhat hard to determine what prominence means exactly, but one thing is for sure: no one likes inactive profiles. You have to keep it updated with new photos and manage your reviews. As said before, this goes hand in hand with your site, so make sure both listings align and publish content focusing on your local area(s).
It is vital that you keep your business listing accurate and up to date
Optimize your Google Business Profile listing
Any business with a bona fide brick-and-mortar location or an online outlet is eligible for a Google Business listing. But what if you operate your business out of your house and don’t want people to know your address?
If you don’t operate a walk-up brick-and-mortar location but visit your customers in a particular geographic area, you’re called a “Service Business.” Service businesses include plumbers, carpet cleaners, and courier services. In this case, you’re still eligible for a listing. However, you’ll want to choose “Service business” when Google asks what kind of business you have.
Google asks what kind of business you are operating
Verifying your location
Google tries to make sure that only legitimate businesses are represented in GMB. It requires anyone claiming a Listing to verify their association with the company. The easiest way to start the process is to perform a desktop search on Google for your business name (for example, “Kido Chicago”). You’ll see a link in the panel on the right-hand side of the page that asks, “Own this business?”
Before you click that link to begin the verification process, make sure you are either not signed in to Google (you can create an account in the next step) or are signed into a Google account for your business instead of your personal Gmail. It’s not a requirement; however, sharing access to your listing with employees or other company agents from a business account will be much easier.
Click on Claim this business to claim the profile of this business; if you are the owner
Once you fill out the most basic information (see below for what these details are), if it can corroborate your address and phone number, Google will call and ask you to enter a PIN on the screen. If it hasn’t previously seen a business with the phone number and address you submitted, you’ll be mailed a postcard within a week with instructions on how to PIN verify.
Verify with video
Some businesses may need to verify with a video. If you own a physical store, you will need to record your location by showing street signs, your business exterior and interior, and you need to show that you’re authorized to represent this business. You will need to show all these requirements in one continuous recording, so no editing.
If you own a service business, like a plumbing or landscaping business, you don’t have a physical store. That’s why you’ll need to show street signs or the surrounding area where your business is located, your business card or a branded vehicle or business tools, and finally a proof of address. Again, this needs to be done in one continuous recording.
Primary business information
Name, Address, and Phone
This sounds simple, but it’s surprising how many business owners overthink these core attributes or try to “optimize” them. Your Name, Address, and Phone (NAP) are your thumbprint online. If they don’t reflect your business accurately in your Google Business Profile, Google—and your customers—lose trust that you are who you say you are. They will stop sending business your way.
Do NOT stuff keywords in your business name. Represent yourself as you would answer the phone or welcome a customer into your store. You probably see spammers doing this and succeeding all the time, but it’ll come back to bite them at some point. Google is monitoring for these kinds of abuses all the time, and they’re getting better at blocking the abusers.
Submit the same address you use on your website. If you’re a Yoast user, this should be the address you enter in the Yoast Local SEO plugin. Even if you’re a service-area business, you’ll have to submit a physical address, not a PO box or other mailing-only address.
You’ll see a map displayed just alongside your address. Zoom in and double-check that the pin is in the correct place on your business. Google’s pin precision for U.S. addresses is typically pretty good, but it can be spotty in other countries.
Don’t use a tracking phone number to segment customers coming from Google vs. other sources. There are ways to do this, but they’re pretty advanced. Implementing tracking numbers incorrectly can do tremendous damage to your local search rankings.
Choose a category for your business
From a rankings standpoint, the business category is the most important attribute you can optimize in your Google Business Profile. In our experience, it’s best to keep an eye on Google’s advice on categories. Remember that advice has changed frequently over the years and might change again.
Start typing, and the categories magically appear. You can add more later on
Google maintains a taxonomy of several thousand categories to describe local businesses. You’ll probably find a match pretty closely by typing in a few characters of a keyword that describes your business.
Google suggests “using as few categories as possible,” as well as categories that are “as specific as possible.” And while it’s true that Google can and does “detect category information from your website and mentions about your business throughout the web,” our advice is to specify as many relevant categories as possible on your Google Business Profile listing.
Google’s automated review system may remove one or two from your listing, but this is not spam—provided you select relevant categories. It helps you show up for as broad a range of searches as possible.
Services businesses can add the specific services you offer
Add your website
In the process, there’s a field to add your website URL, but it doesn’t have to be your “website” per se. In particular, if you operate in more than one location, you may want to enter the page on your website corresponding to the location you’re submitting to Google—rather than your homepage. Opinions are mixed on whether listing your homepage, or a location page will help you rank better, so do what’s best for prospective customers. If you think your homepage will give them the best initial sense of your business, submit it as your “website”. If a location page—or even some other page—will give your audience a better sense, submit that instead.
