Search Changes Affect Organic Traffic

This post was co-authored by Debra Zahay.

It's hard  for digital marketing instructors to keep up with changes in Google's search algorithm and the resulting impacts on search marketing, especially the changes in SEO. Paid search is easier to understand and there are opportunities like the Google Online Marketing Challenge that allow students to gain useful experience in conducting PPC campaigns. There is a chapter devoted to PPC and paid social advertising in edition 4.

Students need to have a basic understanding of both SEO and PPC. Many instructors may choose to leave SEO at the "basic understanding" level, and that's fine. There are many opportunities for marketers to become proficient at SEO, and I wanted to get an idea of how much instruction was the norm. There is, as you might suspect, no such thing as "norm." We looked at one recent list of best SEO training programs and found them offering various aspects of SEO and using  multiple sets of training materials and media. That's appropriate for a complex and ever-changing field. It also means that students can access specialized training like SEO for content creators. Encourage students to try free beginner's courses to decide whether paid courses or certification programs are right for them. It also confirms our own experiences in the classroom.

The free SEO training course from HubSpot is a good place to start, especially if you are already using HubSpot Inbound Marketing or other certifications in your classes. It's difficult to give students a working knowledge of SEO in the time available in most digital marketing courses, but it is possible to give an overview. SEO implementation usually requires months of effort  so it is difficult to create a project where the result of the student's work can be seen over time. In contrast, paid search projects show immediate results and paid search is becoming more important as the search landscape becomes more crowded and competitive. In addition, SEO is becoming prey to the "Alexa effect," where searchers just want one specific answer and not millions of answers. Because of this phenomenon, good content alone is not the most important thing to "rank" in search. Being able to answer specific questions and be selected for a "featured snippet" and having a recognizable brand will often result in higher rankings.

With that in mind let's concentrate on recent changes and how to cover them at a high level without getting bogged down in technical details. First, there are a number of concepts that students need to be clear about. They are:

• Quality content. The importance of content quality in search ranking is not new and is covered in both editions 3 and 4.  Although Google has never provided a precise definition of "quality," experts still regard it as the single most important factor in achieving a high ranking. This recent post has a section on content quality and a good listing of what makes poor quality content.  

• Rank brain. The existence of this machine learning algorithm has been known to search marketers since 2015 and was covered in edition 4.  MOZ has a succinct explanation: "To “teach” the RankBrain algorithm to produce useful search results, Google first “feeds” it data from a variety of sources. The algorithm then takes it from there, calculating and teaching itself over time to match a variety of signals to a variety of results and to order search engine rankings based on these calculations." This post has a section on Understanding Rank Brain that gives a reasonably simple example of trying to understand search intent that could be adapted for classroom use. This typology of search intent is also useful.

• Featured snippets. Also known as "answer boxes,"  these content-first query results boxes have been a growing part of search results for several years. I wrote about them in the context of voice search, pointing out that the article that gets the snippet virtually owns the search result real estate and is the only answer to a voice query. They are also extremely important in mobile search where the SERP space is severely limited. The dominance of the snippet in search results is why it is often referred to as "Position 0." Google is the sole determinant of the content chosen for the featured snippet. Content that answers "how to" and "what is" types of questions is more likely to be chosen for a featured snippet.

         Closely related is the Knowledge Panel, the box of business profile information that shows
         on the right panel when the user searches for a business entity.

• EAT. Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness. In its 2019 Search Quality Evaluation Guidelines, Google states that the first step in ranking the quality of a page is that it has a clear, beneficial purpose and the publication gives detailed examples of website and page objectives. Then the main content (MC) of the page is evaluated according to the expertise of the creator and the authoritativeness and trustworthiness of the "creator of the MC, the MC itself, and the website." (Section 3.2, p. 18).

• YMYL. Your Money or Your Life. According to Google, "Some types of pages could potentially impact the future happiness, health, financial stability or safety of users. We call such pages “Your Money or Your Life” pages, or YMYL." (Section 2.3, p. 9) Google gives  examples of YMYL pages that include shopping and financial transactions pages, financial information pages, medical and legal information pages, and a limited set of news pages that are "important for having an informed citizenry." They give several examples of the news category and point out that not all news articles fall into this category.
  Warning: the Google publication is 166 pages long, and the table of content alone is 4 pages long. That TOC is really the good news; it is so detailed that is is easy to find relevant content. It's a good idea for anyone who teaches search marketing in any detail to keep this publication handy, as it is an excellent reference. 
• Broad core updates. Search Engine Land quotes Google's explanation: "Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our results. [My note: MOZ counted an average of 9 updates per day in 2018.] Some are focused around specific improvements. Some are broad changes. Last week, we released a broad core algorithm update. We do these routinely several times per year." These are the "major updates" recorded in MOZ and SEJ timelines. They often have noticeable impact on search engine rankings and are carefully studied by search marketers.

