If you’ve seen a drop in organic traffic in the latest year or two and you’re wondering if you need to bounce back from an update, you’re not alone. I’ve seen companies lose all of their traffic from the Google Helpful Content update. Some have suddenly recovered. Others have had a harder road back to the top. Still others are still struggling or have given up.

Don’t be one of those who give up. Google updates are a reality of the digital marketing space, but that doesn’t mean you’re helpless. If you want your brand to survive and grow, it’s important to study why traffic for some companies and individuals is dropping. 

Let’s break that down here. Then, I’ll run over a few suggestions that we’ve found are helping brands restart growth marketing momentum in the new age of AI-driven search.

Why Is Traffic Dropping?

Sometimes understanding the problem gets you halfway to the solution. In this case, if you’re seeing less organic traffic, understand there’s a chance it is from no fault of your own. Google’s AI Overviews (and similar generative AI search engines) are generating huge quantities of basic responses for consumers. This is grabbing a chunk of organic traffic from the traditional “blue links” SERPs.

SERPs are evolving in other ways, too. Along with AIO, Google’s search engine results pages include things like business profiles, featured snippets, and answer boxes. Most of these are designed to keep Google search users within the Google platform, rather than sending them away as organic search traffic to a third-party site. And these SERP features are expanding to better respond to queries and search intent.

User behavior is changing, too. Rather than a starting point, generative AI tools are quickly becoming a place where the bulk of an individual’s research takes place. 

I know this from personal experience. For instance, I’ve been looking for a new car. Rather than go out and dig up the data to compare models and features, I am using ChatGPT to aggregate and clarify my options, like comparing the different trim levels of a 4Runner to see exactly what I want. Using ChatGPT allows me to search in one place, rather than having to click through to multiple pages for each trim level. 

You can hear more about how I use ChatGPT for research nine minutes into this webinar I recently hosted with Relevance President Misty Larkins called Navigating the AI Landscape. The key takeaway here is that search engines and their users are causing a significant drop in organic search that so many companies are experiencing. The question is, what can you do about it?

What Can You Do About AI-Driven Search?

I’ve talked to enough people at this point to know that I’m not an outlier. This is the new way to get search results, and it is dramatically influencing organic search traffic. This isn’t the end of search. It’s just a shift in function — and it means we need to be ready to adjust and adapt. 

That said, here are three of the best ways I’ve either experienced or seen others take action to align with and benefit from the new reality of search.

1. Diversify Content Channels

Diversification is a healthy piece of any SEO strategy. With AI profoundly impacting traditional SEO, setting up multiple content channels is more important than ever. 

This spreads out your impact and allows you to build multiple SEO traffic sources. It also develops an owned distribution network that enables you to invest in various content formats — any one of which might benefit from a Google update, even if another is negatively affected.

Diversification also forces you to focus on a broader growth marketing strategy. Rather than being too granular by over-emphasizing one thing like your social media strategy, you are forced to consider how each piece feeds into your larger strategy. This omni-channel approach to marketing is a bigger need than most people like to admit. For instance, I find many clients who come to Relevance for growth marketing have failed to focus and optimize their nurturing campaigns. Sure, their lead gen is identifying potential clients, and their brand awareness is solid. But this leads to email campaigns that are short-sighted, half-thought out, or non-existent. 

If you want to stay relevant, don’t just think about fresh traffic. Make sure you’re diversifying your channels, being holistic in scope, and A/B testing to make sure you’re meeting nurture and conversion metrics, too. Speaking of metrics…

2. Measure What Matters

Measuring everything tells you nothing. In the past, organic traffic was a major indicator of the success or failure of an SEO initiative. That simply isn’t the case anymore. 

I already touched on the fact that AI Overview and AI-powered search tools are siphoning away traffic. If you’re curious how much traffic, Search Engine Journal recently shared that nearly three-quarters of problem-solving queries feature a Google AI overview answer. 

The reality is that people simply aren’t clicking through search results the same way they used to. So, what metrics still matter, then? Some things are the same. Impressions, keyword ranking, and on-site technical SEO, for instance, are still worth watching. In addition, track meaningful metrics including:

• Return on investment for SEO
• Customer lifetime value
• Cost of acquisition
• Conversion rates

Each of these is still relevant, even as AI search influences them. Conversion rate optimization (CRO), for example, is even more important now that traffic is lower. If you’re getting a decent amount of traffic, make sure you're converting that traffic efficiently.

Direct traffic is also a growing factor. At Relevance, we’re seeing more people with increasing direct traffic as people discover brands in GSEs and on social platforms and find they want to learn more.

One great example of this is one of my ecommerce clients that sells to distributors. While they had a slight dip in organic traffic over the last three months compared to the previous year, their direct traffic increased by 10%. We’ve attributed this shift primarily to this ongoing change in search behavior.

The takeaway here? The way people search is changing. Make sure your metrics are adjusting along with this shift.

3. Stay Adaptable

My final piece of advice is an oldie but goodie. Stay adaptable. This has been true for years, and the need for flexibility is only increasing as technology becomes more sophisticated and capable. 

If you’re noticing changes in your growth marketing results, take the time to adjust your strategy. Use tools like Google Trends to track changes in your industry and audience. Be proactive about tracking and testing new AI marketing tools and features. 

In a broader sense, make sure you’re evaluating quality over quantity while the entire digital marketing world is making this AI-powered pivot. Stay focused on your audience and always create content for readers first and search engines second. Watch the right metrics, and above all, make sure you keep a human touch in all that you’re doing. 

Adjusting to Lower Traffic

If you’ve seen a drop in your organic traffic, don’t panic. A lot of brands are doing the right things right now and seeing the same kind of discouraging results. 

If you want to recapture some momentum, don’t just go back to the same-old SEO playbook. Invest in diversified content channels, omnichannel growth marketing strategies, and tracking helpful metrics. Stay adaptable, and foster a teachable mindset as you go. 

If you are looking for a helping hand, our team at Relevance can help. We have walked alongside our clients throughout the last year, helping them make adjustments and stay on track toward their growth marketing goals. Contact us for a FREE strategy session, and together we can look at the best next move for your brand in the new era of AI search.

The post Drop in Organic Traffic? Here’s How to Get Back on Track appeared first on RELEVANCE.

Topical authority is the process of successfully signaling your subject matter expertise (SME) online. Typically, this happens through the creation of high-quality, comprehensive content that is higher ranking in search engine results. This is aimed at building thought leadership rather than other content marketing goals, like brand awareness or conversions.

Establishing your topical authority is a critical part of a holistic growth marketing strategy. Recent updates in Google’s algorithm prioritize expertise, and the world’s largest search engine is rewarding established topical experts with greater traction in search. This includes ranking higher in SERPs and being pulled into AI Overview summaries.

If you’re not sure how to infuse your content with perspectives that reflect topical authority, you’ve come to the right place. We’ve gathered our team’s thought leaders and created a step-by-step resource (along with examples) to help you strategically build your brand’s topical authority in the year ahead.

Let’s dive in.

