March 1, 2014
Unless you’ve been living under a rock (or running a busy store or two!) you’ve heard the news. This fall, Google made two big announcements:
One: Hummingbird, the biggest change to its core online search algorithm since 2001, went live, affecting more than 90 percent of all shopper queries.
Two: The search giant moved to 100 percent secure search, which now bars website owners from seeing organic search term data in their analytics. Keyword data for search engine marketing campaigns is unchanged.
Google has become so good at providing relevant search results to users that the days of site owners obsessing over individual keywords are over.
Today, retailers must focus on the intentions of shoppers (keyword themes), execute a content strategy around buyer personas and these themes, then measure results at the page level.
The Power of Conversational Search
Google continues to dominate local search, with a massive 70 percent share of all activity. In recent years, users have rapidly migrated away from PCs and now spend as much time (or more) with a mobile device in their hands, often while watching TV simultaneously.
On a PC, users are accustomed to entering one or more keywords into a search box. As more terms are added, these traditional queries quickly turn into a long list of words that sound more like a computer talking than a human speaking. Digital marketing vendors continue to focus a massive amount of time, energy and money into targeting specific keywords and long-tail queries in an effort to connect shoppers to retailers.
Enter the smartphone. Google knows that just under half of all searches are now done via mobile devices. As a result, a new type of search emerged in 2010. Sometimes called latent or abstract search, the best term to describe it is simply conversational search.
This is where Hummingbird shines, with the latest algorithm changes now making Google better able to turn natural language searches into relevant search results.
Today, shoppers are much more apt to speak directly into their phone to ask, “Where is a local Serta dealer?” than they are to open a browser and type “Serta dealer Chicago.”
The key for Google (and its rival at Apple) is to win the race to develop the technology necessary to smoothly turn these questions into highly relevant answers in the form of both organic website links (your website content) as well as text (PC and mobile), display and video ads that generate revenue for both Google and retailers.
Think User Intent & Content Strategy
The time has come to stop obsessing over keywords as your be-all, end-all strategy. You still need to be sure the right words appear on the right pages in the right places, but stuffing words and phrases may now garner you a lower quality score than in the past.
Think less quantity of keywords and more quality and depth of content wrapped around themes. Ask yourself who your ideal shoppers are, create buyer personas that outline their wants and needs and then think about the products they’re interested in and how your store can serve their needs.
You need to provide the very best, most useful content for each potential customer. Each page should have no fewer than 400 words, be professionally written and be deep enough to capture subtle variations on the core concept. Think about the natural, verbal questions shoppers will use to get to each page and write accordingly.
If you’re stumped about who your best customers are and what they’re looking for, email your customer list, embed a survey on your site and arm your in-store sales team with a questionnaire. The more personas you build the better you can execute content that will engage and convert like shoppers.
Page Performance is Critical
With Hummingbird here to stay, your next big pivot should be to focus on individual page performance. That is, log in to your website analytics tool to see how each content piece on your site is performing. Again, think less about keywords and more about the content (products and brands) that shoppers crave.
Focus first on the pages that are most critical to your store. Are your specials or promotional pages getting high traffic volume, or is it your specific brand pages or product reviews? Look at the pages that generate the most value and generate maximum return on investment. Link traffic to overall conversions (phone calls, form fills for more information, etc.).
Once you have data in hand, you can craft an updated strategy for your content and know exactly where to focus your attention and limited resources to turn conversational searches into qualified website traffic, and ultimately sell more.
Regina Dinning is a business development director for home goods at Netsertive. Dinning (rdinning@netsertive.com) is a seasoned professional with more than 15 years’ experience in marketing and advertising, including several years specifically in home furnishings.