Mar 18 2025
[SEO & PPC] How To Unlock Hidden Conversion Sources In Your Sales & Marketing Funnel via @sejournal, @calltrac

 This post was sponsored by CallTrackingMetrics. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Did you know 92% of all customer interactions are from phone calls?

And very few know how to track conversions from phone calls.

Brands meticulously track clicks, impressions, and online interactions through SEO, pay-per-click (PPC) ads, and data-driven strategies.

Yet, one critical piece is often missing: offline conversions.

Many high-intent customer interactions, especially in industries like healthcare, legal, home services, and B2B, happen over the phone.

If you’re in an industry that receives any number of calls, you may be struggling to connect these calls to your digital marketing efforts, leading to:

  1. Inefficient marketing strategies.
  2. Wasted ad spend.
  3. Difficulty proving ROI.

How do you fix this? Call tracking.

By leveraging AI-powered tools and advanced attribution technology, marketers can bridge the online-offline gap, ensuring no lead goes unnoticed.

How To Attribute Sales To Phone Calls

TL;DR: Historically, you could not attribute conversions to phone calls; now, you can.

Yes, offline conversions can be tracked.

And despite the high percentage of customer interactions happening over the phone, many brands fail to track which ad or campaign led to those calls.

This could stem from knowledge gaps, tight budgets, or reluctance to integrate more technology into their stack.

Without call attribution, businesses are left guessing about what’s driving revenue.

What Is Offline Conversion Attribution?

Offline conversion attribution is the process of linking your online marketing efforts to offline sales or actions.

It helps you understand which digital marketing channels and campaigns contribute to offline conversions, such as in-store purchases, phone call inquiries, or signed contracts.

How Offline Conversion & Phone Call Attribution Works

By paying attention to phone call conversion data, you can:

1. Connect Online Interactions To A Phone Call: A user clicks on a digital ad, visits a website, fills out a form, or calls a business after seeing an online campaign.
2. Store User Data In One Place: Data from these interactions (such as email, phone number, or a unique tracking ID) is captured and stored.
3. Match Callers With Offline Events: When a purchase or conversion happens in-store, over the phone, or through a sales team, businesses match it back to the initial online touchpoint.
4. Analyze & Optimize Webpages With Content That Converts: You can analyze which digital campaigns, keywords, or ads drive the most offline conversions, optimizing their marketing strategy accordingly.

What You Can Do With Phone Call Conversion Data

When you introduce a tool that acts as Google Analytics for phones, you’ll be able to:

  • Improve ROI Measurement: Helps businesses understand the real impact of digital marketing on offline sales.
    Enhance Ad Targeting: Enables better retargeting of high-intent users.
    Optimize Budget Allocation: Allows marketers to invest more in channels that drive actual sales, not just clicks or website visits.
    Bridge the Online-Offline Gap: Particularly important for industries like retail, automotive, healthcare, and B2B, where many transactions happen offline.

Examples of Offline Conversion Attribution

  1. A customer finds your business through organic search.
  2. They see a retargeting ad on Facebook.
  3. Finally, they click a PPC ad and call to book an appointment.

Without call tracking, the PPC ad might receive full credit, even though SEO and social played key roles. Choosing the right attribution model ensures data-driven marketing decisions.

Best Tools for Offline Conversion Tracking

  • Google Ads Offline Conversion Tracking
  • Facebook Offline Conversions API
  • CRMs like HubSpot or Salesforce
  • Call tracking software like CallTrackingMetrics

SEO & Call Tracking: Connecting Organic Efforts To Real-World Conversions

Gain Keyword Attribution Beyond Clicks

Rankings, traffic, and forms typically measure SEO success fills. But what about phone calls? Call tracking technology with dynamic number insertion (DNI) allows businesses to:

  • Identify which organic search queries lead to phone calls
  • Optimize content around real customers’ questions and concerns
  • Understand which landing pages drive the most offline conversions

For example, if multiple callers reference a specific product-related question, that insight can inform new blog topics or FAQ pages to improve SEO efforts, driving even more right-fit traffic into your sales funnel and conversion metrics.

Optimize For True Local SEO

Local search is a major driver of inbound calls. When combined with call tracking, businesses can finally understand:

  • Which local listings (Google Business Profile, Yelp, etc.) generate the most calls?
  • What information do customers search for before calling?
  • How to refine location-based content for higher engagement

How Call Insights Can Strengthen Your SEO Strategy

Phone calls aren’t just conversions—they’re valuable sources of customer insights that your teams can use to refine ad strategies, train teams on sales pitches, and identify areas for growth in your content strategy. Each conversation has the potential to reveal the common questions, pain points, and content gaps that businesses can address to improve their marketing performance.

1. Identify FAQs for Stronger Content

Often, customers call a company’s support phone number when they can’t find information online, either about a product or service they’re considering buying or one they’ve already purchased. By analyzing call transcripts, businesses can spot recurring questions and proactively address them in blog posts, FAQs, or product pages.

For example, if a home services company frequently gets calls asking, “Do you offer emergency repairs on weekends?”, this signals a need to make that information more visible on their website. A dedicated service page or blog post could reduce unnecessary calls while improving customer experience.

2. Refine Your Website Messaging

If callers repeatedly ask about pricing, product differences, or service details, your website messaging probably isn’t clear enough.

For instance, an e-commerce brand selling fitness equipment might notice that callers often ask, “What’s the difference between your basic and premium treadmill?” Adding a simple comparison chart or explainer video can help lessen confusion and improve conversions.

3. Fill Content Gaps To Reduce Sales Friction

Repeated calls about the same topic are a good indicator of missing or unclear content. A B2B SaaS company, for example, might receive frequent inquiries about integrating with a particular CRM or social platform. Instead of solely relying on customer support, the marketing team could identify this pain point and create a step-by-step guide or video tutorial to address it, which would reduce friction and improve self-service for prospects.

PPC & Call Attribution: Maximizing ROI With Better Insights

Tracking clicks alone doesn’t reveal the full ROI of PPC campaigns. Many conversions, especially phone calls, happen offline and go untracked. Without attribution, businesses may waste ad spend and overlook high-intent leads. This section explores how call tracking connects PPC efforts to real conversions, improving marketing efficiency.

Paid Search: Wasted Spend Without the Full Picture

A high cost-per-click (CPC) doesn’t guarantee strong ROI if businesses aren’t tracking offline conversions. Without call tracking, marketers risk:

  • Over-investing in underperforming keywords
  • Missing opportunities to optimize campaigns for call-driven leads
  • Failing to attribute revenue-generating phone calls to PPC efforts

When a business fails to account for ROI in the form of phone calls, they’re losing an opportunity to accurately account for their real CPC and allocate resources accordingly.

