The Future of SEO & Search

When I think about the future of SEO, I have to think first about the future of search. Almost immediately, I think you’ll agree that this will bring you to the question, “how does a search engine provide a better experience for the user?”

Starting from this point, let’s look at things from the standpoint of a company who wants to provide the best search service possible. Obviously, the best possible experience as a search user is finding exactly what you were looking for in some cases, while in others, it may be finding some hidden gem of information that you hadn’t previously considered.

Often, it occurs to me that when I’m making a query to Google, there’s probably some no name, perhaps even underground, site out there somewhere in cyberspace with exactly what I’m looking for, but, my chances of finding it via Google are probably slim to none.

Now, why would I think that? Well, for starters, competition. People are online to make money these days, and the more time or money you have to invest towards placing in searches for a given term, the better your chances. What about that guy or gal out there that just has some random tidbit of information on a particular topic that is absolutely groundbreaking? Where do they fall into that equation? Well, I would say that currently, their content going viral thanks to the super quality of their content, is really their only chance, if they’re not investing time or money in SEO, etc.

This really is a shame, since finding good content is the job of the search engine, and shouldn’t be the job of the search user. That’s why we’re at Google’s search engine, to find the best possible result for what we’re looking for! Well, in my opinion, given the size of this Earth and number of inhabitants here, there’s a lot more than 10 “top results” for a huge list of terms, and furthermore, in many cases, it’s all about who can jump through hoops the best, as to which 10 sites will be displayed on the infamous first page of results.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about directories. Isn’t that strange? It seems like going backwards, it seems counter-dynamic, however, look at the strong points of directory based results. First of all, you can see a lot more than 10 results per page, without the page running extremely long, or taking forever to load. Most directories just list the titles of the results for a given search anyway, and even if you included the description, there’s definitely a way to display more results in less space, resulting in a larger choice for the user.

That brings me to my next point. Why is choice bad? It’s as if Google is telling us, we want you to click the first result, it’s the best! If you think otherwise, well, you’re wrong. How many times is the first result of a search the only result you need? I would venture to put it like this: the first result is the only result I need, about as much as the first result is nowhere close to what I am looking for, at all.

Also, search engines are about discovering, right? So, what’s the harm in showing the user 50 results on a nicely laid out page and letting the user actually do some discovering?

For example, go do a search for sneakers. The first result is for the movie Sneakers, followed by SneakerHead. Get my drift? We’re all falling all over ourselves to rank #1 in Google, but look at how the end result actually plays out. The best sneaker marketplace on the net is still #2 to a motion picture result.

Now, I’ll say that I should have been more specific in my search, however, if I somehow became the owner of http://www.sneakers.com, I’m pretty sure I’d try to sell sneakers before I would make it an ode to that classic movie. Yet and still, you see the discrepancy.

Also, we have to consider things from the business side, from the black hat side, from the spam and scam side of things. The next big search system has to handle these issues better than Google. I will say that Google gets better over time, however, usually a big improvement also causes a huge amount of unrest from people who run sites that get tagged by their algorithm updates, for what would seem like no reason.

Also, isn’t diversity, competition, and freedom good? I’m not saying that unverified information should be the word of the day, such as taking Wikipedia at their word, on every post, however, taking Encyclopedia Britannica at their word for every post is just as dangerous.

As times change, people come up with interesting points of view on virtually any and every topic. Don’t they deserve a chance in the limelight?

This led me to an interesting thought. Consider a directory based search, that provides classifications on results, displayed in columnar format. The engine would identify the type of site the result was for, e.g., is it an authority site? Is it a trusted news source? Is it a personal blog? Is it an online store?

Then, results could be displayed in columnar format, as follows:

If you did a search for sneakers, you’d be looking at multiple columns of results, such as “Entertainment” with results for the film, “Sneakers,” a shopping column, with results for sneaker marketplaces, an informational column about the history of sneakers, and perhaps a personal blog column with results from bloggers talking about their latest activities involving sneakers.

This is a very general, and rough, example, but you can already see the value in the approach. Rather than seeing #1 result, IMDB’s page for “Sneakers” followed by a few sneaker marketplaces, you’ve got a page showing you everything that has to do with sneakers, from various angles, all with relevant information, and say, 10 choices in each column to choose from.

Now, that’s a page of search results that I really like. Also, it opens up the door to more competition. Even if you’re just a blogger out there, if you’ve got the most popular blog post that’s all about sneakers, you’ve got a chance to be heard, right next to Zappos, Converse, and IMDB, without someone having to do a specific search to come across the hidden gem that is YOUR perspective and experience on the topic at hand.

Of course, there could be many more columns, e.g. classifications of websites, so why not throw some check boxes next to the search box to select which classifications of websites you want to see results from. Only want marketplaces? Cool, just check the shopping box, and you’ll see 50 results of marketplaces for sneakers.

