SEO without traffic : the world of voice search, knowledge graph and brand

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SEO without traffic :
the world of voice
search, knowledge
graph and brand

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Business Director
@hannahjthorpe
hannah.thorpe@found.co.uk
Hannah Thorpe
FOUND.

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I WANTED TO TELL
YOU ALL ABOUT THE
FUTURE OF SEO...

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THEN, I THOUGHT I’D
TELL YOU ABOUT
THE PRESENT
WORLD OF SEO…

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SO, ONCE
UPON A TIME...

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I THOUGHT BRAND WAS A
RANKING FACTOR.

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WE KNOW THAT THE
GOOGLE ALGORITHM
USES MACHINE
LEARNING...

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MACHINE LEARNING HAS
HELPED BUILD AN
UNDERSTANDING
AROUND SYNONYMS.

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SO WHAT IF BRAND IS
JUST A TYPE OF
KEYWORD?

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THESE BRAND NAMES ARE
INTERCHANGEABLE FOR
ANY OF THEIR PRODUCTS.

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IF GOOGLE CAN
UNDERSTAND SYNONYMS,
THEN IT CAN
UNDERSTAND ‘SUPER
SYNONYMS’.

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I THOUGHT THE WAY
YOUR BRAND IS
SEARCHED FOR/SPOKEN
ABOUT/LINKED TO IS A
RANKING FACTOR.

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“Brand, brand, brand, synonym,
synonym, synonym - this is all we
should be focused on.”
ME, UP UNTIL NOVEMBER 2018

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THEN, GOOGLE HAD
A BIRTHDAY...

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NEURAL
MATCHING?!

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URM...WHAT’S THE
WORD FOR IT?

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OF ALL QUERIES
NOW UTILISE
NEURAL MATCHING,
THROUGH AN AI
LEARNING
STRUCTURE.
30%

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GOOGLE IS GIVING US
WHAT WE WANT, BEFORE
WE KNOW IT OURSELVES...

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MAYBE IT’S NOT BRAND
THAT MAKES PEOPLE
RANK, BUT INSTEAD THE
IMPACT THAT HAS ON
BUILDING RELEVANCE
AND AUTHORITY.

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How has Google
changed and why
Voice Search,
Knowledge Graph and
Brand are now key
GOOGLE IS
BECOMING A
DISCOVERY
ENGINE.

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REALLY? TIME TO
PROVE IT.

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QUITE
LITERALLY IN
THE CASE OF
THE GOOGLE
FEED.

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THE TOPIC LAYER.
- Single search
- Most relevant sub-topics
- Sits above the knowledge
graph layer

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ACTIVITY CARDS.
- Personalisation in the
SERPs
- Stores previous pages &
queries
- Suits longer research
journeys

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Entities can be
domains or non-
domains (e.g.
TV/Music/Actors/Br
ands)
Every entity can
have a sub-entity.
So a domain can be
a sub-entity of the
main non-domain
entity (e.g.
celebrities’
personal sites)
Why are we only
optimising sub-
entities?
ENTITY AS A RANKING
FACTOR.

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OUR STANDARD
METHODS DON’T
WORK.

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STANDARD SEO TOOLS
STRUGGLE TO PREDICT
MORE THAN 15% OF
RANKING POSITIONS.

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34% OF SEARCHES RESULT
IN NO CLICK FROM THE
SERP.

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WE HAVE PRETTY MUCH
NO IDEA WHAT THE
MARCH 2019 UPDATE
WAS.

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LET’S GO BACK ONE
STEP.
WHAT IS SEO?

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Algorithm
noun
An algorithm is a list of rules to follow in order to
solve a problem. Algorithms need to have their
steps in the right order.

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THERE IS NO SINGLE,
ORDERED PROCESS FOR
DOING SEO AND RANKING.
ALGORITHM IS THE WRONG
WORD.

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WE ARE OPTIMISING
FOR A SEARCH
ALGORITHM, NOT
USERS DISCOVERING
CONTENT.

