Category: SEO Opportunities

(from Google Bard)
Image recognition using artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to revolutionize the way search engines like Google understand and interpret images, significantly impacting search engine optimization (SEO) strategies. Here’s how image recognition is expected to be incorporated into SEO, enhancing the signal strength of pictures as content in search:

Automatic Image Tagging and Description: AI-powered image recognition can automatically identify and tag the objects, scenes, and actions depicted in images, providing more accurate and detailed descriptions than traditional methods. This enhanced metadata will enable search engines to better grasp the context of images, improving their relevance to search queries.

Improved Image Search Relevance: Image recognition will refine image search results, aligning them more closely with user intent. By understanding the content of images, search engines can match images to search queries with greater precision, providing users with more relevant and visually appealing results.

Visual Search and Product Discovery: Image recognition will facilitate visual search, enabling users to search for products or information using images or even real-world objects captured through their cameras. This will empower users to find what they’re looking for more intuitively and efficiently, opening up new avenues for product discovery and e-commerce.

Enhanced Image Optimization for SEO: AI tools will assist in optimizing images for SEO by recommending appropriate filenames, alt text descriptions, and file formats to improve search engine indexing and ranking. Website owners will be able to ensure that their images are optimized for both visibility and technical performance.

Contextual Image Understanding: Image recognition will enable search engines to understand the broader context in which images are used, considering factors like surrounding text, page content, and user behavior. Contextual understanding will further refine image search results and provide users with a more holistic search experience.

Personalized Image Recommendations: Image recognition can personalize image recommendations based on user preferences and search history. A tailored approach will enhance user engagement and satisfaction, keeping them engaged on search results pages and increasing the likelihood of conversions.

Visual Content Creation and Curation: AI-powered image recognition tools can assist in creating and curating visually appealing content, such as generating images from text descriptions or identifying relevant images from large repositories. Creators and marketers will produce more engaging and visually impactful content.

Multimodal Search and Content Understanding: Image recognition will contribute to the development of multimodal search, allowing users to combine text, voice, and image queries to refine their searches, providing users with more flexibility and expressiveness in their search interactions.

Accessibility for Visually Impaired Users: Image recognition can enhance accessibility for visually impaired users by providing accurate descriptions of images, enabling them to better understand and engage with visual content, promoting inclusivity and accessibility in the digital landscape.

Cross-Platform Image Search and Discovery: Image recognition will facilitate cross-platform image search and discovery, enabling users to seamlessly find images across different devices and platforms. This creates a more unified and frictionless search experience.

As image recognition technology continues to evolve, its applications in SEO will expand, transforming the way search engines perceive and interpret visual content. This will undoubtedly enhance the role of images in search, providing users with more relevant and engaging search experiences while empowering website owners and marketers to leverage images for improved SEO performance.

Drones, once confined to the skies for recreational purposes, have now soared into the realm of Search Engine Marketing (SEM),

offering innovative solutions that go beyond the conventional. Here, we explore all the dynamic ways in which drones are reshaping the landscape of search engine marketing.

Crafting Compelling Visual Content

One of the primary applications of drones in search engine marketing lies in their ability to create high-quality aerial photography and video content. Imagine capturing stunning aerial footage of your business, products, or services. This visual feast not only engages your audience but also holds the power to boost your Click-Through Rate (CTR) and Conversion Rate. The versatility of drone footage extends to creating impactful website videos, social media posts, and engaging blog content.

Boosting Local SEO Signals

Drones play a strategic role in enhancing local Search Engine Optimization (SEO) signals. By featuring drone footage and captivating photos on your website and social media pages, you send explicit signals to search engines like Google about your business’s geographical location. This, in turn, contributes to an improved ranking in local search results, ensuring that your business stands out in its specific locale.

Creating Interactive Content Experiences

Drones open up new avenues for creating immersive and interactive content experiences. Imagine a drone-powered virtual tour of your business or product, enticing visitors to explore and engage with your content for longer periods. This not only enriches the user experience on your website but also encourages social media sharing, extending the reach of your brand in the digital landscape.

Executing Targeted Marketing Campaigns

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, precision is key. Drones offer a unique vantage point to execute targeted marketing campaigns. For instance, capturing footage of a local event with a drone allows you to create a tailored video ad that specifically targets individuals who attended the event. This personalized approach can significantly enhance the effectiveness of your marketing strategies.

