This presentation by Larry Kim is a part of SEMrush webinar, October 11, 2017 The video is here: https://youtu.be/xNLfRSGfoz8

1. SEMRush Webinar, October 2017
Presented by:
• Will Critchlow, CEO, Distilled
• Larry Kim, CEO, MobileMonkey
@larrykim

2. Google Uses User
Engagement Rates like Click
Through Rates (CTR) and
Dwell Times to Determine
Organic Search Rankings
Larry’s Crazy SEO Theory:
@larrykim

3. User Query Entered
ML Algo Makes a Guess and Re-Writes The Query into
Something it Recognizes (Query Interpretation)
Did The
Result Satisfy
The User?
Great. Next Time I
See Queries Like
This, I’ll Put This
Page at the Top.
Larry’s Greatly Simplified Machine Learning Diagram*
*Note: Not Official Google Diagram.
Rats. Next Time I See
a Query Like This, I’ll
Try Some Other
Page

4. But Google Says They Don’t Use User Engagement
Metrics as a “Direct Ranking Factor”!
@larrykim

5. Google SEO PR
Spokesperson
=
@larrykim

6. Google SEO PR
SpokespersonSEO PR Guy’s BossAnother GuyAnother Guy
Another GuySundar Pichai
Larry Page
@larrykim

7. Data Opinions
In SEO, Data Wins the
Argument!
@larrykim

8. =
Few Random Facts About Larry
+
+
@larrykim

9. WordStream’s Headquarters in 2008
@larrykim

10. 98% Compound
Annual Growth
Rate
WordStream 5 Year Growth = 2945%
@larrykim

11. Over 200 Employees!
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12. Top Industry Awards
Best Customer Engagement Driver Most Innovative Company Best Content Marketing Program
@larrykim

13. @larrykim

14. WordStream’s Headquarters in 2017
@larrykim

15. Working on a
New Start-Up
for Last 4
Months
@larrykim

16. @larrykim

17. Have a 3-year old Kid (#ppckid)

18. (And what you NEED to do about it!)
@larrykim

19. Larry’s #1 Crazy SEO Experiment: Searching for a Machine
Learning Fingerprint in Search Algorithms.
@larrykim

20. Larry’s #1 Experiment: What’s A Good Click Through Rate
for Organic Search? (Spoiler Alert: It’s in Flux)
OrganicSearchClickThroughRate
High CTR Listings
Floating To Top
Positions
Low CTR Listings
Sinking To
Bottom of Page
Organic Search Position
@larrykim

21. Does CTR Impact Rankings?
Larry’s #2 Crazy SEO Experiment:
@larrykim

22. Obviously Ranking Impacts CTR.
But How About The Reverse?
A CTR Study by.
Philip Petrescu for
Moz.
@larrykim

23. +/- 3% Increase in
Post Engagement
+/- 1 Spot in Organic
Position
CTR-Based Rewards & Penalties?
@larrykim

24. Larry’s #3 Crazy SEO Experiment:
What Happens When You Make a Headline More Clicky?
@larrykim

25. Behold The Power of CTR
Optimization
WHAT?
Page Title CTR Rank
Guerrilla Marketing: 20+ Examples & Strategies to Stand Out 1% 8
20+ Jaw-Dropping Guerrilla Marketing Examples & Strategies 4.2% 5
@larrykim