1. Research and Clarify

The first thing we always recommend to any brand is to do your research. Data and a rich understanding of your brand will be your best friend during the research process. Here are a few questions to help you get this started:

• What is your swim lane? What are the topical areas you should be known for above everything else? Based on that, what pages on your site are already getting the most traffic that coordinates with those swim lanes? 
• What does your company do? Where do you provide unique value within your swim lane? 
• What areas do your offerings focus on? Where should your brand stand out based on the products and services you offer? Based on research, where can you differentiate yourself from others in the industry?

You already know your company like the back of your hand. As you answer these questions, think bigger. Use competitor keyword research to find the search queries that are driving your target audience to search for solutions you can provide. Consider how these relate to your brand and services, and then use that information to target your swim lane topics.

2. Review Your Current Site

Don’t add to your site’s content until you’ve conducted a content review. A blog audit can help you understand what content you have surrounding each topic cluster you want to build. Vectorizing your site can also provide a clearer picture of where your site stands in relation to topical authority.

Along with seeing what you have, this reveals helpful insights. You can see what articles already perform well and which ones need optimization. You can also find ones that might need to be deleted entirely if they don’t have topical relevance.

We did this for a company in the insurance space and saw that they had great relevant content for one state where they did business. While this was a win, it also revealed other target states where the brand wasn’t ranking well for geographically targeted keywords. This helped us find areas of opportunity to expand quality content in those areas to better showcase their knowledge in those target states. Seeing gaps in content is just as important as seeing what you already have. 

A thorough site analysis helps you see the value of current content, where you have gaps, and where there are opportunities for growth and a higher ranking. This orients you and makes it easier to take effective next steps.

3. Build Your Onsite Authority With Content

Once you have a thorough understanding of industry trends, competitor analysis, and your own website audit info, you can start to build your onsite authority through fresh content. This should be well-optimized to ensure it is easy for search engines to find. 

It should also be educational and personal. Educational content goes beyond sales and marketing CTAs to educate users about your brand, your solutions, and relatable consumer pain points. 

In the AI age, generic information isn’t helpful anymore. Personalize your content with unique perspectives and personal examples that show your company and its leadership have hands-on expertise and cutting-edge insights. Use things like customer feedback, unique takes on the industry, and questions from your sales team to inform your topics, too.

Don’t be discouraged by the up-front investment here. There is a domino effect to focusing on topical areas within your swim lane. 

When working with a healthcare brand (See? Using a personal example!), we found that building strong topical authority in one area helped us gain topical authority in other areas much more quickly. The foundational work in one area will often help give you a leg up when you start targeting the next topic cluster. Google already sees you as having a high topical authority, and it allows your content to cut through the white noise in different areas of expertise faster.

Quality content is key for ranking well in organic search at this point. You need a strong base of informational content that can inform AI Overview summaries, knowledge panels, and similar AI-generated content. Keep in mind this is easier content to create. 

4. Build Thought Leadership for Your Experts

Along with creating informative content, you need to cultivate thought leaders. This has become an essential part of any content strategy. It makes sense, too. If your content enhances your brand’s topical authority, where does that influence come from? The people behind it.

It’s important to invest in who those thought leaders are. Who are your brand’s experts? Who are the thought leaders in your midst? Who has key information essential to your brand’s success?

These are your experts. They don’t have to be expert writers. Just make sure they are working with content creation teams to provide unique information and editorial feedback. Have them byline your onsite content and build out bios on your site for them.

It’s also a good idea to have them byline resources and thought leadership pieces on third-party sites. Authoring something on Forbes, Entrepreneur, an industry publication, or even social media such as LinkedIn can help reinforce their clout as leaders in their fields. This ultimately has a trickle-down influence on your content as Google connects the dots and sees that your site content is created in collaboration with recognized experts.

The bulk of your content strategy should be focused on this type of content that is perspective-driven and will show the brand’s unique POV. This authoritative content is how you build thought leadership in your industry and set your brand apart from the pack.

5. Develop a Strong Linking Strategy

Despite the recent shakeups with Google’s search algorithms, linking still matters — and it’s an essential part of building topical authority. 

Internal linking strategies tie your website’s content together. As you create your content, make sure to link back to relevant sources and related content across your site. 

If you mention a product or feature, place a internal link to its correlating product page or money page to move them down your sales funnel. Make sure your internal links are using good anchor text, too. Link to a keyword or phrase that honestly cue a reader to what is on the other side of that blue text. 

Backlinks are also important. These are links from third-party sites that point back to your own website. In early 2025, Backlinko released fresh data showing that pages with a lot of backlinks continue to perform better than others. Invest in a SEO strategy that builds credibility through backlinks from quality sources to your onsite content. These can come from a business publication with a high DA (domain authority) or an industry publication with a targeted readership.

Be the Lighthouse: Building Topical Authority in Uncertain Times

Digital marketing is changing faster than ever. While content marketing remains at the core of an effective growth strategy, the kind of content you create matters.

This is why you want to use your content strategy to do more than create SEO-rich content. Use it to build your brand’s topical authority online. This is one of the most effective investments of marketing resources you can make in the current age of fewer clicks, changing user expectations, and the growing use of AI Overviews.

If you need help creating your topical authority-building strategy, our experienced team at Relevance can help. Reach out for a free strategy session, and together, we can explore how to take your brand to the forefront of your industry’s conversations. 

The post How To Strategically Build Your Brand's Topical Authority Online  appeared first on RELEVANCE.

This is why I’ve been paying more and more attention to brand marketing. This is a digital marketing strategy that focuses on broader elements like brand positioning and your brand’s image, values, and identity, as opposed to typical product- or service-oriented marketing messaging.

With AI overtaking everything in online search, brand marketing has never been more important. Our team has found that Google is prioritizing brands that have a strong identity and clear content marketing goals that reinforce a delineated brand identity. 

Successful brand marketing will do more than land you references in AIO summaries, too. It can help you rank in those blue links and stand out to your target audience. Overall, brand building should be an integral part of any growth marketing strategy you have in place today.

If your branding is struggling in 2025, here are some tips to boost recognition, engagement, and SERP ranking through marketing your brand.

1. Research What Is and Isn’t Working Right Now

A solid brand strategy works from a place of data-backed knowledge. Start your branded marketing initiatives with a thorough analysis of your branding. Here are a few questions to ask:

• Is your brand a thought leader in industry discussions?
• Is your brand receiving consistent, positive digital PR and online mentions?
• Is your brand getting backlinks to boost SEO and signal your authority to Google?
• Is your ideal audience finding you through organic, earned, or shared marketing channels?
• Are you up to date on competitor research and aware of what they’re doing right and where they may be weak?

Where are you doing well? Where could you be doing better? Gather this information as your starting point so that you can first determine your brand marketing goals and engage in effective brand marketing that builds on what you’ve already accomplished.

2. Understand and Reinforce Your Topical Authority

Every brand marketing strategy should have clearly defined areas of excellence and knowledge. These are your swim lanes, as we call them. They are clear areas of expertise that all of your onsite content should focus on, reinforce, and connect to in some way. Vectorizing your website is a great way to see how well your content lines up with your swim lanes. It’s worth the effort to clarify where you want to focus and then invest in those areas.

