COMMON SEO MYTHS

Debunking Common SEO Myths

At the start of this year, as an SEO beginner eager to learn the ropes, I had no idea how many outdated myths and misconceptions were circulating the industry. At first, I found myself taken in by some of these misconceptions, believing they were essential to ranking success. Fast forward to today, after spending a month working hands-on in SEO, Iโ€™ve had my fair share of enlightening moments uncovering just how far off some of these popular beliefs can be.ย 

If you’re new to SEO, Iโ€™m here to share the top 5 myths Iโ€™ve debunked during my first month in the field so you can skip the confusion and dive straight into effective strategies that actually work.

Keyword stuffing

Keyword stuffing is probably one of the biggest misconceptions I had when beginning SEO and itโ€™s quite a difficult one to shake off.

Keyword stuffing is just like overwatering a plant. You might think adding more keywords will help your content rank higher, but all it does is kill the quality. Just as a plant that canโ€™t thrive with too much water, your content wonโ€™t perform better by cramming in extra keywords; it will only make it harder for search engines and readers to engage with. 

Thatโ€™s not to say you ignore keywords, but that focusing on naturally incorporating keywords that are valuable to your niche, and appreciating quality and readability is significantly better SEO practice than stuffing those keywords.

Only targeting high-volume keywords

I initially thought that the highest volume keywords were the golden ticket to ranking success. More searches equals more traffic, right?ย 

But itโ€™s not that simple. 

High-volume keywords are usually quite competitive and often not specific to your offering. 

Focusing solely on high-volume keywords can often leave you competing with a tonne of other content, making it harder to stand out. Meanwhile, targeting more specific keywords (often long-tail keywords) can help you reach a more engaged, relevant audience.

The key is balance. A strategic mix of high-volume and niche keywords allows you to reach people who are truly interested in what you’re offering, giving you better opportunities to connect and convert. Quality over quantity, always.

Keywords need to be exact matches

For a long time, I was under the impression that you had to use the exact keyword phrase repeatedly to rank well in search results. But hereโ€™s the thing, search engines have evolved.

They now focus on understanding the context and meaning behind your content, the intent, not just exact word matches. Itโ€™s like when someone gets the gist of what youโ€™re saying, even if your wording isnโ€™t spot-on. For example, if you’re targeting โ€œbest commercial cooking equipmentโ€, you donโ€™t have to use that exact phrase every time. Phrases like โ€œtop kitchen equipment for restaurantsโ€ or โ€œbest professional cooking toolsโ€ will still help you rank because they carry the same relevant context.

By using synonyms, related terms and natural variations, youโ€™re not only making your content more readable but also aligning with how search engines now interpret language. Itโ€™s like speaking naturally to someone, rather than forcing every sentence to sound robotic or repetitive. The goal is to sound human for the sake of your users and Google.

Meta descriptions are a ranking factor

Although good practice, crafting the perfect meta description is not a direct route to better rankings. 

What they do help with is encouraging users to click through to your site. The right meta description can act like an engaging headline that convinces someone to visit your page. But when it comes to rankings, itโ€™s your content’s relevance, authority and user experience that matters most.

So, while meta descriptions are important for click-through rates, donโ€™t expect them to boost your rankings on their own.

SEO is all about ranking #1

Itโ€™s easy to get caught up in the idea that SEO is solely about reaching that coveted #1 spot in search engine results pages. While a #1 ranking can be great for visibility, it’s not the be-all and end-all of SEO success.

SEO is really about gaining high visibility across SERPs by attracting relevant traffic thatโ€™s genuinely interested in your content. Achieving high rankings for your target keywords is important, but the goal should be to attract the right kind of visitors (people who are likely to engage with your site) and not just focusing on reaching the top at all costs.

Hereโ€™s what really matters in SEO:

  • Quality traffic: attracting visitors who are interested in your content is far more valuable than simply aiming for the highest possible rank. It’s not about pulling in masses of traffic that bounce off your page immediately; itโ€™s about driving people who find value in your offerings. High-quality traffic leads to higher engagement, conversions and long-term SEO success.
  • Multiple ranking factors: SEO success is a combination of many elements. Googleโ€™s algorithm takes into account far more than just the keyword youโ€™re targeting. Content quality, relevance to user intent, page experience (such as site speed and mobile-friendliness), website structure and strong backlinks are all key to improving your ranking. So, even if you donโ€™t land in the #1 position, ranking well across multiple keywords can still drive consistent traffic and deliver value.
  • Staying up to date: The world of SEO is constantly changing. Googleโ€™s algorithms are regularly updated, meaning the strategies that worked last year might not be as effective today. Focusing solely on ranking #1 with outdated tactics wonโ€™t be sustainable. SEO is a dynamic field and to stay ahead, you need to stay adaptable. You should continuously refine your strategies based on the latest updates and trends in search engine algorithms.

If you are interested in more SEO tips, check out the rest of our Cedarwood Digital blog!

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Cedarwood Wins SIX UK Search Awards

We are over the moon to announce that we won SIX UK Search Awards at the event last Wednesday – a great way to finish off a record year in 2024! ๐ŸŽ‰

On the night we took home:

๐Ÿ† Best Small PPC Agency
๐Ÿ† Best Small Integrated Agency
๐Ÿ† Best SEO Agency (Silver)
๐Ÿ† Best Use Of Search (Healthcare) – Patient Claim Line
๐Ÿ† Best Low Budget PPC Campaign – Salt Of The Earth
๐Ÿ† Best Use Of Search B2C (PPC) – Salt Of The Earth

2024 has been a great year for us as we continue to grow from strength to strength, improving partnerships with our existing clients while growing each of our departments in turn so it’s great to have been recognised in particular for the agency awards which are testament to this.

It was a great evening all round and we are already looking forward to 2025!

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BrightonSEO October 2024: Key takeaways

Last week I spent a few days in one of my favourite places for my first BrightonSEO conference. Along with other team members, I made the 250-mile journey across the country, in the hopes of finding fish & chips and gaining some SEO insights.


As a Digital Content Executive, I had the pick of the litter when it came to the talks and panels, and I went to quite the range. I left feeling very impressed by how actionable and engaging the discussions were (and still dreaming of the Donatelloโ€™s Tiramisu).

If you couldnโ€™t make it to the conference or found yourself torn between conflicting talks, this blog is for you. Iโ€™ll be summarising my standout talks and sharing the top takeaways and highlights. Read on for a comprehensive overview of my most impactful sessions from BrightonSEO.ย 

I kicked off my first day bright and early with two talks on relevancy in Digital PRโ€ฆ.

Liv Day – How To Find The Relevance Gap

Liv opened the conference by highlighting the crucial role relevance plays in a siteโ€™s link profile. She offered a clear explanation of why relevancy is a metric we simply canโ€™t afford to neglect. Through a compelling case study, she demonstrated the impact of irrelevant backlinks on traffic and rankings. These links, she explained can contort the topicality of a website, potentially causing search engines to misinterpret the siteโ€™s focus.

She then shared her process for identifying and bridging the relevancy gap between a siteโ€™s themes and its backlink profile. Her team employs tools like IBM Watson’s natural language processor to identify relevant concepts, analysing both the site and the linking pages to check for alignment.

Livโ€™s talk underscored the importance of maintaining a relevant backlink profile, and thinking carefully about the subject of your campaigns. Today, shoehorning a connection can do more harm than good but the good news is, there are new tools being developed every day to help us guarantee topical alignment. 

Sophie Coley – Audience-centric Planning and Creative Personas: a strategic approach to relevancyย ย 

Sophie then followed up with a different, but equally compelling angle on link relevancy. Drawing from her journalism background, she advocated for a persona-driven approach to help brands create more resonant content.

She recommended using platforms like Reddit or TikTok to understand audience pain points, or simply playing around with seed phrases in an incognito browser (e.g. โ€˜travel insurance whenโ€ฆ โ€˜, โ€˜travel insurance forโ€ฆโ€™ etc.โ€™

Sophie then used this travel insurance example to outline a framework for using AI tools like Perplexity to assist with ideation of relevant content ideas. Upon providing a detailed prompt, the tool generated five hypothetical persona examples, complete with first-person statements explaining their experience shopping for travel insurance (including motivating factors, challenges faced etc.) 

It became evident that considering these tangible personas makes it significantly easier to ideate creative yet relevant campaigns. As Sophie put it: โ€˜Having broad boundaries in place makes ideation a lot easierโ€™.

ย ย 

Yasmin Birchall – The Digital Generation is Here: why youโ€™re about to overhaul your online strategyย ย 

Later in the morning, Yasmin drew our attention to Gen Z, how they are changing search, and how we can adapt accordingly. She highlighted that weโ€™re now living in a new age of people whoโ€™ve never lived without technology at their fingertips – and that this generation now makes up 15% of our population! As a result, we need a holistic, multi-touch approach to guarantee engagement. Some key points I took away were:

–>Users are diversifying away from Google, now itโ€™s TikTok that the new generations are looking to first when considering where to go for dinner, or when planning their holiday agenda.

–>Gen Z prioritise authenticity and individuality โ€“ theyโ€™ll respond well to tailored content, rather than being โ€˜creeped outโ€™ by how well the ads are aligned with their online behaviour.

–>Price is as, if not more, important than sustainability – Yasmin drew on a Mintel survey to highlight that for 51% of Gen Z, managing their finances is their biggest priority.

Yasminโ€™s insights provided a valuable glimpse into the minds of Gen Z consumers and reminded us not to get comfortable with our strategies. Brands and marketers must evolve their approaches to meet the changing expectations of our younger audiences. 

Nathan Height – Diversifying Beyond Googleย 

Nathanโ€™s talk similarly discussed how search is changing, but focusing on the search engine landscape. Whilst Google still undeniably dominates the market, weโ€™re seeing a greater number of competitors than ever before. He even highlighted that Google and OpenAI themselves are turning to Reddit to inform their generation of information. 

So, what can SEOs do to cater for these changes? Nathan shared some practical advice,  including the importance of creating content for conversational long-tail queries. He pointed out some good ways to build an understanding of these specific searches (Quora, Reddit, TikTok keyword insights etc.) that Iโ€™ll be factoring into my keyword research going forwards.