26. Massive SEO Traffic Impact! +112% in 5 Months! HOW?
@larrykim#backlinko

27. CTR Boosts Are Super Valuable!
Higher CTR = More Clicks
Higher CTR = Better Ranking
= More Clicks
@larrykim

28. Larry’s #4 Crazy SEO
Experiment: Do
Engagement Rates
Impact Rankings?
@larrykim

29. We Know Google Measures Dwell Time
@larrykim

30. They Measure it From the SERP
@larrykim

31. Hitting “Back”
Quickly On
Mobile
Triggers
“People Also
Search For”
@larrykim

32. Bounce Rate vs. Organic Position
Pass: Bounce
Rate Low
Enough
Fail: Bounce
Rate Too High
@larrykim

33. Time on Site vs. Organic Position
PASS: Good
Enough Time
On Site
Fail: Time on
Site not Good
Enough
@larrykim

34. Larry’s #5 Crazy SEO Experiment
Featured
Snippets
@larrykim

35. Why Does
WordStream, in
Position 4, Get
the Snippet for
“Link Building”?
@larrykim

36. Snippets Not Based on Classic Ranking Factors Alone
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37. Having “Snip-able” Helps (But Isn’t Whole Story)
@larrykim

38. Example of
Featured Snippet
Taken from
Position 10.
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39. Organic Listing Had Ridiculously High CTR
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40. Organic Listing Had Ridiculously High Time on Site
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41. @larrykim

42. Larry’s #6 Crazy SEO Experiment:
What’s the REAL Relationship Between Social Shares
and Organic Rankings??
@larrykim

43. @larrykim

44. Reason for Correlations? Machine Learning
@larrykim

45. Example 1: “Best Free Survey Sites”
@larrykim

46. Example 2: “Catchy Email Subject Lines”
@larrykim

47. Example 3: “Develop Presentation Skills”
@larrykim

48. Larry’s #7 Crazy SEO Experiment:
What’s The Relationship Between Engagement Rates
and Conversion Rates?
@larrykim

49. Higher CTRs = Higher Conversion Rates
@larrykim

50. #CMCa2z @larrykim
BONUS
EXPERIMENT!
How Does Time
(Bounce Rate)
Impact SEO
Rankings?
@larrykim

51. #CMCa2z @larrykim
A year ago:
Time on Page
Didn’t Appear
to Matter
Much for SEO
@larrykim

52. #CMCa2z @larrykim
Today: Low
Time on Page
Donkey
Content is
Nearly Extinct!
2017-10-11_10-25-20.jpg
@larrykim

53. Summary: 7+1 Crazy SEO Experiments!
1. CTR Impacts Ranking
Beat the expected CTR for a
given position. Avg. CTRs
going UP!
2. Dwell Time Impacts
Ranking: Validates CTR and
featured snippet eligibility.
Overrides other signals!
3.Other Systems Reward
High Engagement:
Facebook newsfeed, PPC
and CRO!
Key Takeaway: New Unicorn of Ranking Factors - User Engagement!
@larrykim

54. #CMCa2z @larrykim
The Future of Content
Marketing is Increasingly
Winner-Take-All. Time to
Adjust Content Strategy!
Traffic to the Top 10 Posts of the Month at Inc Magazine
@larrykim

55. #CMCa2z @larrykim
Visibility on Social Media is
Increasingly Winner-Take-All!
What to do about it??
Number of Facebook Shares for the Top Articles
of the Year for Inc. Magazine in 2015 vs 2016
@larrykim

56. What Does it All Mean?
SEO?
@larrykim

57. An SEO’s To-Do List for 2018 & Beyond
HOW?
Increase CTR
Increase Dwell Time
@larrykim

58. Larry’s 3 Powerful New SEO Weapons to Boost Your
CTR
@larrykim

59. LARRY’S #1 SEO WEAPON
The CTR
Donkey Detector!
@larrykim

60. What’s My Organic CTR?
@larrykim

61. DOWNLOAD THIS QUERY DATA
@larrykim

62. What’s a Good
CTR?
@larrykim

63. SERP Differs
Greatly By
Industry
@larrykim

64. Use Your Own Data To Plot Avg CTR for YOUR Industry!
Unicorns
Donkeys
CTR vs. Average Position
@larrykim

65. DONKEYS VS. UNICORNS.
@larrykim

66. Unicorns are Up To 6x Better Than Donkeys.
Avg. CTR
Donkey CTRs (Bottom 10%) = 3x Worse Than Avg.
Unicorn CTRs (Top 10%) = +2x Better Avg.
@larrykim