Call Tracking + Google Ads = Smarter Bidding

PPC campaigns are only as effective as the data behind them. Without tracking phone calls, businesses risk misallocating budgets to keywords that drive clicks but not conversions. Integrating call tracking with Google Ads provides a clearer picture by linking calls to the specific campaigns, ad groups, and keywords that drive valuable conversions.

With AI-powered call scoring, marketers can identify high-intent leads and adjust bidding strategies based on actual conversion data—not just clicks. This ensures ad spend is focused on quality leads rather than wasted traffic.

Retargeting with First-Party Data

Not every caller converts immediately. Call tracking allows businesses to retarget high-intent leads with personalized follow-ups. By analyzing call topics, marketers can tailor ads or email sequences to address specific customer concerns, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Additionally, integrating call data with CRM platforms like HubSpot and Salesforce ensures sales teams can nurture prospects effectively, preventing lost opportunities. By combining PPC insights with offline conversions, businesses gain a clearer understanding of customer behavior, leading to smarter ad spend and more targeted outreach.

Back To Basics: Omnichannel Attribution & The Power Of Call Data

As marketing shifts to a mix of online and offline tactics, attribution models must evolve. By integrating call tracking with Google Analytics, CRM systems, and automation tools, businesses can gain a complete view of the customer journey.

A company that integrates CallTrackingMetrics with Google Analytics and its CRM can:

  • See exactly which campaigns drive calls.
  • Automate follow-ups based on conversation insights.
  • Optimize for higher-value interactions.

AI & Conversation Intelligence

Call tracking is no longer just about recordings or basic attribution. AI-driven call analysis provides deep insights, such as:

  • Customer intent and sentiment analysis.
  • Common objections that impact sales.
  • Automated lead qualification based on real conversations.

By leveraging AI, businesses can better understand customer needs, improve sales strategies, and ensure marketing efforts are driving meaningful engagement. Implementing AI-driven call tracking empowers teams to make data-backed decisions that enhance both customer experience and conversion rates.

Proving Marketing’s True Impact

Marketers are often challenged to prove ROI beyond what we might call “vanity metrics”, like impressions and clicks. Though these have a place in any strategy, these metrics don’t necessarily move the needle toward sales goals.

Call tracking, on the other hand, delivers revenue-focused attribution, showing exactly how digital marketing contributes to bottom-line growth. This kind of revenue-focused attribution can help an entire company analyze past efforts and accurately forecast revenue based on real campaigns, real calls, and real results

Case Study: This study from CallTrackingMetrics demonstrated how AI-driven call tracking optimized PPC ROAS and improved lead quality​.

Want to see how conversation intelligence can improve your marketing performance? Check out our guide to building an effective omnichannel communications strategy.

Ready to get to work? Book a demo with our team and see how CallTrackingMetrics’ products can help you.

BOOK A DEMO NOW

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by CallTrackingMetrics. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Feb 4 2025
5 New SEO Ranking Challenges You’re Facing Right Now [& A Fix] via @sejournal, @bright_data

This post was sponsored by Bright Data. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

Struggling to adapt your SEO strategy to ever-changing AI-driven SERPs?

Have the most recent Google updates left your rank-tracking methods outdated?

What happens when you can no longer deliver key information on traffic sources?

Generative AI (GenAI) technologies like Google Gemini and Bard are reshaping search results.

This is creating unprecedented challenges, especially when it comes to the elephant in the room: “The New Position 0.”

In this article, we’ll help tackle the key ways to:

The Latest Google Updates & What They Mean For You

Just this week, Google rolled out unexpected changes to SERP structures, causing widespread disruptions for many SEO strategies that rely on SERP rankings.

These updates led to outages and inaccurate data across the industry, forcing many businesses to quickly adapt to avoid prolonged disruptions.

“The disruptions caused by Google’s latest SERP changes left many platforms unable to deliver accurate data to their users. Our clients, however, were unaffected thanks to our immediate response and robust infrastructure. If not for the media and search community, they wouldn’t have known there were any changes.” – Ariel Shulman, VP Product at Bright Data

Generative AI has fundamentally altered how search engines deliver results.

Classic SERP features have become central to understanding user intent and the user journey.

Until now.

The SERP layout we know and love has changed.

These overall changes present challenges for rank-tracking platforms tasked with capturing and analyzing SERPs:

  • Dynamic Content: AI-generated answers often feature multimedia, conversational snippets, or interactive elements, making parsing and analyzing data increasingly complex.
  • Personalization: Search results now adjust based on user history, geography, and device type, requiring platforms to capture nuanced, context-specific data.
  • Position-Zero Dominance: The growing prominence of position zero highlights the need for precise tracking and optimization insights tailored to this feature.

The challenge for rank-tracking platforms is clear: adapt to these AI-driven shifts or risk leaving users without the insights they need to thrive.

What Is Position 0 On Google?

Position 0 on Google refers to any of the featured snippets that appear at the very top of the search engine results page (SERP), above all organic search results.

It’s a special box that highlights concise information in response to a query, often in the form of a paragraph, list, or table.

For example, if you search for “How to tie a tie,” the featured snippet might display step-by-step instructions directly at the top. Being in Position 0 can boost your SEO strategy significantly since it’s considered premium real estate in search rankings.

The featured snippet is designed to provide users with quick answers to their questions without requiring them to click on a website. It’s highly coveted by website owners because it significantly increases visibility and click-through rates.

However, it’s becoming more difficult to track what is ranking in position 0 due to 5 different issues that baffle the current MarTech stack.

So, let’s dive deeper: What did Google change that you’ll need to change?

1. New Changes To SERP Layout Makes Ranking & Organic Clicks More Difficult

As we’re seeing in real-time, AI technologies like Google Gemini (previously Bard) and Microsoft’s Bing AI are reshaping SERP layouts.

So far, SERP structures are evolving rapidly with AI updates.

Elements like conversational answers or rich media snippets appear inconsistently, requiring you to constantly adapt your SEO strategy and data collection methods.

SERP - web scraping with AIO

The New Order Of Search Results

Instead of seeing Google Ads placements, featured snippets, positions 1-3, and People Also Ask, we’ll now be seeing:

  1. Google Ads take up more space, with up to 4 results that could also contain additional expanded site links.
  2. Google AI Overviews (AIO) now dominate the SERP above the fold, pushing positions 1-10 below interactive snippets.
  3. Featured Snippets take the space where positions 1-3 used to live, pushing position 1 down further.
  4. People Also Ask also comes before position 1.
  5. Position 1 starts here.

However, this is not its final state. The new layout of SERPs is dynamic; it will continue to change, and you have to be ready.