This talk offered a persuasive case for SEOs to broaden their horizons beyond Google. My overall takeaway was the importance of diverse content creation and understanding user intent across multiple platforms. The online search scene is increasingly fragmented and itโ€™s important to stay ahead.

ย ย 

Carla Dobson-Elliot – Is SEO killing curiosity

How many times a day do you find yourself reflexively reaching for your preferred search engine when a question pops into your head? For many of us, this habit has become all too frequent. Carla opened her talk with the now-familiar scenario of “going down an online rabbit hole”, highlighting how search engines have become the go-to source for satisfying our curiosity.

Carla emphasised that brands need to tap into this curiosity as well, rather than letting search engines monopolise our inquisitiveness. She argued that traditional demographics like age and gender are no longer sufficient for understanding audiences. Instead, she proposed a new framework based on “curiosity cohorts” – five distinct modes by which people search for and consume information and advertisements.

These cohorts should inform content strategy. For example, an “exhilaration hunter” might be drawn to Uber’s random promotion spinner, while a “novelty seeker” could find a Spotify playlist as a call-to-action more appealing. Carla urged marketers to identify their audience’s curiosity type and create fresh, engaging content tailored to these preferences.

I found this a really innovative approach to content creation, and will definitely be taking Carlaโ€™s curiosity quiz to discover which category I fall into.

ย ย 

Chris Meabe – 100% Evergreen Articles To Survive Search Updates

Now, while this title sounds a bit too good to be true, Chris delivered a practical guide for creating content resilient to algorithm changes. By analysing a set of evergreen articles, heโ€™d uncovered several suprising commonalities:

๐Ÿ“ŒMost articles began with โ€˜what isโ€™, or at least opened by defining key terms

๐Ÿ“ŒIntroductions typically ranged from 100-150 words, with overall word counts between 1,200 and 3,000.

๐Ÿ“ŒThe number of backlinks was less crucial than internal links. Successful articles contained at least 10 outbound links to authoritative sources, often citing statistics.

๐Ÿ“ŒTotal word count mattered less than the depth and quality of information provided.

๐Ÿ“ŒLastly, Chris cautioned that while these articles were evergreen, they were not just left to their own devices, but were refreshed annually to maintain relevance.

๐Ÿ“ŒThis was a super actionable talk, giving me some clear Doโ€™s and Dontโ€™s to keep in mind when content-writing.

ย 

Sabine ljunggren – How To Maximise Your Search Visibility On Social Media

The final track I attended before sadly bidding Brighton farewell focused on social media, beginning with Sabineโ€™s guide to maximising visibility on social.

Continuing a recurring theme, she emphasised TikTokโ€™s emerging role as a new search engine. She cited a 2024 Adobe survey revealing that “new recipes” and “DIY tips” are among the most searched keywords on the platform. A particularly striking statistic showed that over 90% of TikTok users use the search function within 30 seconds of opening the app. So, if youโ€™re not capitalising on this evolution of search behaviour, youโ€™re missing out on some hefty search volume.

To capitalise on this trend and increase brand visibility, Sabine offered a few key tips:

  1. Prioritise creating optimised content that will improve click-through rate and maximise the time users are spending on the platform.ย 
  1. Implement โ€˜pattern interruptsโ€™ – unexpected frames or different camera angles.
  1. Develop โ€˜comment-friendly contentโ€™ that encourages interaction and debate in the comment section.

In summary

If I was to distil everything I learnt from the conference, the overarching themes were:

๐Ÿ’กUnderstanding your target audience is more important than ever, and go beyond basic demographics

๐Ÿ’กLike it or not, TikTok has evolved to be a significant search platform and ignoring it potentially could mean missing out on engagement opportunities

๐Ÿ’กThe quality and relevance of your links matter more than quantity. Irrelevant or low-quality links can potentially harm your SEO efforts more than they help.

Need a hand with your performance marketing strategy? Whether itโ€™s SEO, link-building, or paid advertising that youโ€™re looking to enhance, weโ€™ve got you covered.

Cedarwood Digital are an award-winning digital marketing agency, based in Manchester but working with SMEs and large multinationals internationally. Get in touch today to chat about how we can improve your online visibility. 

5 Steps To Increase Your Organic Click-Through Rate - Blog Image

5 Steps To Increase Your Organic Click-Through Rate

When it comes to driving traffic to your website, increasing your organic click-through rate is essential. If your website is ranking highly on the SERPs, thatโ€™s great, but if users arenโ€™t clicking through then your SEO efforts may be wasted. In this blog, we will be discussing five ways to increase your organic click-through rate (CTR) so that users will click through and you can increase your traffic.ย 

What Is Click-Through Rate? 

Organic click-through rate (CTR) is the number of users who click on your website in the SERPs. You can calculate your organic click-through rate by dividing the number of clicks divided by the number of impressions. 

Organic click-through rate is extremely important for SEO because the higher your CTR is, the more traffic you will receive. Boosting your CTR will mean more visitors, more engagement, and ultimately, more conversions. 

5 Steps To Increase Your Click-Through Rate:

1. Optimise Your Title Tags With Descriptive Keywords 

The title of your webpage will be the first thing users see in the SERPs and it can play a significant role for users deciding whether theyโ€™ll click through to your site or not. A well optimised title tag can grab attention and communicate relevance at the same time, both of which are essential for increasing CTR. 

When creating title tags you should focus on your most important keywords. For example, if youโ€™re targeting โ€œwooden garden furnitureโ€, your title tag should reflect that phrase. Using your target keywords within your title helps you to match the search intent closely and show users that the content and products on your page is relevant to what they are searching for. 

Your title tag will obviously very much depend on what your web page is, if it is a product/ category page, it should clearly state what those products are, if it is blog style content it may be more of a longer title such as, โ€œHow Toโ€ฆโ€ or โ€œThe Ultimate Guide toโ€ฆโ€. When optimising title tags, as a general rule you should use between 50 and 60 characters for your title – as long as it tells the user exactly what is on your page, and it matches the user intent, users will be more likely to click through. 

2. Optimise Your Meta Description 

Meta descriptions can play a significant role in driving clicks. A meta description is the short description of text that appears below the title in the SERPs, it gives users a brief overview of what they can expect if they click through to your site.

Like title tags, meta descriptions should also contain your target keywords that are relevant to search intent to confirm to users that this page is going to provide them with what they are looking for. 

Your meta description should be between 50 and 160 characters and it should describe exactly how your website is going to provide the user with valuable information that they are looking for to solve their problem. Make it clear to users why they should click onto your webpage rather than a competitor’s page by highlighting your unique selling points (USPs) within the description, this could be free next day delivery, expert advice or 5 star review – whatever makes you stand out from your competition should be included here alongside what the page is offering. 

3. Optimise Your URLs

Although it may seem obvious, your web pageโ€™s URL can play a significant role in increasing click-through rates. When creating and optimising our URLs, keep it short and descriptive. Avoid long, complicated URLs. 

Again, you should use your target keywords within our URL to give users and search engines a clear understanding of what your content is about.  

You should also ensure to utilise subdomains within your URL structure to device your site into logical sections. For example, if you are targeting wine glasses, it is likely that they will sit underneath the main glassware category, so your URL will read as follows: www.example.com/glassware/wine-glasses.com.  

A logical, easily readable URL that contains keywords relating to the search intent reassures users that they are clicking on the correct page. 

4. Use Structured Data 

Adding structured data, also known as schema markup, to your website can help search engines better understand your content. It allows search engines, such as Google to display rich results and enhance your SERP listings with reviews, prices and more information to make them more interactive for users. 

Structured data is coded using in-page markup on the page that the information applies to. The structured data should describe the content of that page and this will help Google to further understand what the page is about. 

As previously mentioned, implementing structured data can help to display rich results in the SERPs and this can attract more clicks for your web page because your site is more likely to appear at the top of the SERPs, particularly if you have the featured snippet, it is more interactive than a plain URL and it gives the user more information when they see your site in the URL so they can clearly see that the content on your page is going to match their search intent. 

Types of structured data you can implement can include: 

  • โžก๏ธ Product markup – for e-commerce sites, including product markup including price, availability and ratings can attract shoppers more effectively. 
  • โžก๏ธ Review schema – displaying user reviews and ratings directly in the search results can showcase credibility and attract more users to click through. 
  • โžก๏ธ FAQ schema – answering commonly asked questions and including FAQ schema can help your content appear as featured snippets or people also asked and can help to attract more traffic to your site.

Implementing structured data can be extremely beneficial to increase your organic click-through rate – to have a look at what structured data you currently have implemented on your site, you can use the Rich Results Test tool to see what is currently found on the page as well as any errors or suggestions for your structured data. 

5. Create Fast Loading Pages 

Site speed is a very important part of click-through rate – if a user clicks on your site and the web page doesnโ€™t load quick enough, the chances are that they will click off and go to a competitor site and your bounce rate will increase a lot. Page speed is also one of Googleโ€™s ranking factors so if your page is too slow, it can have an impact on rankings.  

There are many different ways you can optimise your site speed including: 

  • โžก๏ธ Optimising your images – reduce your image size without compromising the quality 
  • โžก๏ธ Reduce any unused JavaScript 
  • โžก๏ธ Make sure all images have an explicit height and width set 
  • โžก๏ธ Eliminate render-blocking resources 

How you can optimise your site speed will vary depending on your website, in order to find ways of making your site speed faster, use PageSpeed Insights. This tool will allow you to enter your URL and it will provide you with diagnostics and opportunities on how to improve the overall site speed for your website. You can also do this on a page by page basis if there are particular pages which you would like to improve. 

Summary 

Increasing your organic click-through rate is a combination of many different strategies. By optimising and following these five steps, you can increase your click-through rate bringing in more traffic, better engagement and potentially higher conversion rates. 

It is important to consistently refine all of the above elements to ensure your website is always targeting and meeting the needs of your users – make sure to stay up to date and constantly optimise your website for SEO purposes and you can make sure your website brings in relevant traffic through the SERPs. 

If you need help increasing your organic click-through rate and arenโ€™t sure where to start, get in touch with our team of SEO experts today and we can help you maximise the traffic coming to your website by optimising your website to increase organic click-through rate. 