Conducting Market Research

Drones serve as valuable tools for collecting data about your target market and their evolving needs. Imagine using a drone to fly over a competitor’s store, gaining insights into customer traffic and the products they offer. This strategic reconnaissance can inform your market research efforts, providing a competitive edge in understanding consumer behavior.

In real-world applications, businesses are harnessing the power of drones in SEM:

• Real Estate Virtual Tours: A real estate company leverages drone footage to craft virtual tours, providing potential buyers with a bird’s-eye view of properties and their surroundings without the need for a physical visit.
• Construction Project Documentation: A construction company employs drone footage to document project progress, creating compelling videos and images that are shared on the company’s website and social media pages.

In the ever-evolving landscape of digital marketing, drones emerge not merely as aerial gadgets but as transformative tools, enabling businesses to elevate their search engine marketing strategies to new heights.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can revolutionize search marketing strategies. Generative AI involves the use of advanced algorithms to generate content, answers, and solutions, enhancing marketing efforts in various ways.

Generative AI offers numerous ways to enhance search marketing initiatives:

Keyword Research

Generative AI can analyze extensive data sets to identify the most relevant and high-performing keywords. This helps optimize your content for improved search engine ranking, ensuring your material reaches the right audience.

Content Creation

Leverage generative AI to craft high-quality content that is both informative and engaging. This aids in attracting more visitors to a website, enhancing SEO efforts and establishing authority in a specific field.

Personalization

Generative AI enables the creation of personalized content tailored to individual users. By delivering content that resonates with each user’s preferences and behaviors, a more meaningful and engaging experience can be provided, fostering visitor engagement and loyalty.

Chatbots

Create efficient chatbots using generative AI to address customer queries and provide support. This not only enhances customer service but also reduces the workload on the human staff, resulting in a more streamlined support system.

As generative AI technology advances, we can anticipate even more innovative applications in search marketing. Expect continuous improvements in content creation, personalization, chatbot interactions, advertising optimization, and more, all contributing to refined and effective marketing campaigns.

For more advanced help on using generative AI (such as prompt design), visit: promptengineer.guide

1. Intent: When someone uses a search engine, they are actively seeking information or solutions to a specific problem. This indicates a higher level of intent compared to passive browsing or social media scrolling. They are more likely to convert into customers because they are already in a mindset of finding a solution.
2. Relevance: Search engines deliver highly relevant results based on the user’s query. If your business appears in the search results for a relevant keyword, it means that the lead is already interested in your product or service. This relevance increases the likelihood of converting them into a customer.
3. Trust: Organic search results are seen as more trustworthy by users compared to paid advertisements. Being prominently displayed in search results lends credibility to your business, and users are more likely to trust and convert based on those search engine recommendations.
4. High-quality traffic: Search engine leads are often considered high-quality traffic because they have actively searched for specific keywords related to your business. This targeted traffic is more likely to convert because they have already shown interest in what you offer.
5. User control: Users have control over their search queries and can refine them until they find what they’re looking for. This means that when they land on your website through a search engine, they are more likely to find exactly what they were searching for, leading to a higher conversion rate.
6. Higher purchase intent: Studies have shown that search engine leads have a higher purchase intent compared to leads from other sources. They are actively looking for a solution, which means they are closer to making a purchase decision. This increased purchase intent translates into higher conversion rates.
7. Long-term impact: Search engine leads have the potential for long-term impact on your business. By optimizing your website for search engines, you can achieve higher rankings and attract continuous organic traffic. This sustained exposure to potential customers increases the likelihood of converting them into long-term customers.
8. Cost-effectiveness: Compared to other advertising channels, search engine leads are often more cost-effective. While search engine optimization (SEO) efforts require upfront investment, once you achieve good rankings, the traffic you receive is organic and free. This means that the conversion rate for search engine leads has a higher return on investment (ROI).
9. Information access: When leads come from search engines, they have access to valuable information about your business, products, and services before making a decision. They can read reviews, compare prices, and gather information to ensure they are making an informed purchase. This knowledge increases their confidence and improves the chances of converting into a customer.
10. Mobile optimization: With the rise of mobile devices, more people are using search engines on their smartphones or tablets. Mobile optimization is crucial for attracting search engine leads, and since mobile users often have a higher level of intent and are more likely to make immediate purchasing decisions, converting these leads into customers becomes easier.