For instance, when I was working with a greens powder company, after a thorough review, I found that the site only had a few blogs—and they were unrelated to greens powder. My response was to build brand awareness by implementing a content strategy focused on brand identity and topical authority.

I created content about greens, drinking greens, and their health benefits. Given time (SEO can take months to fully flesh out), we saw clicks for queries related to "greens" go up by 31%. Impressions for those same queries went up by 131%. 

Creating content in your swim lane helps you perform better in your topical areas. It generates targeted brand engagement, builds brand consistency, and associates your company with the topics you want to be known for.

3. Show Your Unique Expertise

Everyone knows by now that Google wants to see people-first content. This is also a critical part of being a brand marketer. Brand recognition must come from content that doesn’t just rank for the right queries in SERPs. It has to actually provide genuine value to readers.

While it’s good to create foundational content within your swim lane, AI Overviews and related tools are already answering those queries, often without click-throughs to the sources they use. If you want to serve your readers (and coax them onto your site), you need to back up your basics with content that demonstrates your specific industry expertise.

From what I’m seeing right now, the brands that are shining aren’t the ones offering 101 knowledge. They have those content pieces, and it helps signal their topical authority to Google. 

However, they reinforce the rudimentary knowledge with unique, helpful perspectives. These integrate subject matter expert knowledge and show a new angle, process, or solution search engine users might not have thought of before. This kind of association with quality, mid- and bottom-of-funnel content is what builds a strong brand marketing strategy.

4. Build Your Thought Leaders

Your branding won’t have substance without thought leaders. Consider the people within your leadership, teams, and departments with innovative ideas and industry-leading knowledge. How can you build these people up? How can you promote your brand story through their unique takes on the industry? 

You can interview an expert for a piece of content on your site. Use quotes from them in your social media marketing and in your email marketing, too. This is important for Google's Knowledge Panels and new SERP features that highlight individuals at companies. The more publicly authoritative your experts are, the more likely your branded content will show up.

I built up thought leaders when working with the founder of the new kids' phone company, Gabb. Along with posting on their own site, we worked to get the founder bylined on major sites like Entrepreneur and Forbes. We also reposted his commentary and insights on Medium and LinkedIn. 

I encouraged him to talk about relatable things surrounding the struggle of kids having phones. This built his thought leadership and, in turn, helped to build the brand for the company overall. They saw a 26% increase in branded traffic, as well as a 605% increase in organic traffic and a 1586% increase in the number of ranking keywords during our time working together. Emphasizing a thought leader helps not only improve the brand but also helps all the marketing efforts you have in place be more successful.

5. Optimize Your Brand Messaging

Finally, make sure your brand story is always putting its best foot forward with each piece of content that you create. Highlight what sets you apart whenever it organically makes sense, and make sure you’re communicating your areas of expertise across your website. To do this, have a strong grasp on your brand story, set brand guidelines in place, and always keep an eye on your goals.

Our team saw the benefits of the cohesive messaging of a telehealth company we worked with—not just on their website but across all marketing and communication channels. From their email newsletter to their social profiles, the brand voice, messaging points, and unique value proposition were the same. 

They also featured their clinicians on their social channels (subject matter expert power!). And while we weren't in charge of those channels, it was integral that their messaging was consistent, regardless of its location online, and was supporting their overall branding for a cohesive strategy to support a strong brand. That work helped to increase the success we saw with their SEO strategy and led to a 358% increase in keywords ranking in position 1 and a 319% increase in organic traffic during our work together.

Investing in Brand Marketing Strategy Right Now

The wave of AI content is building, and brands that remain passive will eventually fall behind. Building up your brand equity is the best way to safeguard your business against whatever the future of search may hold.

A strong brand identity provides consistency in messaging, clear areas of topical authority, and unique perspectives and expert advice. These are the building blocks of a business that can weather the AI-driven future, no matter what that future looks like.

If you’re looking for support in building a rock-solid brand that can thrive in an AI search world, reach out to our team for a free consultation. We can get started on step one right away, evaluating where you stand and considering what steps could help you reinforce your brand story. I look forward to hearing from you!

The post Why Brand Marketing Matters More Than Ever appeared first on RELEVANCE.

Case in point: Fintech. 

If you’re a fintech company, you’re doing business in the competitive and ever-evolving financial technology sector, rife with competition and burdened by regulations. On top of that, fintech companies operate in YMYL (your money, your life) territory, which means accuracy and trust are critical. I’ve worked with quite a few clients that fall into this industry, and the first step is always to make sure trust is at the center of your strategy. 

Acquiring customers in the fintech industry isn’t easy, which is why you need to have a solid plan in place to reach your marketing goals. Whether you’re a startup or an established fintech company, here are some top tips (backed up by experienced examples) that can help you establish a strong fintech marketing strategy.

1. Look at the Data

Google may have rolled back its plans to kill third-party cookies in 2024, but that doesn’t change the fact that privacy is a priority for the internet. This de-emphasis on third-party data has made first-party data more available and important, including when you’re building a marketing campaign. First-party data provides valuable insights into the behavior and beliefs of your audience.

Before you begin allocating marketing efforts, look at your data. Where are your customers coming from? Where are they converting? What channels are yielding the results you’re looking for? Which ones need improving? 

I saw the power of a first-party data review when working with a fintech client that had been marketing and tracking their data but wasn’t paying attention to it. I conducted a thorough review of the information to identify what areas were working and which ones had the highest opportunity so that we could prioritize them. This included a deep dive into GA4 and GSC to see what was getting traffic and what keywords were leading to sessions. It also included reviewing their internal data about their ideal client profile so we could align with it.

If you’re building a fintech marketing plan, always start with your data. Use the past to help you direct your future moves.

2. Identify Strengths and Understand Your Landscape

Every brand should have a clear unique selling proposition or USP. This factor helps you build brand awareness and makes your product or service stand out — and it’s just as important in the financial service sector as anywhere else.

The fintech landscape is fiercely competitive. There are many well-established fintech companies and countless startups all fighting for market share. If you want your marketing to stand out above the next brand’s ad or message, ask yourself these questions in this order: 

• What areas should you be known for in your industry?
• What are your main services, and how do they align with those areas?
• What elements about your business make your service unique?

Along with internally identifying your USP, you want to consider the external factors influencing the fintech business landscape. What kind of content marketing is ranking in the SERPs? Do you need to run paid ads to cut through the competition? 

While working with the same fintech client mentioned above, we used competitor research to illuminate the best opportunities available to that brand. I studied larger companies, reviewed similar-sized enterprises, and even looked at a fintech startup or two. This gave me a broad sample of what marketing resonated with fintech audiences at the time, rather than only focusing on similar-sized brands. This research shows not only what is working and what isn’t for others, but also helps to find more niche areas of opportunity that others could be overlooking in their content marketing efforts.

If you want your fintech marketing strategies to succeed, start by identifying your strengths and studying the landscape you’re operating within.

