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A Closer Look at Google’s Search Generative Experience

AUGUST 5, 2023

Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) is still in development but poised to radically change the future of search.

Google is killing the 10 blue links in favor of synthesizing hyper-relevant and accurate information generated by AI in a conversational tone.

Here’s what users who enable SGE in Search Labs can expect:

A colorful, multimedia box at the top of your search results.
A more personalized, AI-generated response to your query with the potential for in-line links.
Three relevant article links with publication dates to the right.
The option to ask a follow-up question or select from additional queries at the bottom.
Below the summarization, four sponsored links are displayed with featured snippets, if applicable.
After sponsored links, the four-question dropdown menu for “People Also Ask” appears.
Finally, organic search results are displayed.

Clearly, conversational search will have dramatic implications for marketers and SEOs. Check out The Verge’s update for more info.

Text-Only Content is Dead

AUGUST 2, 2023

If your content is solely text-based, you won’t have a shot at beating the competition in an increasingly complex and competitive search landscape.

Visual content: Mix in original graphics and stock photos, videos, presentations, data visualizations and infographics, GIFs and memes, and even AI-generated images.

Podcasts: Promote brand awareness and take advantage of this growing channel’s impressive retention rate.

Interactive experiences: Explore brand-relevant quizzes and polls, surveys, calculators, image sliders, games, as well as interactive infographics and videos.

UGC: Reshare user-generated content (with permission) on your site, on social, in your email outreach, throughout long-form content, in your podcast and webinars, etc.

Livesteaming: Announce when you’re going live on social and via email, run paid ads and retarget customers, and authentically engage with users in a livestream.

In summary, the traditional blog isn’t going to cut it anymore. Take a closer look at Search Engine Journal.

How to Leverage Human Experience for SEO

AUGUST 1, 2023

Google’s Search Generative Experience, which uses AI to provide conversational, personalized search results, prioritizes individual perspectives, insights, and first-hand experiences.

Late last year, Google added an additional “E” to its E-E-A-T credibility guidelines, to include: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

In order to build trust and establish authority, marketers will need to:

Collaborate with industry experts to create and expand your brand’s presence through their expertise.
Build expert profiles to highlight the expertise and credentials of individuals within your organization who have valuable insights to share.
Leverage user-generated content to bring images, reviews, testimonials, and feedback into your SEO strategy.
Utilize real stories and case studies to demonstrate the impact and value of products or services.
Use video and social media to showcase real human experiences.
Actively engage in conversations with your audience across channels.

Learn more about how SGE is expected to reshape SEO strategies on the Carney blog.

SEO: How Long Does it Take to See Results?

JULY 31, 2023

Short answer: It can take anywhere from several months up to a year to see measurable SEO results. Your mileage will vary, but it largely depends on three important factors:

Your actions. The specialists that you hire and the decks of recommendations that you collect don’t move the needle. Your ability to implement those programs do. Whatever is holding you up—internal buy-in or IT tickets—is delaying your results.
The website. A complicated site with technical issues, a manual action from Google due to previous SEO efforts, a negative consequence of a Google core update, or a new domain can set you back.
The competition. According to Search Engine Land, you want to beat the competition, not the algorithm. And that’s a tough game. Maybe you’re less resourced, or maybe you’re competing for million-dollar keywords, or maybe you’re in a tough industry.

This is why partnering with an SEO professional to audit your site is a critical part of the process. Check out Search Engine Land for a closer look.

How Marketers Can Prepare for SGE

JULY 31, 2023

The Search Generative Experience (SGE) is an ambitious initiative by Google to provide AI-generated experiences and personalized, conversational answers to user queries—effectively transforming the way we interact with search results.

Based on our experience with SGE so far, here’s what marketers can expect:

Users will spend more time on the search result pages.
There will be less website traffic from informational queries.
Action-based queries will drive higher quality traffic to websites.
Impact will vary by vertical.

So, how can marketers prepare and refine SEO strategies to align with this new environment?