I know this can be achieved, in a way, with Google by using the specific tabs within search, but it’s nowhere close to this approach, and for things like Google’s shopping results, the site owners have to jump through some more hoops to get listed there, so for me, it’s pretty blah.

Also, I think a cool feature for search would be “random.” That’s right, random. Throw the wild card in there! Why? Well, for one, it’s more fun, and for two, you never know what you might find, depending on what it is you’re searching for. Sometimes, you just want to read the point of view of a lot of people on a given topic. What better way to do that, than by seeing random results on the topic, within a classification you choose? So, you could select “personal blogs” or it’s equivalent, and fire off a random search for sneakers. The results would be something you’d never come across without a lot of digging in Google today. You’d get the point of view of 50 random people talking about sneakers. While this might be useless in a lot of cases, what if you’re planning on selling sneakers and you want to know what your audience is talking about? Well, with this functionality, you could find that out a lot quicker, and discover more in depth information than is currently available in a few minutes of reading versus a few hours of searching and reading, as things are now.

So, who will the next big search engine be? Do you think they would be attracted towards approaches to search like these?

How Bounce Rate Affects SEO & Implications

One question I’ve seen popping up lately is whether or not bounce rate truly affects your position in SERPs. I’ve decided to weigh in on this subject with a different angle than simply answering that question.

First of all, from a technical standpoint, how this is engineered is interesting to me. Obviously, if you have Google Analytics, or Bing Webmaster Tools, installed, then it would be easy for that given search engine to know your bounce rate for any keyword in their index, however, let’s say that you use a different metrics system that isn’t affiliated with any search engine, how would Google or Bing know your bounce rate then? Honestly, I’m not 100% sure, but, I do not doubt that in some way, Google is gauging this metric, even if Analytics isn’t installed on the visited search result.

What does this mean for all of us website owners? Well, first of all, if this is true, it’s time to start putting a lot of thought into how to reduce bounce rates, as this metric will more than likely play a larger role in ranking SERPs as time goes on, simply because it is definitely a powerful statistic.

Think of the reasons why you “bounce” from a site when using a search engine. Obviously, if your website employs a tactic that causes you to bounce back, it might be a good time to consider an alternative to your approach on that component of your website.

Another interesting point here is Flash content. If the Flash content causes the visitor to bounce back, it’s not going to be good, however, if the Flash presentation is done well, perhaps it will lead to your website having an extremely low bounce rate, which moving forward could be huge for your SEO efforts. Flash is probably the single most controversial topic when it comes to web development, and especially in regard to SEO, so I’m sure as this becomes more and more prevalent, you will see people asking this same question more often.

In the world of online advertising, one recent method that is gaining steam is interstitial ads. These are usually full page ads, with a banner at the top that say “Skip” or “Continue to Content”, etc. I’m sure you’ve seen them. While as far as advertising revenue is concerned, interstitial ads seem like a good idea, if you implement them right off the bat and run up your bounce rate, this could affect your search engine ranking very adversely.

What users see “above the fold” is always important, but perhaps now is the time to breathe new life into the importance of grabbing your visitor’s attention and keeping it, above the fold. Also consider mobile visitors and how your website appeals to them. Perhaps you have a low bounce rate on traditional devices, and even tablets, but on handsets, your bounce rate is very high. You may be able to improve your SEO a great deal simply by offering a more attractive mobile version of your site.

If your website uses any media that is set to automatically play, you might want to reconsider your first words, as they may very well be your last. I’m not saying to take the used car dealership’s approach to radio advertisements and attempt to wake the dead, but beginning your video with “Hi, my name is John Doe and I’ve got some great news for you” might need to wait until you’re 20 or 30 seconds into the presentation.

If you’re an ecommerce site, one great way to keep people on your site at least for a few extra seconds is by placing a system wide advertisement at the top of the website. Chances are, if the visitor is even remotely interested when they click on your search result in Google, they’ll read what your sales promotion is, before clicking their back button, in the worst case scenario.

Also, engaging the user is a great way to attempt to hook them into staying on your site longer. Don’t be overly intrusive or bothersome, but the use of a content box that can be dismissed (not a popup, just a content box) somewhere above the fold that is highlighted and attempts to engage the user with a question and offer of a reward could be very successful in lowering your bounce rate.

For instance, perhaps you put up a system wide message in the header with a special offer of 10% off for new customers (returning customers will usually not have a high bounce rate), and then place a content box above the fold with a highlighted color border, with an offer such as, “Double your savings and receive 20% off on your first order!” with a question inside the box that they have to answer to receive the extra 10% off. Even if they do not complete checkout, they may answer your question (the question should provide you valuable information, think of a question that helps you resolve another issue on your website or gives you insight into why customers do or don’t do a particular action on your website). You could get really brave, and even offer the double discount amount for joining your mailing list and / or creating an account. Now you’re really engaging the customer, and if they have any interest, they’ll probably join your newsletter, create an account, and your bounce rate for their visit will be the best it can possibly be, a nice big goose egg.