3. Create the Right Content

Inbound marketing, especially content, is a core part of any marketing strategy. However, the kind of content you create has become an increasingly important part of the strategic planning process to drive brand awareness and customer engagement. 

The internet is still reeling from the impact of major changes, like Google’s Helpful Content Update and the shift to AI-generated search responses. One of the big changes here is that you want your content to be more engaging, unique, and invaluable. 

Simple answers are no longer going to cut it. Instead, think through the types of content that encourage fintech audiences to engage with your brand’s marketing assets and attract potential customers. This could be:

• Educational content that informs.
• Helpful content that instructs.
• Product reviews that explain the features and benefits of complex tools.
• Interactive demos that provide multimedia elements.

The relevance of the topics that you cover is just as important. For instance, when I was working with a fintech client, I emphasized the need for timely content. They were focused on alternative investments, and at the time, they barely had any content on their site about them. Because of that, I helped them develop 401(k)-focused content centered around alternative investments. 

First we created some foundational content about what alternative investments are and why they can be beneficial, but then got deeper into specific types of alternative investments and specific strategies for incorporating them into your retirement plan. This helped them rank for a competitive, up-and-coming search term by demonstrating their authority without fighting against stiff competition or paying for expensive ads.

If you want your content to stand out and build customer loyalty, make it unique, engaging, and relevant.

4. Iterate and Optimize

You saw this one coming, right? It’s the necessary final step to any successful marketing strategy, especially in an industry that moves as fast as fintech.

As the finance and technology sector evolves, so should your marketing strategy. Regularly review your data (see Step 1) and see what is working and what isn’t. Hone in on what resonates with your audience and produces results. Fix what isn’t working or ditch it and reallocate the resources.

I’ve found that the devil is in the details with this stuff, too. For instance, with a fintech client, I noticed the author bios on their site did not contain information that we know Google appreciates according to E-E-A-T guidelines. I used the review process to optimize their bios and highlight their team’s credentials, linked their social bios to provide more social proof, and elaborated on their background in their bio. This simple action helped meet Google’s E-E-A-T standards and established the fintech brand’s content as coming from thought leaders who provided insightful, cutting-edge information.

If you want your fintech marketing to have an impact, perpetually revisit it and look for ways to optimize, update, and improve it.

Building a Successful Fintech Marketing Strategy

If you’re going to invest in growth marketing, you want to do so with an eye toward industry ownership. With fintech, this requires a thoughtful strategy. 

Start with your past data. Assess your strengths and study your current industry competition and landscape, too. Then, use your research to inform targeted content that you regularly review. An effective strategy is a great way to stand out in an industry with high customer acquisition and the need to develop a unique level of trust both before and after the point of purchase through targeted marketing efforts. 

If your fintech startup or even an established company is struggling with its marketing, reach out for a free consultation. Our experienced team can help you assess your situation and develop a marketing strategy that can propel your company to prominence, even in an industry as crowded as the finance and technology sector.

The post How to Create a Fintech Marketing Strategy appeared first on RELEVANCE.

SME input can help your content perform better in the search engines, too. For instance, Google’s Helpful Content Update in 2023 put an emphasis on insight-rich content that provides specific, professional information. The search engine’s expanded E-E-A-T standards (Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) make SME input invaluable, as well.

While it’s easy to see the value a subject matter expert brings to the table, that doesn’t make adding their thoughts and takeaways to your blog content simple. As with most growth marketing activities, you want to have a strategy in place. 

Here are six steps to help you incorporate SMEs into your content marketing strategy.

1. Determine Your Experts

Start by identifying who your SMEs are. Which individuals in your network are industry experts who can deliver a unique degree of subject matter expertise in their field? A few areas to consider in your search include:

• Your leadership team: Who in your internal leadership has specific experiences and insights they can share?
• Your staff: Do you have employees with training, certifications, or experience that stand out in their field?
• Your contacts: What relationships do you have outside your organization with individuals who are respected and looked up to in their industry?

You want your SMEs to stand out. Choose them with care and make sure they have the credentials and clarity to speak for your brand.

2. Create Swim Lanes

Not everyone is an expert in every area of your business. That’s why you want to categorize and organize your SMEs into areas where they shine. 

We call these swim lanes. Select topics that your business focuses on, and then make sure you have SMEs who can confidently address each area.

As you do this, keep in mind that every business should avoid covering too broad of a range of content on their blog. Hone in on your primary area of focus and look for an individual or two in each area of your business who can provide consistent expertise in their area of strength.

3. Bulk Your SME Interviews

One of the best ways to get information from your SMEs is to interview them about current industry and Google trends that relate to your content strategy. This is a good way to regularly glean their unique points of view and see how they’re adapting to the current changes in their field.

That said, interviews are a time-consuming activity. To save time, try to bulk your SME interviews into single sessions. Start by identifying the current trends and areas that you want your experts to speak to.

Then, interview your experts in batches to get bulk insights into where their industries are going. You can do this in person, on a recorded call, or through written questions. Each has its strengths and applicable scenarios. The key is to streamline the interview process to make it repeatable and avoid wasting resources. And after those bulk interviews, add all the best pull quotes to a spreadsheet so you can easily access and incorporate those in your content.

4. Use Unique SME Insight

Once you’ve interviewed your SMEs, it’s time to use their unique thoughts to infuse your blog with one-of-a-kind content. The key here is to preserve their SME individuality.

The best way to use SME opinions is to present their thoughts in an individualized, perspective-based format that is highly unique. Don’t make their takeaways part of your brand’s general amalgamated opinion. Maintain each SME’s identity and the unique qualifications that they have for providing an opinion on each subject (more on that in the next step). 

Google loves this kind of content. When a unique and up-to-date perspective is provided, it has a better chance of showing up as a reference in Google’s AI Overview content compared to more generic content.

5. Consider Creating Bios

In the past, it was important to keep content takeaways broad and simple. Many brands would stick to the collective “we,” too.

Now, the script has flipped. You want readers to know why an opinion or perspective is specific to your subject matter experts. You can do this by directly attributing their thoughts and knowledge to themselves in your content.

Another option is to create bios when it makes sense. These can either be positioned as the author of a piece, or they can be included alongside an author to support the information presented. In either case, use a bio to highlight who your SME is, include any credentials like MD or PhD, and add why they’re authorized to speak to a subject.

6. Have SMEs Share Content

SMEs are often pre-established influencers within their fields and industries. They can have robust networks and a significant reach amongst your target audience.

Use this influence to broadcast your content whenever you can. Tag SMEs in your branded posts that they’ve contributed to as you share them online. Ask them to share recent posts on social media, too, and even see if they’ll post original content linking to each blog post. 

The buzz that this generates provides social proof and indirect endorsements of a blog asset. This can signal to search engines and readers alike that it is a piece of quality content worth reading.

Creating Effective SME-Infused Blog Content

Subject matter experts can introduce a unique aspect of authority and information to a company blog. They can provide up-to-date information and share cutting-edge thoughts and perspectives that genuinely add value to the online conversation in their industry.