Establish and build trust through an emphasis on real human experiences (E-E-A-T).
Create hyper-personalized content to match user intent and behavior.
Optimize for AI-generated answers, which will appear above other search results.
Align your brand with individual expertise.

Read the Carney blog to get actionable next steps.

Shopify vs. WordPress for Ecommerce

JULY 26, 2023

Looking for an ecommerce platform?

Shopify is an “out-of-the-box” option meant for users who don’t necessarily have the skills to build an ecommerce site from scratch.

Shopify:

…manages web hosting for you.
…provides you with a setup guide to get your shop up and running.
…has a dedicated support team you can reach through chat or by phone.
…allows you to build an attractive, mobile-friendly site without coding skills
…gives you the option to buy your domain directly through the platform.
…makes it easy to sell through Amazon and TikTok.

That said, if you’re looking for a more flexible platform that is robust enough to scale with you as you grow, you should consider WordPress.

WordPress:

…lets you customize your site with thousands of available plugins.
…gives you full control over your hosting provider and plugins.
…gives you more control over your searchability in SERPs.
…lets you translate your sites into unlimited languages and currencies.
…lets you set up multiple sites under one account.

Check out SEMRush for a full side-by-side comparison of Shopify and WordPress.

Optimize These 6 Emails Before Q4

JULY 25, 2023

Here’s how to fine-tune your email programs before the holidays hit:

Acquisition. Studies show that when an acquisition form is up at the top of your email, you get more registrations. If you’re hesitant to give up that real estate, try testing it out.
Welcome email. This one should represents your brand; look great on mobile; allow for images both enabled and blocked; and include brand statements, disclaimers, personalization—and “thank you,” of course.
Onboarding email series. Be discerning about whether or not your brand needs an onboarding program.
Transactional emails. Do your transactional emails take full advantage of cross-sell and upsell opportunities while customers have their wallets out? Dynamically insert the next logical purchase to boost revenue.
Marketing automations. Birthday emails, for example, are an opportunity to be authentic and have a little fun. How can you break through the noise?
Opt out / opt down. Building a healthy list is hard work. Keep your subscribers by allowing them to choose between opting down to a lower frequency and opting out altogether.

Get the full scoop at MarTech.

Boost Your Ad Recall on Pinterest

JULY 24, 2023

According to new research by Pinterest and System1, emotional digital ads drive brand lift and recall. Consider these tips following tips to develop ads that are more likely to engage audiences on Pinterest:

Brand Early. According to the report, most digital ads are viewed for < 2 seconds. Well-branded assets performed better overall.
Appeal to the Right Brain. Assets that featured a clear sense of place and characters resulted in a 90% increase in brand favorability on average.
Use Culture Moments. Reference holidays, events, and other shared cultural moments to tap into memory structures and increase emotional intensity and brand action intent.
Leverage Fluent Devices. These are recurring characters and scenarios that promote quick brand recognition, which is effective for lower-attention channels.
Tell a Good Story. No matter the Pin format, opt for a visually compelling design with good lighting, high-resolution, and stylized text to engage users.

Check out more research-based insights from MarketingTech.

When to Use Mass SMS Marketing

JULY 21, 2023

When done right, mass SMS marketing has higher response and read rates than email, allowing you to nurture your leads with personalized, two-way messaging at the right cadence. Here’s how to use them:

Follow-ups: Contacts ignoring your email? Leverage quick and scannable SMS messages for higher engagement.
Reminders: Life is busy. Schedule reminders about your event, meeting, or touch point in order to nurture your connections and get replies.
Post-event: Follow up with connections you made at a trade show immediately with relevant info in order to turn them into real leads.
Exclusive offers: Build your list by sending a special offer to those who sign up to receive SMS marketing a special.
Notifications: In practical circumstances when it’s necessary to send a mass alert or notification to your list, mass SMS marketing comes in handy.

Check out G2 to learn about short-code versus long-code SMS.