Add a business description
Later on, you can add a business description to your profile. It’s essential to take a moment and find an excellent way to describe your business on Google. The business description field gives you a maximum of 750 characters to convince people to visit your business. This might be the first thing people read about your business, so make it unique and exciting. Describe what your business offers precisely and how you set yourself apart from your competitors. You can also talk about your history and anything else that’s helpful for customers.
Keep the description short and sweet, and don’t try to push promotions or deals you have running. You also shouldn’t include URLs or HTML code. Give it a think, write a few descriptions and pick the best one!
A unique business description can make you stand out from the rest
More business information
After entering the attributes above, you’re asked to verify your listing. But don’t stop there. There are a few other attributes that are well worth your time to add.
Photos and images
Photos may be the most neglected attribute in all local SEO. The success of Instagram, Pinterest, and any lesser-known apps indicates how visual our internet culture has become. Consumers often select—or reject!—a business because of its photos. Not only on the content of the photos, but consumers also judge the quality and professionalism of the photos.
Photos are essential in the mobile ecosystem that Google Business Profile powers (including Google Maps), where they dominate a business’s representation in Google’s user interfaces. Try to add authentic photos instead of stock photos, and make sure the pictures reflect your business.
As with all local media or social media sites, Google Business Profile has its image format requirements. Take some time to review them and make sure you have high-quality assets for each format. You can find more on improving your images in our image SEO guide.
Business hours
Selecting your opening hours is pretty straightforward. Google has dramatically improved its interface for telling customers when you’re open over the past several years. Hours will be front-and-center wherever customers interact with your business on Google, so they should be accurate. You can even daypart multiple times during the day and add specific hours for holidays and special events.
While you can’t control it, you may be interested to know that Google now displays the busyness of your business in real time. This is based on aggregate location-tracking visitors with Android phones and iOS Google Maps users with location services enabled.
See when a business opens and when the most popular times are
Restaurants can add menus
Specific categories of businesses will have the option to add their menu. Suppose you’re lucky enough to be in one of these categories. In that case, we highly recommend adding this, as it gives Google an additional set of keywords that your business should consider relevant.
Accept messages for more leads
By default, this feature is turned on. It will add a messaging feature to your Business Profile, and it can be a great way to generate more leads. Of course, you need to keep this chat feature in mind and check regularly for any messages. If you respond quickly and helpfully, you’ll probably turn visitors into customers.
The chat function
If you’re slow to respond to customers, however, Google might disable this feature for you. So, if you’re not sure you’ll be able to keep track of this feature, it might be better to turn it off.
Share posts on your Business Profile
The Posts feature is a very useful way to communicate with your customers from your profile. With posts, you can connect with existing and potential customers through your Business Profile on Google Search and Maps. You can create and share announcements, offers, new or popular items in stock, or event details directly with your customers. Use this to promote your sales, specials, events, news, and offers. You can even add videos and photos to posts to make them more interesting!
Example of the post feature
Many options
Since Google Business Profile has grown quite a bit over the years, there are many more options to explore. You don’t need to use all of them, but some are valuable. For example, the Products feature to highlight your products in your listing is a great way to get people interested in what your offer.
Another great option is the possibility of getting potential customers to ask questions that you can respond to. Keep in mind that others can also answer these questions, so keep an eye on this. When it works, it can be a real help in turning visitors into customers.
And, as always, get reviews for your business! With a Business Profile, you can even respond to these reviews. It doesn’t have to be a message. Nowadays, you can also quickly respond with an emoji, like a heart or fire emoji.
Ranking factors beyond your control
There are two significant local search and local SEO ranking factors over which you have little control. They both have to do with the physical location of your business.
The location of your potential customer
The first is the proximity of your business to the location where your prospective customer is performing their search. All other things being equal, Google will display a company closer to the searcher than one farther away from them.
In the early years of Google, its algorithm favored businesses close to the center of a given city or its “centroid.” This was partly because Google wasn’t as good at detecting the location of the searcher as they are now. It defaulted to showing businesses in the areas with the highest population density.
Nowadays, this factor has declined in importance. Especially for mobile searches where Google has a precise idea of where you are. Google has also partially improved at detecting desktop searchers’ location information through surreptitious collection means.
A physical store in the city of your customer’s search question
The second factor is having an address in the city in which your customer is searching. If your customer is searching in Seattle, your Tacoma or Bellevue-based coffee shop won’t appear. This is simply because it’s irrelevant to the customer’s search.