✅Increased Property Exposure

Real estate agents rely on visibility to showcase their property listings to potential buyers or tenants. SEO helps optimize property descriptions, images, and other relevant content on websites, making it easier for search engines to index and display them in search results. This increased exposure ensures that more people discover and engage with the available properties, increasing the chances of securing leads and closing deals.

✅Targeted Local Searches

Local SEO plays a crucial role in real estate marketing. People often search for properties in specific areas or neighborhoods, and optimizing for local keywords helps real estate professionals capture these targeted leads. By incorporating location-specific keywords, such as “houses for sale in [city/neighborhood],” real estate agents can rank higher in local search results and attract potential clients who are actively looking to buy or rent in those areas.

✅Niche Property Marketing

SEO allows real estate agents to target niche markets or property types. Whether it’s luxury homes, vacation rentals, commercial properties, or specific property features like waterfront or eco-friendly homes, optimizing website content and keywords for these niches helps attract interested buyers or tenants. By aligning SEO efforts with the unique selling points of the properties they specialize in, real estate professionals can effectively reach their target audience and generate high-quality leads.

✅Proof Of Work

SEO provides real estate professionals with a platform to showcase their expertise and industry knowledge. By creating informative blog posts, articles, or guides that address common questions or concerns of buyers and sellers, agents can position themselves as trusted authorities. This not only improves search engine rankings but also builds credibility and trust with potential clients. When people find valuable information on a real estate agent’s website, they are more likely to consider that agent when making a property-related decision.

✅Competitive Advantage

The real estate industry is highly competitive, with multiple agents and agencies vying for the attention of potential clients. SEO allows real estate professionals to gain a competitive edge by outranking their competitors in search results. When a website consistently appears at the top of search listings, it creates a perception of authority and reliability. Prospective clients are more likely to trust and choose the real estate agent who ranks higher in search results, leading to increased inquiries and conversions.

✅Helps Build Long Term Relationships

SEO is not just about attracting leads; it’s also about building long-term relationships with clients. By continuously providing valuable content, updates, and resources through optimized websites and newsletters, real estate agents can engage with their audience even after a transaction is complete. This ongoing interaction helps foster loyalty, encourages referrals, and positions the agent as a go-to resource for any future real estate needs.

In the real estate industry, where properties are high-value investments and trust is paramount, SEO offers real estate professionals a targeted, cost-effective, and long-term marketing solution. By leveraging the power of SEO, real estate agents can maximize their online visibility, attract qualified leads, showcase expertise, and gain a competitive advantage in their local market.

However, it’s also the longest way.

If you are not the patient type then SEO probably won’t help you with affiliate marketing.

It’s been a rough year for affiliate marketers. Between John Mueller letting SEOs everywhere know that even adult websites must adhere to Google’s policy on organic search marketing as a warning to blackhat SEOs and Google’s most recent Core Update, affiliate marketing just got harder.

Google is more focused on content more than ever before and is less reliant on links. Since links are a large portion of blackhat SEO then it’s easy to see how blackhat SEO will be killed off eventually if Google continues in this direction with it’s search engine and finally reaches a point where links will become obsolete. Links are still a factor now but they will never beat authentic, quality content if the goal is search engine rank improvement.

So, what’s the good news about affiliate marketing?

Video marketing is easier than ever.

High quality stock video footage, professional voice actors, and talented 2D and CGI graphics artists are easily accessible online on multiple sites, quite affordable, and easy to find with simple Google searches. Applying basic SEO principles to video pages in sites like YouTube is effective and can at least get you started in increasing your YouTube search rank.

Creating a solid review niche site that gives detail, unbiased, and content filled reviews and then applying SEO to every page is another way to tap into organic traffic.

Organic traffic is king when it comes to affiliate marketing. It’s possible to create sites that generate passive income when you combine a steady stream of organic traffic to a high-converting affiliate marketing site. The best part is your marketing budget won’t be affected since organic traffic is free (you might have to pay an SEO expert to help tap into this free traffic though). With organic traffic, a website making thousands every month with a cost of around $100 a year between domain registration and hosting cost is completely possible.