Position 1 No Longer Dominates

With position 1 pushed down at least 3 scroll lengths, this is no longer the top clicked result.

Additionally, the layout of a searcher’s query will also vary based on new advances in SERP personalization.

Now, clicks are possible in many new locations on the SERP, such as in a cited link for Google’s AI Overview (AIO).

These are not as easily trackable nor attributable.

SEO analysts and SEO strategists will see a massive impact on their traffic data and how they optimize their content to display above the fold.

Google’s AI Overview (AIO) Steals Top Clicks

Finally, position 1 on Google SERPs has seen its decline from providing at least 33% of organic search clicks to just 11% as of January 2025 depending on the search term.

Organic CTR declined ~70% when an AIO was present on the SERP.

AIO not only makes it difficult to obtain clicks, but one final change has made it nearly impossible to attribute clicks to positions.

In short:

  • You will lose traffic.
  • You will lose visibility into where your traffic is coming from.
  • You will lose the ability to strategize your content for visibility on SERPs.

What does this mean?

Google AIO and other dynamic SERP features are the new Position Zero.

2. Dynamic & Lazy-Loading SERP Content Hides Key SEO Data

Many SERP elements, especially those influenced by AI, load dynamically based on user interaction.

As we know from past SEO knowledge, dynamic and lazy-loading content cannot be seen by bots and scrapers until something triggers the content to load.

Therefore, to retrieve all the necessary data, you’ll need to simulate interactions like clicks and scrolls, which adds complexity and latency.

3. Google’s Anti-Bot Measures Removes Your Visibility To Rankings

As you can see so far, dynamic and personalized search results are more prominent.

Your favorite SEO keyword research and rank-tracking tools rely on bots to crawl the web for key data to help you build your SEO strategy.

However, Google has removed a large piece that makes that data scraping possible: bots.

Google’s evolving anti-bot measures further complicate real-time data collection, pushing platforms to the brink of what their systems can handle.

Sophisticated anti-bot defenses, such as CAPTCHA challenges, IP-based blocking, and JavaScript obfuscation, make real-time data collection a significant hurdle. Many traditional scraping tools cannot meet these challenges.

4. Personalized & Regionalized SERPs Removes Control Data

Control data is something that remains the same from one experiment to another. It enables you to have direct comparisons to build conclusions from when you’re building your SEO strategy.

The old SERP’s control data was the standardized layout. SERP layouts and results were similar enough for the same search query, meaning you could compare multiple searches for the same query to create conclusions that drove your strategy.

Now, user-specific factors like location, language, and device type create unique SERP views with vastly different orders of results.

It’s no longer simple to look at SERP data for [What is a 5-star hotel?] and know which link was clicked from which position:

  • User 1 could have been served your link in an AIO, which would not show up in classic SEO tools.
  • User 2 could have clicked on your link in position 1, which would show up in classic SEO tools.

Capturing this variability at scale while maintaining accuracy is critical yet immensely difficult.

5. Evolving Answer Content & Embracing Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)

AI-generated responses are constantly updated, with position-zero content shifting based on new data and context.

These AI-generated responses are part of an evolution of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) called Answer Engine Optimization (AEO).

You’ll need tools that have been updated to extract data from Answer Engines in real-time.

How To Gain Traffic From Position 0 & Regain Organic Traffic from SERPs

To regain your lost traffic, you’ll need to refer to more sophisticated tools to gain access to new SERP data streams to inform your organic traffic strategy.

Tools that previously helped you understand your position on SERPs are now outdated.

Rank-tracking platforms that have upgraded should be ready and able to collect data using more modern sources that align with the roadblocks above.

These tools don’t just need to collect data, they need to deliver actionable insights to help their users optimize for “The New Position 0” based on the data and AIO’s best practices. By extracting the right data and presenting it clearly, platforms empower users to improve their strategies effectively.

Here’s how platforms are leveraging Data from GenAI results:

1. Emphasizing Content Designed for AEO

Platforms will need insights into which content types (e.g., FAQs, schema markup, and structured data) are prioritized by AI-driven search engines. This will help their users create concise, authoritative content that aligns with SERP preferences, improving visibility and relevance in position zero.

2. Focusing on Position Zero Metrics

They will need metrics such as click-through rates (CTR), impressions, and engagement specific to position zero. These metrics will help their users monitor performance and refine their strategies to maintain or improve their rankings.

3. Supporting Regional and Device-Specific Insights

Platforms will need geo-targeted and device-specific data to provide segmented insights. This will help their users tailor their optimization efforts to specific regions, languages, or devices, ensuring their strategies are more precise and effective.

4. Adjusting to Conversational Queries

They will need data on conversational and intent-driven search queries. This will help their users align their content with how large language models prioritize conversational patterns, resulting in higher engagement and relevance.

SEO tools using Bright Data’s toolkit have access to all this data in real-time and at scale. That’s why the leading SEO tools choose Bright Data as their go-to data provider. Platforms leveraging these insights position themselves as indispensable tools for helping their users dominate “The New Position 0.”

Conclusion

As “The New Position 0” continues to redefine search, rank-tracking platforms face mounting challenges in delivering accurate, actionable data. Choosing the right data collection partner is no longer optional, it’s the key to staying ahead. Platforms leveraging Bright Data’s SERP API are equipped to meet these challenges, empowering their users to succeed in an AI-driven search landscape.

Bright Data’s proactive approach meant their clients experienced uninterrupted services during the disruptions that affected many in the industry. SEO tools leveraging Bright Data’s SERP API maintained seamless operations, continuing to deliver accurate, real-time insights to their users without issue.

Integrating your platform with Bright Data’s SERP API is quick and straightforward. Want to see what it’s all about? Check out the documentation here or test it out in the SERP API playground to see if it’s the perfect match for your SEO tool. When data matters, companies choose Bright Data.

This article has been sponsored by Bright Data, and the views presented herein represent the sponsor’s perspective.

Start Free Trial

Image Credits

Featured Image: Image by Bright Data. Used with permission.

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jan 24 2025
Does Google Favor UGC? Reddit Leads In Search Growth [STUDY] via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

This past year was a big one for SEO, with major changes in how Google ranks content.

According to SISTRIX’s latest IndexWatch report, the year’s biggest winners were platforms focused on user-generated content (UGC), AI-powered tools, and large ecommerce brands.

Reddit emerged as the leader among standout performers, but its dominance raises questions about Google’s practices.

Here’s a breakdown of the top-performing sites and what drove their success.

Top Performers in Search Growth

The report highlights Reddit as the year’s top performer, nearly tripling its visibility in Google’s US search results.

Reddit climbed higher in rankings for a variety of keywords, from product reviews to niche discussions, making it a major competitor to traditional content and e-commerce sites.