Using SMEs in your blog strategy is a good idea, but you want to do so the right way. Use the steps above to incorporate SME perspectives into your blog in a way that helps your content shine out, attract attention, and rise to the top of search engines and social pages alike.

If you need any help creating a content strategy that includes SMEs, we’d love to chat. Relevance can help you create a strategy that goes beyond your blog, infusing all of your online content with a level of expertise designed to help your brand thrive in the unpredictable and ever-changing modern online landscape.

The post How to Incorporate Subject Matter Experts Into Your Blog Strategy appeared first on RELEVANCE.

Companies in the financial sector can use the online landscape to improve visibility and serve customers. They can also establish brand authority by educating consumers and helping combat misinformation in a highly important area of the internet.

At least, financial enterprises can do this if their online content is easy to find. That’s where search engine optimization comes into the picture. What does SEO for financial services look like? It’s not quite the same as your traditional optimization process. 

Let’s examine four key factors that can help financial service companies create SEO-rich content marketing strategies. Consider these the collective key to the mint that can help your financial company shine out in a crowded online marketplace.

1. Understand That You’re in YMYL Territory

One of the most important factors when engaging in financial SEO is to understand that you’re working with YMYL content. YMYL stands for “your money, your life” and it is a category that applies to online content that influences key decision-making processes for individuals. 

Finance is one of the most obvious categories of YMYL, which means you’re going to be held to a higher standard with your content. That means you can’t afford to write weak or incorrect content. You're held to higher standards and need to take extra care with all of the info you put out there. 

With that in mind, make sure your YMYL content always has value. Also, invest in strong editorial processes backed by expertise that meets Google’s E-E-A-T standards. From my experience, when companies can establish a strong fact-checking system that ensures all the content is accurate, they thrive.

Also, make sure to reinforce your helpful content with a clear demonstration of your expertise. The best way to do this is to attach articles to accredited authors, such as a certified investor or financial advisor. 

With one financial client in the past who was in the retirement space, I suggested having content reviewed by a CPA and ensuring that is noted on each blog that they review. That helped to build trust with the reader that this content was accurate. This was also done by adding a bio for the author to each blog, and linking out to author pages on the website as well. The more you can inform readers about who is writing the content and why they are qualified to talk on financial subjects, the better you’ll be following E-E-A-T standards. 

2. Review Competitor Practices Carefully

You always want to know about your competitors, including when you’re crafting an SEO strategy. In my time at Relevance, I've found that competitor research is especially valuable when working with clients in the financial sector because there are only so many areas to target in this saturated market.

Financial content can also vary depending on the financial service you’re operating in. A bank’s blog, for instance, might have personal finance tips whereas a cryptocurrency exchange could have a fintech or breaking news focus. You want to understand what kind of content resonates with your particular financially-focused audience.

Identify the top two or three competing brands with a strong online presence and then do some research. If you can get an idea of where competitors are already performing well, it will help you find the best opportunities for digital marketing.

For that same client in the retirement industry, while in the strategy phase for the account I reviewed a smaller start-up sized client, a comparable mid-size company, and 2 larger enterprises that were honestly not even direct competition at that point because of their size. Those two large companies represented what my client hoped to be in the future. 

By reviewing  a variety of different types of competitors I was able to get a better idea of what goals we should have for the future, and ideas of what was and wasn’t working for both comparable competitors and those “big dogs” of the financial industry. This gave me a better understanding of what was achievable both now and in the future.

3. Create Helpful, Authoritative Content

Helpful content is key to search engine ranking in the current Google algorithm and showing up in search results. This is particularly important when dealing with YMYL content in the financial industry. Remember, when most people find your content, they aren’t just curious. They’re looking for information, answers, advice, and help.

As a financial company, you have the authority to provide those answers, and you want that expertise to be on display throughout your content. To do this, keep your focus on topical authority areas. (Google’s leaked document in early 2024 showed sitewide topical authority is important for SEO.) Go beyond basic promotional content marketing, and provide multiple perspectives and relevant first-hand experiences whenever possible.

Going back to the client in retirement, I implemented a strategy focused on creating helpful, informational blogs. They didn’t have much of a foundation on their site and were blogging sporadically and inconsistently. By implementing a thoughtful content strategy focused on building topical authority around the idea of alternative investments for a self-funded 401k, I was able to help them start ranking on page one for that keyword after around 5 months. The key was ensuring the blogging was consistent, authoritative, and honed in on the topical authority area of alternative investments.  

4. Enhance Credibility and Visibility

As your helpful, topic-focused, authoritative content library begins to build, you want to take further steps to reinforce your financial SEO strategy. Linking is a major part of this process. Interlink your content to other pieces across your financial website. 

In addition, seek out opportunities to have third-party sites link back to your content. (This is external linking or backlinking.) Backlinks provide validation and signal to Google that you are the authority you say you are. And backlinks aren’t just a quantitative game. You want to have diverse, relevant backlinks from high-quality, authoritative sources.

This strategy was key for the retirement client as well. Not only were we regularly creating helpful, informative content, but we were securing regular backlinks to the informational pillar page we wrote as well. Ensuring your backlinking strategy is working in tandem with your onsite content strategy helps to ensure an effective SEO strategy, which is exactly what I saw with that client as their rankings in the SERP rose.

In addition to backlinks, you also want to improve SEO visibility through technical SEO. A few tips for this include:

• Filling out and watching your local and Google My Business listings.
• Creating a smooth website design with fast speed and easy navigation.
• Setting up and regularly evaluating Google Analytics and Google Search Console to track search results.

SEO success takes time. If you don’t see results after a few months, though, you want to conduct a content review and make adjustments.

Growing Your Financial Site Through SEO

Search engine optimization can be a powerful part of a financial company’s growth marketing strategy. However, you want to make sure you go about things the right way. In this YMYL field, bad content can not just waste your time and resources. It can hurt your brand.

If you aren’t sure how to build a strong financial SEO strategy, or certain areas like backlinks and bylines are holding you up, reach out for a free strategy session. Together, we can create a content plan that can crush your SEO goals and send your finance company to the next level.

The post What to Know About SEO for Financial Services appeared first on RELEVANCE.

The unexpected event released thousands of details about ranking features and metrics (although it did not clarify how much it weighted each of these). Readers were treated to insights on how content is ranked, boosted, and demoted on Google’s industry-dominating search engine. In late May, Google confirmed that the leak is, indeed, real, which means the internet has been gifted with a unique glimpse into how Google ranks content — or at least how the company did as of March 2024.

Anyone looking to establish, re-establish, or maintain SEO should be sitting up and paying attention. That said, sifting through 2,500 pages is a big ask. We’ve scoured the reports and media emerging from the leak and pulled together five of the biggest takeaways you want to keep an eye on (along with a few bonus SEO factors to keep in mind) during your next content review.

1. Backlinks Really Are Important

Backlinks have always been a contentious subject, but many have maintained their aura as a critical component of a link building SEO strategy. And now we know, for sure, that they matter. The quality of each backlink is important here, but relevance is also important. Don’t just value a backlink because it comes from a reputable site, but also look for those links that come from sites relevant to your business.