Short of opening additional locations to target areas where high concentrations of your customers are searching, there’s not much you can do to optimize for these ranking factors. Still, you should be aware of their importance.
Google Business Profile Insights
Google provides a free, lightweight analytics package as part of GBP. This gives you a basic sense of how customers and potential customers view and interact with your listing.
Insights show how often your listing appears in plain old search vs. Google Maps. It also shows the number of clicks to your website, requests for driving directions, phone calls, and more.
There’s also a breakdown of how many customers see your listing for direct searches (for your business specifically) vs. discovery searches (for businesses in your category). While no one outside of Google is entirely sure how they calculate the discovery number, it’s probably as good a barometer for the overall strength of your local SEO as any, mainly if you track it over time.
Troubleshooting listing issues
The most typical GMB troubleshooting issue continues to be duplicate listings for the same business. While it’s gotten harder to detect duplicate listings, it’s much easier to close them.
The first step to identifying duplicates is to search for your business name on Google. If it looks like multiple listings refer to your business, select the one you’d like to report as a duplicate and click “Suggest an Edit.” Follow the suggestions to have the listing marked as duplicate.
Google support staff are generally responsive to these reports within a reasonable time. If you continue to have trouble, ask multiple people—co-workers, friends, family members, or relatives—to report the same problem, and it’s more likely Google will look at it. If your issue seems particularly thorny, you’re most likely to get a response by tweeting @googlemybiz, the official Twitter support channel for Google Business Profile.
A tool to manage your reviews
Some time ago, Google added a new feature to the Google My Business dashboard. A feature that allows you to manage your reviews and report reviews for removal. You can also check the status of reviews you’ve already reported here. Keep in mind that Google will only remove reviews that violate their policies, such as irrelevant or offensive content.
Structured data and Yoast Local SEO
Google increasingly depends on structured data to determine what your site is about and which elements represent what. This is true for your business information, including the information that Google Business Profile uses. Make sure you add the correct structured data to your site. Enhance your NAP details, opening hours, reviews, product information, et cetera, with Schema.org data. This will make it much easier for Google to determine the validity of your listing. Several tools can help you with this, including our Yoast Local SEO plugin.
Local SEO is critical, even with Google Business Profile
So, you should activate and maintain your Google My Business account and make it awesome. But to get the most out of your listings and to get good rankings, you must have your site in order as well. Optimize every part of it. Create local content for your chosen keyword and business location and get quality local backlinks to build a solid link profile. Ask customers to review your business onsite or on My Business. Make sure your listing is active and attractive; as we said, inaccurate profiles are no good.
http://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.png00Dubado Solutionshttp://dubadosolutions.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/dubado-logo-1.pngDubado Solutions2024-11-27 14:11:222024-11-27 14:11:22Improve local SEO with Google My Business/Business Profile
Do you have a website or maintain the website of the company you work for? Of course, to do this right, you need to keep a keen eye on the performance of your website. Google offers several tools to collect and analyze data from your website. You probably have heard of Google Analytics and Google Search Console before. These tools are free for everyone maintaining a website and can give you valuable insights about your website. Here, we’ll explain how to use Google Search Console for SEO!
Google Search Console helps you track the performance of your website easily. You can get valuable insights from your Google Search Console account, which means you can see what part of your website needs work. This can be a technical part of your website, such as an increasing number of crawl errors that need to be fixed. This can also give a specific keyword more attention because the rankings or impressions are decreasing. Or find the reasons why some pages aren’t indexed.
Besides seeing this kind of data, you’ll get email notifications when Google Search Console notices new errors. Because of these notifications, you’re quickly aware of issues you must fix. That’s why everyone with a website should learn how to use it!
The Google Search Console Overview page
Search Console is structured around various sections
Search Console has several sections, which keep expanding as Google adds more:
URL Inspection
The URL Inspection tool lets you get insights on specific URLs and how Google sees and indexes these. You’ll also see if the page is eligible for rich results.
Performance
In the Performance section, you’ll discover how your site is doing in the regular search results, on Discover, and Google News, if it is eligible for those.
Indexing
In the Indexing section, you’ll find all the insights you need to see how Google discovers and indexes your pages. You can also learn if and how Google is indexing the video content on your site. There’s also a section to check your XML sitemaps and any page removals you may have requested.
Experience
The Experience section gives you an idea of how Google values your page’s performance on mobile and desktop, with a little help from Core Web Vitals, and whether your pages are served via HTTPS connections.