Other big winners in search visibility included:

  1. Reddit.com: +190.9% growth
  2. Instagram.com: Significant increases driven by its visual and video content
  3. YouTube.com: Continued dominance through video SEO
  4. Spotify.com: Strong gains in music-related searches
  5. Wikipedia.org: Consistent growth as an authoritative content source

Reddit’s Dominance Raises Questions

While Reddit’s success is significant, it raises ethical and strategic questions for the SEO community.

Google’s policies, such as its stance on “site reputation” and “scaled content” abuse, discourage websites from publishing content outside their established topical authority. This policy aims to prevent sites from piggybacking on their existing authority to rank for unrelated keywords.

Yet Reddit appears to be exempt from this rule. The platform ranks for an incredibly wide range of keywords, from precise technical terms to general lifestyle topics, without being tied to a single area of expertise.

This begs the question: why does Reddit get to rank for everything while other sites are penalized for straying too far from their core focus?

Adding to the intrigue, it’s worth noting that Reddit has a deal in place with Google for broader search distribution. While this partnership isn’t entirely transparent, it raises further concerns about fairness in Google’s ranking system and whether specific platforms receive preferential treatment.

Fastest-Growing Sites by Percentage

While the largest platforms gained the most ground overall, several smaller ones stood out:

  1. ck12.org: +601.59% growth in rankings
  2. VirginAtlantic.com: +509.74% growth following site migrations
  3. Quillbot.com: +490.70% growth via AI-driven SEO strategies
  4. Hardrock.com: +436.63% growth after consolidating site sections
  5. TheKitchn.com: +300.40% growth driven by recipe content

The report notes that many sites relied on “programmatic” SEO strategies.

For example, ck12.org used AI-powered resources to rank for thousands of educational queries.

Lily Ray states in the report:

“For some of the winners, visibility growth stemmed from a “programmatic SEO” strategy, which use automation to scale pages that target many different search queries relevant to the site’s core offerings. For example, the site ck12.org, which claims to be the “world’s most powerful AI tutor,” has seen substantial visibility growth, predominantly stemming from its ‘flexbooks’ subdomain and ‘flexi’ subfolders.”

User-Generated Content

UGC platforms had a breakthrough year. Alongside Reddit, sites like Quora, Stack Exchange, and GitHub gained significant search visibility.

HubPages, particularly its Discover subdomain, also emerged as a major winner, growing in rankings by targeting topics like jokes, pet advice, and music.

Google’s algorithm seems to favor UGC platforms even when individual articles vary in quality.

The report notes:

“Interestingly, many of these articles resemble low-quality content that often causes demotion by Google’s algorithm updates targeting spammy content. This suggests Google’s algorithms may put more weight on prioritizing UGC websites like HubPages, which contain authentic human experiences and contributions, over penalizing or demoting individual articles included on those sites.”

E-Commerce Sites Make a Comeback

E-commerce platforms rebounded after a challenging few years.

Carters.com, for example, saw a boost by ranking for popular keywords like “baby clothes” and “kids clothing store.”

Other brands, such as Nike, Lenovo, and eBay, also experienced steady growth thanks to site updates, platform migrations, and better keyword targeting.

Key Takeaways

This year’s biggest SEO winners reflect three major trends:

  1. Google loves UGC: Platforms like Reddit and Quora thrived as Google prioritized community-driven content over traditional formats.
  2. Programmatic SEO strategies can work: Sites like ck12.org and Quillbot.com used scalable, AI-driven approaches to rank for various search queries.
  3. E-commerce rebounds: Retailers focused on SEO-friendly updates and keyword targeting saw strong gains in organic search.

Final Thoughts

Reddit’s rise highlights a larger debate: Is Google playing fair?

While most sites are held to strict standards for authority and expertise, Reddit appears to operate under different rules, ranking across nearly every vertical. Combined with its search distribution deal with Google, this raises questions about transparency and equity in search rankings.

As we move into 2025, it’s clear that websites must adapt to an evolving rulebook—one in which authenticity, AI strategies, and ethical considerations all play a role in success.

Featured Image: eamesBot/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jan 13 2025
Reuters: Publishers Pivot To Video As AI Disrupts Search Traffic via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

A new report from the Reuters Institute examines the influence of AI overviews and Google Discover, which have changed how people access information.

Additionally, the report finds publishers relying more on video and social platforms like YouTube and TikTok to reach audiences.

These trends suggest the need to refine strategies and embrace new technologies to remain competitive.

Here are all the need-to-know highlights from the report.

AI Disruption & Zero-Click Search

A major threat to publishers is AI-driven search.

Platforms like Google and OpenAI provide direct answers to user questions, often making it unnecessary for users to click on links. This creates a “zero-click” search environment.

74% of publishers are concerned about losing traffic, prompting many to seek new strategies.

Larger publishers have made licensing deals with AI aggregators like ChatGPT or Perplexity, while smaller ones are still finding ways to gain visibility.

Building audience relationships through newsletters, subscriptions, or apps can help publishers withstand disruption from AI search.

Google Discover Traffic Grows

As social media referral traffic from platforms like Facebook and X continues to decline—67% and 50% drops over the past two years—publishers are increasingly turning to Google Discover.

The Reuters Institute notes that Discover grew by 12% year over year, and many publishers now rely on it as their primary referral source.

Its personalized recommendations have made it a focus for publishers looking to replace lost traffic from other platforms.

For SEOs, technical optimizations like structured data and engaging visuals are key to maximizing Discover’s potential.

However, the feed’s algorithmic nature means results can be unpredictable, requiring constant monitoring.

Video & Social Media

Video platforms like YouTube, TikTok, and Instagram are essential for publishers who want to connect with younger audiences.

The Reuters Institute reports that publishers plan to invest more in these platforms, with YouTube (+52%), TikTok (+48%), and Instagram (+43%) showing the biggest increases in focus.

Short-form videos are effective for engagement, but they have challenges. Making quality videos requires resources, and earning money on platforms like TikTok is hard.

For publishers, this means creating strategies optimized for each platform’s algorithm while driving traffic back to your websites or apps.

Cross-Team Collaboration

The Reuters Institute stresses the need for cross-team collaboration. As newsrooms adopt more AI tools, teams will need to work together to streamline content creation.

For instance, AI tools like automated headlines and fact-checking can enhance workflows. However, they depend on support from editorial teams, which many publishers find challenging.

Fostering good relationships between different departments will be necessary for continued success.

Broader Context

The Reuters Institute’s findings match those in the NewzDash 2025 News SEO Survey. They both highlight AI disruption, Google Discover, and a lack of resources as major challenges.