 Both Moz and SEJ have timelines of major Google updates with explanatory links. These are far too long to use in the classroom in their entirety but you could try capturing 2019 so far or 2018 in several panes to give students an idea of how many without going into detail. Unless, of course, you think that would be de-motivating! If students are not willing to keep learning and keep changing, a search marketing career is just not for them.

Here are major Google algorithm changes in 2018 from Search Engine Week:

1. Any site without HTTPs is considered insecure 
2. Mobile page speed and mobile-first indexing
3. Featured snippets and knowledge panels
4. Display of related products in SERPs
5. Video optimization
6. Image search.

SEW also has an infographic that gives detail on these changes. Instructors could copy it panel-by-panel for a lecture that included major SEM changes in 2018. The infographic reproduced below describes the resulting trends for 2019.

The importance of User Intent has already been mentioned. Another teaching idea is to give the students the MOZ post with the example about the "olympics location" search and assign them to come up with an example of their own and discuss how marketers might understand the intent.

As I discussed in the earlier post, Optimizing for Voice Search continues to be important. Something I've learned on the subject is that asking a query in question form often produces better results than just asking using keywords, thanks to voice search optimization.

In 2018 eMarketer announced that more product searches actually started on Amazon than on Google. That means that Google Search has a competitor besides the other search engines.




The importance of brand as a factor is encapsulated in EAT. A brand must show expertise and authority--must make itself a trusted brand--to rank highly





Google has been rolling out Mobile-First Indexing for several years and its impact has been great. It means that Google looks at a site as a smart phone browser would, not as a desktop browser would. By the end of 2018 mobile indexing was used for more than half of all search results and Google had announced it would be the default for all new sites. This makes user experience on mobile sites a predominant factor in search rankings.


The importance of Featured Snippets has already been highlighted. Essentially, the content that captures the featured snippet will get the lion's share of the traffic for that query. Since many queries are already answered with featured snippets, one strategy is to write "better" content that can replace the current link. The other strategy is to locate relevant queries with no snippet and attempt to optimize for one.

According to Wikipedia, "Latent semantic analysis is a technique in natural language processing, in particular distributional semantics, of analyzing relationships between a set of documents and the terms they contain by producing a set of concepts related to the documents and terms." That may be a field of study that's not familiar to many of us, but it is a technique used in Rank Brain analysis, so LSI keywords could be important. Here's a post from the marketing manager at Alexa that explains in lay marketers' terms.



Technical SEO refers to characteristics of websites that can improve search ranking. Basically, these are the tools Google offers to webmasters. Here is a relatively non-technical description with good additional reference links.






Page Loading Speed has long been an important ranking feature as well as being important to good user experience. Remember that mobile page loading speed is now of special importance.











It's clearly not possible to discuss SEO without technical references. Hopefully this carefully-curated explanation of recent trends will be helpful in the classroom and if you choose to stop at this "overview" level that is great. Students will have a basic idea of how search marketing is changing. The links will provide more detail where you want it.

Note from Mary Lou: Doing the research for this post involved both checking facts that I thought I knew and finding information about issues on which I was pretty clueless--and there were a lot of those! What amazed me through the process was how often I was able to find what I needed by asking the question I wanted to answer and then examining the featured snippets and knowledge boxes that appeared. That alone said something to me about the power and direction of evolving search marketing.

Related Updates:
Recognizing a featured snippets opportunity 

We All Need to Be Aware of Phishing Emails

Phishing is a disgusting scam that is discussed in Chapter 17. The FBI's 2017 internet crime report identified over $675 million in losses from this type of cybercrime.

I hope most institutions have beefed up their security against these emails since the days when I used to regularly report emails to IT that my colleagues apparently ignored. My sense also is that my students were not very careful. Perhaps they were even gullible, especially to the "something for nothing" offers.

Whether you approach this subject from a personal perspective or from a business one, it is important. I think the updated information in this new post will be helpful. You could even use the Google test in class as an engagement device.

Cell Phones and Data Protection

We all use our cell phones at all times in all sorts of places. In my experience our students can be extremely careless of their data security in general and their cell phone security in particular.

I've just posted a link to the article with this excellent 2+ minute video on my privacy blog. It's perfect for use in class.

Just beneath it there's a good post (if I do say so myself :) on the major security threats in 2019 which would also provide content for a good class update.

Enjoy--and stay safe!

Great List of Resources for Teaching Digital Marketing

Prof. Jeannine Morber of Stevenson University has put together an extensive and well-curated list of resource sites for Digital and Social Media Marketing instructors.