Shopping
In the Shopping tab, you’ll find more information about how Google sees your products — if you own an ecommerce site or sell something else online. You can see which products have rich results, plus insights into your merchant listings and how you appear in Google Shopping.
Enhancements
The Enhancements section lists all the structured data that Google found on your site and whether or not it is eligible for rich results. This includes events, reviews, job postings, and more.
Security & Manual Actions
The Security & Manual Actions destination shouldn’t be visited often, as it lists security issues found by Google or when it issues a manual action against your site.
Links
The Links section overviews your site’s internal and external links.
Setting up an account
You’ll need to create an account to start using Google Search Console. Within Google Search Console, you can click on ‘add a new property’ in the top bar:
Add a new property to get started
You can insert the website you want to add by clicking the ‘Add property’ button. If you choose the new Domain option, you only need to add the domain name without www or subdomains. This option tracks everything connected to that domain. With the ‘old’ URL prefix option, you must add the correct URL, so with ‘HTTPS’ if you have an HTTPS website and with or without ‘www’. To collect the correct data, it’s essential to add the correct version:
Choose domain if you want to track all your URLs or URL prefix if you want to track specific URLs
You must verify that you’re the owner when you’ve added a website. There are several options to verify your ownership. The Domain option only works with DNS verification, while the URL prefix supports different methods. You can learn more about the differences in Google’s documentation: adding a new property and verifying your site ownership. You can also use Google’s Site Kit WordPress plugin to connect Analytics and Search Console while giving you statistics in your site dashboard.
Add to Yoast SEO
For WordPress users who use Yoast SEO, get the verification code via the ‘HTML tag’ method from the Ownership settings in Search Console. Copy the long, random string of characters.
See your verification methods in the Google Search Console ownership settings
You can easily copy the code and paste it into the Google field in the ‘Site connections’ section in the settings of your Yoast SEO plugin:
Paste your code into the Google field to finish the process
After saving this, you can return to Google Search Console and click the ‘Verify’ button to confirm. If everything is ok, you’ll get a success message, and GSC will start collecting data for your website.
Features in Google Search Console
Now that you’ve set up your account, what’s the next step? Well, it’s time to look at some of your data! In the rest of this article, we’ll explore some of the reports and information available.
Performance tab
In the Performance tab, you can see the pages and keywords your website ranks for in Google. If you’re eligible for that, you’ll also find reports on your content’s performance in Google Discover and on Google News. You’ll get 16 months of performance data for your reports.
If you check the performance tab regularly, you can quickly see what keywords or pages need more attention and optimization. So, where to begin? Within the performance tab, you see a list of ‘queries’, ‘pages’, ‘countries’, or ‘devices’. With ‘search appearance,’ you can check how your rich results are doing in search. You can sort each section by the number of ‘clicks’, ‘impressions’, ‘average CTR’, or ‘average position’. We’ll explain each of them below:
The Performance overview harbors a ton of information
1. Clicks
The number of clicks tells you how often people clicked on your website in Google’s search results. This number can say something about the performance of your page titles and meta descriptions: if just a few people click on your result, your result might not stand out in the search results. It can be helpful to check what other results are displayed around you to see how you can optimize your snippet.
The position of the search result also impacts the number of clicks. If your page is in the top three of Google’s first result page, it will automatically get more clicks than a page that ranks on the second page of the search results.
2. Impressions
The impressions tell you how often your website or a specific page is shown in the search results. The number of impressions after this keyword shows how often our website is shown for that keyword in Google’s search results. You don’t know yet what page ranks for that keyword.
To see what pages might rank for the specific keyword, you can click on the line of the keyword. Doing this for a keyword, the keyword is added as a filter:
You can query the data in many ways
Afterward, you can navigate to the ‘Pages’ tab to see what pages rank for this keyword. Are those pages the ones you’d want to rank for that keyword? If not, you might need to optimize the page you’d like to rank. Think of writing better content containing the keyword on that page, adding internal links from relevant pages or posts to the page, making the page load faster, etc.
3. Average CTR
The CTR – Click-through rate – tells you what percentage of the people who have seen your website in the search results also clicked through to your website. You probably understand that higher rankings mostly also lead to higher click-through rates.
However, you can also do things yourself to increase the CTR. For example, you could rewrite your meta description and page title to make it more appealing — Yoast SEO has AI features to help you do that. When the title and description of your site stand out from the other results, more people will probably click on your result, and your CTR will increase. Remember that this will not significantly impact you if you’re not ranking on the first page yet. You might need to try other things first to improve your ranking.
