Wikipedia Is Losing Traffic From Google

Google is sending less and less traffic to Wikipedia, calls this a "long-term issue."

There have been a lot of rumors about the decline in traffic Google is sending Wikipedia’s way. There have been reports from SimilarWeb that Wikipedia has shown a “sudden” and “massive” decline in traffic from Google’s organic search results.

But Jimmy Wales, the co-founder of Wikipedia, said this week that this is not a sudden or drastic drop in traffic from Google, but rather a “long-term issue with decreasing traffic from Google.”

Wales added that the SimilarWeb article also misrepresents how Wikipedia needs those clicks from Google:

“It is also false that ‘Wikipedia thrives on clicks,’ at least as compared to ad-revenue driven sites… The relationship between ‘clicks’ and the things we care about: community health and encyclopedia quality is not nothing, but it’s not as direct as some think.”

Wales seems to be correct. Wikipedia is noticing a long-term and gradual decline from Google. SearchMetrics shows this in their “SEO visibility” charts, which don’t measure traffic, but measure how visible a website is in search results.

He noticed this decline back in March, so this has been happening for a long time now.

Back in the day, Wikipedia dominated Google’s search results. It was likely the most visible site in the Google search results.

The question is, why is there a decline in Wikipedia’s traffic from Google? Some have theorized it might have to do with the Google Answer box, others say the algorithm has changed. It is hard to say for sure, but overall, it’s clear that Wikipedia is noticing a steady decline in traffic from Google.

Postscript: Based on all the news around this, Wikipedia released a PDF document discussing the reports on their Google traffic lose. The paper tries to downplay the news, saying there is no decrease in Google traffic, depending on how you look at it. Here is what they wrote:

• Based on the data we have we can establish that the most obvious avenues for verifying or dismissing SimilarWeb’s claim show no evidence that Google traffic has declined. However, we do not have the data at our end to eliminate all avenues of possibility.
   
• Our next work should be to reach out to Google themselves and talk to them about the data we’re seeing, and to build out infrastructure to begin tracking metrics like this on a consistent and automated basis, rather than relying on costly ad-hoc analysis.

 (Original Source: SearchEngineLand)

 

5 SEO Problems Plaguing E-Commerce Websites

Search engine optimization (SEO) is challenging, but SEO for large e-commerce websites is a different kind of beast.

Not only are you dealing product inventory and adding new pages constantly, but you’re also not the only one responsible for the website.

The larger the site, the more hands you have on it — and most of those hands will have little to no SEO knowledge. This means they won’t understand how their changes could impact organic search performance.

Even the small changes can have a big impact. Large sites are fighting tooth and nail for visibility on search engine results pages, and the minor things that help SEO — adding in ALT tags, proper structuring of your header tags, etc. — could be the difference between a No. 2 and a No. 1 ranking, which could easily be worth an extra $100,000 in revenue.

Let’s take a look at some common SEO problems plaguing e-commerce websites and how we can fix them.

Poor Product Descriptions:

Product descriptions are the bane of every e-commerce site’s existence. It’s time-consuming to create unique descriptions for each item you sell, but this is necessary if you expect your products to rank.

Users also rely on these descriptions before purchasing said product. A product image alone isn’t going to cut it for getting your users to buy a product, and search engines can’t see that image anyway.

The problem: Lots of things could be causing problems with your product descriptions. 

For example:

• You’re using the manufacturer’s product description (which is given to every retailer who sells that product).
• There is duplicate content where you have different versions of the same product.
• Your product pages have no content or very thin content.

The solution: There’s no easy way to say this, folks. Write unique product descriptions. Yes, that’s right — for every single product you carry.

Un-optimized Product Pages:

SEO is largely a top-of-funnel marketing channel. Users are still in the research phase of their purchasing cycle and tend to search as such, relying on more broad keywords (such as “TVs” or even “LED TVs”) to help them determine what specific product they want.

That means most SEOs want to drive traffic to the category or product listing pages rather than individual product pages.

While the broader terms will drive most of your traffic, you can’t forget about the users who already know what specific product they want — for example, “Samsung 55in LED TV” or even just the model number, “FH6030.”

The problem: Not only are you cutting off your traffic potential by neglecting these long-tail keywords, but you’re missing out on what could likely be an immediate conversion point. What makes an unoptimized product page:

• No product reviews
• Poor keyword targeting
• Missing image ALT tags
• Thin content

The solution: Thin content can easily be remedied by including product reviews, unique product descriptions, and detailed product specifications.

Product reviews are key here — not only do they better optimize your product pages, they also help visitors to make a purchase decision. Make sure your product reviews are SEO-friendly and can be indexed.

With your keyword targeting, make sure you frame your product pages around the specific product your users could be searching for. This means including brand name, model number, color (if applicable) and size (if applicable) in your product names.

Placement of each of these attributes matter. There’s a big search difference between “Samsung 55 inch LED TV” and “55 inch Samsung LED TV.”

