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REVERSE-ENGINEERING GOOGLE’S RESEARCH How to target the right content to the right customers at the right time.
@STATrob #SearchLove
DO YOU REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE ACTOR FROM THAT SCIFI MOVIE WITH THE SHORT OLD GUY WITH WEIRD EARS?
@STATrob
REMEMBER BEFORE GOOGLE? How did you get the answers you needed?
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INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR GOOGLE. Their goal is to give you the answers you need. Fast.
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THEY’VE CHANGED THE WORLD. And they’ve changed human behaviour.
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[NAME OF BAD GUY FROM HUDSON HAWK] Google isn’t good at this query. They totally suck, right?
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GOOGLE IS A VICTIM OF THEIR OWN SUCCESS. They have changed our expectations for information retrieval and they have to adapt to those changes.
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GOOGLE IS CHANGING THE RULES. BUT, THEY ALSO HAVE TO PLAY BY THE NEW RULES.
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IT’S LIKE A GIANT DRAWING A MAP WHILE ITS FOOTSTEPS ALTER THE LANDSCAPE.
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SERPS ARE THE FRONTEND TO GOOGLE’S MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR CONSUMER RESEARCH MACHINE.
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BY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SERPS, WE CAN SNOOP ON GOOGLE’S RESEARCH. And we can learn what our customers are looking for when they search for something.
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LET’S TALK INTENT.
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CONSUMER SEARCH INTENT. There are three key stages of search intent when making consumer searches online.
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THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE IS THE START OF THE PATH TO PURCHASE.
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AT EACH STAGE OF THE FUNNEL, THE SEARCHER HAS A DIFFERENT INTENT.
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“…demographics don't help us understand what we really need to know — what consumers are looking for in an exact moment or where they are looking to find it.” THINK WITH GOOGLE
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SEARCHER INTENT IS THE NEW DEMOGRAPHICS.
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INTENT BEATS IDENTITY. IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY. In order to be where the searcher is looking, we need to understand their intent.
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THE RESEARCH
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14 PRODUCT CATEGORIES, 542 QUERIES:• Music (40 core queries)
• Computers (42 core queries)
• Sports & outdoors (38 core queries)
• And so on.
@STATrob
EXAMPLE KEYWORD MODIFICATIONSAPPLIANCES ELECTRONICS PET SUPPLIES
INFORMATIONAL blender lcd tv cat brush
COMMERCIAL blender reviews best lcd tv compare cat brushes
TRANSACTIONAL buy blender lcd tv free shipping cat brush coupons
KEYWORD RESEARCH IS MORE ART THAN SCIENCE. Your keyword lists will be more nuanced than ours.
@STATrob
SIMPLE SHARE OF VOICE SCORINGWEIGHT SEARCH VOLUME SHARE OF VOICE SCORE
Rank 1 1 x 1000 = 1000
Rank 2 0.9 x 1000 = 900
Rank 3 0.8 x 1000 = 800
… … … …
Rank 10 0.1 x 1000 = 100
DON’T FORGET
THE DATA FROM OUR RESEARCH IS SPECIFIC TO OUR KEYWORD SET. YOUR RESULTS WILL DIFFER.
@STATrob
I’M HERE TO SHOW YOU WHAT’S POSSIBLE. FOCUS ON THESE METHODS, RATHER THAN THE DATA.
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FOR EACH STAGE OF INTENT, WE MAPPED THE SERP.
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FEATURED SNIPPETS
IMAGES
NEWS
PLACES
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
VIDEO
SHOPPING
QUESTION ONE
HOW CAN WE UNLOCK GOOGLE’S INSIGHTS INTO WHAT SEARCHERS ARE LOOKING FOR AT EACH STAGE?
@STATrob
QUESTION TWO
WHAT POINTS OF LEVERAGE DO WE HAVE IN EACH STAGE TO MAKE SURE WE’RE VISIBLE AND USEFUL?
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QUESTION THREE
CAN WE REVERSE-ENGINEER THE WINNING STRATEGIES OF KEY COMPETITORS AT EACH STAGE?
