The  past,  present  and  future  of  SEO

A  brief  history  of  Google

SEO  Planning

SEO    Strategy

SEO  Repor<ng

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Google was created in 1997

The  algorithm  assigned  relevance    and  value  by  looking  at  the  other    content  that  linked  to  it.    

Up  un<l  this  point  SEOs  could    ar<ficially  inflate  the  relevance  of  content  by  placing  keywords  in  important  loca<ons  such  as    headlines,  page  <tles  and  meta  tags

Google’s front page in 1998

SEOs  would  now  focus  on  three    specific  areas  

• Technical  • Content  • Authority  

2001 AdWords was launched

Now  companies  could  pay  their    way  to  the  top.  Adwords  would    prove  useful  for  SEO  for  research  and  gaining  search  exposure  for    <me  sensi<ve  searches    

An  added  bonus  was  that  it  greatly    increased  the  awareness  of  how  effec<ve  search  engines  were  at  delivering  high  quality  visitors

Google also released Google images

Google  image  search    provides  users  with  another  way    to  search.  We  see  that  image    search  has  increased  as  Mobile    grows  in  popularity.    

In 2004 local search was born

Local  search  helped  smaller    regional  companies  who  struggled    to  compete  on  a  na<onal  level.    

For  the  SEO  this  required  a    rethink  on  keywords,  content  and  compe<<on.

In 2005 Google maps appeared…

Google  Maps  was  the  plaOorm  to    understand  the  local  search  lis<ngs  and  had  a  major  effect  on  the  business  directories.  Google    Maps  is  one  of  Google’s  most  prized  assets.    

And deep site links were introduced

Now  you  could  send  people  directly  to    your  most  important  content.  

As  a  rule  the  more  relevant  the  content,  the  more  people  will  engage  with  it.  We  have  see  a  general  decline  of  the    homepage.  

Universal search arrived in 2007

Rich  media  such  as    video,  images  and  local  results  provide  the  SEO  with  many    new  ways  to  gain  front  page    exposure  

Google Penguin

Gaining  inbound  links  to  increase    “page  rank”grew  into  an  industry  in  itself.    Along  with  natural  link  building  such  as    sharing  great  content  with  other  rela<ve    sites    “black  hat”SEOs  were  buying,    swapping  and    manufacturing  incoming    links  through  some  highly  crea<ve  schemes.    

To  combat  this  prac<ce  Google  created    the  Penguin  filter.  This  filter  tried  to    detect  non-­‐natural  link  paVerns.

Google suggest arrived in 2008

“Google  Suggest”  allows    SEOs  to  iden<fy  the  search    terms  around  a  topic  providing  insight  and  inspira<on  for  new  content  

2011 Google Authorship

Part  of  the  push  towards  en<ty  search  Authorship  aVempted  to  <e  content  to  authors  and  publishers.  

Google Panda updates started in 2011

Along  with  buying  and  selling  links  there  was  another  pain  in  Google’s  side.  Stealing,    republishing  or  crea<ng    thin  content  with  very  liVle  value.  

Google  created  the  Panda    filter  to  help  to  combat  this  

Google knowledge graph 2012

Knowledge  graph  signaled    an  evolu<on  in  machine    learning.  

Google’s  Hummingbird    algorithm  aVempted  to    understand  the    rela<onship  between  people  places  and  things.  

Google Knowledge Graph

Understanding  the  intent    behind  the  search  would  be  especially  important  to    voice  search  on  mobile  and  wearables

Google Knowledge Graph

Hummingbird  would  unpick    a  topic  to  understand  the    Key  informa<on  and  ques<ons  that  users  were  looking  for

Google Quick Answers

In  2012  informa<on    from  the  knowledge  graph    started  to  appear  in  the  search  results  in  the  form  of  quick  answers  and  info  cards  in  the  right  margin.

2015 The mobile effect

Mobile  overtook  desktop  for  number  of  searches  for  the  first  <me  and  mobile  SEO  was  born

The Google local snack pack

Google  “snack  pack”  for  local  search  

appears  to  have  a    new  formula

Here  is  the  sponsored  version

Google controls more of the user experience

Google pigeon 2014

This  algorithm  Improved  the    relevancy  of  local  search  by    turning  up  the  importance  of    local  search  signals.  Examples    include  local  directories,  social,  Google  maps  etc…  

Google  phantom  arrive  in  2014  and  Phantom2    arrived  in    spring  2015.    

Phantom  targeted  the  quality  of  inbound  links  but  appears  to  use  a  different  formula  to  Penguin

Google phantom…. woooo

Google adds Real time tweets

Google  wanted  to  show    real-­‐<me  news  and  a  deal  with  TwiVer  allowed  latest  tweets  to  appear  on  the  search  page.  

For  the  SEO  this  provided  yet  another  way  onto  the  search    page

The mobile search page

Where  is  the  Organic  result?

The mobile search page

Google  starts  to  test  out  medical  cards  they  say  will  be  quality  checked  by  a  minimum  of  11  doctors  

Another  example  of  Google    trying  to  own  the  user    experience

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Google and schema.org

By  using  schema  SEOs  could  both  feed  more  detailed    informa<on  to  Google    as  well  as  improve  the  way  content  is  displayed  in  the  search  results  

The merging of paid and organic

The  emergence  of  play  now,    read  now,  buy  now,  book  now.      Many  believe    this  just  a  start    of  Google  becoming  the    facilitator  of  other  companies  content  and  services.  

Google “my business”

Brands  can  maximize  their  visibility  on  the  search  page  while  smaller  companies  no  longer  need    their  own  site

Taking on the travel sector

Google  offers  booking    op<ons  with  reviews,  brand  and  loca<on  based  informa<on    

Keyteq  seo  service

The attain method

Control

KPI, funnel analysis, dashboards, multivariate testing, reporting

Strategy

keyword analysis, content audit, schema map, tracking map, KPI analysis

Amplification

campaign management, content marketing, social media advertising, video ads, seo,

Optimization

content creation, content optimization, schema implementation, tracking set

up, landing page creation, Adwords set up, social media ads

CONTENTTECHNICAL AUTHORITY CONVERSION

INDEXING

SPEED

COMPATIBILITY

QUALITY

TARGETING

VALUE

ENGAGEMENT

CONTENT

REPUTATION

BRAND

BOUNCE

TARGETING

FUNNEL

CTA

CHECKOUT

SOCIAL

REACH

What does SEO mean today?

The  principles  remain    the  same  but  the    methods,  tools,    

signals,  complexity    and  priori<es  have  evolved  

significantly

“Analy<cs  is  like  a  thermometer  -­‐    it  tells  you  that  you  are  sick  but  it  doesn’t  tell  you  why  and  it  doesn’t  tell  you  how  to  fix  it”

Planning  and  reporting

Digital  Intelligence  (IAS)

Funnel Analysis: SEO

Total  number  of  Organic  searches

Total  number  of  sessions  

Total  number  of  users  

Total  number  of  engaged  users  

Total  contact  

Good  Leads  

Conversions  

Revenue  

Research  and  targeting

Click  through  rate  and  ranking

New  and  returning  users

Reduce  bounce  rate

Calls  to  action,  landing  pages

Communication  optimization

Conversion  process  optimization

Customer  value  optimization