June 2024 SEO Industry Updates

Conductor breaks down the latest industry updates for website optimizations. Catch up on the latest from Google Search and more!

How you can see Google's "next choice" for a given featured snippet

The what

In a recent LinkedIn post , Chris Long informed the SEO Industry of an innovative workaround regarding featured snippets. The tip advises on a method to explore Google's featured snippets further by appending "-[winning_domain]" to a search query already showing a featured snippet. This reveals the subsequent eligible site considered for the snippet, providing insights into whether your content competes for the top spot.

The why

It's particularly valuable for optimizing content to match featured snippet criteria, offering data on the type of content Google favors for specific queries, and helping understand the winning sentence structures for effective SEO strategies.

Understanding this can guide your content creation. You'll learn what kind of content Google prefers for different searches—like how it structures sentences or uses headings and lists. Armed with this knowledge, you can tweak your own content to increase your chances of getting featured in these prime spots on search results pages.

For everyone

Here's how you do it:

1. Search for the query that's currently returning a featured snippet in the SERP

2. Navigate back to the search bar and include "-[Domain_In_The_Snippet]" at the end of the query

3. You'll now be able to see the next eligible ranking for the featured snippet

Understanding the next eligible ranking (and the current featured snippet), analyze the components of those pieces of content in comparison to your piece of content. Utilizing multiple pieces of content will now allow you to return to your piece of content to understand which content optimizations need to be made.

As you're analyzing your content and the competitor's ranking content, here are the important ranking factors to focus on to get a Featured Snippet in Google:

1. Relevance and Quality of Content

2. Structured Format

3. Clear and Concise Answer

4. SEO Best Practices

5. On-Page SEO

6. Authority and Trustworthiness

7. Optimized Metadata

For Conductor customers

Here’s how you can leverage Conductor and its features to optimize for featured snippets using the tip provided:

1. Using Conductor's Result Types Feature:

• Utilize Conductor's platform to track keywords and monitor which ones are currently showing a Featured Snippet. This can be done through Conductor's Result Types feature , which categorizes SERP features, including Featured Snippets.
• Identify keywords where your competitors or other sites are appearing in Featured Snippets to understand the competitive landscape.

2. Performing the Live Spot Check:

For keywords identified in Conductor where a Featured Snippet is present, follow the tip provided:

• Search for the keyword in Google that's displaying a Featured Snippet.
• Append "-[Domain_In_The_Snippet]" to the end of your search query to see which site Google considers next in line for the Featured Snippet.
• This allows you to directly compare your content against the current and potential Featured Snippet holders.

3. Leveraging Conductor for Content Optimization Workflow:

After performing the live spot check:

• Use Conductor's Writing Assistant to optimize your content for the keyword. This tool provides recommendations based on SEO best practices, keyword optimization, and content structure.
• Incorporate insights gained from the live spot check into your content optimization strategy. Adjust your content to align more closely with the winning sentence structures and types of descriptions that Google favors for Featured Snippets.
• Monitor changes in SERP rankings and Featured Snippet appearances using Conductor's tracking and reporting capabilities.

4. After pushing live the content updates, create keyword groups, page groups, and ongoing reporting:

• Keyword Groups : Organize related keywords identified through Conductor's Result Types feature into keyword groups. Grouping keywords by themes or intent helps focus your optimization efforts.
• Page Groups : Similarly, categorize the pages on your website that aim to target these keywords into page groups. This ensures that each page is aligned with specific optimization goals related to Featured Snippets.
• Ongoing Reporting: Set up ongoing reporting within Conductor to monitor the performance of your optimized content. Track changes in rankings, Featured Snippet appearances, and organic traffic for targeted keywords and pages.
• Use Conductor's reporting features to analyze trends and measure the impact of your optimization efforts over time. Adjust your strategy based on performance insights to continually improve your chances of capturing and maintaining Featured Snippets.
• Update keyword and page groups regularly based on new insights, changes in search engine algorithms, or competitor strategies. This iterative approach ensures your content remains competitive in SERPs and maximizes visibility through Featured Snippets.

By leveraging Conductor in this way, you can streamline your workflow for optimizing content to target and potentially capture Featured Snippets. This approach combines strategic keyword tracking, real-time competitive analysis through live spot checks, and effective content optimization using Conductor's features—all aimed at improving your SEO performance and visibility in Google's search results.

How to beat Reddit & bigger brands

The what

Over the last year, Reddit and other user-generated content websites have seen a significant increase in organic traffic and organic rankings.

