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Your biggest SEO threat is not AI Overviews (or...

Your biggest SEO threat is not AI Overviews (or other Google updates) - Eduard Blacquière - SEO Benelux Conference 2024

Many SEO specialists worry about AI Overviews, but Google algorithm updates are a bigger threat for many sites. But actually that is not your biggest threat... Many sites have been working on the same SEO tactics for years. But that is a race to the bottom. Because everyone copies each other. And in the meantime you HARDLY add any added value with your content. Then you can be unpleasantly surprised by one of the Google algorithm updates or new SERP features, such as AI Overviews. Eduard Blacquière takes you through the analysis of Google updates & current functioning of their ranking systems to gain insights to adjust your SEO strategy.

Eduard Blacquière

October 11, 2024
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  1. 1 Your biggest SEO threat is not AI Overviews (or

    other Google updates) Eduard Blacquière
  2. 32 Yes, most SERP features hurt SEO CTRs Research: https:/

    /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785 via https:/ /www.growth-memo.com/p/augmentation
  3. 33 Hurting CTRs = less clicks to top 10 positions

    Research: https:/ /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785 • 0 = SERP feature not present • 1 = SERP feature is present
  4. 35 SERP features result in lower CTR when… • …

    not included in SERP feature ◦ Especially with visual dominant features • … a direct answer is shown ◦ eg. featured snippet • … you have the #1 position ◦ SERP features below attract attention
  5. 36 But SERP features can result in higher CTR •

    … you’re included within a SERP feature ◦ Especially more visual or interactive features + instant answers ▪ eg. images, videos, people also ask, featured snippets • … when a feature is placed high on the SERP ◦ Positions lower on the SERP get higher CTRs
  6. 41 How to get in? Start with proper SEO. https:/

    /www.growth-memo.com/p/ai-on-innovation-part-2
  7. 42 Rest of SERP will probably suffer… 🥴 Research: https:/

    /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785 Especially more visual or interactive features negatively influence the search results which are not included in the SERP feature.
  8. 51 And they do a lot of updates 😳 https:/

    /developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide https:/ /www.google.com/intl/nl/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/rigorous-testing/
  9. 59 • Major update(s) to ranking systems You can go

    up/down if you haven't changed anything • Not focused on specific pages or sites Evaluates quality of content/sites overall • Rewards quality of content Helpful, reliable, satisfying and E-E-A-T • Often leads to major shifts and volatility Bigger drops/rises for the entire site • New, larger revaluation usually only with the next core update Earning trust that the entire site is more helpful, reliable Google core updates explained https:/ /developers.google.com/search/updates/core-updates
  10. 60

  11. 65 "Generally if the content of a site is of

    high quality and it's helpful and people like it in general, then Googlebot--well, Google--tends to crawl more from that site" "If we are not crawling much or we are gradually slowing down with crawling, that might be a sign of low-quality content or that we rethought the quality of the site" Quality determines Crawling https:/ /search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/crawling-smarter-not-harder
  12. 66 Quality determines Indexing https:/ /www.seroundtable.com/google-on-discovered-currently-not-indexed-37931.html "When Google Search notices

    a pattern of low quality or thin content on pages, they might be removed from the index and might stay in discovered." "Googlebot knows about these pages but is choosing not to proceed with them," because they are not high quality enough"
  13. 72 Quality is simpler than most people think “What if

    quality is actually simpler than most people think?” “What if it's about writing the thing that will help people achieve whatever they need to achieve when they come to the page? And that's it.” Gary Illyes, Google https:/ /search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/which-aspect-of-my-site-should-i-focus-on
  14. 73 Page Quality = how well page achieves purpose https:/

    /static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en/ /searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf
  15. 79 From the Google Leak (May 2024): • badClicks •

    goodClicks • lastLongestClicks • unicornClicks – The subset of clicks that are associated with an event from a Unicorn user • imageQualityClickSignals – Click signals for measuring image quality (e.g., usefulness, presentation, appealingness, and engagingness) • absoluteImpressions • chromeInTotal – Site-level Chrome views • uniqueChromeViews – Number of unique visits in Chrome • Etc. They measure all sorts of clicks (and more) https:/ /www.edwords.nl/2024/08/08/20-seo-tactieken-onderbouwd-met-de-google-leak/
  16. 3 causes of ranking shifts 83 1. Quality revaluation The

    essence of core updates 2. Intent shift Adjusting the intent behind keywords 3. Relevancy adjustment Adjusting what is considered more relevant for a search query
  17. 1. Recognizing quality revaluation 84 Quality revaluation: • Revaluation of

    quality in broadest sense (incl. E-E-A-T) • Decreases or increases are usually site-wide Characteristics of SERP change: • Same pages and sites, but different ranking
  18. 85 Example site-wide impact 1. August core update 2. September

