This document discusses new approaches to search engine optimization (SEO) that focus on relevance and user intent rather than outdated tactics. It recommends analyzing industries individually and focusing on creating comprehensive, relevant content that matches user intentions rather than targeting specific keywords. It also discusses how machine learning and artificial intelligence are changing what factors like backlinks may influence rankings and how to stay relevant in the face of new challenges like redundancy and differences between mobile and desktop search.

1. ILLUMINATING
CONSUMER INTENT
WITHOUT
OLD-FASHIONED
SEO TACTICS
MARCUS TOBER
BOSTON, UNITED STATES
MAY 3TH, 2016

2. Searchmetrics
Made with love in Berlin
More than 220 passionate people
Innovator in SEO Software since
2005

3. Marcus Tober
Founder and CTO of
Searchmetrics
In love with SEO and SEARCH
since 2001
Study of computer science
In Berlin, so I´m the Techie!

4. Our Secret Sauce is our Software
The Searchmetrics Suite
Search Experience Optimization
Makes Digital Marketing Better,
Faster and More Profitable.

5. 25.000.000.000.000
SOCIAL SIGNALS
120 MILLION
DOMAINS
120 BILLION
LINKS600 MILLION
KEYWORDS
SoA
Hadoop, Hbase.
Elastic Search
API
25 PB
Parstream

9. 1 Keyword = 1 Landing Page
Bad SEO
+ SEO-Checklist
KW in title
KW in description
KW in heading
KW density
Linkbuilding
Content in footer
Etc.
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓
✓

10. 1 Topic = 1 Landing Page
Good SEO
+ Content-Checklist
Daten-Driven Content Strategy
Daten-Driven Content Optimization
Daten-Driven Content Success Measurement
Etc.
✓
✓
✓
✓

11. seo tips
5. Be sure you have a unique, keyword focused
Title tag on every page of your site.
7. Be sure links to your site and within your site
use your keyword phrase.
16. If your site content doesn’t change often,
your site needs a blog because search spiders
like e fresh text.
23.The bottom line in SEO isText, Links,
Popularity, and Reputation.
32. Give each page a focus on a single keyword
phrase.
Old SEO tactics
Keyword: “SEO tips”

12. #5
Be sure you have a unique,
keyword focused
Title tag on every page of
your site.

13. Movie where they make fun of Star Wars
Keyword focused Title tag?
Example: “Movie where they make fun of StarWars”

14. Example: “Movie with 4 guys in LasVegas”
Keyword focused Title tag?

15. Movie where they make fun of Star Wars
Example: “As a cafe owner how can seo help”
Keyword focused Title tag?

16. #32
Give each page a focus on a
single keyword phrase.

17. Focus on a single keyword phrase?
Example: ehow.com

18. Example: ehow.com
Focus on a single keyword phrase?

19. Example: ehow.com / Last 5 years
SEOVisibility
ehow.com
Stock value
Demand Media
-98%
-82%
(- 2 Billion $)
Focus on a single keyword phrase?

20. Noooooooooooo….

21. #7
Be sure links to your site and
within your site use your
keyword phrase.

22. Example: expedia.com
Heavy keyword linkbuilding?
• Large number of unusual keyword-rich links pointing to Expedia from blogs &
sites.

23. Example: rapgenius.com
Heavy keyword linkbuilding?
• Rap Genius was using link schemes to manipulate Google‘s rankings.
• Google confirmed penalty officially.

24. #16
If your site content doesn’t
change often, your site needs a
blog because search spiders like
fresh text.

25. Need a new
haircut?
Decision-making by
Trust & Popularity
(Quality & User Signals)Want the
BEST
hairdresser?

26. Updating older content
Example: “haircut”
Searchmetrics Suite: Keyword Research

27. December 16th, 2014 September 18th, 2015 Today
Updating older content
Example: “haircut”
• Marieclaire.com kept the same URL
• They update the content slightly to be fresh and follow the user intention, e.g.
just change the title to „… Hair Tips for 2016“ with out new 2016 content

28. The fall of
old SEO tactics…
…the rise of
Google’s intelligence

29. Machine Learning
(ML) ≠ AI

30. Machine Learning
(ML)
Deep Learning Artificial Intelligence
An algorithm that
improves over time
Aims to bridge the gap
between ML and AI –
solves more complex
problems
Human like
intelligence
Spectrum of Intelligence

32. • More than 2,500 years old
• Played by 40m worldwide
• Deemed uncrackable by Machine
Learning/AI (until AlphaGo)
Go – The limits of machine learning

33. Is Go really that hard?
*Hint: The little number above the 10 is how many 0s you add on the end
(well actually, yes…)
1050 4x1079 – 4x1081
10171
Number of...
in a chess game in the observable universe in game of Go
…possible moves …possible moves…atoms

34. Not so simple
That’s…
1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00
0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,00
0,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,
000,000,000,000,000
…possible positions!