How To Tackle A Loss In Organic Traffic - SEO Blog

How To Tackle A Loss In Organic Traffic

If you have experienced a loss in organic traffic, it can be a worrying and frustrating challenge. Whether your website is for a personal blog or a large e-commerce site, a drop in organic traffic can potentially mean a drop in rankings and can affect your visibility, engagement, conversions and ultimately your revenue. If you have noticed a drop in your organic traffic, donโ€™t panic as there are steps you can take to find out what has happened and how you can recover your rankings and traffic in order to increase conversions.ย 

In this blog, we will discuss why your organic traffic could have taken a drop, how to identify the cause and actions you can take to regain your traffic.  

Initial Analysis 

Understanding the causes behind your drop in traffic is essential in order to know how to address these causes, so the first step if you have noticed a drop in organic traffic is to conduct an initial analysis. 

Use tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush, Google Analytics and Google Search Console to review traffic decreases – you can identify which pages of your website have been affected and look at specific dates to see if you can find any information about a potential cause. 

There can be many potential reasons as to why youโ€™re organic traffic has dropped including: 

  • โžก๏ธ Google algorithm updates – Google releases hundreds of search algorithm updates every year. While some are minor, some core updates can significantly affect search rankings. These updates can impact how Google evaluates website content and ranks pages and if your website is not providing the most helpful and relevant content, you may experience a loss in traffic. 
  • โžก๏ธ Technical SEO problems – technical issues can prevent Google and other search engines from properly crawling and indexing your pages which can in turn affect your rankings, visibility and traffic. If Google cannot effectively crawl your website, it may not be able to index it and it therefore wonโ€™t appear in the SERPs. 
  • โžก๏ธ Content issues – personally, I would say that content is the backbone of SEO and it is a huge part of SEO overall. If your content is outdated, irrelevant or thin, it is likely that it wonโ€™t rank highly and you can lose out on a lot of potential organic traffic. 
  • โžก๏ธ Competition – another reason you may lose traffic is simply because your competitors are actively improving their SEO strategies. If a competitor has updated their content, built backlinks and are providing optimised content, they may increase their rankings and could push your content further down the page, potentially reducing clicks and traffic.
  • โžก๏ธ SERP intent change – SERP intent is vital when it comes to optimising your website – it is so important that your website is giving the users what they want. This means that if the user intent changes, and your website is not providing users with the information they are looking for, youโ€™ll probably lose rankings so that Google can provide users with the most helpful and relevant content. 

How To Figure Out The Cause Of Your Traffic Loss 

There are many ways in which you can figure out the causes of your traffic loss: 

Google Search Console

  • โžก๏ธ Analyse the performance report to understand which pages have experienced traffic drops. 
  • โžก๏ธ Review the search results report to analyse which search queries are bringing in traffic and which queries have dropped off.
  • โžก๏ธ Analyse the page indexing report to look through any crawl errors and any technical issues that could be preventing Google from crawling and indexing your site. 
  • โžก๏ธ Utilise the page experience report to ensure your website is providing a good page experience. 

Google Analytics

  • โžก๏ธ Identify which pages have seen the biggest traffic drop off in the user acquisition report – comparing current data to historical data is a good idea to see what has dropped off. If it is applicable, make sure to factor in seasonality.  
  • โžก๏ธ Look at the highest revenue driving pages to uncover which pages are having the biggest impact due to the loss in organic traffic. 
  • โžก๏ธ Analyse user behaviour metrics such as engaged sessions, engagement rate, engagement time and bounce rate to see if there are engagement issues on particular landing pages.

Ahrefs 

  • โžก๏ธ Review which pages have seen decreases in rankings for specific keywords. 
  • โžก๏ธ Check keyword volumes to analyse any trends or decreases.
  • โžก๏ธ Look into search intent for target keywords and review whether or not your landing pages are matching the intent. 
  • โžก๏ธ Analyse your backlink profile against competitors. 
  • โžก๏ธ Review how competitors are ranking for target keywords and if they have seen similar decreases or increases. 

Algorithm Updates 

  • โžก๏ธ Research whether there have been any algorithm updates – check what these updates were regarding and align the dates of the update with your loss to see if you have been impacted. 

Review Website Changes 

  • โžก๏ธ Identify any recent website changes; content, design, or technical to see if there are any issues with these changes or if these could have negatively impacted your SEO performance. 
  • โžก๏ธ Check your robots.txt file and sitemap to ensure there are no issues.

Conduct A Competitor Analysis 

  • โžก๏ธ Analyse your competitors’ sites to see if they have made any significant changes that could be impacting your rankings.
  • โžก๏ธ Check their content, backlink and on-page efforts to see if they are actively updating and refreshing their website for SEO purposes. 

Ways To Increase Organic Traffic 

Once you have identified the cause of your traffic drop, you can now start to take actionable steps to improve your rankings and traffic so that you can increase conversions and revenue. 

Technical SEO 

Start by addressing any technical issues that could be preventing your site from being crawled and indexing. There are many different technical fixes but below are some of the key areas to ensure they are working correctly and are optimised for SEO. 

  • โžก๏ธ Crawl Errors 

Use Google Search Console to identify crawl errors and ensure you fix all issues that are preventing Google from crawling your site. Errors such as 404, page not found or any other 4xx issues should be resolved to ensure Google can crawl your website correctly. 

  • โžก๏ธ Indexing Errors

It is important to make sure that Google is indexing all of the important pages from your site so firstly, review your sitemap to ensure that there are no errors and all necessary pages are included. Secondly, review your robots.txt file and make sure there are only pages that shouldnโ€™t be indexed in there. If there are urls in your robot.txt file that you want to be indexed, make sure to remove these and optimise them for search engines. 

  • โžก๏ธ Site Speed 

Site speed is important for user experience and search engines so optimising it is highly recommended. Using PageSpeed insights, you can assess your site speed and look for areas for improvement. Consider compressing images and minimising JavaScript to improve page loading times. 

  • โžก๏ธ Mobile Friendliness

Google uses mobile-first indexing, and with the majority of users using their mobile device to conduct searches, it is extremely important that your website is mobile friendly. Make sure to check that your site is responsive on all devices and make sure to make any necessary improvements – you can use Googleโ€™s Mobile-Friendly Test to check your websiteโ€™s mobile usability and from there, you can see if you need to make any changes to your site. 

Content 

Once you have identified areas of your website that have seen a decrease in traffic, you can update your content accordingly. Outdated and thin content can cause traffic losses over time as they are not providing users with helpful information, so it is important that you are regularly updating your content to ensure it is satisfying the user intent by staying relevant and providing informative content. 

To update your content, you should conduct a content audit to evaluate the quality of your content and identify which pages are a priority to update. When updating your content, ensure to carry out the following steps:

  • โžก๏ธ Keyword research 
  • โžก๏ธ Content updates 
  • โžก๏ธ Internal Linking 

It is important to make sure your content is relevant, unique and helpful to users. By improving your content you can increase rankings and engagement and recover lost traffic. 

Backlinks 

Backlinks are an essential part of any SEO strategy and a high quality backlink profile can have a large impact on your websiteโ€™s organic rankings. A drop in the quality of backlinks to your site can therefore have a large impact on your organic traffic. Focus on acquiring high-quality backlinks from authoritative sites to improve the quality of your backlink profile. Continuously work on strengthening your backlinks by creating high quality Digital PR campaigns and by creating high quality content that can naturally attract links. Gaining high quality backlinks can increase the authority of your site and can have great impacts on your SEO performance.

User Experience 

User experience is highly important when it comes to engagement, so make sure you are optimising your site for your users first. Googleโ€™s primary goal is to help users, so optimising your site for your users is therefore essential. When improving user experience, make sure to optimise the following: 

  • โžก๏ธ Meta title and description 
  • โžก๏ธ Readability 
  • โžก๏ธ Design elements 
  • โžก๏ธ Navigation 
  • โžก๏ธ Engagement 
  • โžก๏ธ CRO analysis 

By creating a good user experience throughout your site, you can improve engagement and conversion rates. 

Optimising Your Site For SEO

The above information can be extremely helpful if you have experienced a drop in organic traffic. However, the main thing to remember is to make sure your SEO strategy is ongoing. Focus on creating high quality content, ensuring your website is in good technical stance, conducting regular audits and keeping up to date with industry news and updates. This will allow you to proactively stop your traffic from decreasing in the first place.

By staying informed, you can make sure your website is optimised at all times and adapt your SEO strategy accordingly. 

Experiencing a drop in  traffic can be difficult but by navigating it carefully and carefully analysing what has happened and how you can fix it, you can work to regain any lost traffic. 

If you have noticed a loss in your organic traffic and you need help understanding what has happened and how to regain this traffic, make sure to get in touch with our team of SEO experts. We can help you create a targeted SEO strategy and increase your organic traffic in order to meet the goals of your business, whether that be engagement, conversions, or revenue – we can help.

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How to write helpful content in light of Google’s helpful content update

In September 2023, Google ran its helpful content update, focused on improving the ranking of high-quality content. In preparation for the update we undertook an audit of our clientsโ€™ websites to ensure they were all meeting the mark. We analysed just how helpful the content was and where improvements could be made. So what were we looking for? And how can you make sure your content adheres to the โ€˜helpful contentโ€™ guidelines?

What is โ€˜helpful content?โ€™

Helpful content can be summed up as content that is created for the user, not for the search engine. Humans are typing queries into search engines,ย  so the answers should be written for humans. If the answers have been written to serve an algorithm or a search engine, then the average user isnโ€™t going to find that helpful or enjoyable. When done correctly, helpful content will boost your SEO because the information you provide will demonstrate that your pages put people first, not crawlers.

What did the 2023 helpful content update add?

A year after the helpful content update was launched, Google made some further changes. Itโ€™s important to have a clear understanding of what was added, to inform your SEO strategies. Whilst nothing too dramatic was introduced, there are a few things to be aware of:

  • โžก๏ธ The 2023 update demonstrated more of an openness to AI-written content, as long as itโ€™s still providing value. Google specifically removed the words โ€œwritten by peopleโ€ and just wrote โ€œhelpful content created for people in search results.โ€

    So, no more is AI-generated content an absolute no-go. Go ahead and use it to support your content strategy, but proceed with caution and ensure the writing remains well-written and informative.
  • โžก๏ธ The update had an emphasis on User Experience, placing more focus on things like mobile-friendliness and website design. For Google to deem your site helpful, it might therefore be a good idea to give it a quick technical audit.
  • โžก๏ธ We saw a crackdown on third-party hosted content with Google warning against placing low-quality content on subdomains to try and improve search ranking. They said:ย 

    โ€œif that content is largely independent of the main siteโ€™s purpose or produced without close supervision or the involvement of the primary site, we recommend that it should be blocked from being indexed by Google.โ€
  • โžก๏ธ And finally, the update targeted the popular practice of updating content with minor changes and a recent date to appear fresh in search results. No shortcuts allowed Iโ€™m afraid guys.