However, the problem is still competition. It can take years to gain presence in search engines simply because of the sheer amount of competing sites that are all going after the same keywords.

One solution is by finding new emerging markets by keeping up with news and following trends as they develop. An emerging market has some characteristics of a developed market, but does not fully meet its standards. This includes markets that may become developed markets in the future so it’s an opportunity to get into a market early.

Additionally, following the news in key areas that are already exploding in growth and keeping your eye open for spin-off niches that can create whole new markets.

If you are interested in getting started in affiliate marketing, here’s a tip: start with digital products. The less overhead the better especially in the beginning when your affiliate marketing income is $0. There are plenty of digital products online that can be sold so no need to try and sell physical products directly unless you are the original creator of the product or don’t mind sitting on inventory. Of course, you could also dropship products to avoid the burden of inventory but this can eat into your profits significantly.

Is one of your 2021 New Year’s resolutions starting a new business online?

Try affiliate marketing.

Search engines have not only changed the world from a consumer perspective but from a job seeker’s as well. Working in search is not only a viable career option but one that is in high demand.

For anyone who has an interest in search engines, here are a couple of real world career-level positions in the modern workforce that should be considered:

Search Engineer

Main goal for a search engineer at a company is to structure the company’s data into useful information groups that can help for grow their customer base as well as improve internal processes overall.

If you are interested in a search engineer position then a background in computer science, engineering, mathematics or information technology is best to have accroding to many career information hubs online.

Learning programming is a must but which specific language is debatable. The ones that seem to be most desired by companies are the following:

• Java
• SQL
• C++
• Python
• Scala

Search Engineers’ work is quite technical to say the least. Much of the work involves developing and operating search software, including indexing, query parsing and algorithms

If you want to read up in more detail about becoming a Search Engineer, Hired.com has an incredibly detailed page on it.

According to ZipRecruiter, the average annual salary for an SEO Engineer as of December 2020 is $65,289 a year in the US.

SEO Manager

Although many SEO projects can be done by a single SEO expert there many others that are simply too large to tackle singlehandely. The amount of SEO work needed for a website with 20 pages is not the same as SEO for a site with over 100,000 pages. For large projects, a team of SEO professionals may be needed. A person with strong leadership ability and vast SEO knowledge would serve as the SEO manager and keep the team the focused.

An MBA in business management and a solid understanding of modern SEO practices would be a good canidate for this role however a “taskmaster” with years of experience in both SEO and group leadership (instead of an MBA) woud be suitable as well. Once you get past keyword research, certain parts of SEO work can be reduced to data entry since they tend to be monatonous and detailed tasks (meta descriptions, header tags, etc.).

As for the pay, expect to make somewhere between 50K-100K (depending on company and experience) a year according to PayScale.

Search intent is a difficult thing to gauge. However, search popularity isn’t thanks to Google Trends.

Google search trends has shown that the recent cryptocurrency bull run reflects search data differently than previous bull runs have shown in trends.

The volume of search discovery is significantly different compared to last time. Could it be the institutional investors that have been spoken about it the news? Maybe, considering Bitcoin has hit new all time highs this week.

What does this reveals about the usefulness of Google Trends as a speculative investor tool? Nothing that doesn’t involve reliance on other signals such as trading volume and news stories (and more speculation) but as time goes on and how exactly this most recent cryptocurrency bull run plays out and what the trend data shows along side it may reveal some new information. After all, it’s possible things are still getting started and those old familiar large spikes might be showing up indicating new search search discovery (or at least a reignited interest from past searchers).

If the recent hype is true, and institutional investors have been entering the crypto-space, then Google Trends data may be speaking some loud truths, revealing what a trend of search discovery is like and how sudden spikes and crashes can parallel similar trading volume patterns but, in contrast, flat search trends indicate a more stable market because those entering the market are not doing so for the first time, or, at least not hearing about the market for the first time.

In conclusion, if the recent crypto bull run with Bitcoin shattering it’s all time high this week is something more permanent then Google’s recent flat search trends for “Bitcoin” and “Cryptocurrency” may be displaying search trend data in front of all our faces showing that this run isn’t temporary but something much bigger…

The most common use case for SEO is business promotion. Simply put, ranking a website in Google that has commercial purposes and represents a business.