35. Deep learning – AlphaGo vs Human
1HumanAlpha Go
4 -
End result:
5 sets between March 9th and March 15th 2016

36. “The User Intention you must
think about…”

37. Search Query & Expectations
???
Example: “costume ideas”

38. #1 #14
Search Query & Expectations
Example: “costume ideas”

39. http://www.popsugar.com/smart-living/Cheap-
Halloween-Group-Costumes-25300043#photo-
25300043
Rank #1
60 part image gallery
Short description
Links to other relevant pages
High Social Engagement
User Intention = Inspiration!
✓
✓
✓
✓
Search Query & Expectations
Example: “costume ideas”

40. https://www.savers.com/halloween/costumes/all
Rank #14
14 costume suggestions
No product texts
General footer text
User Intention ≠ Shopping!
✗
✗
✗
Search Query & Expectations
Example: “costume ideas”

41. Analysing
industry by industry.
With data-driven insights.

42. Keyword in Title
RANKING FACTORS
2016

43. 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health
Keyword in Title
T10 Ø: 33% 35%
Correlation: -0.04 -0.05
RANKING FACTORS
2016

44. 0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health Finance
Keyword in Title
T10 Ø: 33% 35% 10%
Correlation: -0.04 -0.05 0.04
RANKING FACTORS
2016

45. Backlinks RANKING FACTORS
2016

46. 0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce
Referring Domains
T10 Ø: 272,736
Correlation: 0.20
RANKING FACTORS
2016

47. 0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health
T10 Ø: 272,736 99,526
Correlation: 0.20 0.21
Referring Domains RANKING FACTORS
2016

48. 0
50,000
100,000
150,000
200,000
250,000
300,000
350,000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health Finance
T10 Ø: 272,736 99,526 38,728
Correlation: 0.20 0.21 -0.02
Referring Domains RANKING FACTORS
2016

49. 0
20,000,000
40,000,000
60,000,000
80,000,000
100,000,000
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health Finance
Total Number of Backlinks
T10 Ø: 69,6 M 24,8 M 9,8 M
Correlation: 0.14 0.15 -0.03
RANKING FACTORS
2016

50. Will Google eliminate the
relevance of backlinks for
rankings in the future?

51. Cash advance fresno ca
Backlinks & Internal Links
Rank: 5 Rank: 12
17 Referring Domains
21 internal links
52,000 Referring Domains
443 internal links
Example: “Cash advance fresno ca”

52. fast cash credit card
Rank: 6 Rank: 17
5,685 Referring Domains
No KW inTitle
59,780 Referring Domains
KW inTitle
Backlinks & Keyword in Title
Example: “Fast cash credit card”

53. Word Count
RANKING FACTORS
2016

54. 1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
Finance
T10 Ø: 1,575
Correlation: 0.09
Word Count
RANKING FACTORS
2016

55. 1,000
1,500
2,000
2,500
3,000
3,500
1 3 5 7 9 11 13 15 17 19 21 23 25 27 29
eCommerce Health Finance
T10 Ø: 3,069 2,826 1,575
Correlation: 0.13 0.15 0.09
Word Count
RANKING FACTORS
2016

56. natural detox
Rank: 5 Rank 26
Word count = 3,180
Internal links count = 375
Interactive elements = 398
Word count = 6,087
Internal links count = 395
Interactive elements = 625
Word Count and Interactive Elements
Example: “Natural detox”

57. Being Relevant
Relevant content:
• matches user intention
• is logically structured & comprehensive
• offers a good user experience
• deals with topics holistically

58. New Challenge #1
Redundancy

59. • 2,750,000 results
• Only 10 result get traffic
"samsung galaxy s6 edge" price
Redundancy on the web

60. “Fallout 4 walkthrough”
Redundancy on the web

61. Galaxy s6
Redundancy on the web

62. New Challenge #2
Mobile vs Desktop

63. Mobile Search Query?
A: „Calendar“
B: „Nfl Schedules“

64. Maps
Cool Math
UnblockedGames
Solitaire
Calendar
Mail
Office 365
Nfl Scores
Nfl Schedules
Restaurants near me
Nba Scores
Pill identifier
Mlb Scores
School Closings
Keyword Device Spread
Ratio > 70 %

65. Dating
10 organic results
5 Ads
4 Images
3 News
Translation Widget
Desktop vs Mobile
Example: “Dating”

66. 4 Ads
6 Apps
3 News
4 Images
2 Organic results!
Example: “Dating”
Desktop vs Mobile

67. How to stay
relevant?

69. mortgage
#2
#10
#2
Holistic data-driven Approach
Searchmetrics Suite: Content Optimization

70. Calculator
Mortgage comparison
Relevant information
Help section
✓
✓
✓
✓
Holistic data-driven Approach

71. Calculator
Mortgage comparison
Relevant information
Help section
✗
✗
✗
✓
Holistic data-driven Approach

72. Holistic data-driven Approach
Searchmetrics Suite: Content Performance

73. 2009 2012 TODAY
Content Updates – Example bankrate.com

74. “The content relevance
you must think about…”

75. New Ranking Factors 2016

76. New Ranking Factors 2016
• Relevance Features with a calculated
relevance score.
• Specific Ranking Factors for different
industries.
• Available for multiple countries.

77. Data-driven content analysis
Relevant content to fulfil the user‘s intention
Success in search & all other channels

78. Industry Standard for Understanding Content Performance
Longest running record of Google™ data
Largest
Data Set
Interpret Customer
Intent
Appl
e
Watc
h
Historical Data
Most inputs.
More that just
SEO
Only platform with
transactional search data

79. MAY THE SUCCESS
BE WITH YOU!