Nicole
\nP.S. Want to steal attention from your competitors? Check out today's 'Inspiration' section.
\nP.P.S. I've added back the 'Dates to Watch' below.
\n\n | \n Blogging is alive and well\nThe response was small, but as SEOs and marketers, we know that well-written content provides long-term value. \n | \n\n |
\n | \n I want to share your:\nBig news, latest resource, or outstanding results.
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\n | \n Insights\n \nThe rise of zero-click in search\nZero-click search, zero-click content, and zero-click marketing. \nln the past 2 weeks, I've seen more chat about 'zero-click' online. \nI recall it was Rand Fishkin who coined the term 'zero-click search' back in 2021. \nZero-click content and zero-click marketing followed. \nIn 2024, an estimated 58.5% of Google searches ended without a click. \nSince mid last year, featured snippets and AI overviews may have increased that number slightly. \nIt's noticeable that zero-click answers and AI overviews dominate a number of big search categories. \nThis means if the audience you're trying to attract uses generic and informational queries, you must find alternative ways for people to find your brand. \nA two-pronged approach to search\nOn one hand, we need to shift our focus from solely driving clicks to delivering immediate value that shows within search results. \nOn the other hand, we need to look at where our target audience is likely to discover our brand (and our clients' brands). \nSEOs and marketers are experimenting more with social media, industry news sites, and video for brand awareness and content distribution. \nWhy are they doing this?\nI believe that while traditional search has always been a great foundation, it is turning into a reward for other successful marketing activities. \nYou can use short-form, high-value content to answer questions on social media, provide expert insights for industry publications, and feature in newsletters or YouTube Shorts. \n\n \nThe point of zero-click marketing is to answer people's questions and get visibility within the search results. \n Your brand may not always get direct traffic, but you'll be seen as a useful source of information, which improves brand recognition and trust. \nThe point is, we must continue to experiment with and diversify our SEO and marketing tactics. \nA strong brand presence will naturally improve your search performance. \nIs zero-click affecting your SEO strategy? \nHit reply and tell me what you're doing. \n\n AI overviews in search...again\nLast week's 'Moz Whiteboard Friday' by Tom Capper included this graph: \nAbout 1 in 10 of the 46,000 keywords he tracked had an AI overview of some kind. \nAs you can see, the majority of those were for informational - or TOFU - content. \nIf you look further down, AI overviews appear far less in transactional or even navigational searches. \nAs Capper said, \"...for the most part…these are informational leaning, sort of already low-click SERPs.\" \nWhile Capper provides an overview of his findings he does not offer advice on HOW to rank in AI Overviews. \nLike many of you, Lily Ray questions all the advice on how to rank in AIO: \nFor all the people talking about how to rank in LLMs, especially Google’s AI Overviews, I’d love to see the evidence. What does AI-driven search mean for SEO?\nI suggest sticking with the fundamentals, so your site and content is easily understood by both users and AI systems.
AI overviews are a relatively new feature, and their behavior and impact are likely to change. \nAs always; monitor and adapt. \n\n Google doesn't care about SEO tools\nA mini panic ensued last week as a number of SEO data-tracking tools stopped reporting. \nWhile this was going on, Google told TechCrunch that it is forcing users to turn on JavaScript to use Search. \nIt seems this action caused the issue of non-functioning tools. \nBut, is there more to it? \nI read about 20 articles and posts on this. \nPatrick Hathaway of Sitebulb, gave the most plausible explanation for what's really going on: \nI've condensed his comments, but you can read the entire post on LinkedIn. \"...is this an attack on keyword tools? \nVery unlikely, in my opinion. \nIt is much more likely to be a reaction to a growing threat to Google's dominance - LLMs like ChatGPT becoming seen as an adequate/better replacement to Google search. \nBy making their data more difficult to access at scale, Google are protecting themselves against LLMs training their data sets based on Google's data. Google do not want LLMs accessing their search results or their AI Overviews (and which queries trigger them) - that's the reason for this outage. Keyword tracking tools are just collateral damage.\" \nMy take: Google does not care about SEO tools, they care about other search and answer engines eating into their market share. \nI wonder what - or who - is next? I hope these insights help. For more tips, follow me here. \n | \n\n |
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Semrush recently surveyed ~700 of their platform users.
\n78% of them consider SEO 'extremely or very valuable' for their company.
\nWhat surprised me is that 62.9% of businesses saw SEO improvements in the past six months of 2024.
\nI did not expect this number to be so high (but the survey sample is small).
\n\n | \n ✶ AI content and Google Search quality\nChris Nelson, Senior Staff Analyst, Search Ranking at Google has updated his LinkedIn bio. \nIt states that he manages \"a large, global team that builds ranking solutions as part of Google Search and direct the following areas team that builds ranking solutions for Google Search.\" \nA line under this says, \"Address novel content issues (e.g., detection and treatment of AI-generated content).\" \nAdding \"detection and treatment of AI-generated content\" may signal more policy or algorithm updates ahead. \nThanks to Barry Schwartz for the information. \n | \n\n |
\n | \n ✶SEO winners in Google Search\nLily Ray lists the SISTRIX SEO winners in Google Search and reports on the trends and gains of 2024. \nLily noted \"...a shift in Google’s ranking preferences toward sites offering authentic, user-driven experiences and specialized, authoritative content.\" \n | \n\n |
\n | \n ✶ How to measure the impact of AI overviews on SEO performance\nRich Sanger's article tells you what you need to know. \n | \n\n |
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Semrush recently surveyed ~700 of their platform users. 78% of them consider SEO 'extremely or very valuable' for their company. What surprised me is that 62.9% of businesses saw SEO improvements in the past six months of 2024. I did not expect this number to be so high (but the survey sample is small).
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My team and I have been helping brands reach their SEO traffic and conversion goals through content and links for over 10 years. Recognized by industry leaders and household brands as an authority in both organic content and digital PR.
Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs View in browser Hi there, It's not all about AI :) Today's highlights include: The Redditification of Search Results [Insights] What Metric Matters Most for SEO? [Insights] Statista's Content Marketing Trend Study 2025 [Information] Polished Content, Empty Thinking [Inspiration] Thanks for being here and have a wonderful July 4th weekend! I'll be back on July 10.Nicole P.S. I recently posted a quick reality check for your SEO strategy....
Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Did you see this?Anthropic (Claude) started an AI-generated blog and it only lasted a month. Maybe, just maybe, the content wasn't up to the standard of an expert, human writer? The highlights today include: How traditional rankings drive AI Search Let's put search data into perspective What's the top driver for showing up in AIOs? You have a passive page problem (scroll to the Inspiration section) Thanks for being here and...
Content Caffeine For content-obsessed marketers and SEOs Hi there, Are you keeping up? Since Google's annual I/O event, SEO writers have been working their keyboards overtime. You've probably read 97 opinions in the past week! Let's just say that Google seems determined to cram AI into...well, everything. Meanwhile, here's what you'll see below Lost traffic may not have been valuable Searches for SEO higher than ever Forget clicks, focus on outcomes Why we need slow-motion marketing Thanks...