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WHAT’S THE DIFFERENCE?
Discovery
- Entity holds the
value
- Queryless
- Journeys
Search
- Domain holds the
value
- Query based
- Single answers
DISCOVERY
- Entity holds the
value
- Queryless
- Journeys
Search
- Domain holds the
value
- Query based
- Single answers
SEARCH
- Domain holds
the value
- Query based
- Single answers

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SO WE NEED TO FOCUS ON...
Being front of
mind
Being useful
Being better than
competitors
Being a brand

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THINK BIG MARKETING
CAMPAIGNS, OFFLINE & ONLINE,
PRIME TIME TV, ADVERTISING IN
THE BIGGEST PUBLICATIONS
AND BEING SEEN EVERYWHERE.
SPEND ALL OF THE MONEY.

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THE PERFECT SEARCH ENGINE
WOULD REALLY UNDERSTAND
WHATEVER YOUR NEED IS. IT
WOULD UNDERSTAND
EVERYTHING IN THE WORLD
DEEPLY, GIVE YOU BACK KIND
OF EXACTLY WHAT YOU NEED.

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THERE’S FOUR THINGS WE CAN
DO...
Move
beyond
keywords
Simplify
your
content
Use
structured
data
Genuinely
put users
first

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MOVE BEYOND
KEYWORDS.

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THERE IS NO SUCH THING
AS A TRULY ACCURATE
SEARCH VOLUME.

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Keyword Search Volume
Cheap windows laptop 2,900
Cheapest windows laptops 2,900
cheap windows lapptop 2,900
windows laptop cheap 2,900
FOR EXAMPLE:

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LOOK AT THE MOMENT.
Discovery
- Entity holds the
value
- Queryless
- Journeys
Search
- Domain holds the
value
- Query based
- Single answers
What type
of
information
do they
need?
Search
- Domain holds the
value
- Query based
- Single answers
What are
your
customers
doing?

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Content
Outreach
TechnicalTargeting
Local

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SIMPLIFY YOUR
CONTENT.

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Point
Comment
Expanded
examples

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TABLES.
- Be clear
- Keep number of
columns
limited (no more
than 5)
- Define what’s in
the table

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LISTS.
- Use numbers or
bullet points
- No double spacing
- Keep points short

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USE STRUCTURED
DATA.

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GENUINELY PUT
USERS FIRST.

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IS THIS A
GOOD
USER
EXPERIENCE?

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LOOK AT ‘TIME WELL
SPENT’.
“Research shows that when we use social media to connect
with people we care about, it can be good for our well-
being. We can feel more connected and less lonely, and that
correlates with long term measures of happiness and
health. On the other hand, passively reading articles or
watching videos — even if they're entertaining or
informative — may not be as good.”
SOMEONE SMART, 2016

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TO SUM UP...

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THERE’S FOUR THINGS WE CAN
DO...
Move
beyond
keywords
Simplify
your
content
Use
structured
data
Genuinely
put users
first

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BUT MOST
IMPORTANTLY, PUT
USERS FIRST AND STOP
OVER-THINKING
ALGORITHMS.

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Question Mug
What % of
queries use
neural
matching?

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THANKS TO THE SPONSORS

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Slide Source
21 https://www.wired.com/2015/01/googles-secret-study-to-find-out-our-needs/
18 https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-neural-matching/271125/
25 https://www.blog.google/products/search/introducing-google-discover/
26 https://www.seroundtable.com/google-topic-layer-knowledge-graph-dynamic-26421.html
27 https://www.engadget.com/2018/09/24/google-search-activity-card-collections/
28 https://searchengineland.com/google-patent-on-related-entities-and-what-it-means-for-seo-295727
30 https://www.vervesearch.com/blog/seo-metrics-study/
39 https://twitter.com/randfish/status/1045634641250734080
42 http://fortune.com/2012/12/11/fortune-exclusive-larry-page-on-google/
46 https://www.vervesearch.com/blog/fixing-googles-keyword-search-volume-aggregation/
59 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/jcc4.12162