Why is Google bothered?

Search has come a long way since the simple days of keyword stuffing. 45% of people using their mobiles online now use voice search and itโ€™s no wonder. A whole generation has grown up with search engines as an everyday tool and we are now moving towards using search much more naturally than ever before. Google wants to make searching and finding what we want even easier, and is striving to understand meaning, context and intent far beyond a few keywords. 

The helpful content update is part of Googleโ€™s Natural Language Processing (NLP) masterplan. Essentially, Google wants to give users what they want rather than users having to guess which words to type to get the best results. The helpful content update ensures that websites and pages are providing the best, most informative content possible.

How to write helpful content

The easiest way to target this mammoth subject is to break it down into key areas:

  • โžก๏ธ The User
  • โžก๏ธ E-E-A-T
  • โžก๏ธ Semantics
  • โžก๏ธ Copy

1. The user (you, me, them, us)

No matter what you are writing about, always (I repeat always) remember who you are writing for. Understanding your audience is key to writing content that will be helpful to them. There is no use writing about the quality and composition of a leather dog lead if your clientโ€™s target market is price focused. To make that point clearer, here is how I would approach user intent when setting out writing content:

Industry/product/service: what does your client sell and what are the typical pain points when selling that product? Our client in the gardening industry sells high end garden furniture. People searching for garden furniture are likely to be concerned with quality, price and maintenance. So I would structure my content around these pillars:

Demographic: Our gardening client has an affluent target market and wants to hone in on the quality of their product rather than the final price. Therefore, their customer is less likely to be typing price related queries and more likely to be considering longevity and overall value. 

Possible queries: Now that youโ€™ve broken down your user you can consider what they might actually be searching for. Tools like alsoasked or answerthepublic are great for researching real queries that real users are regularly typing into search engines. Even a basic Google search on something like โ€˜garden furniture setsโ€™ can give you some direction.

This approach can be applied to all clients. Understanding the nuances of the end user enables you to write content that helps them find answers even if they donโ€™t not know exactly what they are searching for.

2. E-E-A-T (aka friends donโ€™t lie)

Much is made of E-E-A-T, or experience, expertise, authority and trust, not being a ranking factor. Not that Iโ€™d argue with Google, but the concept of E-E-A-T is intrinsic to helpful content so, for me, it follows that if you are creating expertly written, authoritative and trustworthy content you are being more helpful and, ergo, you will likely rank higher. 

When I set about integrating E-E-A-T into copy, I think about three key areas:

Bullet points and numberingย 

This helps you to clearly set out your content and improve the user experience. The information held in these lists can be some of the most valuable on the page, allowing for featured snippet opportunities and, on a more basic level, setting the content apart so the user can easily identify it (remember what we said about writing for the user). It can be something as simple as a list of Doโ€™s and Donโ€™ts, but having these distinct sections of information demonstrates that you know what you are talking about and arenโ€™t afraid to show it. 

Linkingย 

Linking is the pat on the back of the digital world. It shows search engines that you have mates vouching for you and it helps users to understand and trust what you are saying. Adding internal links to your content can direct traffic through a clear marketing funnel and allows you to utilise content pillaring effectively. Linking related articles together will form one big picture on your pillar topic and signal that you have plenty of expertise and authority in your subject.

And what about external linking? This is when you point to a website outside of your organisation and say โ€˜look they can back me up.โ€™ It shows that you arenโ€™t pulling information from thin air and can corroborate your points. In some instances, for example, Your Money or Your Life (YMYL) industries, external linking can be especially helpful because the subject matter requires an extra degree of expertise and trust. When researching your content, keep a list of any useful links and weave them into your final piece where relevant and appropriate.

But remember, with the 2023 updateโ€™s emphasis on user experience, itโ€™s super important that these links are all working correctly. Tools like Googleโ€™s Lighthouse will assess the mobile-friendliness of your links, while Screaming Frog or Ahrefs will quickly identify any broken links.

Hard facts and figuresย 

Firstly, donโ€™t make stuff up! This might be obvious but weโ€™ve all been there – convinced we remember something only to find out it wasnโ€™t quite right. For instance, if Iโ€™m writing an About Us page, I make sure to have an in-depth list of facts on the client to hand, so that my content has gravitas.ย 

Second to this, I always look to see where I can add value into my content with social proof, like reviews, featured articles or any accreditations. This might be a simple banner at the footer of a blog but it shows users and SERPs that the page, and therefore the site, can be trusted. Author profiling is another great way to double down on the information you provide so, where possible, include an author bio.

3. Semantic SEO (hey Bert)

Semantic SEO goes back to meeting your users needs. In short, itโ€™s the use of keywords and phrases that relate to your chosen topic. Think of it as a natural way of speaking. If you were talking about your morning routine, you would naturally mention breakfast, showering and leaving the house. You wouldnโ€™t veer off on a tangent and start talking about putting your pyjamas on. This is what Google refers to as salience.

In 2019 Google launched BERT, an algorithm which impacted 10% of all search queries straight away. BERT is an AI demo that will tell you how salient, and therefore relevant, your content is to your intended topic. So, as we touched on in the morning routine example, you should be using lexis that is relevant to your subject matter and shows your audience that what they have landed on is exactly what they’re looking for. Start off with some keyword research to identify your core keywords for your topic and donโ€™t be afraid to use common sense as well! 

For example, if I was writing category copy for a piano retailer, I would use the top tier keywords around that specific piano brand but also talk about keys, pedals and soundboards to effectively demonstrate what the content was about. This is useful for content pillaring too, and those all-important linking opportunities. You can then run your content through BERT and get a salience score to see how it stacks up against other similar content.

BERT will also show you if it is a positive, negative or neutral piece of content. This doesnโ€™t refer to its state of mind but rather its relevance to other similar articles. If you were writing content about the best apps for 2024, BERT should give you a neutral score as it isnโ€™t an emotive subject. Or, if you were writing about how to be more motivated in the mornings, your copy may need to have a more positive sentiment score. Carefully consider the value your content offers, who it is targeted at and what needs they are trying to meet in searching for that content. This will help you achieve the right level of sentiment.

4. Copywriting (your English teacher would be proud)

Given half the chance, Iโ€™d talk about the virtues of good grammar and syntax all day long. Donโ€™t underestimate the importance of simply writing well when it comes to helpful content. Readers donโ€™t want to read overly long sentences with no clear end point. Think of every piece of content as a conversation. If you were asking someone for directions and they digress into how they used to live nearby, you would quickly forget the valuable information. So stick to the point and set out a clear beginning, middle and end before writing anything. I never start any article without drafting a brief first. Then, when I do come to actually crafting the content here are some of the basic rules I live by:

  • H2 & H3 headings โ€“ long blocks of content are off putting and make it harder to find the info you are looking for so always separate with headings.
  • Short simple sentences โ€“ ideally a sentence should be no longer than 20 words. If it is then commas are your friend.
  • Follow questions with an answer โ€“ even if the answer is โ€˜it dependsโ€™ โ€“ give a definite answer first and then follow up with any variables.
  • Use simple language โ€“ the average reading age for the UK is 9 years old. Of course, this can change depending on the topic and who youโ€™re writing for (a professional audience might require more jargon). But the golden rule is to keep your content clear and understandable. Simple synonyms are a copywriterโ€™s best friend.

In summary

Google will definitely thank you for setting your content out clearly and using good English. They will high five you if you have some good E-E-A-T signals and they will get down on one knee if you are meeting the needs of your users (sorry I got carried away).

Writing helpful content is mainly about matching user intent, and the 2023 helpful content update is just part of making search engines as effective as possible for the people using them โ€“ us. So perhaps the biggest takeaway when writing for humans is to be human. Donโ€™t try to trick an algorithm into trusting you, just be trustworthy. There are SEO specialists and data analysts who can take care of the technical aspects of SEO, but as a content writer you should be focused on creating content that is enjoyable, valuable and genuine. So, to summarise, as a content writer, here areย  the basic steps to get you started with writing helpful content:ย 

โ€“ Define your user and their needs

โ€“ Find opportunities for bullet or number lists

โ€“ Include internal and external links

โ€“ Fact check your content and ideally include evidence or social proof

โ€“ Research keywords and optimise for salience and sentiment 

โ€“ Use good English and grammar

โ€“ Write for your audience not a search engine (you should have figured that out by now)

If you need a hand writing SEO optimised helpful content, get in touch with us. 
Author Pages Blog Image

Why You Need Author Pages On Your Website

In the world of SEO, we all know that content is king and creating engaging, informative content for your website is extremely important. However, it doesnโ€™t just end there and one aspect that can often be overlooked but can significantly impact your E-E-A-T signals is author pages. Even though author pages are not a direct ranking factor, they can play a significant role in building trust and credibility and can enhance your websiteโ€™s overall SEO performance. In this blog, we will discuss what an author page is and why it is important that you include them on your website.

What Is An Author Page? 

An author page is a dedicated page on your website that showcases the expertise and credentials of the people who have contributed to your website, whether they have written a blog or reviewed a service page, an author page should be created. The author page will highlight the authorโ€™s background, experience, expertise and knowledge for a certain topic or field. 

What Should Be Included On Your Author Page 

In order to maximise the impact of your author pages, you should include the following: 

  • โžก๏ธ Name – clearly identify the author at the top of the page.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Role/ title – include their role so users know where their expertise lies.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Image – including a high quality image/ headshot will help to humanise the author and give the author page a more professional look.
  • โžก๏ธ Bio and expertise – provide an overview of the authorโ€™s background, experience and different areas of expertise, this should all be relevant to your website.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Qualifications – include a list of relevant qualifications to showcase the authorโ€™s expertise within the industry.
  • โžก๏ธ List of articles written – include a list of articles that the author has previously written to further showcase their knowledge and expertise.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Links to other profiles – if relevant, provide a link to the authorโ€™s other profiles, such as LinkedIn, to build a strong online presence.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Contact information – include an email address/ phone number so that users can get in touch with the author.ย 

By including all of the above information, you can truly showcase the expertise and knowledge of the author and provide those all important E-E-A-T signals for search engines and users. 

