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SEO & CRO: Can’t we just be friends? Stephen Kenwright @stekenwright
SEO & CRO:Can’t we just be friends?
Stephen Kenwright @stekenwright
1.SEO is a business case – not a channel
2.Google is playing catch-up
We use CRO as a business case toobranded3.com/site-speed-conversion-rate
Framework
Discovery
Analytics
Paid search data Social listening
CONVERSION
•Category landing pages
•Product pages
CONSIDERATION
•Guides
•FAQs
AWARENESS
•Events calendar
•Campaign plan
•Social content calendar
•Blog content calendar
I’m not going to talk about conversion
Only…
Discovery
Analytics Social listening
CONVERSION
•Category landing pages
•Product pages
CONSIDERATION
•Guides
•FAQs
AWARENESS
•Events calendar
•Campaign plan
•Social content calendar
•Blog content calendar
Consideration is everything for SEO
…but only if you start with conversion
I don’t give a f*ck what Google says
I care what customers think
This is why discovery is important
Conversion rateLead gen website
Mobile
6.79%
Desktop
4.30%
Tablet
4.57%
Traffic trendsEcommerce
Desktop Mobile Tablet Linear (Desktop) Linear (Mobile) Linear (Tablet)
Mobile rate of growthEcommerce
0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
16.0%
18.0%
20.0%
Percent of mobile traffic from Google organic Percentage of mobile traffic excluding Google organic
Mobile40%
Tablet23%
Desktop37%
Search volume by device
Search volume vs. actual trafficEcommerce
Mobile14%
Tablet36%
Desktop50%
Organic data sources
Ranking positionEcommerce: mobile vs. desktop
-9000
-8000
-7000
-6000
-5000
-4000
-3000
-2000
-1000
0
1000
Mar-15 Apr-15 May-15 Jun-15 Jul-15 Aug-15 Sep-15 Oct-15 Nov-15 Dec-15 Jan-16 Feb-16 Mar-16 Apr-16 May-16 Jun-16 Jul-16 Aug-16
A (brief) history of Google and mobileApple launches
the iPhone
2007
2010
Responsive Web Design
Google launches
1998
Google launchesits first Android
2009
2015
Mobile search
overtakes desktop
Google pays $1bn to be iPhone search default
2014
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
CTR Decrease -10.00% -20.00% -30.00% -40.00% -50.00% -52.00% -54.00% -55.00% -56.00% -57.00%
CPC Increase 10.00% 15.00% 20.00% 30.00% 35.00% 40.00% 55.00% 60.00% 85.00% 105.00%
-80.00%
-60.00%
-40.00%
-20.00%
0.00%
20.00%
40.00%
60.00%
80.00%
100.00%
120.00%
Programmatic flatteningFrequency and CTR vs. CPC
Other sources of conversions
Other sources of conversions
A story about location extensions
90% of users start a task on one deviceand complete it on another
LukeW
Good luck with that
Framework
Discovery
Analytics Social listening
CONVERSION
•Category landing pages
•Product pages
CONSIDERATION
•Guides
•FAQs
AWARENESS
•Events calendar
•Campaign plan
•Social content calendar
•Blog content calendar
Build a knowledge databaseUse:
1. Analytics
2. Talk to your call centre(s)
3. User surveys
4. Keyword research
To:
Create a database of questions customers want answers to
Create an inventory of answers
If you want to be lazy…
…use keyword research for wording and rank-check to find relevant pages.
*The* search engine for cruise information in 2013
web.archive.org/web/*/cruise.co.uk
Making information more accessible…2013 style
virginholidayscruises.co.uk/cruise-guide
294% higher avg. visit durationvs. site average
138% improvement in bounce ratevs. site average
273% increase in number of pages clickedvs. site average
Content structured for conversion
Category page
ProductAuthor page
Content hub
Campaign page
Content hub
Content Content
Rankings Conversions
We built it for SEO
We didn’t build any links
…but search for “drinks packages”…
Wouldn’t the results below the fold have been better?
The website makes it easy for me tofind what I want
The website offers a cutting edgeinteractive experience
The website has a beautifulappearance
Other
What’s the most important factor in the design of a website?
HubSpot
Friction hierarchyLow friction
High friction
AI
SEARCH
IA / NAV
WEBSITE
CONTENT
30% of visitors will perform an onsite search
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report
Searchers generate more revenue than non-searchers
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report
2.41%
5.45%
0.00%
1.00%
2.00%
3.00%
4.00%
5.00%
6.00%
Non-site search users Site search users
Average conversion rateNon site search users vs. site search users
84% of companies don’t optimiseor even measure site search
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report
Turn on site search analytics
Click
Turn on site search analyticsClick
Turn on site search analytics
Make sure this is checked
Find your report
Visitors whose search returns 0 resultsare 2.5x more likely to leave
econsultancy.com/reports/site-search-report
Create variables in Tag Manager
What text is displayed for 0 result searches?
Variable #1 looks for CSS Selector called “#search-results”
Variable #2 codifies all pages with results as “Results”
Variable #3 scrapes the searched keyword
Create a tag to fire the event on Search Results pages
…and get this back
branded3.com/blog/track-internal-site-search-using-google-tag-manager
The Search Meter plugin does this for you
wordpress.org/plugins/search-meter
How to audit your site search
Questions to askTechnology
Which product/platform/tool powers it?
Was it implemented in house or externally?
Whose job is it?
Is there a functional spec/search user journey document available?
Is there another site with a search experience you think is good?
Questions to askResponse
Are there known use cases where search results are poor?
Are the results returned (particularly first page) highly relevant to your query?
What happens when you add more complexity to a query?
How fast are results returned?
Is relevance/speed consistent?
Questions to askFunctions
Is there an autosuggest/autocomplete feature?
Can it cope with typos?
Can you sort the results?
Are queries for dates/numbers/special characters supported?
Is the number of results shown correct/useful?
What’s happening now?
“Alexa, ask Virgin Holidays what drinks packages are available on Celebrity Equinox”
Natural language CXSEARCH
Customers typically show one of three intents
• Research your products and services
• Lookup a specific file or document
• Navigate sitemap e.g. login
RESPONDER AI
Customers have a direct questionand expect a good answer
• Simple example is an FAQ
• Most chatbots and Alexa skills are at this level today
CONSULTATIVE AI
Customers require specific adviceor want to achieve a goal
• Requires a complex conversational interaction
• AI can automate this but typically hard-coded today
Example interactionsSEARCH
> fund fact sheet
> fixed rate mortgage
> login page
RESPONDER AI
What is APR?
CONSULTATIVE AI
Am I eligible for your fixed rate mortgage?
careers.branded3.com