Together, these reports show an industry facing rapid change.

The key takeaways for publishers and SEO professionals are: embrace AI-driven search, make the most of Google Discover, and focus on video and social media platforms.

Featured Image: Inside Creative House/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Jan 10 2025
News SEO In 2025: What You Need To Know via @sejournal, @MattGSouthern

NewzDash’s latest survey of 100 news publishers and SEO professionals offers a snapshot of where news SEO is headed.

The findings highlight emerging trends, challenges, and strategies to stay competitive.

From Google Discover’s growing role to tackling AI-driven search disruptions, here’s what industry pros need to know.

Top Takeaways

Google Discover

Google Discover is a key traffic driver for publishers, but results are mixed:

  • 52% of respondents rank Discover as a top priority for 2025.
  • 56% reported traffic increases from Discover in recent months, while 21% saw declines.

AI’s Impact

AI-driven features are shaking up the search results pages (SERPs):

  • 39% see Google AI as a threat to traffic, while 43% are still unsure of its impact.
  • Due to AI changes, 32% reported adverse effects on visibility and click-through rates.

Content scraping by AI platforms is also a growing concern:

  • 32% allow scraping, 29% selectively block platforms, and 11% block them entirely.

Publishers are trying different strategies to protect their content from being scraped, including paywalls, structured data, and legal policies.

Top Challenges

The biggest hurdles for SEO teams include:

  • Budgets: 34% struggle with limited funds for tools and resources.
  • Skills Gap: 24% cite a lack of advanced SEO expertise within teams.
  • Tools: 17% report a lack of specialized SEO tools for news publishers.
  • Hiring: 13% say finding skilled SEO talent is difficult.

Budget constraints are particularly notable:

  • 45% operate with less than $1,000/month for SEO tools.
  • 13% have no budget at all, relying on free resources.

Lean Teams

Most SEO teams are lean, often handling multiple brands or websites:

Team Sizes:

  • 44% have 2–5 members.
  • 34% have just one person managing everything.
  • Only 11% have teams of 10+ members.

Workload:

  • Each team member manages an average of 4.5 brands or websites, with a median of 3.

Organizational Placement:

  • 32% work closely with editorial teams, while 22% are part of marketing.
  • 19% report to product/engineering teams, and only 5% operate as standalone SEO teams.

Editorial Collaboration

Bridging the gap between SEO and editorial teams remains critical:

Training:

  • 55% offer only basic SEO training to editorial teams.
  • 27% provide regular workshops, and 14% offer advanced training.

Buy-In:

  • 45% say editorial teams actively follow SEO recommendations.
  • 52% report partial buy-in, while 3% say editorial teams ignore SEO advice.

Involvement:

  • 64% of SEOs are involved in daily editorial operations.
  • 22% focus on major events or tentpole content.

Publishers with tightly aligned SEO and editorial teams are more likely to see success in implementing SEO recommendations, especially during high-stakes events like breaking news.

What’s Next for 2025?

Looking ahead, News SEO professionals are focusing on:

  • Google Discover: Technical and creative strategies to maximize traffic.
  • AI Adaptation: Staying ahead of AI-driven search changes.
  • Diversification: Reducing reliance on traditional search traffic.
  • Cross-Team Collaboration: Aligning editorial, product, and SEO efforts.

Who Took the Survey?

Participants came from diverse backgrounds, with varying levels of experience and roles:

Experience:

  • 34% have 1–4 years in News SEO, bringing fresh ideas.
  • 29% have 10+ years, offering deep expertise.
  • 37% fall in the 5–10 years range, blending experience with innovation.

Roles:

  • 40% are managers, 31% specialists, 18% directors, and 11% VPs or C-suite execs.

Regions:

  • 38% focus on Europe, 31% on North America, and 31% on other regions (Asia, Latin America, Africa, or multi-regional markets).

Team Types:

  • 83% work in-house, while 17% rely on agencies or freelancers.

In Summary

The 2025 News SEO Survey highlights the need for agility and adaptation to challenges like AI and platform changes.

For news publishers, success in 2025 will come down to having a solid strategy, working together, and being innovative.

Featured Image: Accogliente Design/Shutterstock

Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
Dec 19 2024
18 Essential Accessibility Changes To Drive Increased Website Growth via @sejournal, @skynet_lv

This post was sponsored by “Skynet Technologies USA LLC”.

Did you know that 1 billion people have not reached you or your customers’ websites yet.

1 billion potential customers are waiting for businesses to step up and do what’s right.

Find out if your website is accessible to 1 billion people >>>

Accessibility isn’t just a compliance checkbox anymore – it’s a growth strategy.

The demand for scalable, innovative accessibility solutions has skyrocketed.

And your competition is already making these improvements.

For agencies, this means an unprecedented opportunity to meet clients’ needs while driving revenue.

Learn how you can generate additional revenue and boost your clients’ SERP ranking by gaining access to:

Ready to get started?

How Accessibility Improvements Can Increase Growth

The digital economy thrives on inclusion.

There is a large market of individuals who are not included in modern website usability.

With over a billion people globally living with disabilities, accessible digital experiences open doors to untapped markets.

Do Websites Need To Be Accessible?

The short answer is yes.

How Does An Accessible Website Drive Traffic?

Traffic comes from people who have needs. Of course, everyone has needs, including people with disabilities.

Accessible websites and tools cater to all users, expanding reach to a diverse and often overlooked customer base.

Global Potential & Unlocking New Audiences

From a global perspective, the global community of people with disabilities is a market estimated to hold a staggering $13 trillion in spending power.

By removing barriers and ensuring inclusive digital experiences, you can tap into this 1 billion-person market and drive substantial economic growth.

Digital accessibility helps to increase employment opportunities, education options, and simple access to various banking and financial services for everybody.

Boosts User Experience & Engagement 

Accessibility improvements run parallel with SEO improvements.

In fact, they often enhance overall website performance, which leads to:

  • Better user experience.
  • Higher rankings.
  • Increased traffic.
  • Higher conversion rates.

Ensures Your Websites Are Compliant

Increasing lawsuits against businesses that fail to comply with accessibility regulations have imposed pressure on them to implement accessibility in their digital assets.

Compliance with ADA, WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, Section 508, Australian DDA, European EAA EN 301 549, UK Equality Act (EA), Indian RPD Act, Israeli Standard 5568, California Unruh, Ontario AODA, Canada ACA, German BITV, Brazilian Inclusion Law (LBI 13.146/2015), Spain UNE 139803:2012, France RGAA standards, JIS X 8341 (Japan), Italian Stanca Act, Switzerland DDA, Austrian Web Accessibility Act (WZG) guidelines aren’t optional. Accessibility solution partnerships ensure to stay ahead of potential lawsuits while fostering goodwill.