Improper Internal Linking:

With so many people making changes, large e-commerce websites often have inconsistent internal linking. Copywriters, designers, project managers and social media marketers all will be grabbing site links to use in their respective projects, and they’re likely not pulling the same ones (or even the right ones).

The problem: Instead of going through the main navigation to pull a product listing link, they’ll just search for that product via internal search and pull that link, which is likely noindexed and nofollowed.

Not only are you not getting value from that internal search page, but you’re giving search engines mixed signals on the best URLs to rank.

The solution: Educate your respective teams on the importance of consistent linking and explain why it’s necessary to link to the URL that we want to rank in search engines (most of the time, the main navigation link).

If your canonical tags are set up properly, have them pull the canonical rather than the front-facing link.

Not Managing Your URL Parameters:

URL cleanliness is an overarching problem with e-commerce sites, as most have dynamically generated URLs rather than (or in addition to) static, keyword-relevant URLs.

While SEOs try to limit the URL parameters in their strings, it’s a necessary evil on large e-commerce sites. Parameters will exist, but you have to manage them correctly.

The problem: Relying solely on Google Webmaster Tools Google Search Console to configure your URL parameters, which could create handfuls of duplicate content without you even realizing it.

The solution: Google has come a long way in reading and parsing URL information, and they do it get it right sometimes, but the fact of the matter is that you know your URL structure better than a bot.

Make sure you’re configuring these parameters correctly by telling Google which parameters they need to crawl and which to ignore.

No SEO & SEM Collaboration

SEO and SEM teams just aren’t playing nicely. This isn’t just an e-commerce problem; it’s happening everywhere.

However, e-commerce websites have a lot more money on the line to lose when these two marketing channels are going at each other with battle axes rather than sharing their data and collaborating.

The problem: There are two big things happening when SEO and PPC don’t talk to each other.

• You’re missing out on a huge remarketing opportunity.
• You’re probably losing money from bidding on the wrong terms.

The solution: Simply put, make an effort to better integrate your SEO and SEM teams. SEO teams can rely on SEM teams for the keyword data that Google secure search took away. SEM teams can better spend their budgets by knowing what research-based keywords we’re already organically ranking for that have a low PPC conversion rate.

If you see you’re losing money on a particular keyword because it’s just not converting, stop bidding on that term and funnel efforts into organic search.

This by no means is an extensive list — you’ve still got duplicate content, slow crawl rate, and local listing management issues to deal with — but this should give you a good start on getting your site optimized.

What are some of the other problems that e-commerce websites are prone to, and how can we fix them?

Content By: SearchEngineLand

Content Marketing & SEO: The Bigger Picture

SEOs have long wondered how blog posts from Bufferapp consistently topped search engines and attracted huge audiences for free… until their content team drew back the curtains and revealed what went on behind the scenes.

Their SEO wasn’t just about traffic, conversions and revenue. Like every smart and successful marketing team, their success was based on content planning and content promotion.

In other words, by linking SEO to an effective content marketing strategy, a fairly new entrant into a hyper-competitive niche dominated search results and built a powerful brand. This report will show how you can achieve similar results in your industry.

SEO Is More Than Just Traffic, Conversions & Revenue

There are 4 key elements to an SEO plan developed around a content marketing strategy:

1. Find out what people want and give it to them.
2. Use retargeting lists to communicate with them, even after they leave your site.
3. Make special price offers on your product or service if prospects act now.
4. Evolve a smart content marketing plan to build content that pulls in your target customers.

If you look carefully, there’s nothing there which is “click/traffic” focused. All those tactical SEO elements exist, but grow really powerful when integrated into a bigger plan.

What Leaders Must Know About Content Marketing & SEO

Content marketing is not paid content disguised as editorial content.

Done correctly, content marketing is an excellent way to build a relationship with customers. A well-implemented content strategy establishes trust and authority in the market. It positions your company in the middle of the research and buying cycle, so that you can take control of what they see, read, think and do.

Being found on organic search results and attracting traffic to your site makes it possible to engage people and convert them into fans and customers. And all those clicks and traffic from Google results are free.

The crucial concept behind effective content marketing, then, is to tell stories that people find interesting.

Your content should not be perceived as “marketing” or “selling.” You’ll sell more by NOT selling! While your content is designed to eventually develop awareness, close sales and create advocacy for your brand, it should stay focused on helping, creating value for customers, and meeting their needs.

This way more people will find your content, giving you wider reach and impact. Your content marketing strategy helps differentiate you from the crowd.

Content Marketing Lets You Dominate A Niche & Become The Market Leader

The business case for content marketing is clear: If you want to build your brand to become the market leader you must OWN the niches in your market.

You can achieve this goal by using keyword research and SEO analysis performed by an experienced consultant to tap into the holy grail of search behavior – a search user’s needs, questions and intent.

From current and historical data, you can find out what individuals…

• are concerned about (fears)
• are curious to know (interests)
• are seeking solutions for (problems)
• are dreaming about having (desires)

Putting The Cart Before The Horse

Clients sometimes ask: “Why isn’t content marketing working for us?”