Link diversity is another area to consider. Don’t pile up backlinks from the same source, even if it’s a good one. Look for a variety of relevant, high-quality third-party sources to provide a smorgasbord of off-site signaling that your site is both relevant and credible in your niche.

2. UX + SEO = Marketing Synergy

Clickstream data (that is, the process a user takes as they click to and around your website) is also important. There are indications that data from Chrome (the most popular browser by a long shot) may even be particularly important in making these ranking decisions. 

Click data can help you rank, which means user experience (UX) isn’t just helpful. It is an essential part of good SEO. 

The takeaway here? Never do SEO without UX in mind. Take advantage of every consumer interaction to reinforce UX. Focus on keywords that are less competitive to show up higher in search results. Fill out thoughtful meta descriptions. Consider the user experience when someone clicks through a link. 

Also build up your brand across a variety of digital marketing channels — YouTube, social media, display ads, etc. Use these touch points to build positive brand recognition. That way, when a customer does see you show up in the SERPs, they’ll recognize you and click through with confidence.

3. Sitewide Topical Relevance Is Important

Topical authority has been recognized as an important part of Algorithm Google Search for a while now. Ever since the Helpful Content Update came out in 2023, the emphasis on E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, trustworthiness) has gone through the roof. Now, we’re seeing that your topical relevance shouldn’t just be clear. It should be reflected across your web page.

Google uses site embeddings to determine how on-topic each page is. It turns out that the search engine is also vectorizing entire sites and comparing pages to see how on-topic they are to a brand’s overarching topical authority. Post a page that isn’t in line with your site’s topical relevance, and it may have trouble ranking. Make sure you have a strong website content strategy in place.

User-generated content (UGC) is also important here. Commentary from consumers on your site can be a ranking factor based on your topical authority. One easy test could be turning off UGC on your site to see if it helps or hinders your search ranking. If positive, on-theme comments are common, it might help. If negative or tangential threads are a regular occurrence, they might be diluting your topical authority.

4. Build, Build, Build Your Brand

In the past, Google denied using a site-ranking metric, even if tools like Google Analytics seemed to indicate otherwise. Turns out they have one, and it’s called site authority. While it remains mysterious, especially as it relates to downstream website scoring, we know it exists, which means the quality of your brand’s online presence is a really important ranking factor.

Make sure every time you invest in digital marketing, you’re building your brand. If you’re creating a piece of online content, procure the byline of a reputable author or subject matter expert. If you’re trying to get backlinks, make sure they’re clean, high-quality, and relevant. Always keep your content helpful and build that positive consumer sentiment.

5. Indexing Matters

Google’s core indexing system, called Alexandria, is organized into tiers using its SegIndexer. The most important, consistently updated content is stored in a flash memory tier. Less important content is put on solid-state drives for quick and easy access when needed. Poor quality or irregularly updated documents go on TeraGoogle, a secondary, long-term indexing system composed of standard hard drives.

What does this mean for your content? Make sure you’re indexing all of your pages. (If they don’t automatically rank, you can manually submit them using Google Search Console.) Then, review, optimize, and delete content as needed.

Gleaning Value From the Google Algorithm Leak

It’s been a rough year for a lot of SEOs as they’ve navigated more than one algorithm update and the arrival of AI Overview. The Google Algorithm leak was a godsend for many looking for a way to react and improve their chances of surviving and, eventually, thriving again after the Google Update.

There are many other takeaways besides these five, too. For instance, the leaked documents indicate that:

• Font size and weight matters: Make sure to bold and underline text thoughtfully and choose your anchor text carefully every time.
• Documents tend to get truncated: Don’t bury the lede. Get to the point of your content early.
• Page titles matter: They influence search queries. Get your keyword into every title!
• There isn’t an optimal character count: Lengthy pages don't necessarily lead to clicks — even if they do tend to drive rankings.
• Dates are super important: Keep your content fresh, update your dates often, and avoid them entirely in URLs if you’re going to update something later.

The biggest takeaway of them all? Google isn’t a complete black box. SEOs have cracked many of the codes already, and this recent leak will help us all do even better in the future. 

If you’ve been struggling in the wake of the Google algorithm update in the past months, don’t give up hope. Use the tips above to retool your content and SEO strategies. If you find you need a helping hand along the way, reach out for a free strategy session. Together, we can help you right the ship and get your site back in the good graces of Google’s ever-intimidating algorithm.

The post What to Do After the Google Search Algorithm Documentation Leak appeared first on RELEVANCE.

Content audits evaluate which areas of your owned media are working and which ones aren’t. They assess if you have relevant, quality content and if it is resonating with an engaged target audience.

Consistent content audits ensure that your quality content remains fresh, optimized, and performing at a high level. So, how do you perform one? Let’s examine how to evaluate your current content and decide what to keep, what to optimize, and what to delete.

Two Top Tools for Reviewing Content

If you want to gain genuine, effective insights into your content’s performance, you need the right tools. Google Analytics 4 and Google Search Console are the two tools you always want on hand. Here’s why.

Google Analytics 4

Google Analytics is your window into how your users behave in relation to your content. It reports on data such as demographics, average engagement time, and organic search traffic.

In relation to being a content audit tool, GA4’s pages and screens report allows you to look at site wide and individual page performance. You can use it to see things like where you’re getting traffic, how long the engagement time on the content is, and what pieces of content are converting most often. 

Google Search Console

Google Search Console gives you the search engine side of the data. It focuses on things like search engine rankings, click-through rates, and overall impressions.

In a website content audit, GSC can help you find your most trafficked pages and compare and contrast these with the landing pages that get the most conversions from your GA4 data. You can also see what keywords are attracting impressions and driving clicks to your site and how well your keyword ranking performed in the search engines.

How Often Should You Conduct a Content Audit?

Content auditing doesn’t need to be a constant activity. It takes time for content to rank in the search engines, and you don’t want to terminate a piece prematurely.

Semrush found that only 19% of top-ranking pages reached the top 10 within 6 months. Ahrefs found 95% of new pages don’t get to the top 10 rankings within a year. These things take time.

At the same time, you don’t want to let too much time go by in between audits. If that happens, it’s harder to catch issues, and data will give you outdated information that is irrelevant.

While there is no solid formula, we recommend waiting at least six months to see if the content is ranking. From that feedback, checking in on a bi-annual schedule is a healthy pace for making confident review-based decisions.

Use, Optimize, or Delete? Evaluating Your Content

Once you have your data analytics tools set up, it’s time to begin the content review process. The primary categorizations for each content piece are:

• Use: Leave the piece alone and mark it as a high performer.
• Optimize: There’s potential here, but we need to clean things up.
• Delete: This piece is spinning its wheels. Don’t let it take up space on your site.

Let’s look at how to use each label.

Use: Understanding if Content Is Still Usable

This is the easiest categorization. (And the best one, too!) 

If you receive feedback that a piece of content has consistent traffic and is leading to conversions, keep it as it is. This is your high-performing content. 