67. Larry’s #2 SEO Weapon:
DONKEY TO UNICORN CONVERTER

68. These SEO Title
Tags All Suck:
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69. “SEO” Headlines
are Like Dynamic
Keyword Insertion
(DKI) for PPC
@larrykim

70. Keyword Headlines Using Dynamic
Keyword Insertion Do OK, Not GreatRelativeFrequency
Average CTR Top 15% Top 5% Top 1%
Ads without DKI
Ads with DKI
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71. Keyword-y Headlines Less Likely To Be UnicornsRelativeFrequency
Top 5%
Ads without
DKI
Ads with DKI
Top 1% Relative CTR
@larrykim

72. Larry’s Unicorn Research Lab
@larrykim

73. Leverage Emotional Triggers!
@larrykim

74. The Top 9 Emotions That Make
People Click Like Crazy:
Step 1: Pick One of These Emotional
Triggers
• Laughter
• Amusement
• Curiosity
• Awe
• Anger
• Fear
• Joy
• Empathy
• Sadness
@larrykim

75. Step 2. Write Headline Copy From
Perspective of One of These Personas
The Bearer
of Bad News
The Hero/Villain The Comedian The Feel
Good Friend
@larrykim

76. 3. Use This Title Template Commonly
Employed By ‘Viral’ Articles
Format
List post, quiz, Infographic
Emotional Hook
Emotional word or
superlative
Content Type
Images, quotes, pictures,
facts
Topic
Love, cats, dogs, fitness,
health, Donald Trump
5 AWESOME SEO STRATEGIES TO DEFEAT RANKBRAIN
@larrykim

77. Unicorn Headlines = Top 10%
Odds of Finding Unicorn = 1:10
So Test 10 Different Headlines
@larrykim

78. Quiz: How Many Headlines Do You See Here?
@larrykim

79. It’s the Same Headline with Different
Punctuation and Capitalization
@larrykim

80. You Need 10 *Different* Headlines!
How to Spot the Unicorn?
@larrykim

81. Use AdWords to Test Headlines
@larrykim

82. Identify Donkeys (worst 10%)
Write 10 Headlines
Test With AdWords or Facebook
Replace Old Headline With Winner
Summary: Donkey To Unicorn Converter
@larrykim

83. Larry’s #3 SEO Weapon:
Display/Social Ads + Off-Topic
Content
@larrykim

84. New Visitors vs. Repeat Visitors
How does Increasing Brand Affinity Impact CTR

85. Brand Affinity DRAMATICALLY Impacts CONVERSION
RATES (+2-3x!)
@larrykim

86. Quality Score affects your CPC
10 Discounted by 50.0%
9 Discounted by 44.2%
8 Discounted by 37.5%
7 Discounted by 28.6%
6 Discounted by 16.7%
5 Google benchmark
4 Increased by 25.0%
3 Increased by 67.3%
2 Increased by 150.0%
1 Increased by 400.0%
You Save
You Pay
@larrykim

87. Brand Affinity DRAMATICALLY Impacts CTR (+2-3x!)
@larrykim

88. Interest Targeting
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89. Demographic Targeting
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90. Behavioral Targeting
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91. Custom Affinity Audiences in
Google Display Network
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92. Create & Promote Content
*Outside* of Your Niche
(Connect to Customers,
Earlier!)
@larrykim

93. Use an Audience
Analytics Tool!
@larrykim

94. Create &
Advertise Off-
Topic Content to
Build Brand
Biases (At least
20% of
Resources!)
@larrykim

95. Final Summary
@larrykim

96. Better CTR & Conversion Rates -> More Clicks & Conversions.
Improved CTR & CVR -> Better Rankings.
Better Rankings -> Even more clicks and conversions.
Virtuous Cycle of Unicorn Land:

97. Be a Unicorn in a Sea of Donkeys!
@larrykim

98. @larrykim