Below is an example of an author page with all of the relevant information showcasing expertise and experience signals which will provide users with trust. This author profile is linked to throughout the website so that users can see the expertise behind the website easily and they can then build trust with the people behind the brand. 

Why Are Author Pages Important To Have On Your Website?

Creating author pages does involve an extra step when creating content, however they can offer significant benefits for your website. By including author profiles on your website and showcasing the expertise and experience of your authors, you can easily improve your websiteโ€™s E-E-A-T signals, which Google heavily favours in their search quality guidelines. Google actually mentions the term โ€˜E-E-A-Tโ€™ 116 times in the Search Quality Rater Guidelines, therefore emphasising the importance of establishing trust and authority throughout your website.ย 

It also states the following as one of the guidelines: โ€œAssess how trustworthy the page is. Experience, Expertise and Authoritativeness can help with your assessment of Trust. Some types of pages require a high level of Trust.โ€ 

Building E-E-A-T (Expertise, Experience, Authoritativeness and Trustworthiness) signals is one of the main benefits of author profiles and this is extremely important for SEO because it will contribute to quality content that can go on to perform well in the SERPs. Even though E-E-A-T is not a confirmed direct ranking factor for Google, it is important to showcase these signals throughout your website to show that you are meeting Googleโ€™s requirements relating to quality and trustworthiness. 

Author pages can significantly help strengthen your E-E-A-T signals. By showcasing to Google and other signals that your content is written by knowledgeable people who have relevant expertise and experience, you are demonstrating that your content is trustworthy and that it will be providing users with factual, helpful information. 

However, as well as building E-E-A-T signals for your website and showing to search engines that you are providing trustworthy content, you can also build trust and credibility for your users. One of the most important reasons to have author pages is to build that trust with your audience, particularly if your website falls under the YMYL category. Building trust with your website users is crucial for any online business – trust can significantly contribute to user engagement, brand loyalty and conversions so building this on your website is key. 

If a user trusts your website and the content you are providing them, they are more likely to engage with your content, share their personal information and become a return user who may purchase from your site. If a user does not trust the site, or the content that is written, it is likely that they will not engage with the website and they will leave the website and go onto a competitorโ€™s site who is showcasing their trust signals clearly. 

By incorporating author profiles into your website and including these on your blogs, service pages and other pages throughout your website, you are showing your users that your content is written by experts who know what they are talking about and they can trust that the information they are being provided with is true. 

Summary 

Author pages can often be overlooked for websites but they can be a key component of a successful website. By creating thorough, informative and engaging author profiles, you can easily enhance your websiteโ€™s credibility and build trust with your users. In doing so, you will be able to improve your E-E-A-T signals which can help to build your overall SEO performance – remember that even though E-E-A-T is not a direct ranking factor, it is still a crucial element of organic search and the addition of author pages on your website can significantly contribute to these signals. 

If you are looking to find out more about E-E-A-T and author pages and how these can contribute to a successful SEO strategy, make sure to get in touch with us today and our team of SEO experts can help provide you with the information you need to build strong E-E-A-T signals through author pages. 

Search Intent Blog Image

What Is Search Intent And Why Is It So Important For SEO?

In any aspect of digital marketing, understanding user behaviour is crucial and that is no different for SEO. One of the key components of a successful SEO strategy is to understand search intent and in this blog, we will discuss everything you need to know about search intent – what it is, why it is so important for SEO, how you can identify it and how you can optimise your content to match search intent. 

What Is Search Intent?

Search intent, also known as user intent, is the purpose behind a userโ€™s search query. It encompasses what a user is trying to achieve when they are searching for a specific query. Whether the user is looking to buy something, looking for a specific website, searching for an answer to a question or they are just looking for more information surrounding a particular topic, understanding the intent behind their search is highly important. 

What Are The Four Main Types Of Search Intent? 

Generally, search intent can be grouped into four main categories:

Informational Intent 

Informational intent is when a user wants to learn more about a particular topic and they are seeking information. Informational intent searches often include questions containing how, what and why. 

Examples of informational intent keywords include: 

  • โžก๏ธ What is SEO
  • โžก๏ธ How do you make pancakesย 
  • โžก๏ธ What are the benefits of drinking green teaย 
  • โžก๏ธ How old is Taylor Swiftย 
  • โžก๏ธ Why is my sunflower not growing

The most common returned pages for informational intent keywords will be blogs and even though informational intent keywords may not lead to conversions, they can be very beneficial for your online business because they can:

  • โžก๏ธ Increase visibility – creating blog content and ranking for informational keywords that are very relevant to your product or service will massively increase your visibility for your target market.ย 

  • โžก๏ธ Build trust – ranking for relevant keywords will also help to build trust with your target audience as they will see your name as a reputable source who has helped them gather information that they needed.

  • โžก๏ธ Target the user journey – by creating blog content and targeting informational queries, you can create helpful content that will guide your target audience through the user journey. By creating the awareness and then guiding those users down the user funnel, you will be able to take those users from the awareness stage all the way down through consideration and then to conversion. If users have all of the information they need on your website, they will be more likely to convert on your site as well.ย 

Navigational Intent 

Navigational intent occurs when the user wants to visit a specific website or page, the user already knows what they are trying to find in the SERPs and they do not want additional information, they just want to see what they are looking for at the top of the SERP. 

Examples of navigational intent keywords include: 

  • โžก๏ธ YouTubeย 
  • โžก๏ธ Facebook loginย 
  • โžก๏ธ Prettylittlething returns policy

The majority of navigational intent keywords will be brand focused as the user knows what page they want to land on. For navigational keywords, it is important that your customers/ target audience can easily find the page that they are looking for.

Commercial Intent 

Commercial intent includes keywords that users are searching for when they are conducting research before purchasing a product or service. They are in the stage of considering a purchase and they want to research their options. 

Examples of commercial intent keywords include: 

  • โžก๏ธ Best hair dryer for curly hairย 
  • โžก๏ธ Iphone 15 pro reviewย 
  • โžก๏ธ Gousto vs Hello Fresh

Commercial intent lies between informational and transactional as the user will likely be looking for information that is very closely related to their future transaction. 

Transactional Intent 

Transactional intent occurs when users are looking to complete a specific action, this could be to make a purchase, download a software, or sign up to a newsletter for example. 

Examples of transactional intent keywords include: 

  • โžก๏ธ Sign up to Netflixย 
  • โžก๏ธ Buy a coffee machineย 
  • โžก๏ธ Purchase a railcard online

When a user is searching with a transactional intent keyword, it is likely that they already know that they want to convert and they are going to do it off the back of this search query. These keywords are targeted at your customers when they are ready to convert.  

Why Is Search Intent So Important For SEO? 

Understanding the search intent behind different queries and keywords is extremely important for SEO as it allows you to optimise your website specifically for your target audience so that they are satisfied when they land on your website. Below are some of the reasons why understanding search and user intent is so important for organic search:

  1. Enhances the user experienceย 

User experience can be considered one of the most important aspects when it comes to SEO and search engines like Google prioritise user experience. If your website and content aligns with the intent behind certain queries, then it likely means that you are providing users with the information that they are looking for and enhancing their user experience as they are satisfied that their search query has been fulfilled. Satisfied users that are experiencing a good user experience are also more likely to stay on your site for longer periods of time and engage with your content more, they will also be more likely to convert. 

  1. Improves rankings and visibilityย 

Googleโ€™s algorithms are extremely sophisticated when it comes to interpreting the search intent behind certain queries so by understanding the search intent and optimising your website accordingly, you can increase the likelihood of better rankings in the SERPs. 

  1. Increases click through rate

Once you have understood the search intent behind your target keywords and queries, you can optimise your content and metadata accordingly. By optimising your metadata specifically for your target audience, they will be able to easily see that your content matches their search intent and they will be more likely to click through to your site. This increased click through rate can lead to increased traffic and conversions but it can also signal to search engines that your content is relevant and valuable for users. 

  1. Drives targeted trafficย 

Optimising your website to match the user intent of your target audience will ensure you are driving the right traffic for your specific product or service. When optimising your website for organic traffic, it will always be more valuable to bring in targeted traffic at lower levels than traffic that is not relevant to your niche and that will likely not convert. By targeting the search intent of your target keywords, you can ensure that high intent users are going to be landing on your site. 

  1. Reduces bounce rate

If your content doesnโ€™t match the user intent, then the likelihood is that your bounce rate will be high as users will leave your site quickly. By matching the specific user intent, you can keep users engaged on your website for a longer period of time.

Understanding search intent is absolutely essential for SEO so that you are able to satisfy the userโ€™s needs. Googleโ€™s primary goal is to provide users with the most relevant, valuable and helpful information, so if you are accurately targeting the search intent, then it is likely that you will be providing the user with whatever it is they are looking for and you will be able to rank higher in the SERPs, increase your visibility and ultimately increase conversions and revenue for your business. 

So, if you want to be ranking in the top 10 positions of the SERPs, you need to thoroughly understand the intent behind your target keywords and optimise your content and web page accordingly. Overall, understanding the user intent and aligning your content with that intent can help you attract more relevant traffic and increase engagement levels, which in turn can lead to having more conversions and leads. 

How Can You Identify Search Intent For Different Queries?

Because identifying search intent is so important for SEO, youโ€™re probably wondering how you can identify the intent of different search queries. Well, this is where Ahrefs comes in. Ahrefs has an Identify Intents tool which is designed to help understand the intent behind different queries. 

The tool uses AI to analyse each result in the SERP and describes what people are looking for when they are typing in that particular keyword. It will give you a percentage for each intent and this is the estimated traffic share for each of the results associated with each intent. 

For example, when we look into the search term โ€œwhat is seoโ€, which has a search volume of 6,800 in the UK, 61% of the traffic share is attributed to โ€œDefinition and Explanation of SEO – Users are looking for a clear definition and a thorough explanation of what SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) is.โ€ This is then followed by a 26% traffic share of โ€œSEO Best Practices and Guidelinesโ€, 13% traffic share of โ€œSEO Fundamentals for Beginnersโ€, and a 2% traffic share for โ€œNeed for SEO Servicesโ€. 