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HERE’S A 10,000-FOOT VIEW OF WHAT WE FOUND.
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ORGANIC RESULTS RULE.
10%
90%
ORGANICALL OTHERS
BE THERE. BE USEFUL. BE QUICK. The core organic algorithm does an amazing job of determining which results are most useful to a given searcher’s intent.
@STATrob
BUT SHOPPING BOXES ARE MAAAAAAJOR.
40%
60%
SHOPPINGNON-SHOPPING
THESE ARE OUR POINTS OF LEVERAGE.
7%7%
9%
23%25%
29% IMAGESVIDEOANSWERSPLACESPEOPLE ALSO ASKNEWS
INFORMATIONAL INTENT STAGE.
@STATrob
TOPOLOGY OF THE INFORMATIONAL SERP
5%5%8%
18%
21%
42%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
SHOPPING RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
42%
@STATrob
IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY. Google knows that some people just want it now. Fast and cheap.
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IMAGE RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
21%
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IMAGES ARE A GREAT UX FOR UNREFINED QUERIES. They’re an easy way to find the exact model, style or colour you’re looking for.
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The view when a searcher clicks on an image.
VIDEO RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
8%
@STATrob
Video pack/carousel
Stand-alone video result
7 SITES WITH VIDEO RESULTSR
esul
ts
0
35
70
YOUTUBE PCGAMER LIFEHACKER VICE EBAY MASHABLE STANCE
111122
62
FEATURED SNIPPET RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
5%
@STATrob
LET’S LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL OF GOING AFTER THESE FEATURED SNIPPETS.
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WHICH STYLE OF FEATURED SNIPPET IS THE MOST COMMON?
Res
ults
0
10
20
30
40
50
LIST PARAGRAPH TABLE
2
39
1
AVERAGE SEARCH VOLUME PER FEATURED SNIPPET RESULT FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS.
23,300
@STATrob
WIKIPEDIA IS THE OBVIOUS INCUMBENT HERE.R
esul
ts
0
5
10
15
20
WIKIPEDIA.ORG AMAZON.COM BESTBUY.COM XEROX.COM OFFICEDEPOT.COM
1223
17
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS?
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LESSON 1
RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU’LL NEED A PAID STRATEGY TO WIN.
@STATrob
THE PREVALENCE OF SHOPPING BOXES CAN’T BE IGNORED. We need a paid strategy to give searchers what they want here.
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LESSON 2
LOOK FOR STRONG BIAS TOWARDS CERTAIN SITES.
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CAN YOU DISPLACE AN INCUMBENT LIKE WIKIPEDIA? They dominate the featured snippets in this stage. Is there really room for us to win there?
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LESSON 3
LOOKING AT THE SERP TOPOLOGY TELLS US WHAT GOOGLE THINKS THESE SEARCHERS WANT.
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IN THIS STAGE, WE SAW SEARCHER NEEDS BEING MET BY NEWS, IMAGES, AND ORGANIC. This is what Google has determined is the best outcome for these searches.
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COMMERCIAL INTENT STAGE.
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TOPOLOGY OF THE COMMERCIAL SERP
12%
13%
10%59%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
WHAT’S THE AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE CONTRIBUTION PER RESULT?
SHAR
E OF
VOI
CE S
COR
E
0
1,500
3,000
4,500
6,000
SHOPPING IMAGES NEWS VIDEOS P.A.A. ANSWERS PLACES
16
1,946
44188
5,184
53704
LET’S REVERSE-ENGINEER THE WINNING STRATEGIES IN THIS STAGE.
@STATrob
WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE IN THIS STAGE?
SHAR
E OF
VOI
CE S
COR
E
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON CNET PCMAG
308K321K352K374K376K
BUT WHO HAS THE MOST RANKINGS?R
ANKI
NGS
0
1,750
3,500
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG
204230
3,117
138299
WHO IS WINNING WHERE?SH
ARE
OF V
OICE
SCO
RE
0K
100K
200K
300K
400K
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG
NEWSVIDEOANSWERSORGANIC
SEGMENT BY THE QUERY MODIFIER TO SEE WHICH RESULT TYPES GOOGLE LIKES.