Keep in mind that “consistent traffic” and “conversions” are going to look different in each industry and company. You need to establish your brand’s unique KPIs of content effectiveness before starting the content audit process. 

Once you have these benchmarks and go through the review approval process needed for your company, leave any pieces that meet the criteria for solid traffic and healthy conversations in place for now. (Remember, this can still change. Even top quality content should be re-evaluated on your next pass in six months.)

Optimize: Identifying Content That Requires Optimization

When content has some traffic and ranks for a few valuable keywords, just not very high, it may need optimization. As long as the piece relates to your unique selling point (USP) and reinforces your primary marketing messaging, you want to invest in cleaning things up so that you can unlock the piece’s full potential. There are a few different optimization techniques you can use:

• On-page optimization: This includes structuring headers and paragraphs, using keywords that are semantically related and align with search intent on their SERPs, and ensuring that you’re offering helpful content to the reader. Look at the SERP to see what other top ranking content for the keywords discusses, and ensure your content is in line.
• Technical optimization: Technical SEO consists of things like metadata, alt text, and linking—especially to a related pillar page for topical authority. If you use WordPress, there are tools like Yoast and RankMath that can help you optimize the technical aspects. 
• Off-page optimization: This is backlinks, one of the bedrocks of solid site performance. Digital PR is a great way to get third-party credibility in this critical way. A tool like Ahrefs or SEMrush can show you what backlinks your page has so you can determine where to put your focus. 

Optimization is a thoughtful, time-consuming process—especially when you’re working on old content. But don’t underestimate its impact. It’s well worth the effort.

Delete: Deciding What Content to Delete

All content is not created equal. You may have poured blood, sweat, and tears into a piece, but if it isn’t performing, it may be time to let go.

Once again, go by your metrics. Is a piece barely getting any traffic after six months? Is it leading to minimal conversions? Is it failing to rank in the SERPs? Does it even relate to your core digital marketing message?

If the answers point to the negative, chances are that the content isn’t working for you. When that is the case, it’s time to delete it. This keeps your site clean and frees you up to optimize what is inefficient but working. 

And while it’s sad to see it go, it is becoming increasingly important that your website content relates to your business. Focus on relevant website content and ditch anything that isn’t. 

Performing a Content Review

Content reviews should be a consistent part of your content strategy. It provides brand consistency and ensures that your content marketing efforts remain relevant and effective. It also keeps your content creation process profitable as you regularly glean insights into what is working and what isn’t with your target audience. 

If you need help with reviewing your content, reach out to our team at Relevance. That way, you can rest in the knowledge that you’re using each audit to learn and grow as you build an owned content library capable of propelling your brand to the top of your industry.

The post Use, Optimize, or Delete: How To Do A Content Audit of Current Content  appeared first on RELEVANCE.

Posting on a company blog to “see what sticks” isn’t going to get you far. If you want to get in front of the right audience, your content strategy requires optimization. Some of this can take place during creative, but the vast majority of the work will come after that process. 

Once your assets are live on your site, use these content optimization tips to polish their SEO and turn them into quality content not just for readers but for search engines, too. We’ve split the tips into three categories:

• Technical SEO: This is the back-end stuff. It’s out of sight, but don’t underestimate its value!
• Keyword optimization: This is deciding what keywords to use and when, where, and how often to use them.
• Optimization balance: Some extra advice to maintain a balance between catering to customers and helping your content rank in SERPs.

 Let’s dive in.

Technical SEO: The Back End of Your Optimization Efforts

Technical SEO is a critical part of a successful content strategy. It is your most direct avenue to tell each search engine what your content is about. 

Most metadata, for example, is out of sight and out of mind for human readers—but it provides key information for a search engine to understand what you’re talking about. Let’s take a look at a few areas of technical SEO that you should address with every piece of new content you create:

1. Create Short, Clear URLs

Your URL should always be short and to the point. They should also neatly encapsulate what a piece is about. For instance, an article on customer service training could have a URL that reads: [abcenterprise.com/customer-service-training].

2. Craft Headers With Care

Your headers send signals to search engines. Don’t bold a header and call it a day. Use heading tags to differentiate between H1s (only one per piece), H2s, and H3s. Whenever you can naturally fit a relevant keyword in a heading, do it!

3. Use Image Alt Text

Adding images spruces up a blog experience for a reader. It can also help with content optimization. Every time you add an image, make sure to include alt text on the back end. As with URLs, be succinct and clear. Also, include a keyword if it fits.

4. Optimize Meta Descriptions

Metadata is your chance to talk directly to the algorithm. Fill out meta titles and descriptions for every content asset you make. Include keywords and, with meta titles, try to put those keywords closer to the beginning. Keep in mind that a meta description will also appear on Google (where humans can see it), so keep it readable and enticing.

You can learn more about technical SEO here.

Keyword Optimization: Connecting Content to Search Intent

Keywords are the connecting point between your content and your customers. They come from search queries, and can be determined through keyword research. When keywords are included in your content, they help search engines categorize that content as a potential solution to a query. 

That said, you can overrun your content with too many keywords. That’s called keyword stuffing, and it will hurt your digital marketing. Instead, use the tips below to integrate keywords in a thoughtful, effective manner.

1. Focus on One Keyword Per Piece

Don’t spread your net too wide. Focus on a single “target keyword” for each piece. This should relate to an area where you want to establish authority, such as a SaaS company focusing on the keyword SaaS vendor, SaaS onboarding, or even business efficiency. From there, support that keyword with semantically related keywords throughout a piece. The goal should be to create an article with an obvious topical focus that holistically addresses that point of interest.

2. Remember Keywords in Headers

We already mentioned this, but we’ll go over it again—because it’s a quick, easy, and powerful optimization tip. Integrate keywords into your headers whenever it is a natural fit. Organic keyword-optimized headers are one of the quickest ways to tell Google, Bing, and other search engines what your content is about.

3. Research Keywords in the Right Places

There are many keyword research tools out there, and they can provide powerful benefits. If we’re being honest, though, there is one (FREE) spot where you can get some of the best, most relevant keyword ideas: Google’s PAA. PAA (or the “People Also Ask” box) is a search engine-powered databank that reveals valuable insights into what people are searching around a keyword you choose. Use it to inform your piece, your headers, and even FAQ sections. To find other keywords that your existing content is utilizing well, look at your Google Search Console data.

You can learn more about keyword optimization here.

Content Optimization Tips: Additional Ideas for Success

Along with technical SEO and keyword optimization, there are a few other areas of content optimization that you don’t want to miss. Things like linking and UX can help your existing content perform at a high level. 

Let’s take a look at how you can use these optimization techniques and others like them to boost your blog content performance and search engine rankings.

1. Link Strategically

Everyone says you should use internal linking in your content—and that’s true. This can unify and elevate your site. However, the way you link matters. A good rule of thumb is to always link to the pillar that your new content connects to. In addition, aim for between three and five internal links for every 1,000 words of content writing. These should be relevant to that content and the area of topical authority it addresses.