As you can see above, the tool gives you a clear understanding of what the search intent is. By searching for your desired query/ keywords and clicking the โ€œIdentify Intentsโ€ button, the tool will give you clear information about the exact intent users are looking for when they are using those specific keywords. 

This information is extremely valuable and it can be used to form the strategy when optimising your website for SEO. By knowing exactly what your users are searching for and what search intent Google is returning, you will be able to know what content you need to include on your landing page in order to rank for relevant keywords. By using the Identify Intents tool and incorporating this into your SEO strategy, you can ensure that your content will satisfy the user intent which can ultimately lead to better rankings, more traffic and increased conversions. 

How To Optimise Your Content To Match Search Intent

In order to match user intent, it is important to optimise your web page accordingly. 

To optimise your content to match search intent, you should: 

  • โžก๏ธ Conduct keyword research – use tools such as Ahrefs, SEMrush and Google Keyword planner to identify keywords that are related to your site and what users could potentially be searching for.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Identify the search intent – once you have compiled a list of target keywords, you need to identify the search intent behind all queries to see what your users are looking for when they are typing in relevant keywords.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Analyse the SERPs – conduct a thorough analysis of the SERPs to see what type of content is appearing in the top results. This can give you insight into what type of content is ranking well and what you need to do in order to reach the top positions of the SERPs for your target keywords.
  • โžก๏ธ Create content that matches the search intent – once you have fully understood the search intent and what the user is looking for, you need to create unique and helpful content that will match their needs. If the search intent is informational then you will need to provide comprehensive content that will fully answer the userโ€™s query. If the intent is transactional, you need to ensure your product pages contain detailed information and product descriptions and CTAs.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Optimise metadata – title tags and meta descriptions should always match and be relevant to the search intent so that users can see that your content meets their needs.ย 
  • โžก๏ธ Use structured data – implementing structured data to your web pages can help search engines to understand the intent behind that specific page. This can help enhance visibility in the SERPs and will also allow you to target featured snippets.
  • โžก๏ธ Regularly monitor and update content – SEO is an ongoing process and user intent may change. It is therefore imperative to constantly monitor the search intent for different queries and adjust your content accordingly. It is not enough to look at the user intent once and then forget about it, you should always keep up to date with changes in user behaviour in order to match the needs of your target audience.ย 

Summary 

Understanding search intent is absolutely essential for SEO. If you are not giving users what they are looking for then your visibility will be extremely low. If you want your site to rank organically in the SERPs, understanding search intent is crucial. Make sure that you are providing users with exactly what they are looking for and you will build a solid SEO strategy. 

If you are looking for help with understanding search intent for organic queries, get in touch with our SEO experts who will be able to help you identify exactly what it is your target audience are looking for when they want to purchase your product or service. 

Copy of Blog Image Template (37)

The Importance Of Meta Titles And Descriptions For SEO

Metadata – that stuff that makes up the bulk of what we see when scrolling the SERPS. Is it still important? How long should a meta title be? Is there such a thing as metadata optimisation? What does this all mean for SEO and, ultimately, my businessโ€™ sales?

These are questions that weโ€™ll be tackling in todayโ€™s blog, which will run you through what meta titles and descriptions actually are, how to view and edit them and the impact they have on users and your SEO rankings.

But if youโ€™re short on time, here are the key takeaways:

โžก๏ธ Spoiler, meta titles and descriptions are crucial for SEO! They help search engines understand your content and can significantly improve click-through rates

โžก๏ธ Search engines wonโ€™t always use the metadata you provide, but to make sure they do, ensure they meet the suggested character lengths, and accurately reflect precisely whatโ€™s on the page

โžก๏ธ You can optimise meta data, and you should! Target the right keywords, create a sense of urgency, and remember to always make each tag unique

Firstly, what are meta titles and descriptions?

Meta data is the snippets of text that appear in search engine results pages – in simple terms, what users read and click on to be taken to your website. As a result, theyโ€™re pretty important – first impressions count and they play a crucial role in how users perceive your site (and how likely they are to visit it).

So, letโ€™s begin with the meta title. This is like a headline, or title, for your page. Displayed in bold font, itโ€™s the first thing users will see. Itโ€™s also important for the search engines who use it to understand your page.

Then, the meta description appears just below the meta title; itโ€™s a brief overview of what the page is about and can significantly improve CTR by grabbing usersโ€™ interest.

As you can see in the screenshot below, the meta description is the section beginning โ€˜protect yourself from the sunโ€ฆโ€™, whilst the blue text above is the meta title.

These days, search engines are very sophisticated, considering a wide spectrum of factors when ranking websites, and metadata is just one of them. But whilst not as important for ranking as it once was, this doesnโ€™t mean your titles and descriptions donโ€™t matter. A lot of people underestimate their importance but they do in fact still have a huge role in SEO. But why is thatโ€ฆ.

Why is metadata so important for SEO?

As we discussed above, metadata increases your click-through rate by providing an engaging summary of what your page offers. It allows users to make an informed decision about whether to click on your link, and often will include action words like โ€˜free deliveryโ€™ or โ€˜shop nowโ€™  to spark interest. So, why does this matter to you? Because the more clicks, the more traffic and potential customers!

High CTR is great not only for your conversions but also because it signals to Google that your page is valuable. Whilst there is no explicit confirmation that it directly affects search rankings, a consistently high CTR for a specific keyword might suggest to Google that your page is particularly relevant for that search term. Equally, a lower CTR is a red flag for Google, indicating that the content on your page isnโ€™t matching user intent.

But thatโ€™s not all – meta titles and descriptions can boost your organic visibility because of keywords. Including the right, relevant terms in your metadata helps signal to search engines that your page is addressing these topics. Itโ€™s essentially a blueprint for the algorithms, giving them that extra bit of help needed to understand and rank your content.

How long should a meta description and meta title be?

Itโ€™s important not to get too carried away in your meta tags – keep them short, sweet and to the point, otherwise theyโ€™ll be cut short! 

Whilst meta descriptions can technically be any length, Google tends to snip them short between 155 and 160 characters. This advice is given by Google: 

It’s best to keep meta descriptions long enough that they’re sufficiently descriptive, so we recommend descriptions between 50 and 160 characters.

So, thereโ€™s your answer – but what about meta titles? Here, youโ€™ve got less room to play with. Meta titles have a maximum length of just 60 characters and itโ€™s generally agreed that the ideal length is between 50 and 60. 

Do search engines always use your meta descriptions?

No; Iโ€™m afraid that search engines can ultimately use whatever they see fit for your description. They prioritise providing the most relevant information to users, so, in some cases, this might mean generating their own title and description for your page.

You can avoid this happening by making sure that what you write is well-aligned both with the userโ€™s search query, and the content on the page itself. Otherwise, Google will simply create a more fitting description for you.

How to optimise your meta titles and descriptions

In light of this, you may now be asking the valid question, โ€œhow can I make my metadata better?โ€  Here are our tips and tricks to write tags your copywriter would be jealous of:

๐Ÿ’ปMake your titles and descriptions super relevant. They need to be tailored carefully to the specific content on each page, so avoid using the same generic description across your entire site.

๐Ÿ’ปIn fact, avoid duplicate content all together as this could get your pages penalised by search engines. It may be far less hassle to use identical meta titles across your website, but creating unique titles for each page will avoid this penalty.

๐Ÿ’ปTarget the right keywords, but incorporate them naturally. Carry out in-depth keyword research to make sure youโ€™re going for the most relevant terms, but remember the main aim of the tags is to tell readers what your page is about – not to see how many times you can fit โ€˜dog foodโ€™ into 60 characters.

๐Ÿ’ปDonโ€™t just describe your content. Highlight its benefits and use these tags to clearly communicate what the users have to gain by clicking on your link. It can be good to incorporate a bit of urgency in the copy and there are a number of ways you can do this:

-> Time-sensitive language like โ€˜ends tonightโ€™ or โ€˜limited-time offerโ€™

->Use of action verbs, โ€˜start your free trial nowโ€™, โ€˜unlock your discount today!โ€™

->Use of numbers – e.g. โ€˜only 10 spots left!โ€™

->Using the seasons to say something like โ€˜last chance for summer dealsโ€™

So, the bottom line is, meta titles and meta descriptions do matter. Theyโ€™re far more than just a button for users to click – optimised right, theyโ€™ll give a substantial boost to your site traffic, and help you rank for those important keywords.


If thinking of 30 different ways to say โ€˜shop nowโ€™ isnโ€™t your strong point, why not leave it to the experts. Cedarwood Digital is an award-winning SEO agency, whoโ€™ll handle all the ins and outs of your SEO strategy, letting you focus on your business. If this sounds right up your alley, drop us a message at [email protected].

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A Guide To Semantic SEO

SEO has changed; long gone are the days of keyword stuffing working like magic, now search engines prioritise content that actually understands what people are looking for. Context is key, and a comprehensive, thorough understanding of topics will get you noticed by Google. In other words, SEO really is a matter of semantics these days.

But what does this all mean in practice for us SEOs and content writers? Maybe youโ€™re aware of the notion โ€˜semantic SEOโ€™ but donโ€™t have a clue how to action it. I have good news for you, this blog will cover exactly that – practical tips and pointers to get you optimising your site with semantic SEO in mind. Weโ€™ll begin by giving you a quick dummyโ€™s guide to semantic SEO, before explaining why itโ€™s quite so important to increase your conversions and lastly, providing you with our practical guidance on how to do it.

Whoโ€™s this blog useful for? If youโ€™re struggling to get your small business noticed online, writing blogs but failing to rank on page 1, or simply want to increase your companyโ€™s conversions, you wonโ€™t want to skip out on semantic SEO.

However, we know that time is of the essence, and if you donโ€™t have a whole five minutes to listen to us rant about semantics, here are the key takeaways in advance:

๐ŸŒPost โ€˜Hummingbirdโ€™, โ€˜RankBrainโ€™ and the Helpful Content Update, Google is prioritising understanding what users are really searching for. Your content needs to anticipate their questions and address a topic comprehensively.

๐ŸŒCreate high quality, long, in-depth content that gives the user everything theyโ€™re after. This will keep them and Google happy, reducing your bounce rate and improving conversion rates.