Debra posted the list on her blog and also posted a Google Doc with the list if that is more convenient for you.

Do check it out!

And thanks to Jeannine for making it available!!!

Good, Integrated Use of Digital Marketing

One of the few reality shows I've ever gotten hooked on was the Beekman Boys. Sadly, it's been off the air for two or three years. I was enchanted by the two guys from NYC who bought a farm in Vermont, bonded with their neighbors and animals (goats, pigs and a runaway llama) and struggled successfully to create a sustainable business. Episodes of the show are posted online; just Google them.

Brent is a physician with an MBA who worked for Martha Stewart Omnimedia and Josh is a former executive at the JWT agency, so maybe it should be no surprise that they have a sophisticated marketing strategy that uses various media channels. I was delighted to reconnect with them on HSN.

http://bit.ly/2EE961B

Earlier this month I saw a link to their 24-hour marathon (!!) on Facebook. I watched a little of it and it was a delight. This video would be a good launch for a class discussion of how to engage with your customers!

They also have a charming website, a retail store (featured on the site) and a Facebook page with 191 thousand followers in addition to their frequent appearances on HSN. A true omnichannel strategy!

There's lots of opportunity for discussion here, especially about the ways in which they integrate the various channels. It would make a great mini-case if someone had the energy to write it up and share it with the rest of us!

In the meantime, Happy Holidays!!!

The Power of Instagram Stories

In the world of social media the popularity of platforms rises and falls. Last year the social media darling was Snapchat. In 2018 Instagram, and especially Instagram Stories, has become a marketing force.

Why is Instagram a Marketing Powerhouse?

Instagram has become indispensable to many marketers for the usual reasons--it's large and it's effective in reaching and motivating attractive target audiences. Some 2018 statistics to back that up:

• It has 1 billion active monthly users as of mid-2018. Yes, that's billion with a b!
• Its growth is expected to continue, as compared to Facebook, Twitter and even Snapchat, all of whose growth in number of accounts has plateaued.
• Instagram users spend an average of 53 minutes each day on the Android version of the app.  
• Of primary importance to marketers, it is the platform of choice of 18 - 34 year-old consumers worldwide, a notoriously hard to reach demographic.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/248769/age-distribution-of-worldwide-instagram-users/

• 1/3 of US mobile users are on Instagram.
• 25% of US mobile male users are on the platform. 
• 40% of US mobile female users are on it. Note that worldwide slightly more men than women are on the platform,
• Their usage is formidable:
• 22% of users log in to Instagram at least once each day.
• 38% check their account multiple times each day.
• 63% of US teenagers use Instagram daily.
• 34% of US Millennials use the platform daily.
• 72% of users have purchased a product they saw on Instagram.

Instagram is a Proven Business Platform 

 

As users have flocked to Instagram, brands have followed them there. The platform works equally well for global brands and small local businesses. And it does work. According to Hootsuite's aggregation of stats:

• 16.71% of businesses use Instagram; there are 17.25 million business profiles on the platform.
• It has 18.2 million monthly advertisers.
• 19.8% of users follow at least one business.
• 60% of users discover products there.
• 75% of users take some kind of action like visiting a product's website.
• In a single month 1/3 of Instagram users purchased a product using a mobile device making them 70% more likely to purchase from a mobile device than non-users.
• Instagram has a 2.2% interaction rate, higher than competing platforms.
• In a single month in 2017 50% of Instagram business accounts produced at least one Story.

What Are Instagram Stories?

If Instagram is a marketing powerhouse Instagram Stories is the feature that is propelling its current growth. Instagram Stories is a feature that allows users to post photos and videos that disappear after 24 hours. Snapchat was the first to introduce Stories in 2013 and now Facebook offers the feature also. Instagram quickly outstripped the popularity of both Facebook and Snapchat stories among the key young adult demographics.

Once the Stories feature has been activated on the app, all the content posted during a 24-hour period is shown in chronological order. Content from the user's camera roll can be included. The story appears on a bar at the top of the creator's page. Stories can be shared with other users but there are no likes or comments. Stories also offers a number of engagement features--stickers, locations, hashtags and polls appear to be the most popular. In order to access these features the user must convert to a business profile. If you are converting a personal profile to a business profile, you may need to change some of your settings to activate all the new features. Once you have Stories operational, you can create your first Story.

Because of the ephemeral nature of Stories, sharing options are limited.  Instagram posts can be shared to a user's Story by using the paper plane icon. Stories can be reposted by accounts but only if they are tagged in another account's Stories. Reposting is useful for brands that use influencer marketing because they can include the influencer's post in their own highlights.

