Three Takeaways From BrightonSEO 2017

ByJason Carton

Recently we had the opportunity to attend BrightonSEO. The event brought together leading companies in the digital marketing industry with talks providing a range of information on topics within the SEO landscape. If you weren’t able to attend the event, we’ve compiled a list of key takeaways:

1) Voice search provides a big opportunity

With 2017 seeing the rise of devices such as Google Home and Amazon Echo, voice search is becoming more and more used as a method of searching for information. 0% of adults now use voice search once per day, this provides a big opportunity for businesses. When using voice search, only one answer will be provided, unlike when searching via a search engine.

Top tips for ranking for voice searches:

  • Focus on long tail keywords that are similar to how you would naturally ask someone a question.
  • Mark up your website content to make it easier for search engines to find the answer to the searcher’s question.
  • Build detailed answers for your content, search engines value quality.
  • Ensure your website is mobile friendly and HTTPS secure.

 

2) Context is key

The rise of voice search, also means an increase in the prominence of Google Hummingbird. We are beginning to see a big shift in Google’s priorities, with context now overtaking content. Google is getting smarter, and now has the capacity to have a conversation with searchers. This means that Google now takes in to account elements such as the searchers location when providing results. An errant search for “noodle restaurant” will no longer favour those in the top 10 ranking positions but instead prioritise first results for noodle restaurants in your local area.

How to prepare for Google Hummingbird

  • Think of follow up questions – what might users ask search engines next?
  • Review your content to ensure that you’ve provided a comprehensive answer which adds value for your visitors.
  • Mark up your content – there are Schema mark ups for almost everything now. Help make your content easier to find.
  • Make your website mobile friendly!

 

3) Don’t just default to content

Whilst it’s easy for us marketers to just default to written content, try to think of other creative ways to engage your users. Could your latest news piece make a great video? Would your recent survey findings make an interesting infographic? How else could your content be presented?

Creating engaging, high quality content should help to increase the likelihood of your marketing communications being shared on social media and linked back to by websites.

Guide to finding new content:

  • Look at the calendar – see what events are coming up and assess what would be suitable for your business.
  • Borrow from others – websites such as Wikipedia, ONS and GOV.UK provide a wealth of statistics that could be re-purposed in to a new infographic.
  • Use survey data – when using survey data you could potentially create 10 different pieces of content based on yes/no answers to 5 questions.

 

Did you go to BrightonSEO? We’d love to hear how you found the event. Join the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.