As you can see, it makes sense to put thought into your bounce rate and how to lower it, as by doing so, you naturally come across other ways to improve your site for your visitors, and come up with new approaches to resolve other issues.

The Downfalls of Relying on Organic SEO for Google Traffic

While relying on Google for traffic is fine for some businesses, it’s definitely not fine for all businesses.

The reason? There are only 10 spots on page 1, and only a few of those are above the fold. Then consider that Google ads take up prime real estate at the top for many searches, displayed above even the first organic result! I don’t know about you, but if I had done what it takes to reach the #1 spot in Google SERPs for a given search, only to be topped by an advertiser paying Google AdWords for traffic, I’d be pretty peeved, especially depending on the investments I had made to obtain that position. Consider further, that if you’re a business, local business results will take up more prime real estate, pushing the normal SERPs even further down. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that being listed high on the first page of SERPs in Google is a bad thing, it certainly is not. What I am saying, is that for your business, it may not be the most feasible approach as a means to an end of getting a lot of traffic.

Bounce back to the point I made above regarding Google AdWords. While your particular search keywords will determine the price range that a click will cost you, if you’re interested in short term traffic results, AdWords may be a good solution for you. The reason is that you are paying for a targeted visitor, and if traffic isn’t targeted, well, it shouldn’t even count in most cases, as the conversion rate of that untargeted traffic into taking the desired action on your website is going to be abysmal. Past Google AdWords, there are a lot of alternatives to paying for targeted traffic out there, and these should be considered as well. I’m not saying to give up on organic SEO, but if you’re launching a business, you don’t have time to rank in Google in most situations. You need results, you need customers and customer engagement, you need traffic, and you need it yesterday!

For some keyword searches, it may not even be feasible to shoot for #1 in Google. Take a look at your competition and decide for yourself. If #1 in Google is a long shot, near impossible, or possible, but only at some point in the distant further, don’t be naive or give up, simply look at your alternatives. Spinning your wheels wishing on a star isn’t going to change your SERP spot or your traffic generation. 

Also, social media has created a great way to generate traffic. While you can also run paid advertisements on social networks, you can also market the old fashion way, as well as the new school way and way of the future. What I’m talking about is direct customer engagement. If you’re a small business, nothing is stopping you from seeking out potential customers on social networks and connecting with them. While you have to conduct this networking in a legitimate fashion, as you don’t want to spam people or come off as such, some thought needs to be given to how you will approach these potential clientele.

The bottom line is this: if you run a business website, you need traffic to that website for it to turn into conversions, even if that conversion is your phone ringing, an eMail popping up in your inbox, or an order being placed and paid for via your shopping cart. To get traffic, you will have to spend time and money, it’s up to you how much time and how much money you spend, but that’s really all there is to it. Competition online for traffic is so fierce currently, that the days of doing some great SEO to your website and watching the traffic pour in are all but over. Chances are, your market, your niche keyword term, is saturated, which means even if the competition isn’t very stiff, it’s still competition nonetheless, and you have to outrank them. Not only that, you need to consider Google algorithm updates and whether any practices you employ can be construed as unethical, in which case, your website might be due for a whop from the Google hammer, knocking you way down the SERP list, banning you from SERPs for the keyword you are targeting so adamantly, or in extreme cases, deindexing your website altogether. Staying in the #1 spot isn’t going to be an easy thing, and it’s only going to become more difficult as time goes on and Google continues to evolve it’s search algorithms.

The best solution I have found to generate traffic is to diversify and be transparent. Focus on your brand, focus on traffic goals, and try to keep all of your efforts in line with bringing in targeted traffic. One big marketing move that brings in a lot of untargeted traffic is not going to yield the results you’re looking for, and deals you a major blow: your metrics will be totally skewed to the point that your targeted traffic will be lost in the mix, and you may not be able to gauge the results accurately for other traffic sources.

This brings me to my next point, which is all about metrics. While doing some marketing campaigns may yield the results you’re looking for as far as revenue is concerned, tracking the results is key, it’s priceless, without it, you’re taking shots in the dark. You need to know which marketing campaigns brought you traffic, and how much traffic it brought, and how that traffic converted. Without metrics, you could easily miss a great opportunity to scale up in the case that you run a small marketing campaign which only resulted in a few conversions. However, it may be the case that this small campaign had a much higher conversion rate than other campaigns you’re running on a regular basis. The numbers aren’t everything, and they’re kind of like Tony Montana, they always tell the truth, even when they lie. The beauty of metrics is that it gives us the opportunity to gain insights into these statistics in a way that isn’t nearly as easy to do with a physical business, so you would be infinitely wise to take advantage of them as much as possible.

In short, diversify, spend the required time or money, track the marketing campaigns, and adjust your approach based on the metrics.