4. Average position
The last one on this list is the ‘Average position’. This tells you the average ranking of a specific keyword or page in your selected period. Of course, this position isn’t always reliable since more and more people seem to get different search results. Google seems to understand better and better which results fit which visitor best. However, this indicator still shows whether the clicks, impressions and average CTR are explainable.
Indexing
The’ Indexing’ section is a more technical but treasured addition to Google Search Console. This section shows how many pages have been in Google’s index since the last update, how many pages haven’t, and what errors and warnings caused Google to index your pages incorrectly. Google split this section into parts, collecting your regular pages and video pages while giving a home for your XML sitemap and the removals sections.
You can see how Google indexes your content over time
We recommend you check this tab regularly to see what errors and warnings appear on your website. However, you also get notifications when Google has found new errors. Please check the error in more detail when you get such a notification.
You may find that errors are caused when, e.g., a redirect doesn’t seem to work correctly, or Google finds broken code or error pages in your theme. You also find error messages like “Crawled – currently not indexed“. Google has a long list of possible reasons why pages aren’t indexed and what you can do to fix that.
Clicking on one of the issues, you can analyze the error more in-depth to see what specific URLs are affected. When you’ve fixed the error, you can mark it as fixed to make sure Google will test the URL again:
Fixed the specific error? Validate it so Google can check if it’s gone for real
Things to look out for
There are a few things you should always look for when checking out your indexing coverage reports:
If you’re writing new content, your indexed pages should steadily increase. This tells you two things: Google can index your site, and you keep your site ‘alive’ by adding content.
Watch out for sudden drops! This might mean that Google is having trouble accessing (all of) your website. Something may be blocking Google; whether it’s robots.txt changes or server downtime, you need to look into it!
We recommend you monitor these situations closely and resolve errors quickly, as too many errors could signal low quality (poor maintenance) to Google.
URL Inspection
The URL Inspection tool helps you analyze specific URLs. You retrieve the page from Google’s index and compare it with the page as it lives now on your site to see if there are differences. You can also find more technical info on this page, such as when and how Google crawled it and how it looked at that moment. Sometimes, you’ll also notice several errors. This might be regarding Google’s inability to crawl your page correctly. It also gives information about the structured data found on this URL.
The URL Inspection tool gives insights into every URL on your site
Experience
The experience report is an invaluable addition. It gives a good idea of how fast your site loads on mobile and desktop and how Google uses core web vitals to grade page experience. It shows which pages have issues that keep them from performing well. The data is based on the Chrome UX report, so it’s accurate data from real users.
Site speed, page experience, and user experience are complex topics with many moving parts, so learning how to think about page speed is good. The answer is here: how to check site speed.
Find out which pages offer a bad experience and how you can fix that
Enhancements: rich results
If you have structured data on your site — provided by Yoast SEO, for instance — it’s a good idea to check out the Enhancements reports in Search Console. The Enhancements tab collects all the insights and improvements that could lead to rich results. It lists all the structured data that Google found on your site. There’s an ever-expanding list of rich results, and you can find the following, among other things:
Breadcrumbs
Events
FAQs
Job postings
Profile pages
Review snippets
Sitelinks searchboxes
Videos
All these tabs show how many valid enhancements you have or how many have errors or warnings. You get details about the kind of errors and warnings and on which URLs these are found. There’s also a trend line that shows if the number of issues is increasing or decreasing. And that’s just the start of it.
Here’s an example of a job posting enhancement. You can overlay Impressions to get more context for the stats
The Enhancements reports help you find and fix issues that hinder the performance of your rich results in search. By checking the issues, reading the support documentation, and validating fixes, you can increase your chance of getting rich results in search. We have a more expansive guide on the structured data Enhancement reports in Google Search Console.
Sitemaps
An XML sitemap is a roadmap to all important pages and posts on your website. Every website would benefit from having one. Do you run the Yoast SEO plugin on your website? Then, you automatically have an XML sitemap. If not, we recommend creating one to ensure Google can easily find your most important pages and posts.
You can find an option for XML sitemaps within the Indexing tab of Google Search Console. Here, you can tell Google where your XML sitemap is located on your site:
Don’t forget to check your XML sitemap
We recommend that everyone enter the URL of their XML sitemap into GSC to make it easy for Google to find. In addition, you can quickly see if your sitemap gives errors or if some pages aren’t indexed. Regularly checking this ensures that Google can find and read your XML sitemap.
We recommend regularly checking the XML sitemap section in our plugin to manage which post types or taxonomies you include in your sitemaps!
