SERP Strategies
Flexible approaches to modern SEO
Presentation Title
Subtitle
Month, #, Year
SERP Strategies
SERP Strategies
The biggest trend in search
has nothing to do with rankings…
August 2019
10 blue links
No images…
April 2019
“People also ask” box appears
July 2020
Images pop in, low on the SERP
August 2020
Images are slowly moving up…
September 2020
Whoa! Lots of pictures…
November 2021
Images appear at the very top
Followed by a featured snippet
Followed by “People also ask”
May 2022
Here come the videos…
source: Moz
SERP Strategies
RANK
CTR
TRAFFIC
Mostly steady at #1 or #2
Falls from 25% to 10%
Drops from 400 per week to less than 100
RANK
CTR
TRAFFIC
Mostly steady at #1 or #2
Falls from 25% to 10%
Drops from 400 per week to less than 100
RANK
CTR
TRAFFIC
Mostly steady at #1 or #2
Falls from 25% to 10%
Drops from 400 per week to less than 100
The greatest keyword research tool is…
SERP has videos
November 2013 “card tricks”
No carousel, just rich snippets…
March 2022 “card tricks”
Big carousel with key moments.
June 2018
Video carousels appear in SERPs
Total height: 525 pixels
Images (thumbnails): 3
June 2020
The arrow is added
Total height: 525 pixels
Images (thumbnails): 3
September 2020
The “View all” button appears
Total height: 700 pixels
Images (thumbnails): 3, plus icon
November 2020
Vertical carousel, showing 4 videos
Total height: 740 pixels
Images (thumbnails): 4, plus icon
July 2021
“Key moments” added to the videos
Total height: 1,450 pixels
Images (thumbnails): 10
If I’m serious about this phrase,
I need to make a video…
“how to share google analytics”
Keyword focused article.
Keyword focused video
Article ranks.
“How to grant access to Google Analytics”
Article ranks.
“How to grant access to Google Analytics”
Video ranks.
12,500 views over 3 years
86% from organic search
10,000 views over 3 years
26% from “external” sources
The custom thumbnail is
designed for a high CTR
Elements of a high CTR thumbnail image
Elements of a high CTR thumbnail image
Elements of a high CTR thumbnail image
Elements of a high CTR thumbnail image
SERP has images
That’s a bit out of my league…
SERP Strategies
Interesting idea!
SERP Strategies
That’s more my speed
SERP Strategies
But what does the SERP look like?
Nobody asked you, Google!
Images at the top of the SERP
So let’s make an image!
SERP Strategies
Keyword-focused title (and file name)
Visually interesting
Practical yet colorful
Watermark
SERP Strategies
The image ranks.
The post ranks.
“content performance matrix”
Organic CTR is not my only opportunity
SERP Strategies
SERP has directories
Directory ranks #1
Next, optimize the listing in the directory
Referral traffic and leads from the directory
Why does the directory �rank so high?
Not a high Page Authority…
Not a high Page Authority…
Not a high Page Score…
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Short Click vs. Long Click
SERP Strategies
Directories over service providers��Marketplaces over merchants
Google favors
and
SERP has big blogs
Big blogs and media sites…
“best vacuum cleaner”
Guest posts are still an important part of our strategy
SERP Strategies
SERP has associations
Association
“Private dining Chicago”
Yelp
Blog
Blog
Aggregator
“Hey, we’re part of that group!
I’m going to call them…”
Before…
(no listing)
After…
(listing and link)
Traffic boost from
the association website
SERP Strategies
SERP has UGC sites
(Quora, Reddit, Stack Overflow)
Quora ranks for the phrase in Google
This answer ranks for the question in Quora
Let’s try that �from the other direction…
What phrases does Quora rank for?
Could you provide a good answer to this high ranking question?
SERP is mix of both �service pages and articles
Article
Answers
Service Page
Article
Business Listings
Service Page
Ads
Article
Article
“lead generation web design”
SERP is trying to satisfy both �commercial and info intent
Information intent
“lead generation web design”
Information intent
Commercial intent
Information intent
Commercial intent
Commercial intent
Commercial intent
Information intent
Information intent
Targeting �“ambiguous intent” �phrases
?
“lead generation web design”
?
$
?
$
$
$
?
?
Outline for your page
Must be legit!
Lots of information …any suppliers?
“indium salts”
Lots of information …any suppliers?
Here’s one
…but you can’t tell from the title tag
“indium salts”
SERP Strategies
If you’re making a service page… | If you’re writing an article… |
Structure the page around PAA questions | Add calls to actions |
Add testimonials and case studies (E-A-T) | Add a lead magnet |
Indicate the service in the title tag | Write it twice and pitch one to an authority site |
Targeting “ambiguous intent” phrases
SERP Strategies
Make sure CTAs are visually prominent
A little something for the tire kickers
Write articles that target that phrase for lots of websites…
“personal SEO”
SERP Strategies
If you’re making a service page… | If you’re writing an article… |
Structure the page around PAA questions | Add calls to actions |
Add testimonials and case studies (E-A-T) | Add a lead magnet |
Indicate the service in the title tag | Write it twice and pitch one to an authority site |
Targeting “ambiguous intent” phrases
SERP Strategies
SERP Strategies
If you’re making a service page… | If you’re writing an article… |
Structure the page around PAA questions | Add calls to actions |
Add testimonials and case studies (E-A-T) | Add a lead magnet |
Indicate the service in the title tag | Write it twice and pitch one to an authority site |
Targeting “ambiguous intent” phrases
SERP Strategies
Feb 2018
Rewritten
Sept 2021
Re-rewritten
Nov 2013
Published
1800 words
6 images
Nov 2013
1950 words
9 images
1800 words
6 images
Nov 2013
Feb 2018
5600 words
38 images
3 contributor quotes
1 video
1950 words
9 images
1800 words
6 images
Nov 2013
Feb 2013
Sep 2021
If your page doesn’t rank,�maybe that’s because �you only wrote it once…
Warning!�Do not change the URL
website.com/7-url-best-practices
Use URLs that are easy to reuse later...
SERP Strategies
website.com/7-url-best-practices
website.com/url-best-practices-infographic
Use URLs that are easy to reuse later...
SERP Strategies
website.com/7-url-best-practices
website.com/url-best-practices-infographic
website.com/url-best-practices
No numbers, no formats!
Use URLs that are easy to reuse later...
SERP Strategies
SERP has stars
Now they’re just looking for trouble…
How to improve your online reputation
They sent positive feedback? �
Respond with a quick, polite, low-pressure request…
SERP Strategies
SERP has you
Ranking for �“medical fitness management”
…but what about�“fitness center management?”
Is that one keyphrase? Or two?
Looks good!
SERP Strategies
Not all visibility is ranking. �Not all ranking is visibility.�
Thank you.
Reach out anytime.
Andy Crestodina
Co-founder / CMO
773.353.8301
andy@orbitmedia.com
��