What We Learned in 2023
As we draw to the end of 2023, here is a quick update on exactly what we have learned SEO-wise.
Here at Vanilla Circus, we like to test the facts, fiction, and myths before we decide whether a particular ranking factor actually affects a website’s position within Google.
1. Bounce rates and dwell time
Since Google’s core web vitals became part of SEO, clients have been discussing improving bounce rates. Improving bounce rates is always the goal of successful UX optimisation. We don’t want people to leave; we want them to stay and buy.
We are fortunate to manage hundreds of websites. Many of them are very successful, with high traffic volumes and huge user engagement. These websites do not necessarily rank better than websites that are more superficial in their content or specific to their target audience and, hence, are often affected by high bounce rates.
- One reason a bounce rate could not be a ranking metric is how Google knows the time spent on a website. Clients argue that there’s Google Analytics, but of course, many websites don’t have Google Analytics.
- Then, of course, there is the time between leaving a Google search index page and returning to a Google search index page. But again, if a user opens the search query results in a new window, how would that work?
- Also, what would constitute a good or bad bounce rate? If I am looking for a cure for cancer, I’m going to spend longer reading a page than I am when I’m looking for what is in the cinema. Would Google penalise the cinema website because its information is so quick and straightforward that I do not need to spend hours reading the time the film begins?
2. Exact match Anchor text
We have been outsourcing and building backlinks for 17 years. The days of exact match anchor text being effective have long since gone.
We believed that advances in Google’s algorithm meant that search engines would easily comprehend generic anchor text within a paragraph, as Google can take the contextual meaning into account.
This seemed to become true when discussing backlinking websites, where Google especially monitored the anchor text to avoid manipulation and cheating.
However, what was interesting was that within a website, although internal links using exact match anchor text to optimise for core keywords was detrimental to the site’s SERPs, we found that using exact match anchor text for longer tail queries dramatically improved rankings.
3. Site structure
Site structure is easily the most important part of optimisation. Most marketers either do not understand or cannot be bothered to develop a site structure that reflects and explains what the website is about and, more importantly, what you want a user to do.
It is about enabling users to navigate to the relevant content with minimal clicks and confusion. An optimised site structure also has the advantage of being Googlebot-friendly and making it extremely simple to indicate to Google which are the most important hub pages.
However, one thing that has become apparent this year is that although we are experts at a website hierarchy, we weren’t always as efficient at ensuring that each silo contained links within that section and didn’t offer unnecessary inefficient information and links to other parts of the website.
Content length
Most clients now believe that if we create an article, blog, or service page of less than 1500 words, Google will not consider it sufficiently detailed or list it on the first page.
Over the years, there has been evidence that Google rewards more detailed content that doesn’t necessarily mean quantity. Keywords within content are seen not as a number but as a ratio.
For example, current content writing seems to have been dumbed down to the extent it is boring. For example, if you search for optimised site structure, the webpage will tell you what site structure is then it’ll tell you what search engine optimisation is, then it’ll give you some examples. After about a thousand words, it’ll begin to tell you about optimising your pages. Does anyone ever get that far?
We have found quite on the contrary, if we list an answer to the user question within the first paragraph or preferably in very brief bullet points, which we can then elaborate on as efficiently as possible, not only do we improve the quality of the user’s experience we also impart the knowledge of the webpage more efficiently and appear higher in Google.
So, quite on the contrary, what we found by streamlining our content, which invariably means shorter content, outranks the longer pieces and articles.
Trust words
Definition: Trust words are positive words established professionals or businesses might use. We have continued to find that by comparing collated ‘word’ data from websites that rank number one for various commercial search terms, we can create lists of words that encapsulate trust, authority and expertise.
Of course, it is not restricted to words. If we used much of this language within our websites, we would be rewarded with a higher position in Google search results.
Making every page earn its money
One change which we made in 2023 was to become more sales-orientated. Web content is often very informative but not always convincing.
Not only does it fail to be accurate, but it also fails to connect.
There’s a lot of talk on the Internet about user journey and UX optimisation; however, if the content and web designers are uninspiring, then the website’s speed or the quality and information contained within will not matter; the website will fundamentally fail.
Interestingly, ensuring that content sells has not caught on. If you go to Fiverr and do a search for content creation, whilst I appreciate this might not be an example of the very best authors and creatives in the world, it is interesting that not one of their descriptions selling their services mentions the word sell, convince, persuade, or in fact, anything to do with writing content to increase their sales revenue.
The Internet is not free, so why are most websites creating content for informational purposes that will never result in a sale?