6 Steps To Boost Your Growth With Accessibility

  1. To drive growth, your agency should prioritize digital accessibility by following WCAG standards, regularly testing with tools like AXE, WAVE, or Skynet Technologies Website Accessibility Checker, and addressing accessibility gaps. Build accessible design frameworks with high-contrast colors, scalable text, and clear navigation.
  2. Integrate assistive technologies such as keyboard navigation, screen reader compatibility, and video accessibility. Focus on responsive design, accessible forms, and inclusive content strategies like descriptive link text, simplified language, and alternative formats.
  3. Providing accessibility training and creating inclusive marketing materials will further support compliance and growth.
  4. To ensure the website thrives, prioritize mobile-first design for responsiveness across all devices, adhere to WCAG accessibility standards, and incorporate keyboard-friendly navigation and alt text for media.
  5. Optimize page speed and core web vitals while using an intuitive interface with clear navigation and effective call-to-action buttons, and use SEO-friendly content with proper keyword optimization and schema markups to boost visibility.
  6. Ensure security with SSL certificates, clear cookie consent banners, and compliance with privacy regulations like GDPR and CCPA. Finally, implement analytics and conversion tracking tools to gather insights and drive long-term growth.

We know this is a lot.

If this sounds good to you, let us help you get set up.

How Can Digital Accessibility Partnerships Supercharge Your Clients’ SEO?

Partnering for digital accessibility isn’t just about inclusivity — it’s a game-changer for SEO, too!

Accessible websites are built with cleaner code, smarter structures, and user-friendly features like alt text and clear headings that search engines love.

Plus, faster load times, mobile-friendly designs, and seamless navigation keep users engaged, reducing bounce rates and boosting rankings. When you focus on making a site accessible to everyone, you’re not just widening your audience—you’re signaling to search engines that the website is high-quality and relevant. It’s a win-win for accessibility and SEO!

12 Essential Factors To Consider For Successful Accessibility Partnerships

  1. Expertise: Look for a provider with a proven track record in digital accessibility, including knowledge of relevant global website accessibility standards and best practices.
  2. Experience: Consider their experience working with similar industries or organizations.
  3. Tools and technologies: Evaluate their use of automated and manual testing tools to identify and remediate accessibility issues.
  4. Price Flexibility: Explore pricing models that align with both the budget and project requirements. Whether for a single site or multiple sites, the service should be compatible and scalable to meet the needs.
  5. Platform Compatibility: Ensure seamless accessibility integration across various platforms, providing a consistent and accessible experience for all users, regardless of the website environment.
  6. Multi-language support: Enhance user experience with global language support, making websites more inclusive and accessible to a global audience.
  7. Regular check-ins: Schedule regular meetings to discuss project progress, address any issues, and make necessary adjustments.
  8. Clear communication channels: Establish clear communication channels (for example: email, and project management tools) to facilitate efficient collaboration.
  9. Transparent reporting: Request detailed reports on the progress of accessibility testing, remediation efforts, and overall project status.
  10. KPIs to measure success: Review the partner’s historical data, especially those similar projects in terms of scale, complexity, and industry.
  11. Evaluate technical expertise: Assess their proficiency in using various accessibility testing tools and ability to integrate different APIs.
  12. Long-term partnership strategy: Compare previous data with the current one for improvement and optimization process. It is crucial for a long-term partnership that there is a specific interval of review and improvements.

    Scaling Accessibility With Smart Partnerships

    All in One Accessibility®: Simplicity meets efficiency!

    The All in One Accessibility® is an AI-powered accessibility tool that helps organizations to enhance their website accessibility level for ADA, WCAG 2.0, 2.1, 2.2, Section 508, Australian DDA, European EAA EN 301 549, UK Equality Act (EA), Indian RPD Act, Israeli Standard 5568, California Unruh, Ontario AODA, Canada ACA, German BITV, Brazilian Inclusion Law (LBI 13.146/2015), Spain UNE 139803:2012, France RGAA standards, JIS X 8341 (Japan), Italian Stanca Act, Switzerland DDA, Austrian Web Accessibility Act (WZG), and more.

    It is available with features like sign language LIBRAS (Brazilian Portuguese Only) integration, 140+ multilingual support, screen reader, voice navigation, smart language auto-detection and voice customization, talk & type, Google and Adobe Analytics tracking, along with premium add-ons including white label and custom branding, VPAT/ACR reports, manual accessibility audit and remediation, PDF remediation, and many more.

    • Quick Setup: Install the widget to any site with ease—no advanced coding required.
    • Feature-Rich Design: From text resizing and color contrast adjustments to screen reader support, it’s packed with tools that elevate the user experience.
    • Revenue Opportunities: Agencies can resell the solution to clients, adding a high-value service to their offerings while earning attractive commissions through the affiliate program.
    • Reduced development costs: Minimizes the financial impact of accessibility remediation by implementing best practices and quick tools.

    Agency Partnership: Scaling accessibility with ease!

    • Extended Service Offerings: The All in One Accessibility® Agency Partnership allows agencies to offer a powerful accessibility widget – quick accessibility solution into their services, enabling them that are in high demand.
    • White Label: As an agency partner, you can offer All in One Accessibility® under their own brand name.
    • Centralized Management: It simplifies oversight by consolidating accessibility data and reporting, allowing enterprises to manage multiple websites seamlessly.
    • Attractive Revenue Streams: Agencies can resell the widget to clients, earning significant revenue through competitive pricing structures and repeat business opportunities.
    • Boost Client Retention: By addressing accessibility needs proactively, agencies build stronger relationships with clients, fostering long-term loyalty and recurring contracts.
    • Increase Market Reach: Partnering with All in One Accessibility® positions agencies as leaders in inclusivity, attracting businesses looking for reliable accessibility solutions.
    • NO Investment, High Return: With no setup costs, scalable features, and up to 30% commission, the partnership enables agencies to maximize profitability with their clients.

    Affiliate Partnership: A revenue opportunity for everyone!

    The All in One Accessibility® Affiliate Partnership program is for content creators, marketers, accessibility advocates, web professionals, 501 (c) organizations (non-profit), and law firms.

    • Revenue Growth through Referrals: The All in One Accessibility® affiliate partnership allows affiliates to earn competitive commissions by promoting a high-demand accessibility solution, turning referrals into consistent revenue.
    • Expanding Market Reach: Affiliates can tap into a diverse audience of businesses seeking ADA and WCAG compliance, scaling both revenue and the adoption of accessibility solutions.
    • Fostering Accessibility Awareness: By promoting the All in One Accessibility® widget, affiliates play a pivotal role in driving inclusivity, helping more websites become accessible to users with disabilities.
    • Leveraging Trusted Branding: Affiliates benefit from partnering with a reliable and recognized quick accessibility improvement tool, boosting their credibility and marketing impact.
    • Scaling with Zero Investment: With user-friendly promotional resources and a seamless onboarding process, affiliates can maximize returns without any costs.

