Fight Back Against Back: How Search Engines & Social Networks' AI Impacts Marketing

Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com

Fight Back Against BackWhy the back button has become web marketing’s

greatest enemy (and how to defeat it)

Slides online atbit.ly/backenemy

Let’s Go Back to 2012…

Keywords, content, links, and a crawlable site could get you here… And keep you there.

Even if the experience users had wasn’t superb, so long as you could outearn your competitors’ links, you were likely to stay on

top

On Facebook, the likes and shares determined how often you’d be in

the news feed of your fans.

On Twitter, visibility was entirely determined by publication time.

In 2012, we only had to worry about the path to conversion and CRO on our own sites.

We could let audiences self-select out of these

phases after an initial visit without fear of repercussions

If putting a price here meant 80% of visitors left, no problem. So long as the more qualified ones (those we really wanted)

stayed, we were doing our jobs.

What Happened that Made 2016 so Different?

Google Moved to Learning Algorithms

Early On, Google Rejected Machine Learning in the Organic Ranking Algo

Via Datawocky, 2008

Amit Singhal Shared Norvig’s Concerns About ML

Via Quora

In 2012, Google Published a Paper About How they Use ML to Predict Ad CTRs:

Via Google

Susan Wojcicki, Google SVP, at All Things Digital, 2012

“Our SmartASS system is a machine learning system. It learns whether our users are interested in that ad, and whether users are going to click on them.”

By 2013, It Was Something Google’s Search Folks Talked About Publicly

Via SELand

In October of 2015, they finally revealed RankBrain, an AI-system input to the search rankings

Via Bloomberg Business

As ML Takes Over More of Google’s Algo, the Underpinnings of the Rankings Change

Via Colossal

Google is Public About How They Use ML in Image Recognition & Classification

Potential ID Factors

(e.g. color, shapes, gradients, perspective,

interlacing, alt tags, surrounding text, etc)

Training Data(i.e. human-labeled images)

Learning Process

Best Match Algo

Google is Public About How They Use ML in Image Recognition & Classification

Via Jeff Dean’s Slides on Deep Learning; a Must Read for SEOs

Machine Learning in Search Could Work Like This:

Potential Ranking Factors

(e.g. PageRank, TF*IDF,Topic Modeling, QDF, Clicks,

Entity Association, etc.)

Training Data(i.e. good & bad search

results)

Learning Process

Best Fit Algo

Training Data(e.g. good search results)

This is a good SERP – searchers rarely bounce, rarely short-click, and rarely need to enter other queries or go to page 2.

Training Data(e.g. bad search results!)

This is a bad SERP – searchers bounce often, click other results, rarely long-click, and try other queries. They’re definitely not happy.

The Machines Learn to Emulate the Good Results & Try to Fix or Tweak the Bad Results

Potential Ranking Factors

(e.g. PageRank, TF*IDF,Topic Modeling, QDF, Clicks,

Entity Association, etc.)

Training Data(i.e. good & bad search

results)

Learning Process

Best Fit Algo

Deep Learning is Even More Advanced:

Dean says by using deep learning, they don’t have to

tell the system what a cat is, the machines learn, unsupervised, for

themselves…

We’re Talking About Algorithms that Build Algorithms(without human intervention)

Googlers Don’t Feed in Ranking Factors… The Machines Determine Those Themselves.

Potential Ranking Factors

(e.g. PageRank, TF*IDF,Topic Modeling, QDF, Clicks,

Entity Association, etc.)

Training Data(i.e. good search results)

Learning Process

Best Fit Algo

Last October, Google Finally Went Public with Their Use of ML-Based RankBrain

Via Bloomberg Business

And RankBrain is Clearly Important:

Via Bloomberg Business

Google Leverages the Outputs from RankBrain Despite Not Knowing for Sure What It Uses:

Via SERoundtable

Google’s AI Just Keeps Growing in Power…

Via The Verge

No wonder these guys are stressed about Google unleashing the Terminators

Via CNET & Washington Post

But Google Isn’t Alone

Facebook’s VisibilityAlgorithms

Via Slate

Machine learning based on engagement determines

what appears in our Facebook News Feeds

Twitter’s Emerging Visibility Plan

Twitter’s new home screen will work the

same way – highlighting the “most important” (aka “most engaged-with”) tweets from accounts you follow

Via Mashable

Instagram’s New Algorithmic Feed

Instagram announced the

change March 15th saying they will

“take their time to get this right.”

Via Mashable

Engagement is Becoming the Web’s Universal

Quality Metric

Google Suggest

The order of suggestions is based on engagement w/

those queries

Chrome Autocomplete

Ordered by what I (and others) have engaged with most that contain

these letters

Google Maps & Local Results

Search volume, driving directions, and SERP engagement are all

elements of local rankings

Social Networks’ “Trending” Content

Suggested Accounts to Follow

What’s “Important” in Gmail

If lots of folks ignore, delete, or report spam on your emails, you won’t get this label anymore

Sites & Brands Earn an Engagement Reputation that Determines Visibility

Quantity of Posts/Emails/ Pieces of Content/ Rankings/etc

Quantity of clicks/likes/shares/reactions/etc

EngagementReputation=

Every Time a Visitor Clicks that Back Button, It Saps Away at our Reputation

How Do We Fight Back Against Back?