@STATrob
SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “BEST” QUERIES
29%
12%
5%
50%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “COMPARE” QUERIES
8%6%
42%10%
34%SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “NEW” QUERIES
4%12%
7%
27%
50%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
DON’T FORGET
GO DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE DATA. DIG INTO SHARE OF VOICE.
@STATrob
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR COMMERCIAL KEYWORDS?
@STATrob
LESSON 1
BY USING SHARE OF VOICE, MEASURE WHICH DOMAINS ARE WINNING.
@STATrob
WITH ALMOST 3,000 FEWER RANKINGS, TECHRADAR STILL BEAT AMAZON. Focusing on share-of-voice winners makes the analysis easier.
@STATrob
LESSON 2
PERFORM SHARE OF VOICE ANALYSIS ON RESULT TYPES TO ASSESS THEIR POTENTIAL.
@STATrob
WE CAN REVERSE ENGINEER TECHRADAR’S WINNING STRATEGY: FEATURED SNIPPETS.
@STATrob
LESSON 3
SEGMENT EVEN DEEPER ON QUERY MODIFIERS LIKE “BEST” TO SEE HOW THE SERPS ADAPT.
@STATrob
FOR “BEST” SEARCHERS WANT SNIPPETS. FOR “COMPARE” THEY WANT VIDEOS. This is where you get some of the most actionable insight into searcher intent.
@STATrob
TRANSACTIONAL INTENT STAGE.
@STATrob
TOPOLOGY OF THE TRANSACTIONAL SERP
9%
7%
11%
69%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE IN THIS STAGE?
SHAR
E OF
VOI
CE S
COR
E
0K
125K
250K
375K
500K
AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM
104K165K
205K
397K400K
WHO IS WINNING WHERE?SH
ARE
OF V
OICE
SCO
RE
0K
100K
200K
300K
400K
AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM
ORGANICNEWSVIDEOANSWERS
TWEETABLE TIP
THE FURTHER DOWN THE FUNNEL YOU GO, THE MORE DISTILLED THE SERP BECOMES.
@STATrob
THIS IS GOOD OL’ FASHIONED SEO! (Ok, and PPC.)
@STATrob
ARE YOU RANKING HIGH? RANKING THE RIGHT CONTENT?
@STATrob
WHAT KIND OF CONTENT IS AMAZON RANKING?
RAN
KIN
GS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT COUPON OTHER
104
706
1,590
WHAT ABOUT WALMART’S CONTENT?R
ANKI
NGS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT
162
1,008
AND OVERSTOCK’S CONTENT?R
ANKI
NGS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT BUYERS' GUIDE
1011
422
WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR TRANSACTIONAL KEYWORDS?
@STATrob
LESSON 1
THE DEEPER YOU GO IN THE FUNNEL, THE MORE YOU HAVE TO RELY ON ORGANIC RANKINGS.
@STATrob
ORGANIC RESULTS WERE THE BEST WAY TO PUSH TRAFFIC IN THIS STAGE. Catering content towards universal results isn’t going to win the day when searchers are this low in the funnel.
@STATrob
LESSON 2
ANALYZE RANKING URLS TO FIND OUT WHAT UX SATISFIES THE SEARCHER’S INTENT.
@STATrob
THE MAJORITY OF PAGES WE SAW RANKING HIGHEST WERE CATEGORY PAGES. We also identified a few potential areas, like coupons, where we might be able to develop new content.
@STATrob
SO WHAT CONCLUSIONS HAVE WE REACHED?
@STATrob
GOOGLE’S ADVICE
YOU HAVE TO BE THERE, BE USEFUL, AND BE QUICK.
@STATrob
HOW TO “BE THERE”
QUALITY KEYWORD RESEARCH AND THOROUGH SEGMENTATION BY INTENT STAGES IS CRUCIAL.
@STATrob
HOW TO “BE THERE”
YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE “THERE” BY MEASURING SHARE OF VOICE. You can break this out by stage or result type.