Shopping
Google Search Console also has a Shopping section. Here, you can check how Google sees your products and if they get proper rich results. You’ll see if they are valid or if they are missing fields that make the product snippets more prominent. Click on a product to see which fields are missing for particular products and if these are essential parts or nice-to-haves. If you’ve added these to the structured data of your products, you validate the fix in Search Console.
In the Shopping section, you’ll also find your Google Merchant listings and an option to enable shopping tab listings to show your products on the Shopping tab in Google Search. With these options, Google gives ecommerce site owners — and people selling stuff — more ways of checking how their listings are doing.
Optimize your product listings in Google search
Links
Within the links to your site section, you can see how many links from other sites are pointing to your website. Besides, you can see what websites link, how many links those websites contain, and what anchor texts are used most when linking to your website. This can be valuable information because links are still vital for SEO.
Find out which pages receive lots of links
Within the internal links section, you can check what pages of your website are most linked from other spots on your site. This list can be valuable to analyze regularly because you want your most important pages and posts to get the most internal links. By doing this, you make sure Google understands your cornerstones as well.
You can even see how many links individual pages get
Manual Actions
You don’t want to see anything in the manual actions tab. If Google penalizes your site, you’ll get more information. If your site is affected by a manual action, you’ll also get an email message.
Several scenarios can lead to these kinds of penalties, including:
You have unnatural/bought links Ensure links from and to your site are valuable, not just for SEO. Preferably, your links come from related content that is valuable for your readers.
Your site has been hacked A message stating your site’s probably hacked by a third party. Google might label your site as compromised or lower your rankings.
You’re hiding something from Google If you’re ‘cloaking’ (that is, intentionally showing different content to users to deceive them), or using ‘sneaky’ redirects (e.g., hiding affiliate URLs), then you’re violating Google’s guidelines (now known as Google Search Essentials).
Plain Spam Automatically generated content, scraped content, and aggressive cloaking could cause Google to blocklist your site.
Spammy structured markup If you use rich snippets for too many irrelevant elements on a page or mark up content hidden from the visitor, that might be considered spammy. Mark up what’s necessary and only necessary things.
Security issues
Within the security issues tab, you’ll get a notification when your website seems to have a security issue.
Google Search Console is essential
Reading this post should give you a good idea of what Search Console is capable of and how to use it, so we’d like to ask you this: Do you already use Google Search Console for your website? If not, create an account to collect data about your website. Do you think something is missing? Feel free to leave a comment!
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In SEO, using top tools is key. Yoast and Semrush have joined forces to combine their technologies. This integration benefits WordPress and Shopify users by improving their SEO work. Yoast SEO offers easy-to-use SEO features, while Semrush brings solid data that can be used for keyword research. This article will explore the Related Keyphrase feature, which uses Semrush’s keyword data.
SEO involves more than just content optimization; it requires understanding the search landscape and adopting strategies. The Yoast SEO and Semrush integration offers powerful tools for various SEO areas, like finding keywords, planning, implementation, and analysis.
Benefits for WordPress users
Benefits for WordPress users include enhanced keyword research. You can access Semrush’s vast database from the WordPress editor to find and apply effective related keywords. Get real-time SEO suggestions to refine your content as you write using current SEO data. This integration simplifies your work. You don’t have to jump between tools and platforms as much, so you can concentrate on writing content that ranks.
Advantages for Shopify store owners
Advantages for Shopify store owners include access to ecommerce keywords. These insights help drive targeted traffic to your store. Conduct SEO health checks to analyze and optimize product descriptions and meta tags, ensuring full SEO compliance. Integrating targeted keywords into your Shopify store’s content enhances visibility and boosts conversion potential.
Using Semrush for related keyphrases
Setting up the integration is simple for both WordPress and Shopify users. Connect your Semrush account to Yoast through the plugin or app interface. This lets you access keyword analytics and SEO advice right in your dashboard. If you haven’t installed Yoast SEO yet, start there. We offer a guide to help you with the setup.
Finding related keyphrases
Related keyphrases, or related keywords, are terms linked to your main keyword. They boost your content’s relevance, which helps search engines grasp your page’s topic and details. Adding related keyphrases makes your content more comprehensive and informative. This enhances its visibility in search results, as search engines favor pages that cover a topic thoroughly.
Using related keyphrases also avoids keyword stuffing, leading to more natural, reader-friendly text. This approach attracts more organic traffic and helps your content rank for a wider range of search queries.
Getting started with related keyphrases
Navigate to the post or page you wish to optimize in the content editor. To access the Semrush tool, locate the Focus keyphrase section and enter your main focus keyphrase. Then, click the Get related keyphrases button, and a pop-up will appear.