2. Don’t Forget External Links

You also want to prioritize the domain authority (DA) of external sites. Try to include one or two external links from reputable sites in every 1,000 words. (If you aren’t sure what sites are reputable, always aim for major publications like Forbes, Inc., or Entrepreneur, as well as .edu and .gov sites.) Put these lower in your content to avoid siphoning traffic away before the reader engages with your piece. Well-placed external links will associate your content with high-quality third-party resources and publications. 

3. Address UX and Don’t Over-Optimize

User experience impacts SEO. Use things like subheads, bullets, and numbered lists to make sure your content reads clean. Tailor your reading level and word choices to your target audience. As you review your text, make sure you haven’t over-optimized things, either. Always prioritize readers first and search engines second.

4. Be Helpful With Your Content

As you consider optimization, don’t underestimate the power of simply being helpful. Google’s Helpful Content Update in 2023 put a major emphasis on ensuring quality content provides real value for readers. Read through your piece and make sure it educates and demonstrates your E-E-A-T (experience, expertise, authority, and trustworthiness). Always offer unique insights and actionable takeaways for your readers, too. At the end of the day, be sure to write for readers and not search engines.

Learn more about how to build a helpful content strategy here.

Optimizing Content to Boost Blog Performance

A piece of well-crafted, owned content is only as valuable as you make it. Once your blog content is live, it’s up to you to ensure that you get the most out of each piece. Use the lists above to set each piece up for success. 

Track your data, too. Google Analytics (now called Google Analytics 4) is a great way to see how each piece is performing. After you optimize content, give it a few months and look for initial momentum. Then, tweak and tailor depending on what you see. 

If you can invest in this ongoing support for your content strategy, you can maximize your chances of seeing the best results possible.

The post 11 Content Optimization Tips For Boosting Your Blog Performance appeared first on RELEVANCE.

The impact of a Google algorithm update is difficult to predict. Some can have detrimental effects on a site, while others can harmlessly pass you by.

If you were hit by a recent Google Core Update (or you’re unsure if you were), you want to identify the potential issue and, if there is one, fix the problem. Even if you haven’t had a catastrophic hit, a slight dip in traffic or clicks can be the perfect motivation to re-evaluate your on-site SEO practices and ensure you’re setting yourself up to withstand future updates.

Let’s see if a core algorithm update negatively impacted you. Then, we’ll consider steps you can take to restore life to your owned digital media and regain your presence in Google search.

Have You Been Hit by a Google Algorithm Update?

The first thing you want to identify is that a Google update actually impacted you. Here are three steps to take:

Check in on Google Search Console

GSC is the search results side of the equation. It gives you insights into things like average search position, impressions, and click-through rates. 

Check your site’s GSC data on and around the date when the last update rolled out. If you see a drop in impressions, clicks, or search result positioning at that time, it may correlate with an update. 

In that case, review your core web vitals and make sure your site is performing well. In addition, look for any manual actions that may be on your account. These occur when a human reviewer flags a site for spam-like behavior. When that happens, read the entire manual action description and thoroughly update the marked pages on your site to address the issue.

Look at Google Analytics

Once you’ve reviewed GSC, hop over to Google Analytics. This is where you can find data related to user behavior, such as demographics, page views, and bounce rates.

Review the same period of time on and around the latest update and compare it to a period of time prior to the update. Did you lose organic traffic during that time? Did any other healthy metrics dip? If this aligns with a decrease in GSC, chances are an update had something to do with the downturn.

Identify the Breadth of the Impact

The last step in identifying the issue is figuring out if the SEO damage is sitewide or if it is contained to a select number of pages. Look at both GSC and GA data to see if the decrease in search engine-related activity is occurring on a specific page, a group of pages, or across your entire site.

Start with page-level data in Google Analytics. As you identify pages that are lower, conduct coordinating queries in GSC to see if you lost clicks. Compare these searches to alternative dates that are reasonably removed from an algorithm update.

Once you’ve confirmed that you were hit by an algorithm update and you know the parts of your site that need help, it’s time to take action.

Steps to Take After a Bad Algorithm Update

Below are eight different steps you can take to help your site bounce back after a negative experience with an algorithm update. 

1. Research the Update

Make sure you understand what Google is trying to improve before you make adjustments. Research what changes took place in the update that hurt your site. You can usually find this kind of information in unbiased industry publications like Search Engine Journal or Search Engine Land shortly after an update goes live. 

2. Revisit Metrics

Once you know the target areas of the update, review your core web vital metrics again. Is your LCP (loading performance) under 2.5 seconds? Is your site’s mobile responsiveness smooth? There are several tools you can use to conduct an audit of your site when looking for these kinds of website performance shortcomings like SEMRush or Ahrefs. Or, it may be time to bring in an SEO agency to assist.

3. Analyze Hit Pages

If an algorithm update hits certain areas of your site, review the page experience for those trouble spots. Do they provide helpful content that moves a conversation forward? Are they written for the user first? Do they cover important keywords for your brand? If so, can you re-optimize technical SEO for those pages for better SEO? Can you clean up and improve the content to fall in line with the update?

4. Review Rankings

Where was your site enjoying strong SERP positioning before the update? Have you slid down the search rankings in areas that are important to generating quality organic traffic for your site? If so, consider if the correlating content addresses the search query it is ranking for. Can you tweak it to better meet search intent? Can you update and enhance the content to be more relevant?

5. Offer Helpful Content

If you want to attract your target audience and nurture leads, don’t simply create fluffy promotional content that works the system. As you review your content, remember to prioritize users first and search engines second. Along with answering basic search intent, make sure you’re offering quality content with unique value, genuine insights, and actionable takeaways for your readers. Unoriginal content or low-quality content won't help you succeed in the current Google ecosystem.

6. Reassess Linking

Links are the network of the internet. Backlinks, in particular, are important, as they provide third-party validation that your site is important and relevant. If you’re low on quality backlinks, invest in a good linking strategy that incorporates both SEO-focused backlinks and digital PR to beef them up through mentions, bylines, and similar backlinking strategies.

7. Utilize UX

User experience can make or break a website. If a core update dings your site on its UX, take steps to improve it—for the sake of your target audience as well as your search rankings. Interlink content thoughtfully. Make navigation easy. Do everything you can to facilitate a positive online experience.

8. Update Your Content Marketing

Finally, step back and consider your site from a 10,000-foot view. Is your content focused on important themes that are relevant to the industry you’re in? Were you giving your content strategy a healthy amount of attention and investment before? If not, re-evaluate and improve your content workflow to ensure your content is satisfying both Google updates and website user needs moving forward.

Bouncing Back (and Staying Ahead) of Algorithm Updates

If your site is already struggling, use the list of recommendations above to get back on track. Once things are moving in the right direction again, take steps to keep your content helpful, high-quality, and optimized at all times. 

If you need help turning your digital marketing around or you want to reinforce your site against future updates but aren’t sure what steps to take, reach out for a free strategy session. Together, we can develop a plan to keep your company healthy and growing, no matter what surprises Google sends your way.

The post Bouncing Back When A Google Algorithm Update Hits appeared first on RELEVANCE.