H O W I S A I G O I N G

T O I M PA C T

S E O ?

C H A R L O T T E H A N @ S U N S I R E N

D I G I TA L A N A LY S T @ S A P 1 0 + Y E A R S I N M A R K E T I N G

7 + Y E A R S I N S I L I C O N VA L L E Y

W E B A N A LY T I C S S O C I A L M E D I A I N T E L L I G E N C E

D I G I TA L C H A N N E L O P T I M I Z AT I O N S E O / S E M

C O N T E N T S T R AT E G Y C O N T E N T M A R K E T I N G

S E A R C H L A N D S C A P E I S C H A N G I N G

V O I C E S E A R C H

T E X T S E A R C H C H AT B O T

W H AT I S A I

Source: https://www.thedisruptory.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/02/Strong-Weak-AI-scheme-v2-1024x795.png

W H AT I S M A C H I N E L E A R N I N G

M I C R O S O F T I S S O S M A R T : )

W H AT W E A R E A F R A I D O F

!!!

85%

15%

Humans write the rules

*RB• Google’s machine learning AI system

• Teaches itself to learns patterns and classifications

• Every query has a different algorithm

• Part of Hummingbird

W H AT I S R A N K B R A I N

*2015 data: 15% of 1.2 trillion searches a year 2016 data: 2 trillion searches a year

H O W I S R A N K B R A I N T R A I N E D

Training Data (e.g. “Good” vs.

“Bad” websites in each category/domain; quality

raters)

Learning Process(Unsupervised) Best Algorithm

R A N K B R A I N H E L P S G O O G L E U N D E R S TA N D Q U E R I E S B E T T E R

W H AT D O E S R A N K B R A I N D O ?Source: Moz

So… can you “optimize for RankBrain”?

Not really. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Dear God, please rank my site on page 1.

Amen.

C L A S S I C S E O P R I N C I P L E S W I L L L I V E .

W H I C H M E A N S T H I S

O N PA G E S E O O F F PA G E S E O

• Site performance • Domain and URL • Title tag • H1, H2 tags • Meta keyword • Meta description • Unique content • Alt attribute for image • Site map

• Directory submission • Social bookmarking • Blog commenting • Forum postings • Article submissions • PR submissions • Local business listings • Search engine submissions • Social networking

– S O M E G U Y I N T H E I N F O M E R C I A L

“But wait! There’s more!”

R E M E M B E R T H I S ?

Learning Process(Unsupervised) Best Algorithm

Clue #1: Try to be like the “good” site!

Training Data (e.g. “Good” vs.

“Bad” websites in each category/domain; quality

raters)

B A C K L I N K S

…need to be relevant, from websites in the same/related categories or industries.

If you have an auto site and you have links from shoe websites, Rankbrain won’t like that.

R E M E M B E R T H I S ?

Learning Process(Unsupervised) Best Algorithm

Clue #2: Stay in niche to avoid

competition

Training Data (e.g. “Good” vs.

“Bad” websites in each category/domain; quality

raters)

S TAY I N N I C H E

Google compares your site to the good and bad in the same category or industry.

If your site looks like the “good” site you rank higher.

You could be misclassified if you have too many categories on your site and you are new & w/o authority.

Staying in niche avoids competition.

R A N K B R A I N R E W E I G H S S E O S I G N A L S

Content, context and relevance have to come together

SEO VISIBILITY

(Quality)

Content

ContextRelevance

W H Y C O N T E X T A N D I N T E N T M AT T E R

Example

“Get out of here!” “GET OUT OF HERE!”vs.

A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H

H O W T O F I N D S E A R C H I N T E N T ?

W H AT D O E S Y O U R A U D I E N C E W A N T ? H I N T: N O T K E Y W O R D S

PA I N G O A L H E L P

What keeps them awake at night?

What’s their biggest problem?

What’s their goal?

What do they really want?

What is their dream?

How can you help solve their problem?

How can you make their job easier?

How can you help?

What’s their pain point?

F R E E A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H T O O L - 1 G O O G L E T R E N D S - W H AT ’ S T R E N D I N G O V E R T I M E

Check if a term is trending

Compare it with other terms

Filter by regions

Related terms

F R E E A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H T O O L - 2 B U Z Z S U M O

Find most popular content on social media

Find authors and influencers to follow

Filter results by time frame, article, infographic…, etc.

http://buzzsumo.com/

F R E E A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H T O O L - 3 Q U O R A ( G U T E F R A G E )

Q&A Site

Identify popular questions & answers

Validate your content ideas

Ask questions and interact with the community

https://www.quora.com/

F R E E A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H T O O L - 4 R E D D I T

Q&A Site

Identify popular questions & answers

Validate your content ideas

Ask questions and interact with the community

https://www.reddit.com

F R E E A U D I E N C E R E S E A R C H T O O L - 5 FA Q F O X

Find questions your target audience is asking online.

http://www.webpagefx.com/seo-tools/faqfox/

SET GOAL. MAKE PLAN. GET TO WORK. STICK TO IT. REACH GOAL. C H A R L O T T E H A N | @ S U N S I R E N