Enter your focus keyphrase and click the Get related keyphrase button to access the Semrush pop-up
Semrush presents related keyphrases in the pop-up, including search volume, search intent, difficulty, and trends. For more detailed insights or to explore further, use the Keyword Magic Tool in Semrush. Alternatively, use your preferred keyword research tools to gather additional insights.
Search volume and difficulty data help understand popularity
Semrush’s search volume data shows how often users search for a specific keyword or keyphrase each month. This metric highlights the keyword’s popularity and demand. High search volume suggests strong interest, while low volume indicates fewer searches. You can use search volume data to identify trends over time, spotting seasonal or emerging keywords. Analyzing these volumes helps you gauge your content’s potential reach and find high-demand keywords to target.
However, high search volumes often mean high competition. Balancing search volume with keyword difficulty is key. Keyword Difficulty measures how hard it is to rank in the top ten for a keyword, ranging from 0% to 100%. Lower percentages mean less competition, making it easier to rank, while higher percentages indicate tough competition requiring significant effort.
Yoast SEO shows intent, volume, trend and difficulty data for suggested keyphrases
Semrush and search intent
Semrush provides tools to integrate search intent into your keyword research. Understanding search intent allows you to tailor content to user needs, improving rankings and attracting relevant traffic.
Semrush offers a search intent metric for each keyword, helping you identify whether a keyword is navigational, informational, commercial, or transactional. This insight lets you align your content with user searches. For instance, commercial intent keywords might lead to content focused on comparisons or reviews, while transactional keywords benefit from clear calls-to-action.
You can explore keywords based on search intent using Yoast SEO’s Related Keyphrases tool. This helps you target the most relevant keywords for your content goals. You might focus on informational keywords for a blog aimed at new audiences. For an ecommerce site, combining commercial and transactional keywords can attract potential buyers to your product pages.
Yoast SEO also shows search intent and keyword difficulty data from Semrush
Integrating related keyphrases into your content
Select the most relevant and beneficial related keyphrases from the list provided by Semrush. Focus on search volume, difficulty, and how they relate to your main topic. You can add up to four additional related keyphrases to your content. Yoast SEO will factor in these related keyphrases when analyzing your content and offering suggestions for improvement.
Incorporate related keyphrases naturally
After selecting the best keywords, add them naturally to your content. Avoid keyword stuffing. Use related keyphrases in sections like subheadings, bullet points, and within the body text. Ensure they complement the primary keyphrase and enrich the content’s context.
Include related keyphrases in meta descriptions and image alt texts to expand your content’s relevance. Yoast SEO will give feedback on their integration and suggest improvements.
Analyze and optimize
Once you’ve integrated the related keyphrases, check the analysis from Yoast SEO. The plugin will offer tips for further optimization. Focus on readability and overall keyword usage. Adjust your content based on Yoast SEO’s suggestions to ensure it’s optimized for primary and related keyphrases.
Better keywords with Semrush and Yoast SEO
The Yoast SEO and Semrush integration is a great tool for marketers, content creators, and ecommerce professionals. This partnership helps improve your SEO on WordPress and Shopify by combining data-driven keyword research with practical SEO implementation.
Enhance your SEO by connecting Yoast SEO and Semrush today. Experience the benefits of integrated SEO tools right at your fingertips. Have fun exploring the integration!
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SEO is a way to get more traffic to your website. By ranking high on Google, you attract more people to your site, which leads to more sales and returning visitors. You must optimize your content for the right words to get people to your site. However, you should consider search intent to increase your chances of ranking, convincing people to buy your stuff, subscribing to your newsletter, or even returning to your website. We’ll tell you what search intent is and how you can optimize your content for search intent.
Search intent (or user intent, audience intent) is the term used to describe the purpose of an online search. It’s the reason why someone conducts a specific search. After all, everyone who does an online search hopes to find something. But is someone looking for an answer to a question they have? Are they looking to visit a specific website? Or are they searching online because they want to buy something? Many of these types of searches are part of the user journey online, but often they represent different stages.
There are a few distinct types of search intent. We’ll go into the four most commonly used ones, but we’ll start with an infographic describing the four types in short:
There are four main types of search intent
1. Navigational intent
The first type of search intent is called navigational intent. People with this intent want to visit a specific website. For example, people searching for [Facebook] online are usually on their way to the website. So, you want to make sure that your website can be found when someone searches for your company’s name online.