Understand & Serve All of Your Visitors’ Intents#1

Don’t Just Ask “Who is My Customer?”

Via Moz

Ask “What Are All the Needs of These Searchers?” Then Serve As Many as Possible

You might be trying to sell desks, but searchers are seeking answers to all of these and more.

If the Competition Delivers Value to Searchers Who Aren’t Buyers, But You Don’t…

They’re Likely to Win the Engagement Battle

Via JustStand.org

Outearn Your Ranking’s Avg. Clickthrough Rate#2

Optimize the Title, Meta Description, & URLa Little for Keywords, but a Lot for Clicks

If you rank #3, but have a higher-than-average CTR for that position,

you might get moved up.

Via Philip Petrescu on Moz

Every Element Counts Does the title match

what searchers want?Does the URL seem

compelling?

Do searchers recognize & want to click your domain?

Is your result fresh? Do searchers want a

newer result?

Does the description create curiosity &

entice a click?

Do you get the brand dropdown?

Given Google Often Tests New Results Briefly on Page One…

It May Be Worth Repeated Publication on a Topic to Earn that High CTR

Shoot! My post only made it to #15… Perhaps I’ll try again in a few months.

Driving Up CTR Through Branding Or Branded Searches May Give An Extra Boost

#1 Ad Spender

#2 Ad Spender

#4 Ad Spender

#3 Ad Spender

#5 Ad Spender

With Google Trends’ new, more accurate, more customizable ranges, you can actually watch the effects of events and ads on search query volume

Fitbit was running ads on Sunday NFL games that clearly show in

the search trends data.

Optimize Signal:Noise Ratio on Every Channel#3

Better Content > More Content

A lot of SEO used to be about establishing authority through brute quantity, but Panda,

and now Rankbrain, are changing that.

Better Social Shares > More Social Shares

Via Rand’s Facebook Page

When I have a successful post on Facebook, it boosts

Facebook’s likelihood to show my posts in the

future…

Better Social Shares > More Social Shares

High engagement grows my reach potential.

Low engagement shrinks my reach potential.

Better Emails > More Emails

Via Pinpointe.com

Better Emails > More Emails

Via CrazyEgg.com

Better Rankings >More RankingsA brand that consistently gets on page 1

but isn’t holding searchers’ interest or develops a negative brand reputation in SERPs may find those page 1 rankings

are hurting their ability to get #1 rankings!

Put User Experience First in Your Marketing#4

Speed, speed, and more speed

Delivers an easy, enjoyable experience on every device

Compels visitors to engage, share, & return

Avoids features that dissuade or annoy visitors

Authoritative, comprehensive content that’s uniquely valuable vs. what anyone else in your space provides

The Marketer’s User Experience Checklist

Uniquely Valuable Content

Via R2D3

Lots of articles try to explain machine learning, but this one SHOWS how it works in a way anyone can

grasp.

Speed, Speed, and More Speed

Via Moz

Easy, Enjoyable Experience on Every Device

Via CNN

Via CNN

Easy, Enjoyable Experience on Every Device

Engagement, Sharing, & Repeat Visits

Via Meshable.io

Nothing That Dissuades Or

Annoys Visitors

Ads, more ads, distractions, and no salary numbers? It’s a

miracle they rank at all.

Cyrus May Have Gone a Little Overboard…

Via Cyrus on Twitter

Craft Compelling CTAs at the Top of the Funnel#5

Top-of-Funnel Content Can’t Be Used Solely to Filter Out the Non-Customers

Trying to rank w/ content that only serves one niche of your search audience

may be a recipe for failure

Fighting Against Back Means Serving a Broader Audience

AngelList’s tool makes salary comparison

easy, fast, and serves a huge range of roles,

locations, and markets

Via AngelList

Or, Getting More Precise with Your Search Query -> Content Targeting

By targeting a less competitive, lower volume query, Compass can reach

the audience they’re seeking

Either Way, Engagement Metrics on Content Must Become KPIs

Improving Pages/Session and lowering Bounce Rate should probably play a “link-building-like” role in your SEO arsenal

Our Content CTAs Deserve to Be Customized, Tested, & Refined

(just like conversion-focused landing pages)e.g. I bet I could make a

better CTA for the comparison tool than

this (which looks far too much like an ad IMO)

Via Talkpay (Comparably’s Blog)

Welcome to 2016: A World of Engagement-Based Reputation

The Machines Are Judging Us…

Let’s Show ‘EmWhat We Got.

Fight Back Against Back.

Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | rand@moz.com

Bit.ly/backenemy