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.

Transcript

1. 1 Your biggest SEO threat is not AI Overviews (or other Google updates) Eduard Blacquière
2. 2 Who knows this guy?
3. 3 “Most adaptable to change”
4. Hi there 👋 nice to meet you! linkedin.com/in/eduardblacquiere/ 4
5. Freelance SEO-specialist edwords.nl 5
6. Co-founder Friends of Search friendsofsearch.com 6
7. Co-founder SEO Pro Academy seopro.academy 7 Joint the waitlist
8. 8 Your biggest SEO threat is not AI Overviews (or other Google updates)
9. Not completely honest… 😇
10. 10 AI Overviews will probably have impact
11. 11 And Google updates can be brutal… 🪓
12. Different root cause
13. 13 That looks something like this.
14. AI Overviews
15. 15 Most people fear SEO impact of AIOs
16. 16 But no worries here 😂
17. 17 AIO launch has been a sh** show 󰣺
18. 18 So Google had to pull back https:/ /searchengineland.com/google-ai-overviews-visibility-new-low-444048
19. 19 Maybe fix non-AI search first, Google? Mike King
20. 20 In stead of pushing Reddit https:/ /www.growth-memo.com/p/reddit-masterclass
21. 21 AIOs increasing again, are here to stay https:/ /dashboard.ziptie.dev/aio-monitor
22. 22 AIOs won’t be launched in EU soon
23. 23 Will AIOs have (negative) SEO impact?
24. 24 Maybe, but I’m not so sure 🤔
25. 25 Predictions going wild: “60% loss!!”
26. 26 Déjà vu…
27. 27 “AI will kill Google!!” ☠
28. 28 Not happening. https:/ /sparktoro.com/blog/new-research-so-far-ai-is-not-disrupting-search-or-making-a-dent-in-google/
29. 29 And it’s not a traffic shift. https:/ /sparktoro.com/blog/is-google-losing-search-market-share/
30. 30 Back to AIOs
31. 31 For now, AIOs are just another SERP feature
32. 32 Yes, most SERP features hurt SEO CTRs Research: https:/ /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785 via https:/ /www.growth-memo.com/p/augmentation
33. 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
34. 34 But some SERP features increase CTRs! Research: https:/ /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785
35. 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
36. 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
37. 37 Google’s statement might be true 😱
38. 38 “More traffic to supporting websites” https:/ /blog.google/products/search/google-search-lens-october-2024-updates/
39. 39 When you are included! Research: https:/ /arxiv.org/pdf/2306.01785
40. 40 At least 6 opportunities in AIOs https:/ /richsanger.com/how-search-intent-shapes-google-ai-overviews-study-insights/
41. 41 How to get in? Start with proper SEO. https:/ /www.growth-memo.com/p/ai-on-innovation-part-2
42. 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.
43. 43 And AI organized SERPs could hurt more
44. SEO strategy implication ⚠
45. 45 Adapt & Optimize for all SERP features!
46. 46 That should have been your strategy already…
47. 47 Have you adapted your SEO strategy?
48. Google algorithm updates
49. Just like many other updates 49
50. 50 Update to Google’s systems https:/ /developers.google.com/search/docs/appearance/ranking-systems-guide
51. 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/
52. 52 And the number is increasing…
53. 53 +/- 10 big Google updates per year
54. 54 Impact seems to be getting more intense https:/ /moz.com/blog/charting-the-google-algorithm
55. 55 And quite a few sites suffer from this…
56. I’m happy with Google updates 😀
57. Under the hood! 57
58. Core updates
59. 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
61. Quality is the #1 ranking factor
62. Google before: sees everything, filters quality 62
63. Google now: “First prove that you have good content, all over your site!” 63
64. 64 Quality impacts all Google systems now
65. 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
66. 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"
67. 67 Google tells you
68. 68 Oh yeah, and quality determines ranking 😉 https:/ /www.google.com/intl/nl/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/
69. SEO strategy implication ⚠
70. 70 Low quality pages on your site can hurt your high quality pages
71. What is quality?
72. 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
73. 73 Page Quality = how well page achieves purpose https:/ /static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en/ /searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf
74. 74 Page Quality is also E-E-A-T https:/ /static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en/ /searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf
75. 75 Not because Google wants E-E-A-T!
76. How is quality measured?
77. 77 Google fakes it. 😱 https:/ /www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/417516.pdf
78. 78 Google looks how their users react https:/ /www.justice.gov/d9/2023-11/417508.pdf
79. 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/
80. Back to core updates 80
81. Recognize quality issues
82. Analyze core updates
83. 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
84. 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
85. 85 Example site-wide impact 1. August core update 2. September Helpful Content update 3. October core update 4. November core update
86. 86 Findings • Major shifts rankings • Same pages rank before + after Conclusion • Revaluation of quality Example quality revaluation
87. 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
88. 88 Findings • Informational pages down • Product pages up Conclusion • Shift from informational to commercial Intent Example intent shift Informatie Product Product Product Informatie
89. SEO strategy implication ⚠
90. 90 Duplicate content is fine.
91. 91 SEO tactic: “Duplicate” content is fine. If you target different intents.
92. 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
93. 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
94. Improving quality
95. 95 You could hope your goodiebag works…
96. Google is very clear
97. “Helpful content” 97
98. “Satisfying experience” 98
99. “E-E-A-T” 99
100. 100 That is “quality content” https:/ /www.google.com/intl/nl/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/
101. Guidelines hidden in plain sight
102. You know these questions by heart, right? 😉 102 https:/ /developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content
103. 103 2011!!!
104. And 80-90% is unchanged! 🤯 104
106. 106 Picture starting to make more sense? 😉
107. It’s not too late!
108. Review your content objectively 108
109. Rate your site like a Search Quality Rater 109
110. 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
111. 111 Example: how much loan? (Can I buy this house?) ❌ Don’t let a copywriter write a blog article with the top 5 keywords…
112. 112 I’ve been guilty 🖐 You too? 😉
113. 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!!
114. 114 Now we can explain why sites are losing
115. 115 Most sites doing the same things
116. 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…
117. Characteristics losers
118. 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
119. 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/
120. 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
121. 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/
122. 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.
123. 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/
124. Ask for different SEO
125. 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
126. SEO grew up Many SEOs didn't
127. Very well said 👌 127 https:/ /searchengineland.com/seo-grew-up-seos-didnt-447249
128. SEO strategy implication ⚠
129. 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
130. 130 Be the one that is most adaptable to change!
131. 131 And you’ll survive the next Google update 💪
132. Thanks! @edwords eduard@edwords.nl Join the waitlist 👉 https:/ /seopro.academy