There is no denying the fact that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its impact on multiple industries have been a hot topic of discussion for quite some time now. And there are good reasons for it.
The digital marketing arena went through transformations because of new and intelligent technologies/tools. Also, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) has gone through a lot of changes over the last few years.
Yes, the basic SEO methods are still the same. These include keywords, consistent content, link-building, and optimization of meta-tags. However, SEO now also includes new factors like mobile search, social media marketing, and user experience.
That being said, in the following section of the blog, we are going to share how AI impacts SEO, website traffic, ranking, and visibility.
What is the most important factor in SEO, website ranking and traffic?
The only answer to this is USER. Google’s focus is and will always remain the USER. Google dedicates its all efforts to improve the user experience. Remember a few years ago, SEO specialists started freaking out when Google introduced RankBrain? It is a machine-learning-based search algorithm that helps Google in processing results.
So why did SEO specialists freak out? Because, the RankBrain algorithm became “the third most important factor in the ranking algorithm”. This meant the marketers cannot use the old methods of gaming the rankings with false signals. Now, the scenario was, only the high-quality contents will get the best rankings in Google search results.
RankBrain was introduced to enhance Google’s HummingBird algorithm update. The goal was to interpret the overall context of search queries. The result was the users could see pages with not only the words they typed but also the relevant information to the query.
Google’s latest algorithm update BERT takes things to a higher level. It tries to understand the intent of the searcher and focuses on the concepts instead of just the keywords. Here is an example.
Source – singlegrain
Before BERT, the answers from Google would be more generic and not-so-relevant. After BERT, Google has a better understanding of what the user is searching for.
The four main user experience signals
As we said, user experience is the top priority now. Search engines are getting more and more intuitive due to algorithm updates, AI, and machine learning techniques. The main concern is the user engagement and linking patterns when search engines access a website.
Google checks four primary user-experience signals. They are:
1) The organic click-through rate – This is the number of users who click on a certain search result.
2) Dwell Time – This is how long a user spends on a certain website.
3) Bounce Rate – How many users are leaving the website immediately after coming to it.
4) Pogo Sticking – This is how many times a user clicks on the back button to get back to the search results and then tries out a different link.
Can you see the importance of the right and relevant content now? Search engines will always try to send the user to the right and relevant webpage. If the content is not relevant, it affects the UX signals as well as the rankings.
Also, along with the quality of the content on the pages, it is important to make sure that the website is easy to navigate. It should be accessible from all browsers and devices. Backlinking is another important ranking factor. Thus, make sure that the backlinks come from high authority sites.
Voice search changed the SEO game
It is a fact that users have shifted more towards the use of smartphones. Thus, mobile search has become more and more important. Here is where voice search plays a vital role. At present, more than 66 million Americans have a smart speaker (which is 25% of the adult population).
Content that ranks high for a mobile or a desktop search, will also appear as a voice search answer. Almost 75% of the voice search results rank in the top 3 for the query. 31% of the global smartphone users use voice search technology at least once a week.
Source – searchengineland
Now, this means, if the content is not optimized for voice search, you are hurting the SEO. Voice queries are more conversational. You have to use the long-tail queries. That’s how the voice AI works. This means you have to create the content for those voice searches.
For instance, if you want to know the age of Sachin Tendulkar from Google through text, you would type, “Sachin Tendulkar age”. On the other hand, if you opt for the voice search, you would say “Ok Google, how old is Sachin Tendulkar”.
When it is about the voice search, the results don’t come in the form of a full page. There is just one result. For the queries on your brand, and the important keywords and phrases, you have to be that one single result.
The long tail queries are also the way to get into Google’s Featured Snippet and the snippets most frequently end up as the voice search results.
The power of video
The search engines have not been good at indexing videos. However, all thanks to Artificial Intelligence (AI), this trend is changing. Marketers have more than enough chances to get their videos seen and ranked. Here are a few facts on consumers’ preferences about videos.
- 78% of people report that they watch online videos weekly and 55% of them watch videos on a daily basis.
- 68% of the people say that they prefer to know about a new product or service while watching a short video.
- 54% of people want marketers to share more content.
The rise of video will make digital marketers more focused on visual content. However, the goal must be to create optimized content to increase visibility. Social media specialists are already creating the way for this. Marketers have already adopted SEO strategies for YouTube, but the chances will increase with technologies becoming more and more engaging and accessible to the individual users.
Source – grand view research
If you are planning to embed your videos on the website, make sure to keep the following factors in mind.
- a) Relevance – To be indexed by Google search and reduce bounce rate, the video has to be relevant to the page content.
- b) Different videos – Google will only rank one video of a page. Thus, if you are placing more than one video on a page, make sure that the one you want to be indexed is at the top.
- c) Transcripts – If possible, add transcripts of your video to the page. The text will be indexed and the chances of getting higher ranks will increase.
You can use VR and 360-degree videos on your website as well. There are WordPress plugins, like VR-View that help you to embed VR videos on a webpage. Users can play it without needing any specific headset.
Final Thoughts
Not very long ago, Artificial Intelligence was simply a sci-fi concept. At present, AI-powered tools are being used for SEO purposes, content optimization, digital marketing and so much more. The advancement in technology will force marketers and SEO specialists to create and optimize content accordingly. However, remember that no matter how much technology evolves, keep the focus on the user to improve SEO and gain more website traffic.