Here are 3 other lesser known use case for SEO:

Self-Promotion

It’s not uncommon for people to create a website just to promote their resume. With proper SEO, employers finding a potential employee’s resume in Google search is possible. Furthermore, employers may find it impressive that a particular resume shows up in search, adding to a wow factor that can greatly influence an employer’s decision.

Additionally, influencers, entertainers and educators on YouTube can use SEO to rank their videos in search and grow their channel.

Awareness

Bringing social awareness and promoting non-profits using SEO is smart as many people seeking to learn about specific issues affecting the world will turn to major search engines.

Smaller, lesser known, organizations that depend on donations and are working on a shoe-string budget find the free traffic SEO can generate a life saver.

Affiliate Marketing

A personal favorite of many SEO experts everywhere.

A steady stream of organic traffic derived from SEO can be used to create passive-sales generation affiliate marketing vessels. A literal flow of passive money. Part of the draw comes from the fact that many affiliate marketing sites sell digital products so people must turn to the internet to search and download them.

SEO is powerful not just to traditional businesses looking to promote online but to anyone everywhere looking to receive attention online.

The following tips when choosing an SEO specialist or agency comes from Google’s developer program tech lead, Maile Ohye.

“An SEO’s potential is only as high as the quality of your business or website”

In other words, If your website sells apples you aren’t going to rank for “oranges.” The content, services, and products listed on any business website must be relative to the keyword and be able to deliver said service or product.

“In most cases, SEOs need four months to a year to help your business implement implement improvements and see potential benefit.”

This is highly subjective. In my own experience I was able to improve a clients’ site by as much as a 50% within a month by editing meta data and adding quality content to key pages. Also, although considered a bit of a “grey area” in Google’s eyes, link building can really make a difference by passing authority to your site. The more authority a site has, the higher it ranks.  Too many variables to give a general time frame.

“Doing what’s good for SEO is also doing what’s good for your online customers”

For example, a business that uses old legacy systems would possibly respond well to good search friendly best practices that involve paying off your site’s “technical debt.”

“When hiring an SEO, conduct a two-way interview to make sure they’re genuinely interested in your business. Check their references. Ask for (and expect to pay for) a technical and search audit.”

Solid advice here from Maile Ohye. As an SEO specialist I am constantly learning about new businesses. Content creation is part of SEO after all and if you are not familiar with an industry it’s pretty difficult to create SEO’d content for it. Also, it’s a good idea to check past projects out. Get specific and ask to see keywords that are ranking high for a past clients’ site. If an SEO doesn’t have any references or past projects with positive results he or she can show you it’s generally a red flag. A lot of time can go into technical and search audits, especially if it’s a large site like an ecommerce site or an enterprise level site, so it is not uncommon to be charged for this.

“You should expect an SEO to ask some of these questions: What makes your business, content, and/or service unique? What does your common customer look like, and how do they currently find your site? How does your business make money, and how can search help? What other channels are you using? Who are your competitors, and what do they do well?”

These are all questions that should be asked by any SEO. Just looking at a site isn’t enough. It’s best to probe deeper and find out where the focus should be.

“An audit may/should include the following: Identifying an issue. Providing the suggested improvement. An estimate on the time/money investment needed to implement the improvement. The estimated business impact. A plan for iterating and implementing secondary changes.”

Standard stuff here. Leave nothing out so there isn’t any confusion later about what was expected or what should or shouldn’t have been done.

“A technical audit should identify issues related to the following: Internal linking, crawlability, URL parameters, server connectivity, and response codes”

All true but don’t expect miracles from technical SEO. Simply fixing broken links and making every page “crawlable” isn’t going to be enough to rank a website for targeted keywords 9 times out of 10.

“If you’re not ready to commit to implementing SEO improvements, you’re not likely to see any results no matter whom you hire.”

I’ll expand on this because it does tend to be a problem from time to time. Some people are reluctant to make any changes to their website (design, content, content layout, etc). For advanced SEO work this simply will not work. Expect a skilled SEO to make changes to your on-site content and structure one way or another. If you are just looking for some “light SEO” work to be done such as editing or adding meta tags (titles, descriptions) then don’t expect much. SEO can be pretty dynamic work and sometimes big changes need to be made to a site in order to see an improvement in traffic volume.

Are ready to hire a professional search engine optimizer?