As of this month, Reddit has over 42 million keywords on Page 1 which is a 350% increase YOY.

Many websites are now noticing that Reddit is ranking for some of their target keywords on Page 1.

Google has been showing these UGC sites more and more often because, at the end of the day, they want to make sure the search results are relevant and helpful for users. These users provide a lot of firsthand experience, which makes some of their answers very relevant based on the user’s queries.

The why

This creates a situation where it’s harder for smaller sites to rank for these keywords when competing not only against bigger brands but also massive websites like Reddit & Quora.

Gary Illyes provided some insights on how smaller sites can start competing against not only Reddit but also the bigger brands like Amazon and others.

The main advice is that smaller sites can test things out quicker and try different methods. Bigger sites have a lot more red tape when making changes, and they have a lot more to lose if something goes wrong.

As a smaller site, you should start analyzing where you are being outranked by bigger brands or UGC sites like Reddit and devise various methods to test.

There could be ways to start targeting longer-tail keywords or keywords that are not being searched as often but are still very relevant to your brand. Try to target these keywords on your pages, as they will be a lot easier to rank for and less competitive.

Google says that every day around 15% of the searches are brand new and something they haven’t seen before. Try and create content that is specific and targets these longer tail keywords.

For Conductor customers

• Add Reddit or these other big brands as a Comparison Web Property in order to see the most up-to-date insights on where these domains rank vs. your domain.
• Analyze the SERPs for these keywords to see where they are outranking your domain.
• Conduct keyword research using Explorer to better understand longer tail or specific keywords we can start to target.
• Use Writing Assistant & Content Guidance to ensure we are optimizing our content in the best way possible for this longer tail keyword.
• Track these keywords in the platform to understand our rank.

For everyone

or,

• Analyze which keywords on your domain are being outranked by Reddit or other big brands.
• Conduct keyword research in whatever SEO platform you are using to ensure we are targeting these long-tail keywords on our content.
• Monitor the results using Google Search Console and your analytics provider.

Read more about this:

• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-shows-how-to-beat-reddit/521375/
• https://www.searchenginejournal.com/googles-response-to-experts-outranked-by-redditors/521801/

Google June 2024 Spam Update Finished Rolling Out

The what

Google completed its June 2024 spam update on June 27th. Google released this spam update back on June 20th and estimated that the rollout would take up to a week to complete. This is the first announced spam update from Google since March of this year. Search Engine Round Table reported, “This was a broad spam update, not a link spam update, and it did not automate the site reputation abuse policy.” The spam update targeted websites violating some of Google’s search spam policies .

The why

Google previously shared that their systems detecting search spam are constantly operating, but when they make notable improvements with how their systems work, they refer to it as a spam update, and acknowledgments of this can be found by reviewing their historical list of Google Search ranking updates . Unlike some of Google's previous updates, it was nice to see this update was completed on time.

For everyone

When Google announces a search rankings update, you should start preparing to measure the potential impact of any update once it’s completed. You can review the Conductor Academy titled, “Responding to and Preparing for Google Algorithm Updates” for helpful insights on getting prepared and responding appropriately. Take some time to note the algorithm update period and monitor your organic performance following the update to see if your keyword rankings or organic performance experiences any unusual fluctuations. Google recommends that if you see a change in performance, review their latest spam policies to ensure you are up to date and comply with any updated policies.

For Conductor customers

Through a few sections of the Conductor Intelligence platform, you can review your organic performance and the performance of any competitor for any noticeable impact.

• Site research in Explorer gives you a great workflow for investigating the performance of domains, subdomains, and subfolders. An advantage of reviewing your keyword performance in Explorer is that you’ll have tracked and untracked keyword performance available for review. You can see if your site experienced any volatility around the time of the update, even if it’s outside of the tracked searches you typically monitor the most through tracking. In addition to reviewing your site performance, you can also review the performance of any of your competitors or websites of interest through Explorer.
• The reports available in the Keywords section of the platform provide insights into how your tracked search performance has faired before, during, and after an update. Conductor’s public event annotations , available in your visibility distribution chart, allow you to see how keyword performance may have shifted from an update.

Stay tuned

Is your organic search strategy set up for success for the remainder of 2024 and beyond? You can compare your enterprise website’s organic performance to the latest SEO benchmarks using Conductor’s 2024 Organic Search Traffic Benchmarks Report. Download your copy today. Now is also the perfect time to start planning your trip to New York City for Conductor’s C3 Conference! Join us at our annual website optimization and digital marketing conference this October.