    Use Accessibility As A Growth Engine

    Endeavoring for strategic partnerships with accessibility solution providers is a win-win for agencies aiming to meet the diverse needs of their clients. These partnerships not only enhance the accessibility of digital assets but also create opportunities for growth, and loyalty, top search engine rankings, boost revenue, improve compliance with legal standards, and make you to contribute into digital accessibility world.

    With Skynet Technologies USA LLC, Transform accessibility from a challenge into a revenue-driving partnership. Let inclusivity power the success.

    Ready to get started? Embarking on a digital accessibility journey is simpler than you think! Take the first step by evaluating the website’s current WCAG compliance with a manual accessibility audit.

    For more information, Reach out hello@skynettechnologies.com.

    Learn More

    Image Credits

    Featured Image: Image by Skynet Technologies. Used with permission.

    Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
    Nov 25 2024
    Preparing For 2025: SEO Priorities And Challenges You Need To Know via @sejournal, @lorenbaker

    Are you prepared for the SEO landscape of 2025?

    From the role of AI in SEO and the rise of AI Overviews (AIO) to significant Google updates, 2024 introduced sweeping changes in search. Now, it’s time to brace for what’s next.

    Join our upcoming webinar as we dive into exclusive survey data from industry-leading SEOs, digital marketers, content marketers, and more to uncover the priorities and challenges shaping the future of search in 2025.

    Why This Webinar Is A Must-Attend Event

    To navigate SEO in 2025, understanding the evolving priorities and challenges is crucial.

    In this data-packed session, we’ll cover:

    • Key Insights from 2024 – We’ll review the defining SEO trends from this year, helping you set a foundation for 2025.
    • Emerging 2025 Priorities – Discover the strategies and focus areas that will be critical for success in the year ahead.
    • Impact of Google’s AIO – Learn about Google’s AIO advancements so far and the AIO-specific priorities that will shape search next year.

    Expert Insights From Shannon Vize And Steven Van Vessum

    This session will be led by Shannon Vize and Steven van Vessum from Conductor, who bring a wealth of SEO expertise. They’ll share strategies for resourcing and reporting to streamline your 2025 SEO plans and offer insights on tackling upcoming challenges.

    Who Should Attend?

    This webinar is perfect for:

    • SEO professionals aiming to stay on top of AI and Google-driven changes.
    • Digital marketers focused on ensuring their strategies are set up for lasting success.
    • Content creators looking to align with the latest in search.
    • Anyone interested in how SEO changed in 2024 and how it will evolve in 2025.

    Live Q&A: Get Your Questions Answered

    After the presentation, Shannon and Steven will host a live Q&A—the perfect opportunity for you to ask any of your burning questions and get expert advice for planning your SEO strategy in 2025.

    Don’t Miss Out!

    2025 is set to be a transformative year for SEO. Register now to gain exclusive insights and position yourself for success in the search landscape.

    Can’t attend live? Sign up anyway for the recording.

    Prepare to lead in SEO in 2025.

    Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
    Nov 19 2024
    Gain Greater Search Visibility With AI Overviews [Webinar] via @sejournal, @hethr_campbell

    The world of search is undergoing a seismic shift, with AI-powered tools like ChatGPT Search, Perplexity, and Microsoft Copilot changing how users interact with search results. But even in this time of rapid innovation, one thing remains certain: Google continues to dominate the search landscape, holding an impressive 90% market share.

    So, what does this mean for your search strategy? How can you adapt to stay visible and competitive?

    That’s where we come in.

    Join us on December 5th for an exclusive webinar with experts from Botify and DemandSphere, where we’ll walk through their in-depth analysis of 120,000 Google queries.

    Together, we’ll uncover critical insights into Google’s AI Overviews, and how to utilize them effectively.

    In this live webinar, you’ll learn:

    • The Mechanics of AI Overviews: What triggers them, which queries they prioritize, and how they’re reshaping the search experience.
    • Mastering SERP Real Estate: How much space these features occupy and the optimization strategies you need to compete.
    • Actionable Tips for Staying Ahead: Boost your visibility and rankings without the need for a total strategy overhaul.

    Whether you’re a seasoned SEO professional or just starting out, this webinar will give you the insights and tools you need to navigate today’s increasingly competitive organic search environment.

    Why Should You Attend?

    AI Overviews are quickly becoming a defining feature of Google’s search results. Understanding how to optimize for these changes could be the difference between thriving in search or being left behind.

    Plus, we’ll explore why SEO fundamentals—like high-quality content and effective crawling strategies—remain essential, even in an AI-driven world.

    Don’t Miss Out!

    Join us for this live session to gain exclusive insights, participate in an interactive Q&A after the webinar, and walk away with actionable strategies to plan your SEO efforts for 2025.

    Can’t attend live? No problem! Register now, and we’ll send you a recording so you can watch when you want.

    Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
    Nov 13 2024
    [Losing Traffic?] 4 Easy Steps To See How Google’s AIO Is Affecting Your SEO

    SE Ranking sponsored this post. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

    Wondering how AI is affecting your traffic?

    Want to learn how to get into the AI Overview at the top of SERPs?

    Miss the days when you could appear as the top result on a SERP?

    It’s possible to relive those SEO glory days by learning how tuned in your website is to AI.

    What Is An AIO In SEO?

    AI Overviews, or AIOs, are one of Google’s newest search features to grace the SERPs.

    AI Overviews provide users with AI-generated answers and topic summaries, and they are gaining momentum. Google launched it as an experiment in May 2023, and since then changed the traditional search to kick off a new era of SEO.

    Now the focus for SEO is on optimizing websites for AI Overviews.

    According to SE Ranking’s studies, this feature is often observed for longer, mainly informational queries. These queries are common in niches like Relationships, Food and Beverage, Business, and more. While AI Overviews were initially only available in the US, they have recently expanded to six countries, where they can now hold top positions in search results.

    No doubt, this is only the beginning of the rise of AI Overviews. To stay ahead in SEO, start tracking the impact of AIOs on your sites now. Let’s look at how to do this quickly and easily!

    Step 1. Find Out Which Target Keywords Trigger AIOs

    Begin by finding out which of your keywords trigger AIOs and which ones you can optimize your content for.

    This will help you attract more traffic through the new search.

    Doing this manually can take a long time, especially if you have a large project with thousands of keywords.