๐ŸŒDonโ€™t be afraid to enlist the help of tools like Salient to assess content relevance, or Answer The Public to accurately discover what users are asking.

What is Semantic SEO?

Semantic SEO, in a nutshell, is the practice of optimising content for meaning, not just keywords. As SEOs, itโ€™s about adjusting our process a bit, considering what users are searching for, and thinking about the overall context of a page. Itโ€™s a smarter and more comprehensive approach that goes deeper to ensure that Google understands our content and that it meets user intent.

Now Iโ€™m not here to give you a full lecture on search engine history, but there are a handful of developments to be aware of that might just help clarify semantic SEO.

โžก๏ธIn 2013, the โ€˜hummingbird algorithmโ€™ was launched, changing the way Google worked. It was a major deal, ushering in an era of prioritising user experience and actually understanding the meaning behind search queries. No longer was Google only looking for keywords, now it was also understanding the relationships between words.

โžก๏ธThen, 2015 saw another major leap with the introduction of RankBrain, a machine learning model that could analyse vast amounts of search and user behaviour data. Like Hummingbird, it was looking to understand the intent behind what they type into the search bar.

โžก๏ธThe last update relevant to semantic search is BERT, arriving in October 2019 and using a new machine to better understand the relationship between words.

โžก๏ธSo, fast forward to today, Google is in its prime of understanding queries. With the rise of Siri and voice search, the algorithm now delivers pages of relevant results from just a couple of idiomatic words said into a phone. And when itโ€™s scanning our sites, itโ€™s specifically looking for content that addresses a topic comprehensively. In response, our content needs to match the algorithmsโ€™ human-like understanding of meaning – foreseeing and answering all the related questions people will have.

Whatโ€™s in it for you (and your business)?

We get it, this might all seem like a bit of a faff, and chucking a few keywords into your blog is far less complicated. But, we promise that it pays to put the time and effort into semantic SEO. Hereโ€™s why:

โœ…The biggest advantage of focusing on semantic SEO is that itโ€™s a proven way to rank in the search results! From the algorithm history you just endured, it should be clear that drumming down on this semantic approach gets you in Googleโ€™s good books.

โœ…Not only will you rank high, but youโ€™ll end up ranking high for more keywords. By covering a topic in-depth, you naturally weave in related keywords, making your content show up for lots more searches, and therefore reaching a wider audience of potential buyers.

โœ…Semantic SEO is also the secret to the coveted โ€˜People Also Askโ€™ spots at the top of the SERPs. With a semantic strategy, youโ€™re anticipating user questions by covering all angles of a certain topic. This hugely increases your chances of appearing in those answer snippets.

โœ…Once the users have found your page, you want them to stay. And yes, you guessed it, semantic SEO also works in your favour here. Content that tackles a topic comprehensively keeps users engaged, so youโ€™ll see a lower bounce rate. Consider this, if youโ€™re answering every question they have and providing everything they need, they wonโ€™t be bothered about clicking off to go elsewhere.

โœ…Plus, this also sends positive quality signals to Google. With the recent Helpful Content Updates, Google knows if your content is helpful and you canโ€™t trick the system Iโ€™m afraid. By focusing on semantics, you show Google that our content is not only relevant to the search query but also informative, engaging and worthy of those top positions.

โœ…But techy waffle aside, all this matters because increased user traffic, and lower bounce rate leads toโ€ฆ (drumroll please) conversions and sales! And thatโ€™s what youโ€™re all ultimately after, right?

How to actually do semantic SEO

You work in marketing so I can already tell that you love your actionable takeaways – do not worry, the next section will be painfully practical. Letโ€™s crack on with what your SEO team should be tackling day to day to tick the semantic boxes.

  1. Work on understanding user intent

Not to be dramatic but if you donโ€™t understand your target audienceโ€™s search intent, you might as well throw in the towel now. Google prioritises addressing user intent as closely as possible so, essentially, you need to become a mind reader. Put yourself in their shoes, picture your target audience, what do they wear, what do they eat for breakfast. Seriously though, what problems are they trying to solve and what questions might they have after reading your content. 

Letโ€™s say youโ€™re targeting the keyword โ€˜how to grow tomatoesโ€™ for your greenhouse business. Not only will they be searching this question and similar semantically-related terms, but also:

~Ideal planting conditions for tomatoes. 

~Tips on watering and fertilizing tomato plants.

~Common tomato plant pests and diseases, and how to control them.

~Information on harvesting and storing homegrown tomatoes.

~Recipes that use fresh tomatoes.

You need to provide content tackling all of these areas of the topic, or the user will simply click off and find the answers elsewhere!

  1. Create high-quality, in-depth content

Semantic SEO means creating in-depth, detailed and complex content. I hate to break it to you, but a 500 word, blog post is just not going to cut it. Youโ€™re likely going to need a couple thousand words to cover the topic comprehensively. I promise itโ€™s not as scary as it sounds – begin with a substantial brief to ensure youโ€™re addressing every angle, and to get a digestible structure planned. It might even be worth hitting up ChatGPT for some help here (gasp), just to help you spot anything youโ€™ve missed. But please leave the actual writing to the humans in your team, quality trumps quantity and a long but AI-generated blog post is not going to do you any favours. 

  1. What you should and shouldโ€™t be including in this content

Focus on creating comprehensive content that incorporates related terms naturally but donโ€™t sweat worrying about every long-tail variation. With Semantic Search, the algorithms recognise connections between similar long-tail keywords (like โ€˜how to tell when tomatoes are ripeโ€™ and โ€˜are my tomatoes ready to be pickedโ€™). Google gets that these terms fall under the same topic.

Prioritise in-depth content that meets usersโ€™ needs and donโ€™t forget to answer those People Also Ask questions. According to a study of 2.5 million search queries, this feature now shows up for almost half of all search queries, and this is often above position 1!

  1. Schema

Schema, also known as structured data markup, acts like a translator, providing Google with a better understanding of your content. With schema, youโ€™re essentially labelling the different elements to make it easier for search engines to understand the context. This could include things like โ€˜brand nameโ€™, โ€˜locationโ€™, โ€˜priceโ€™. 

It paints a clear picture for search engines; semantic SEO focuses on the meaning behind the words on your page, but search engines still rely on code to interpret information. Schema bridges this gap by providing a structured way to communicate the meaning of your content.

Tools to help you out with Semantic SEO

There are a number of tools out there that come in handy with semantic SEO. Here are our tried and tested top 3:

This tool measures the relevance of your content for certain target keywords, using a technology that replicates search engine algorithms, to show you what theyโ€™re likely to be picking up. It analyses the use of synonyms, related terms, and concepts within your content to assess if it comprehensively addresses the topic. Plus, the text comparison tool lets you see how edits impact your contentโ€™s relevance score. So, instead of relying on what you โ€˜thinkโ€™ might work, this tool is your best bet to get a realistic idea of how relevant your content is.

Answer The Public compiles data from search engines to show you the most searched questions around your topic or keyword, usefully grouped into categories like โ€˜prepositionsโ€™ and โ€˜comparisonsโ€™. This is great for semantic SEO because it lays the userโ€™s intent out plain to see, allowing you to tailor your content to directly answer their questions and provide the most informative page for them. It will also help with showing you long-tail, less competitive keywords and by incorporating these, you can reach users who might be using different phrasing but have the same intent.

Similar to Answer The Public, Also Asked pulls together data directly from Google searches to show you themost asked questions around a topic – all presented in an easily digestible mind-map format. Understanding your audienceโ€™s issues and questions is essential not only for semantic SEO, but for any successful marketing strategy – you wonโ€™t regret giving this tool a go.

So there we have it, your ultimate guide to semantic SEO that should leave you prepped and ready to create comprehensive, contextual, and converting content. Google wonโ€™t know whatโ€™s hit it.

Cedarwood Digital is an award-winning SEO agency with a proven track record of boosting online traffic and conversions for both small companies and large corporations. Want to leave it to the pros? We donโ€™t blame you – drop us a line at [email protected]

Collaboration Between Digital PR And SEO - Blog Image

Why Collaboration Between SEO and Digital PR Is So Important

In the dynamic world of digital marketing, the crossover between SEO and Digital PR is becoming increasingly vital. SEO and Digital PR are both crucial if you are looking to increase your brand visibility and online presence, and even though they can be viewed as separate roles, collaboration is absolutely essential. By collaborating your SEO and Digital PR strategies, you can successfully achieve brand awareness, increased visibility and more sales.ย 

In the past, Digital PR agencies and SEO have been seen as completely separate entities, both completed by separate teams with no involvement. However, as high quality links and brand reputation have become more important for improving organic search results, collaboration between SEO and DPR is now extremely valuable. By integrating the two, both elements work together to increase each otherโ€™s impact.

Why Is Integrating SEO And Digital PR Essential? 

  • โžก๏ธ Enhanced Online Visibility 

SEO and Digital PR both aim to increase a brandโ€™s online visibility. While SEO efforts focus on on-page efforts, DPR focuses on off-site but both can have a massive impact on driving more organic traffic to a website. When SEO and DPR teams work together, they can target the same areas of a website, and produce on-site and off-site content to increase rankings and visibility. 

When SEO and Digital PR teams work together, they can identify high-value opportunities and target these together to increase visibility. Quality backlinks from Digital PR efforts can enhance domain authority, making it easier for SEO initiatives to achieve better results in the SERPs, alongside on-site optimisations, this can have a huge impact on SEO performance. 

Successful Digital PR strategies can also drive targeted traffic to your website and this is a great opportunity for SEO teams to provide Digital PR teams with information about high intent traffic which will be valuable for the brand and the Digital PR team can then use this data to inform their strategies and create campaigns that will attract the right type of traffic. This collaboration can work really well and generate high intent users for your website. Product placements are an example where this can be extremely effective.  

  • โžก๏ธ High Quality Content 

Combining SEOโ€™s data driven approach to keyword research with PRโ€™s storytelling expertise can result in content that ranks well and engages readers. Both teams can ensure that the content is interesting for users, but also optimised for search engines, and this can also make it compelling enough to attract media attention. Sometimes, you donโ€™t even need to outreach your Digital PR work, you can make the journalists come to you – by targeting relevant keywords and providing data hubs within your content, you can gain natural backlinks without the need for any contact with journalists. However, in order for this to work successfully, it is absolutely imperative that the SEO and Digital PR experts are working together. You can read more about this reverse digital pr strategy in our blog talking all about reverse Digital PR and how it works. 