Google’s search results for the term [Yoast]
Remember that ranking high for a navigational term is mainly beneficial if your site is what people are looking for. Years ago, we had a Google Analytics plugin that ranked well for the term [Google Analytics]. But that didn’t drive any traffic to our site. People searching for [Google Analytics] specifically were looking for the Google Analytics website and were often not interested in our plugin.
2. Informational intent
On to informational intent. People looking for information do lots of searches on the internet. This could be information about the weather, educating children, SEO, you name it. People with informational intent have a specific question or want to know more about a topic.
Google’s search results for the term [omato sauce]
You should know that Google understands intent beyond simply showing results that give information about a specific term. It knows, for instance, that people looking for [tomato sauce] are most likely looking for recipes, not for the sauce’s culinary history. It understands that most people typing in [Mercury] are looking for the planet, not the element. Google even understands it’s handy to include videos and images for search terms, like [how to build a bird feeder].
3. Commercial investigation
Some people intend to buy in the (near) future and use the web to research. What washing machine would be best? Which WordPress SEO plugin is the most helpful? These people also have transactional intent but need more time and convincing. These types of search intents are usually called commercial investigating intents.
Google’s search results for the term [best washing machines 2024]
4. Transactional intent
The fourth type of search intent is transactional intent. Many people buy stuff online and browse the web to find the best purchase. People are searching with transactional intent when they intend to buy something at that moment. That means that they already know exactly what they want to buy and want to get to that product page immediately.
Google’s search results for the term [IKEA PS 2014]
Keyword intent
People’s words in their search queries give us insight into user intent. This also works the other way around. By formulating keywords with intent-specific words, you can increase your chances of being seen by people with matching search intent.
What do we mean by intent-specific words? Well, keywords with transactional intent will often contain words like:
buy
deal
discount
product names
To give another example, informational searches can (but don’t necessarily have to) contain words like:
information
how to
best way to
why
How to optimize your content for search intent
Why are we telling you this? Because you want to ensure that a landing page fits your audience’s search intent. If people are looking for information, you don’t want to show them a product page. At least, not immediately. You’ll scare them away. But if someone wants to buy your product and lands on one of your lengthier blog posts, you might lose them. In this case, you want to lead them to your shop and the right product page.
Optimizing your product pages for commercially driven keywords is a good idea. For instance, if you sell dog vitamins, you could optimize a product (category) page for the search term [buy dog vitamins]. Perhaps you also have an article about administering vitamins. You could optimize that article for the search term [how to give vitamins to my dog] and aim it at people with informational intent.
Research your audience’s search intent
Sometimes, it can be quite hard to determine the search intent of a query. And perhaps different users that use the same search term will have a (slightly) different user intent. Luckily, there is a direct source to look at to know which intent fits your keywords best: the search results pages. Find out how you can use the results pages to create intent-based content.
If you want to know more about your audience’s search intent, another way is to ask them. Create a short survey containing questions about what people are searching for, and make that survey pop up when people visit your website. That’ll give you valuable insights into your audience and their intent. Please don’t be too intrusive with these kinds of pop-ups, as this can hurt the user experience on your website.
Search intent in Yoast SEO with Semrush
Aiming your content with the right intent is important, but it becomes even more important for ecommerce content. Here’s how to apply this with a focus on ecommerce.
Start by identifying the intent behind your main keyword. In ecommerce, this often revolves around transactional or commercial investigation intents. If users are ready to buy (“transactional”), your content should guide them toward purchasing. If they’re still researching (“commercial investigation”), provide comparisons, reviews, or detailed product information.
Look for related keyphrases that match these intents. Use tools like the Semrush integration in Yoast SEO to find variations that potential customers might use. For a keyword like “buy running shoes online,” related phrases could include “discount running shoes,” “running shoes with free shipping,” or “best price running shoes.”
Examine search results for the keyphrases you’ve found to see what ecommerce sites are doing. Pay attention to product pages, reviews, and comparison guides that rank well. This helps you understand what customers expect and how you can differentiate your offerings.
Incorporate these keyphrases naturally into your product descriptions, category pages, and blog posts. Make sure the content answers potential buyer questions and highlights unique selling points. Include clear calls to action to drive purchases, especially for transactional intent.
If you focus well on search intent, you can create content that improves SEO and enhances the shopping experience. Ultimately, you want higher conversions and better customer satisfaction.
Yoast SEO shows search intent insights powered by Semrush
Conclusion on search intent for SEO
It’s crucial to ensure that your content fits the terms people are searching for and your audience’s search intent. Ensure your post or page is informational when people seek information. Be the first result when someone searches for your company name. Provide content that helps people make an informed decision while still investigating their options. But lead people to your sales pages if they want to buy one of your products.
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