Weekly Marketing Update: Conversational Search and the Future of Content

Google’s secure site (HTPPS) ranking signal remains a hot topic in this week’s digital marketing news, as the SEO community debates its importance and more is discovered about how it works.

In other headlines, Bing announces a new conversational search feature as it strives to build out its platform based on “entity and conversational understanding,” and BrightEdge CEO discusses the future of content and SEO.

Enjoy!

Content from the CEO

”The Future Of Content & SEO: How To Stay On Top” by Jim Yu

“Do you ever look back on SEO and long for the simpler days?” BrightEdge CEO Jim Yu asks Search Engine Land readers.

“SEO has always been content-driven, but the meaning of optimized content has changed drastically over the years,” he says. Now that SEO and content silos have merged, content optimization has become even more technical as marketers have to consider how their content is being accessed both by users and devices.

Jim then discusses the two areas where technical SEO and content have converged — mobile and semantic search – and shares tools and resources to “stay on top of the game.”

In-Depth Articles from the Marketing Community

”Explainer: How Google’s New SSL/HTTPS Ranking Factor Works” by Barry Schwartz

In his article for Search Engine Land, Barry Schwartz shares  new information about Google’s new HTTPS (also known as SSL) ranking signal and explains how it works.

As reported in last week’s news update, Google announced that it is in the process of using HTTPS as a ranking signal, giving sites that use it a small ranking boost. While the announcement stated that HTTPS is “only a very lightweight signal,” it did suggest that it might become stronger over time. (Again, “HTTPS” indicates that a site is secure, and is used by Google for all of its digital properties as well as its search. Google has posted best practices for migrating your site from HTTP to HTTPS in its Webmaster Tools Help center).

“Over the past week, we’ve learned a great deal about the new ranking signal,” Barry reports. The new findings include:

• Google Runs HTTPS Ranking Signal In Real Time, unlike the Panda and Penguin algorithms. This means that immediately after Google indexes your new HTTPS URL, it will receive “a small, tiny, boost in the overall ranking algorithm.” Don’t expect to see your rankings jump up a spot; the signal isn’t that powerful.

• Google’s HTTPS Ranking Signal Is On A Per-URL Basis. For those wishing to test the HTTPS URL or migrate their site in stages, only those parts or pages of the site that you transfer will be given a rankings bump.

• Google’s Change Of Address Tool Not Supported. The change of address tool (located in Google Webmaster Tools) doesn’t yet support migration to a HTPPS URL. Google’s John Mueller said a 301 redirect will suffice to communicate the change, reports Barry.

”7 Things That Will Improve Your SEO More Than SSL” by Erin Everhart

Not all search professionals are convinced that migrating your site to SSL (or HTTPS; see above) will improve your SEO, reports Erin Everhart for Search Engine Watch, and she is among them. Paraphrasing the tweet of one HTTPS dissenter, Erin writes, “there are hundreds of things you could be doing that help your rankings more than SSL.”

She then shares her top seven (“in no particular order”):

1. Consistent URLs Everywhere. Meaning “the link your users see, the link you use in your internal linking strategy, and the links you use in your XML Sitemap need to match.”
2. Short, Non-Parameter Heavy URLs. Make it “as easy as possible for spiders to find your URL and read it.” This means limiting parameters, using words rather than numbers, and hyphens instead of underscores. She adds, “avoid subdomains when possible.”
3. Real, Relevant Content, Not “SEO Copy.” Rather than following a formula, Erin advises, “write content that will actually help your users (make) a purchasing decision.”
4. Live Text High on the Page, Not Stuffed at the Bottom. Because “search engine spiders read pages very linearly and very literally,” keep your content high up on the page.
5. Links. “Link building is not, and will never, die, and a site that has better, higher-quality links will outrank a site that doesn’t (assuming on-page optimization is equal).”
6. Strong CTA-Friendly Title Tags. “You still need a keyword in your title tag, and it still should be one of the first things in it, but stick to just one, maybe two,” Erin writes. She also recommends including action words.
7. Speed Up Your Load Time. “The slower your site, the longer it takes spiders to parse your page. More importantly, users have lost all patience and won’t stick around for seven seconds just to see what you’ve got to offer.”

Search News

Bing Launches Conversational Search

Bing has announced the launch of a new conversational feature that retains the context of a search from query to the next. The announcement states that the search engine will not only answer a query directly in the results, but also “continue the conversation”:

For instance, you can ask “who is the president of the united states”, we will show you the answer.  From there you might ask, “who is his wife” or “how tall is he.” Bing maintains the context and keeps the conversation moving forward.

Reporting on the announcement for Search Engine Land, Amy Gesenhues writes that Bing’s new feature is part of its ongoing efforts “to build a search platform based on entity and conversational understanding.”

Events

BrightEdge’s Share 14 is only five days away! Join us in San Francisco, August 20 to 22, for this amazing digital marketing event, featuring over 50 marketing leaders from the world’s top brands! Hope to see you there.

Enjoy your weekend!