    Helpful Content update 3. October core update 4. November core update
  19. 86 Findings • Major shifts rankings • Same pages rank

    before + after Conclusion • Revaluation of quality Example quality revaluation
  20. 2. Recognizing Intent shift 87 Intent shift: • Adjustment of

    intent behind keywords • Results in shift of page types Characteristic SERP change: • Other pages with different intent rank better
  21. 88 Findings • Informational pages down • Product pages up

    Conclusion • Shift from informational to commercial Intent Example intent shift Informatie Product Product Product Informatie
  22. 3. Recognize relevancy adjustment 92 Relevancy adjustment • Adjustment of

    what is considered more relevant for a search query Characteristic SERP change: • Different types of pages or sites, but same intent
  23. 93 Findings • Product pages (PDP) down • Category pages

    up Conclusion • Relevance adjustment from product page (PDP) to category page Example relevancy adjustment PDP Categorie Categorie Categorie PDP PDP PDP PDP PDP
  24. You know these questions by heart, right? 😉 102 https:/

    /developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
  25. 105

  26. 110 And optimize for user goals “What if quality is

    actually simpler than most people think?” “What if it's about writing the thing that will help people achieve whatever they need to achieve when they come to the page? And that's it.” Gary Illyes, Google https:/ /search-off-the-record.libsyn.com/which-aspect-of-my-site-should-i-focus-on
  27. 111 Example: how much loan? (Can I buy this house?)

    ❌ Don’t let a copywriter write a blog article with the top 5 keywords…
  28. 113 Help users achieve their goals quickly! ❌ Don’t let

    a copywriter write a blog article with the top 5 keywords… ✅ But build that feature, tool, UX design, graph, etc. to help your customers achieve their goals, quickly and easily!!
  29. 116 Same things, but lack of added value… • Publish

    articles • Link building (buying links… 🤐) • Improve site speed • etc. But in the meantime you HARDLY add any value with your content…
  30. 118 • No/limited information about content creation ◦ organization ◦

    people/authors ◦ editing process ◦ etc. • No demonstrable experience, knowledge ◦ = more than just an author + bio! (right, Chantal? 😉) 1. Content creation not transparent
  31. 119 From the Google Leak (May 2024): • author –

    Document author(s) / Author of article • authorName – The username of the author of the microblog post represented by this node. • profileUrl – Contains the link to the author’s profile url on the platform. • qualityAuthorshipAuthorAnnotations • topicExpertise – A topic that creator has expertise in. • topicalityRank – Rank of the entity when sorted by topicality score. We know Google measures this https:/ /www.edwords.nl/2024/08/08/20-seo-tactieken-onderbouwd-met-de-google-leak/
  32. 120 • Relatively many ads and/or affiliate links ◦ Is

    there a reason to exist, other than just making money from traffic? • No branding • Spray and pray content ◦ wanting to rank on every topic/keyword 2. No brand, no authority, no added value
  33. 121 From the Google Leak (May 2024): • siteQualityStddev –

    Estimate of site’s PQ rating stddev–spread of the page-level PQ ratings of a site • pqData – Encoded page-level PQ signals. • lowQuality – S2V low quality score: converted from quality_nsr.NsrData, applied in Qstar • GibberishScore – The gibberish score is represented in 7 bits, going from 0 to 127. • siteFocusScore – Number denoting how much a site is focused on one topic. • siteAuthority – site_authority: converted from quality_nsr.SiteAuthority, applied in Qstar • authorityPromotion -authority promotion: converted from QualityBoost.authority.boost • unauthoritativeScore – Unauthoritative score. Used as one of the web page quality qstar signals We know Google measures this https:/ /www.edwords.nl/2024/08/08/20-seo-tactieken-onderbouwd-met-de-google-leak/
  34. 122 • Little/no own content ◦ often just referring to

    other sites • No original content and/or added value ◦ even if the content is good! 3. No own content, experiences, etc.
  35. 123 From the Google Leak (May 2024): • copycatScore •

    OriginalContentScore – The original content score is represented as a 7-bits, going from 0 to 127. Only pages with little content have this field. • contentEffort – LLM-based effort estimation for article pages • topicalityWeight – The topicality_weight for each link with this target URL. We know Google measures this https:/ /www.edwords.nl/2024/08/08/20-seo-tactieken-onderbouwd-met-de-google-leak/
  36. Fundamental SEO changes 125 Old world ❌ • Publish more

    content • Keyword research > briefing > copywriting > publish • Build (buy) links • Equate high-scoring competitors • Hire copywriters • Optimize for rankings & traffic New world ✅ • Publish the best content • Uncover customer insights > content production > publish • Build authority & a brand • Provide information gain (go beyond general knowledge) • Hire experts & researchers • Optimize for customer satisfaction
  37. 129 1. All content is created based on customer insights

    not only based on keywords 2. All pages on entire site must be of high quality not only the most important pages 3. All content is your own, original content that experts, experienced people and/or researchers have contributed to not just copywriters 4. All pages provide information gain to users not only common kwoledge 5. All pages are optimized and judged on customer satisfaction not only rankings or traffic 5 new SEO principles
  38. 133