@STATrob
HOW TO “BE USEFUL”
LOOK AT SERP TOPOLOGIES TO FIND OUT WHAT GOOGLE THINKS IS USEFUL TO SEARCHERS.
@STATrob
SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “COMPARE” QUERIES
8%6%
42%10%
34%SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
HOW TO “BE USEFUL”
CREATE STRATEGIC CONTENT EXPERIENCES THAT SATISFY SEARCHERS’ IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
@STATrob
HOW TO “BE QUICK”
OPTIMIZE SITE SPEED AND GET RIGHT TO THE POINT. Omit everything that distracts from the immediate needs of the searcher.
@STATrob
HOW MANY UNIVERSAL RESULTS ARE THERE IN EACH STAGE?
0%
50%
100%
INFORMATIONAL COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONAL
10%11%15%
TOPOLOGY OF THE INFORMATIONAL SERP
5%5%8%
18%
21%
42%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
TOPOLOGY OF THE COMMERCIAL SERP
12%
13%
10%59%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
TOPOLOGY OF THE TRANSACTIONAL SERP
9%
7%
11%
69%
SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES
WHICH RESULT TYPE HAS THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE?
SHAR
E OF
VOI
CE S
COR
E
0
1,500
3,000
4,500
6,000
ORGANIC SHOPPING EVERYTHING ELSE
2,997
5,312
1,992
KEY TAKEAWAY
OPTIMIZING FOR UNIVERSAL RESULTS IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE YOU’RE SATISFYING SEARCHER INTENT.
@STATrob
KEY TAKEAWAY
WE CAN SNOOP INTO GOOGLE’S FINDINGS ON SEARCH INTENT BY LOOKING AT SERP TOPOLOGY.
@STATrob
KEY TAKEAWAY
AS WE MOVE DOWN THE INTENT FUNNEL, DIFFERENT RESULT TYPES RISE AND FALL IN VALUE.
@STATrob
KEY TAKEAWAY
WITH KNOWLEDGE OF INTENT, WE CAN CRAFT THE RIGHT CONTENT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT OF THE SEARCHER’S JOURNEY.
@STATrob
THIS ANALYSIS IS EASY TO DO. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:• A SERP tracking tool that can break out result types
• Search volume data
• A share of voice model of your choosing
• Excel or SQL
@STATrob
ONE MORE THING…
@STATrob
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SOME FRESH FEATURED SNIPPET RESEARCH?
@STATrob
WE WERE CURIOUS ABOUT FEATURED SNIPPET VOLATILITY. So, naturally, we ran the numbers!
@STATrob
THREE TYPES OF VOLATILITY• Featured snippet disappearing
• Featured snippet reappearing after it’s disappeared
• Featured snippet URL changing
@STATrob
WE TRACKED THE DATA FOR 20 DAYS• 232,451 keywords that showed snippets on day one
• Tracked on a smartphone device
• Tracked in Los Angeles, California
@STATrob
GOOD NEWS! Most snippets are actually quite stable.
@STATrob
68% OF SNIPPETS WERE UNCHANGED OVER 20 DAYS.
68%
@STATrob
89% OF QUERIES HAVE SNIPPETS THAT APPEARED EVERY DAY.
89%
@STATrob
MOST OF THE VOLATILITY WE SAW WAS DUE TO URL CHANGES. When SERPs have a snippet, it looks like they stick around.
@STATrob
SNIPPETS ARE SELECTED FROM UP TO THREE DIFFERENT SOURCE URLS 98% of snippets are sourced from up to three different URLs.
@STATrob
STABLE SNIPPETS PULL MOSTLY FROM RANKS THREE & FOUR. If you spot a snippet pulling from below rank four, you have a better chance of stealing it.
@STATrob
PARAGRAPH SNIPPETS ARE THE MOST STABLE FORMAT. Table snippets are Google’s least favourite format.
@STATrob
KEY TAKEAWAY: TRACK THE SNIPPETS IN YOUR SPACE. See how snippet appearance and formats are changing, track their volatility, and see what three URLs are your competition.
@STATrob
READ MORE: GETSTAT.COM/VOLATILITY
@STATrob
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