Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | [email protected]
The SEO RevolutionWill Not Be Televised
Be Kindly Advised:This presentation features an
above-average quantity of Rand’s personal opinion &
perception
Major Shifts in SEO(of which most folks are aware)
5
1) Far More Diversity of Result Types
2) Cannibalization of Traffic-Referring Queries
3) Google’s Backtracking on Transparency Under the Guise of
Privacy
Via Not Provided Count
4) Google+’s Overwhelming Influence
5) The Long Awaited Dominance & Bias of Search Results Toward
Brands is Here
Via Mozcast and Techcrunch
Growth of ~27% over the last 2
years
Subtle Changes to SEO(that not everyone might know)
4
“Custom content spending on production and distribution rose to 43.9 billion in 2013…
…New results on “social content” and “SEO content” formats shows 81% of respondents are creating content explicitly for use in social media.”
- Content Council Survey 2013
2013 actually had 11 months of YoY growth vs.
2012(though none of these were higher than
+12%)
1) Content Growth Exceeding Query Growth
Search stats via Comscore and AJ Kohn on G+; Content stats via Content Council; Ad cycle & content graphic via Rand’s Blog
2) On-Page’s Impact Growing After Years of Shrinking
Instead of carefully keyword-matched content from sites like eHow & Journeymart, Hummingbird has helped Google “intent-match” and return more valuable (though less classically “SEO’d”) pages
3) A New Philosophy/PR Approach to Spam
1997-2011: Spam is our problem
2012-2014: Spam is your problem
4) Introduction & Acceptance of Machine Learning to Search Quality
Algorithms
Search quality filters
Sites G don’t like
Any & every signal
New Algo
Signals that
correlate w/ bad sites
Quora thread with Edmond Lau’s response here
Ways the Industry is Taking These Changes
3
Anger, Distrust, Resentment, & Retaliation
Young fools. Only now do you see the folly of retweeting
“sick burns” on Matt Cutts as your
primary mode of defense.
Modification of Strategic Approaches
Many of Dr. Pete’s weekends were burned to bring us this information.
Reject and (or) Ignore
Hey, if I want to buy some links,
your job is to shut up and sell me
some $%&# links.
Remarkable Changes in SEO from 1997-2014
2
The Evolution of Technical SEOWhat’s insane is that this same pattern holds true for every facet of SEO, not just the technical
side.
Whoa.
LinkedIn Members w/ “SEO” in their Job Title
LinkedIn Members w/ “SEO” in their Job
Description
1997-2010: “I’m an SEO”2011-Present: “SEO is a part of my job.”
Via LinkedIn and Moz’s 2013 Industry Survey
Quiet Revolution1
Increasing Complexity+
Perception of Accessibility
=Continued Lack of Respect, Influence, and Resources
Search Growth Leveling Off+
Google Taking Many Queries for Themselves
+Increasing Competition
=A Need to Find New / More
Creative Opportunities
New Spam Tactics+
Brand Biasing+
Broader Algorithms
=Decline of Classic SEO(aka keywords & links)
3 of My Big Takeaways
We Need to Create Better Expectations
(or our teams/clients will continue to demand the impossible)
#1
Early Adopters of New Channels or Tactics Will Earn Outsize
Returns(more than ever, it’s paying off to be on the bleeding edge)
#2
Those Who Aren’t Building Brands Will Struggle Mightily in the Years
Ahead(The “find & abuse exploits” era of SEO is ending. The only logical strategy today is to be so good that Google looks bad taking you
out)
#3
The SEO RevolutionWill Not Be Televised
Rand Fishkin, Wizard of Moz | @randfish | [email protected]