    To automate this process, use SE Ranking’s Competitive Research tool. This tool contains 22 million AIO-triggering keywords in the US region and 2.2 million in the UK region.

    1. Go to the Organic Traffic Research section.
    2. Filter keywords by the AI Overviews feature, as shown in the screenshot below.
    3. The table will now only display keywords that trigger AIOs.
    4. Export the entire list.

    Pro tip:

    Explore the intent, search volume, position, and difficulty of all keywords triggering AIOs. This will help you prioritize content optimization for AIOs. For example, if a keyword is likely to bring in very little traffic, don’t focus too much on monitoring and optimizing content around it.

    Step 2. Add Keywords To An AI Tracker To Monitor Them

    The next step is to streamline how you monitor your presence in AIOs. Keeping track of every keyword manually is difficult and time-consuming, so having an automated tool is a must.

    We suggest using the handy AI Tracker because it lets you add and monitor up to 1,500 keywords.

    The AI Tracker is available to all users during the 14-day trial of SE Ranking. Access this tool and our complete SEO suite to outperform competitors and boost traffic.

    To get started:

    1. Create a project in SE Ranking.
    2. Add all the keywords exported during the previous step.
    3. Head to the AI Tracker tool.
    4. Click Select keywords.
    5. Choose the ones to track for AI Overviews.

    Once you’ve added the keywords, the tool will check their positions in AIOs daily. This makes it easy to monitor changes in AI results and your presence in them.

    Step 3. Check Your Site’s Visibility On AIOs

    Of course, many SEO specialists are concerned most about whether their site is included in the AI Overviews source list.

    Consider using the AI Overview Presence graph in SE Ranking’s AI Tracker to understand the situation clearly and see how visible your site is in AIOs. This tool shows how many of your added keywords triggered AIOs and how many AIOs feature your site in Google’s list of resources.

    Look at the table below to see which keywords triggered AIOs and which didn’t. If the icon has a gray strike-through, there are no AIOs for that keyword. If the icon is gray, there are AIOs present, but your site is not included. If the icon is purple, your site is featured in AIOs.

    What do these numbers mean? If there are 100 AIOs but your site appears in only 10 of them, you’re likely losing traffic. When AIOs appear in search results, users often won’t scroll past them to find your site. This still holds even if it ranks first in regular results. Recent research from SE Ranking confirms this, stating that featured snippets show up alongside AI Overviews 45.39% of the time, while ads appear with AI Overviews a staggering 87% of the time.

    This data helps you identify which keywords to focus on. You can then track how your new AIO strategy performs over time. If you take steps to get into AI snippets, each graph will show a rising curve.

    But remember: AI Overviews are constantly shifting. AIOs might appear one day for a query and then disappear the next. You might even see your site in an AI snippet at the top one day only for it to disappear completely the next. Moreover, Google is constantly changing the appearance of its AI snippets.

    When it was first released, the snippet looked like this:

    Now, it looks like this:

    There are currently fewer links, with Google shifting them to the right to give them less importance. This ensures they don’t distract users from the main AI-generated information. It’s important to keep an eye on AIOs in case other changes occur. You’ll need to understand what to expect and whether you’ll still be visible in AIOs, even if you’re included in them.

    In these cases, the tool stores cached copies of every SERP it crawls. This allows you to see how the appearance of AIOs has changed over time. You can easily check if your website links were prominently displayed in the AIOs or if they were hidden behind a button.

    Step 4. Learn Which Sites Are Chosen Over Yours As AIO Sources

    Another important step is to monitor the sites that appear in AIOs where your site is missing. Why is this useful? It helps you identify gaps in your content and allows you to optimize it. This increases its chance of being included in AIOs.

    You can use the Organic-AI Overlap graph to check how many sites from the top 20 are currently featured in AIOs for your keywords.

    Use the AI SERP Competitors section to fully analyze this data. It will show you:

    • Which sites are included in the AI snippet
    • How the top 20 results for that keyword look

    If you notice that the AI snippet includes many sites outside the top 20, focus on what these sites are doing to be cited by Google. Conversely, if Google favors the top 20 sites for certain keywords, continue optimizing your site. It may eventually reach the top and greatly increase your chances of being featured in AIOs.

    AIOs may also disappear, so aiming for top rankings is always a winning strategy.

    Track Your AI Overview Efforts With SE Ranking

    The entire digital world is entering a new era of AI-driven search. What we are seeing now is just the beginning. While the future is a mystery and holds more changes, one thing is certain: AI is here to stay, and we must adapt to work with it.

    Monitoring AIOs is an essential part of this new strategy. Setting up this process correctly will undoubtedly give you results.

    Try SE Ranking’s AI Tracker for free for 14 days with a trial subscription to give your SEO strategy the boost it needs!

    This article has been sponsored by SE Ranking, and the views presented herein represent the sponsor’s perspective.

    Ready to start optimizing your website? Sign up for SE Ranking and get the data you need to deliver great user experiences.

    Image Credits

    Featured Image: Image by SE Ranking. Used with permission.

    Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments
    Nov 12 2024
    4 New Techniques To Speed Up Your Website & Fix Core Web Vitals via @sejournal, @DebugBear

    This post was sponsored by DebugBear. The opinions expressed in this article are the sponsor’s own.

    Want to make your website fast?

    Luckily, many techniques and guides exist to help you speed up your website.

    In fact, just in the last year, several new browser features have been released that offer:

    • New ways to optimize your website.
    • New ways to identify causes of slow performance.

    All within your browser.

    So, this article looks at these new browser SEO features and how you can use them to pass Google’s Core Web Vitals assessment.

    Why Website Performance Is Key For User Experience & SEO

    Having a fast website will make your users happier and increase conversion rates.

    But performance is also a Google ranking factor.

    Google has defined three user experience metrics, called the Core Web Vitals:

    • Largest Contentful Paint: how quickly does page content appear?
    • Cumulative Layout Shift: does content move around after loading?
    • Interaction to Next Paint: how responsive is the page to user input?

    For each of these metrics there’s a maximum threshold that shouldn’t be exceeded to pass the web vitals assessment.

    Metric thresholds for Google Core Web Vitals, October 2024

    1. Add Instant Navigation With “Speculation Rules”

    New Key Definitions:

    When websites are slow to load that’s usually because various resources have to be loaded from the website server. But what if there was a way to achieve instant navigations, where visitors don’t have to wait?

    This year Chrome launched a new feature called speculation rules, which can achieve just that. After loading the initial page on a website, other pages can be preloaded in the background. Then, when the visitor clicks on a link, the new page appears instantly.

    Best of all, this feature is easy to implement just by adding a

    Ecommerce MGMT 0 Comments