High quality content is a must for SEO and Digital PR, and by working together, you can create content that is fit for both SEO and Digital PR purposes. 

  • โžก๏ธ Building Brand Authority And Trust 

Building brand authority and E-E-A-T (Experience, Expertise, Authority and Trust) signals is essential for organic performance and one of the many ways to do this and potentially one of the most direct crossovers between SEO and Digital PR is link building. Gaining high quality backlinks from reputable sites is key for SEO performance – it will make the brand more trustworthy in the eyes of search engines and consumers and it can significantly boost the websiteโ€™s authority and online visibility. This therefore makes Digital PR an essential part of all modern SEO strategies and when both teams work together seamlessly, it can make this process much more effective. 

  • โžก๏ธ Measuring Success 

Having a unified approach between SEO and Digital PR will also allow for a more comprehensive set of metrics to measure campaign success. By combining SEO and Digital PR data and analytics, you can gain deeper insights into how both efforts are performing together and adjust your strategies accordingly. 

Overall, incorporating your SEO and Digital PR strategies goes much further than immediate online visibility but it helps build a strong foundation for long term success in the online space. By understanding these benefits, you can effectively collaborate your SEO and DIgital PR efforts to create an extremely strong online presence.

How Can Digital PR And SEO Teams Collaborate? 

  • โžก๏ธ Align Strategies 

The first step when Digital PR and SEO teams are collaborating on any project or account is to start working together from the very beginning. Both teams should align their objectives and these can be increasing organic traffic, enhancing brand awareness and visibility, or boosting engagement – whatever the goals and objectives are, it is important that both teams are on the same page so that all strategies and projects moving forwards are focused on the same outcomes. 

  • โžก๏ธ Share Keyword Research and Insights 

SEO teams should consistently share keyword research and insights with the Digital PR team so that they can be aware of topics that are newsworthy and have a high search potential. This can help to inform strategy for Digital PR campaigns and ensure they are relevant, but it can also help ensure that all Digital PR content is optimised for SEO from the outset so that it can be uploaded to the website for SEO purposes as well as outreached for Digital PR.

  • โžก๏ธ Coordinate Content Creation 

High quality content takes time to write, and with both SEO and Digital PR teams having expertise in content creation, these teams should definitely be sharing their content with each other. Digital PR teams will often be creating data hubs of content that would be absolutely perfect for the website, by sharing this content, the SEO team can ensure it is targeting the right keywords and once this has been uploaded to the website, it can attract traffic and potentially even receive natural backlinks – a win win situation which would have potentially have been missed if there was no crossover between the two teams. Likewise, SEO teams will also be creating highly targeted content that the Digital PR team can utilise for their benefit as well.

  • โžก๏ธ Cross Team Collaboration 

Overall, creating collaboration between SEO and Digital PR teams needs to focus on consistent communication and teamwork between both teams. This can be achieved through joint training sessions, regular check-ins, collaborative brainstorming and shared tracking tools to ensure everyone is at the same stage throughout the whole strategy. 

Summary

For any business looking to enhance their online presence, it is absolutely essential that Digital PR and SEO teams are working together. When these two teams collaborate, they can create a cohesive strategy that will amplify the impact of both efforts. High quality backlinks from reputable media sources can significantly impact SEO results, and SEO insights can guide DPR efforts to target topics that will drive high intent traffic and engagement. 

The synergy between Digital PR and SEO will not only maximise brand exposure and authority, but will also ensure a strategic approach to content creation and online marketing, ultimately leading to increased visibility, traffic and conversions for the business. 

At Cedarwood Digital, our SEO and Digital PR teams are constantly working together to drive online visibility for a range of businesses. If you are looking to boost the online presence of your business through Digital PR and SEO, make sure to get in touch with us today.

Why You Should Target Zero Volume Keywords - SEO Blog

Why You Should Target Zero Volume Keywords Within Your SEO Strategy

When carrying out SEO keyword research, youโ€™ll probably start with high search volume, low-competition keywords – and thatโ€™s great because these are popular keywords covering topics that users want to know about. So why should you bother targeting low volume keywords? 

Zero volume keywords can often be overlooked in your SEO strategy, however targeting these low volume keywords can be very strategic and beneficial. In this blog we will be discussing what zero volume keywords are, why you should be targeting them within your SEO strategy and how to effectively incorporate them.

What Are Zero Search Volume Keywords?

Zero search volume keywords are search terms that, according to keyword research tools, have little to no monthly search volume meaning these particular keywords are not frequently searched for by users. However, despite their apparent lack of popularity, they can be highly valuable for your SEO strategy. 

Why You Should Target Zero Volume Keywords 

According to Google, 15% of searches that they see every day are brand new searches, never seen before. There are trillions of searches on Google every year so 15% is an extremely high number, and all of these keywords will have zero search volume but could still be extremely valuable to target and hereโ€™s why: 

  • โžก๏ธ Less Competitionย 

One of the biggest benefits of targeting zero volume keywords is the significantly reduced competition. A large proportion of zero volume keywords will be low competition as well as low volume meaning you will be more likely to rank highly for these terms.

  • โžก๏ธ High Intentย 

Often, low search volume, low competition keywords are long-tail keywords that are more specific and relevant to users. For example, the term โ€œgarden furnitureโ€ has a monthly search volume of 141,000 and is deemed โ€˜hardโ€™ to rank for. However, if you take this keyword and make it more specific, for example โ€œbrown wooden garden furnitureโ€ which has a monthly search volume of 0-10, you are targeting a much more specific item and the user is more likely to be a high intent user if they are searching for that term rather than a generalistic term. 

While โ€œgarden furnitureโ€ has a lot more search volume, and you will likely gain more traffic, if you are selling brown wooden garden furniture, you will want to be targeting users who are looking for that specific product. With the right high intent keywords, you could see your conversion rate and revenue increase even with less traffic. 

Zero volume keywords often do reflect very specific queries with high intent, and users searching for these terms are often looking for very particular information, products or services. It is likely that these users are going to be further down the sales funnel and by targeting these keywords, you can attract a highly targeted audience that is more likely to convert. 

  • โžก๏ธ Future Trendsย 

Zero volume keywords can sometimes indicate emerging trends and as new topics gain popularity, search volumes will naturally increase. By targeting these keywords early, before any of your competitors, you can use your expertise and position yourself as an authority in your niche before your competitors catch on. By creating authoritative, helpful content and getting it to rank well before search volume increases, you can have already gained valuable traffic and be in the best position when more users start searching for the same queries. 

How To Find Low Volume Keywords

The first step in utilising zero volume keywords in your SEO strategy is to find them. Below are some tips for conducting keyword research for these low volume search terms: 

  • โžก๏ธ Use keyword research tools

Keyword research tools such as Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner and SEMrush can help you to identify zero search volume keywords. These tools allow you to filter keywords based on their search volume and keyword difficulty and can help you to identify potential zero volume keywords to target in your SEO strategy. 

  • โžก๏ธ Look for long-tail keywordsย 

Long-tail keywords are more specific than broad search terms and they can often have lower search volumes but be extremely relevant to your target audience. Looking for these long-tail keywords will allow you to target your content to match high intent keywords.

  • โžก๏ธ Analyse your websiteโ€™s search queriesย 

Analysing queries that are driving traffic to your website will be a great way to find keywords that are extremely relevant for your users. You can use Google Search Console to look at queries that are driving traffic to your website and you can then look for the queries that have low search volume but drive a high click through rate to find relevant, high intent, low volume keywords that you should be targeting within your SEO strategy.  

  • โžก๏ธ Conduct a competitor analysisย 

Analyse your competitors’ websites to see what keywords they are targeting and look for any gaps or opportunities where you can target zero volume keywords that you may have missed. 

Once you have compiled a list of zero volume keywords, you can then start optimising your website to target these keywords and bring in high intent traffic to your website. 

How To Incorporate Zero Volume Keywords When Optimising Your Website For SEO  

Now that you have a thorough list of zero volume keywords that are extremely relevant to your offering, you can incorporate them into your SEO strategy. 

The following tips will help you when optimising your website for targeting zero volume keywords: 

  • โžก๏ธ Use keywords in your contentย 

In order to target the zero volume keywords from the previous list you have created, you should use these keywords naturally throughout your content. You can create blog posts answering specific queries, or include keywords in product descriptions. Including zero volume keywords naturally in your content will help you to target and rank for these highly relevant and targeted keywords, just ensure you donโ€™t keyword stuff. 

  • โžก๏ธ Optimise meta data

Incorporate your keywords into your page titles and meta descriptions to help Google and other search engines understand the relevance of your content for specific keywords, queries and topics. 

  • โžก๏ธ Focus on quality contentย 

When creating content that is targeting zero volume keywords, it is important to create high quality content that is helpful for your users. While it is likely going to be easier to rank for low volume keywords because they do typically have a lower keyword difficulty, it is still vital to create quality content that is answering your users questions and meeting their needs. 

  • โžก๏ธ Use internal linksย 

Use internal linking to connect content throughout your website. This can be particularly useful when you are creating blog content that is targeting long-tail keywords that are giving users further information about your product or service – linking these blogs to the main service or category page can not only act as a great CTA for users but it will also help distribute link equity to your important pages.

  • โžก๏ธ Monitor performanceย 

Once you have optimised your website and targeted your list of zero volume keywords, you should regularly monitor the performance of how these keywords are performing. Use tools like GA4 and Google Search Console to track traffic, engagement, conversions and revenue to see how your webpages are performing and which zero volume keywords are bringing in high intent, converting traffic. This will help you to adjust your strategy based on the data to continuously improve your SEO performance. 

Summary

Targeting zero volume keywords can be a game changer for your SEO strategy. By focusing on low volume, low competition, high intent keywords, you can attract targeted users and potentially increase conversions and revenue for your business. Targeting zero volume keywords shouldnโ€™t be your entire SEO strategy but by incorporating them in your strategy and focusing on only relevant keywords, you can easily boost your overall SEO performance. 

To find out more or to receive help with incorporating zero volume keywords into your SEO strategy, get in touch with us today and our team of SEO experts can help take your SEO game to the next level.