HubSpot lists other useful business features:

• Business that have over 10,000 followers can add links to their Stories, thereby driving viewers to their websites.
• The Highlights feature allows businesses to add a set of clips to their profile. Highlights do not disappear after 24 hours; they remain visible underneath the profile picture until the brand deletes them.

•  Instagram Stickers can be customized to increase engagement and add a call to action. See examples here.

 

 

 

How Brands Use Instagram Stories

Brands use Instagram Stories to promote their products and services in many ways, as shown in this chart from marketing services firm Launch. Their report says that Instagram is the best platform for creating viewer engagement and that brands value engagement even more than they do product awareness. Makes sense--engagement has a good chance of leading to viewer action.

Brandwatch posted an infographic with compelling reasons to use Stories and links to 30 interesting case histories. Unfortunately it's just too long to post, but here's the link. Some of their statistics are already outdated. I've been careful to use the most recent ones I could find for this post. Here are some capsules of brands who are using Stories well.

Selena Gomez. Not a brand, you say? To my mind anyone who has 144 million followers on Instagram is a brand, whether she intended it or not. And I assume this former girlfriend of Justin Bieber did intend it. I've read the Vanity Fair article on how she became the top Instagram celebrity and I still don't understand it. But that's ok because I'm not part of her target audience. She does Stories, of course; this is simply her profile picture.

Nike. Always a powerhouse in digital, there are literally dozens of  Nike Instagram accounts. Some are corporate accounts, some are retailer accounts and some may even be individual fans. This is from #Nike, which features user-generated content. I captured this shot from the Black Friday story because it has an interactive feature, a question sticker, I think. It turns out to be a post from Turkey's largest retailer of sportswear. What fun!
[accessed November 23, 2018]







Monterrey Bay Aquarium. National Geographic is far and away the leader in this space with 94.3 million Instagram followers as I write this. It has been an internet and social media giant from the beginning with its captivating photos. The Monterrey Bay Aquarium, with 'only' 253 thousand followers, shows much smaller non-profit using Stories well. Any account that can host a #SeaSlugDay has my vote. It also has my vote for having an Instagram account just for teens to post their own content for other teens. That's a great fit with their mission "to inspire conservation of the ocean" and their program "to inspire the next wave of ocean leaders" by focusing on education and development programs for children, teens and teachers.
[accessed November 23, 2018]

 Mailchimp.  When you search the best B2B Instagram marketers email marketing firm Mailchimp invariably shows up. These three screens from their Small Business Saturday Story gives a good idea of why. Interactive features promote engagement and the answer, of course, is a promo for Mailchimp's services. They have 87.7 thousand followers, which is not too shabby for a marketing services firm unknown outside the email industry. They have one service that is especially relevant--the ability to create an Instagram (also Facebook) ad directly from their platform. The process is explained thoroughly without the viewer having to create a Mailchimp account. The third resource page Create Instagram Ads in Mailchimp has a 2-minute video that would work well in the classroom. Wow!
[accessed November 24, 2018]

This is more than enough to give you the idea! A word of warning, however. It's difficult to do justice to ephemeral content in a static context. Instagram Stories beg to be shown in class. You can find good sources in the Brandwatch infographic post or a more recent article in Forbes. You can also ask your students to suggest a story. Having had some embarrassing experiences with that--both intentional and unintentional, I think--I always suggest that you have a backup ready. Or do both. Your students will give you some entertaining examples; you can add the digital strategy aspects. However you choose to present Instagram Stories, I think both you and your students will enjoy it!

Related Updates
How not to do Instagram video--Dolce&Gabbana

AI and Fake News

I just completed a busy month writing a post every day in October for National Cyber Security Awareness Week. It was fun and, of course, I learned a lot. This is an annual event and it generates a lot of good content. Watch for it next year!

The theme of Week 1 was to stop and think before you connect and I posted some good tips and links to safety resources. Week 2 focused on young people and jobs and had some popular posts on the number and kinds of jobs available, as well as the skills needed. Week 3 was about workplace cyber safety and I posted about small businesses, who need to ensure cyber security also. Week 4 was about protecting our cyber infrastructure. That's a super-important topic but not really relevant for my target audience of non-technical internet users. So I set myself the subject of fake news and found it fascinating. I'd especially draw the attention of you and your students to the post on identifying fake news on social media, but it's all useful.

One of the few light moments in that series of posts is this video showing how dance moves can be superimposed on even the klutziest of us.

It's a great example of what AI can do in a context that students will enjoy. It's less about fake news than it is about how to deceive with video in general. There's a link to a paper by the authors explaining how they made the video. It would cover two important issues in the classroom--burgeoning uses of AI and deceptive videos that are almost impossible to detect without sophisticated tools, some of which are described in the post.

Consider using it in the classroom!