How much money across SEO, Content, and development would it cost to rank for a single keyword? It depends. Everything depends. But this week we took a deep dive to examine why it depends and why an expensive single page might be worth the investment if it pays off 60x your investment and millions of dollars.
We also discussed a few new Google AI-powered search tools, a couple of new SGE studies that indicated the Healthcare industry is likely to be impacted the most, and a cool SEO roadmap template.
Also:
Host: Garrett Sussman | Demand Generation Manager
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Will Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) tank your organic traffic?
New ways to search in 2024 – Google
Google introduced two new ways that we’ll be able to search that incorporate AI into the process.
Google continues to roll out these new AI-enhanced search features. The big question is the extent to which people will adopt them. Google claimed that searchers use Google Lens 8 billion times per month. Will they use these tools?
Britney Muller of DataSci101 posted on X her interest in Google’s AI experimentation going forward:
Feel this will be Google's core messaging for 2024:
— Britney Muller (@BritneyMuller) January 18, 2024
"Continuing to boldly experiment with generative AI in Search"
Keyword being "boldly" + they house all the data to support new genAI applications. https://t.co/gO1XxDPrQA pic.twitter.com/V4NSX8DucL
One of the interesting threads that came out of this announcement was the back and forth between Greg Bernhardt, Lyndon Nelson-Allen, and Cindy Krum on how this is another search feature that Google won’t provide attribution tracking data for. They highlight how Google has not been transparent with the source of searches in the past for other SERP features, and this will continue to make the job of SEOs harder to prove performance productivity.
@GregBernhardt4 I think that is very likely, but I also agree with @darth_na.
— Cindy Krum 📱 (@Suzzicks) January 18, 2024
Companies focus on what makes them money, so Google focuses on SEO's only to the level that it helps them get good search results that users like.
With search features doing most of the work to keep…
Google Product Review Spam Study – Natzir Turrado
Natzir shared a study performed by some German analysts who concluded that well-optimized yet unhelpful product review content has become a major issue for Google (and all other search engines). It seems that crappy AI-generated affiliate content has been able to dominate some SERPs and Google has struggled to remove it despite the recent Spam Updates that they’ve deployed. The study gives credence to the claim that search results are getting worse unless Google can figure this problem out.
Recent study reveals how SEO spam impacts Google's search results quality. A year-long analysis of over 7000 product queries found a dominance of affiliate link spam, exposing vulnerabilities in Google's algorithms. pic.twitter.com/99puPMGVot
— Natzir (@natzir9) January 17, 2024
The Ultimate Guide to Google SGE – BrightEdge
BrightEdge analyzed over 1 billion queries and analyzed the appearance, details, and nuances of SGE in SERPs across 9 industries. They identified that the Healthcare industry would be impacted the most by the current state of the AI snapshot, while Financial Services would be hit the least.
5 Research-Backed SGE Insights All SEOs Should Know – Mark Traphagen – SEOClarity
Mark cautions that we’re unlikely to see this version of SGE in the public SERPs. It will look very different. But you can still learn a ton from what Google has been experimenting with.
Read the entire article but Mark’s TL:DR summary includes:
And as a reminder, iPullRank offers our SGE Threat Report to analyze how your targeted keywords and rankings may be impacted by the snapshot with projected traffic losses.
The Impact of Google’s SGE & What to Do About it [With SGE Traffic Risk Assessment Sheet] – Aleyda Solis
Aleyda has created a helpful manual tool to track your own high priority keywords and the current state of SGE. Her Google spreadsheet can be copied for free and used to map out which specific keywords are at risk and what to do.
Annoying SEO Logic – Cyrus Shepard
Cyrus calls out the SEOs who complain about one anecdotal example that they argue disproves an SEO strategy or tactic. It’s typically flawed logic in the context of billions of SERPs. Statistically, your one example doesn’t prove anything.
Things I wish SEOs stopped saying:
— Cyrus SEO (@CyrusShepard) January 16, 2024
• Speed isn't important because slow sites rank
• E-E-A-T isn't real because sites with bad E-E-A-T rank
• Good content isn't a thing because bad content ranks
IDK, maybe that's why we call them Ranking "Signals" and not "Rules" ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
How Much Does It Cost to Rank for a Single Keyword? – Garrett Sussman (H/T Gaetano Dinardi) – iPullrank
Inspired by a post from Gaetano DiNardi about how the cost of ranking for a keyword is expensive as hell, but the ROI is worth it. I took a deep dive into an actual Financial Services example that highlighted how a $55K investment could deliver a 60x ROI of $3.6M.
Check on the entire post to see how I break it down.
How Entities are Shaping the SERPs and What That Means for SEOs – Genie Jones – Advanced Web Ranking
We talk about Entity SEO and Semantic SEO at iPullRank a lot. (If you’ve never seen our full webinar on the topic. Check it out.) It’s fundamentally the way that Google understands content and relationships.
Genie breaks down what Entities are, how to check if Google identifies your targeted entities on your digital properties, and how you can improve entity recognition with structured data schema markup.
How to Create an SEO Roadmap: Connecting the Dots Between Strategy & Success – Tory Gray and Heather Kaeowichien – Gray Dot Company
In this comprehensive breakdown, Tory and Heather explain how you can take your SEO strategy and craft an actionable roadmap. They offer specific projects to tackle, timelines, and how to prioritize what will move the needle for your business. They also provide a great free downloadable spreadsheet template for you to use.
State of Technical SEO 2024 Survey – Women in Tech SEO and Aira
For the past couple of years, Areej AbuAli and Paddy Moogan have run an incredible technical SEO survey with expert analysis from the Women in Tech SEO community. They are launching round 3 and collecting survey results now. Please participate!
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iPullRank is a pioneering content marketing and enterprise SEO agency leading the way in Generative AI, Technical SEO, Audience-Focused SEO, and Content Engineering. People-first in our approach, we’ve delivered $4B+ in organic search results for our clients.
iPullRank is an NMSDC-certified Black-owned business. We support the NMSDC network in its mission to reshape the diversity landscape.
iPullRank is a pioneering content marketing and enterprise SEO agency leading the way in Technical SEO, Audience-Focused SEO, and Content Engineering. People-first in our approach, we’ve delivered $4B+ in organic search results for our clients.
iPullRank is an NMSDC-certified Black-owned business. We support the NMSDC network in its mission to reshape the diversity landscape.
