Where to concentrate your efforts when prioritizing SEO tactics

Remain competitive in SEO by strengthening topic expertise, embracing AI Overviews, and broadening your reach outside Google.

The SEO land in the first part of 2024 was always interesting.

Among algorithm disclosures, a major core update, AI Overviews (the introduction, the backlash, and the retreat), and antitrust lawsuits looming in the background, the recent months have been filled with a lot of commotion in the headlines.
Ignore the noise. What key projects need to be addressed in the upcoming months?
Recently, Google has been unusually open, allowing us to focus on a few major issues.

• Subject matter expertise.
• AI Overviews are here to stay.
• Enhancing non-Google assets

Core update: Emphasis on expertise

Google’s core update in March 2024 placed a strong emphasis on improving low-quality content and boosting higher-quality, more valuable content.

The observation we have made (which has also been supported by other research) is that establishing expertise in a particular topic has proven to be very successful in showing Google that your content deserves high rankings.

The decision to focus broadly or deeply, or a combination of both, in order to establish topic expertise is influenced by your specific industry. Your content strategy should always consider understanding the customer, including the customer’s customer for B2B.

For example, if you are offering software designed to help banks with mortgage underwriting, providing content that explains how your product can positively impact first-time home buyers is highly valuable.

Expanding your reach can be accomplished by involving additional individuals in your content strategy. This could signify:

• Searching for guest bloggers.
• Bringing in professionals from different industries for expertise.
• Showcasing feedback from customers using the product in various environments and situations.
• Discussing subjects chosen based on input from the audience. Keep a strong connection with your sales and customer service teams, regardless of the outcome, and you will receive valuable insights.

One way we enjoy assisting our clients in demonstrating authority is by providing them with exclusive data, research, and benchmarking to enhance their reporting and analysis. SaaS companies can target various audience segments by diving deep into technical aspects as well.

Ensure that your content strategy reflects the needs of your audience and why your brand is the perfect solution to help them achieve their goals, regardless of the product or service you offer.

Embrace AI Summaries

Regarding the AI Overviews, they are currently available but not as widely used as they were in May. However, I believe this situation will only be temporary. Google will embrace these features to integrate them into the search experience.

What is the best way to utilize our knowledge from the beginning and apply it to develop your strategy?

Establish your monitoring

In order to adjust, you must understand the current situation. Reports from GA4, Google Search Console, and other platforms should include impressions, clicks, CTR, and user behaviour on site.

One important point to note: it is likely premature to assess the real effects of AI Overviews on your business.

• Although your brand may be mentioned in AI Overviews, it is unlikely that the link will drive a significant amount of traffic.
• Probably, the content linked in AI Overviews ranks well in search engine results if you are included in those links.

Obtaining a comparison photo showing the progress in areas such as organic conversions and revenue will not only guide your SEO strategy but also help determine necessary actions in other channels.

Increase your focus on E-E-A-T

Overall, it is important to remain committed to basic SEO principles such as:

• Comprehending the purpose behind keywords and creating content that aligns with it.
• Utilizing both internal and external hyperlinks.
• Becoming proficient in metadata.

However, the E-E-A-T aspect could be the primary focus at the moment.

To tackle E-E-A-T, ensure that you are:

• Utilizing evidence and statistics.
• Referring to professionals as necessary.
• Expanding the profiles of your writers.
• Creating content with a focus on being clear and easy to read.
• Incorporating all pertinent keywords in your content.

There is a greater potential for growing E-A-T beyond Google, which I will talk about shortly.

Prioritize objectivity rather than focusing solely on making fast sales.

I enjoy teaching customers how showing different perspectives can improve rankings. Nowadays, individuals tend to reject content that is overly promotional and are more influenced by entities that recognize a variety of perspectives.

Using AI effectively to recommend content that users will find interesting can boost your success in navigating the AI Overview field.

Improve properties outside of Google

“Thinking beyond Google Search is one key to success,” Danny Sullivan informed us in June.

I’ve been talking about this for some time now, mainly because Google has been subtly guiding us towards that direction.

E-E-A-T’s principles can be effectively discussed on platforms such as Quora, Reddit, TikTok, and industry-specific forums, which is why Google has chosen to include them in the SERP.

The characteristics of those platforms, which emphasize expert opinions, seek and endorse powerful, authoritative stances, and typically prioritize real individuals, present a stark contrast to AI Overviews.

Brands that can utilize platforms such as TikTok have the opportunity to establish strong relationships with their users in a way that Google search cannot, as demonstrated by my colleague, Kelly Ayres, during a presentation at SMX Advanced in June. In addition to Ayres’ suggestions (although it is highly recommended to view the entire video)

• Always prioritize delivering value to your users over promoting your brand.
• If being true to your brand voice is challenging, lean on employees and influencers and prioritize user-generated content.
• Display customer feedback, endorsements, and achievements whenever feasible.
• Utilize tools such as Google Analytics to recognize patterns in user actions on your website that you can use on different platforms.
• Use the data to implement improvements and enhancements, similar to how you would on Google.
  The potential gains from this approach are huge – not only will you discover and interact with new groups of users. You can expect to receive increased visibility from having your content featured on Google.

Important strategies to focus on for the greatest effect

The only idea I have not discussed is a continuously relevant one: stay updated on news and trends from your preferred sources (presuming that Search Engine Land is one of them).

I know that interest in SEO is currently very high, which is beneficial for business but can make it challenging to stay up-to-date. The winds of change are quite strong, particularly with the new aspect of AI Overviews in play. Ensure that you are allotting time to observe the upcoming changes.