The answers are often obvious — and common across many companies and industries. Here are some of the reasons for content marketing being ineffective, and some simple ways to avoid those mistakes.

1. Weak Content Planning

Be smart about creating content. Planning your content is key. There’s nothing “new” about content marketing, even though it’s now a popular buzz word. SEO consultants have spoken about it for years, just calling it by other names. Whatever we call it, planning it is important.

2. Failing To Integrate Content Marketing Into Digital Channels

Many organizations fail to plan their digital channel marketing. Their process of ordering fresh content is seriously flawed. Investments should be greater in stories that people are actually interested in, and content that demonstrably converts better.

3. Not Realizing the Difference Between Advertising and Marketing/Content

Some organizations think content marketing is about

• producing a piece of content
• having people to see it
• booking orders from convinced prospects

But really, content marketing is about

• connecting with your audience
• building trust
• becoming an authority
• being the one that they remember when it’s time to order
• gaining mindshare as the go-to-guy or company

If your current content marketing strategy revolves around writing and distributing content “advertorials,” then it’s time for a rethink. Creating a mashup of advertising and content will only result in a low-performing piece published under the alibi of “content marketing”. You’ll pay money for advertising to lead traffic to the content, which dies down in a few weeks when the campaign ends.

Why is this practice so common, especially when it doesn’t work?

4. Lack of Knowledge About Digital Marketing

It’s easy for an agency or consultant to pander to a client’s demand for new buzzwords and services, without having to take the time and trouble to understand how the business really works.

I’m not accusing some agencies or consultants of intentionally trying to fool someone into investing in an inefficient model. But lacking the right knowledge and expertise still leads to failure, even if the actions are taken with the best purpose and intentions in mind.

Lack of knowledge about digital marketing is a problem. CMOs and strategy directors should know reasonably well how Google works, and understand intersections between organic search and other marketing in the organization’s overall strategy. Unfortunately, many are outdated when it comes to digital marketing.

This leads to their companies implementing strategies that an expert would quickly identify as useless or counter-productive. Silo-thinking condemns their content marketing strategy to mediocrity. All the while, their competitors are thriving and gaining market share.

To avoid this, you must:

• Take research and planning seriously
• Involve an experienced SEO consultant to uncover what people want
• Get access to valuable historical search data
• Ensure the content you’re creating takes you closer to your business goals.

5. Shortsightedness and Ad Hoc Work Patterns

Online digital content has a long shelf-life. But many organizations view their content marketing through a “campaign lens”.

Prioritizing and delegating are crucial skills for a CMO or strategy director. Busy with many other things, most take an ad hoc approach, focusing for a week on one thing, and on something else the week after. Whenever the going gets tough, or results are not as they hoped for, someone cracks the whip – and they become more confused and disorganized.

Instead, they should step off the hamster-wheel, review the situation and focus on whatever has worked for them already. Getting a content marketer and SEO consultant together to prioritize areas to focus on will make all activity more cost-efficient.

6. Content Overload

In the content glut of the World Wide Web, it’s tough to differentiate yourself. SEO is a great way to find more effective ways to reach your target audience and stand out from the crowd.

Content marketing is less about “content” and more about “marketing.”

If you take a shortcut and hire content writers to throw something together, and sprinkle some SEO “secret sauce” over the mess, you’ll only get a temporary quick-fix — and a bad one at that. Consulting experts at content marketing and SEO can help spot opportunities and craft content that’s interesting to customers.

Businesses should think about content marketing as inbound marketing, rather than push marketing. You must get involved, stay focused, and be consistent over time. Content marketing is a marathon, not a sprint.

7. “Campaign” Thinking

Content marketing can’t be a campaign that you launch whenever you want to sell more products. Ordering a batch of articles or advertorials just before the campaign goes live leaves little time for research and planning. Precious opportunities are lost.

Once the campaign ends, the content is forgotten — only to repeat the cycle next year. Content planning can keep your content relevant for longer, make it stronger over time, rank it better and beat your competitors on search results. That makes content marketing much more effective — and profitable.

8. Making Content The Goal

Too many organizations jump directly to production and churn out content without researching and planning it. As a result, they skip over the most important part: what the market and their prospective buyers actually want and need.

Doing this is naive and ignorant. Google has vast treasure troves of data about search volumes, trends, seasonal changes and popular search terms. Tapping this data to tailor and structure your content marketing is smart and helps you serve clients well.

Content marketing is not about what you want people to know– it’s about the needs and interests of the customer.

Your content marketing clock should tick on your customers’ schedule, not your own. Content marketing is about building and strengthening a relationship with your customers. So it shouldn’t be mistaken for advertising.

How To Find What People Want?

There are many tools to guide you.

• Google Keyword Planner is a good starting point, where you can type in keywords and discover how popular they are.
• Keywordtool.io is a logical second step, because it gives you more specific information about searcher intent through long tail keyword phrases.
• SEMrush helps study what your competitors are doing. You might get ideas to expand and broaden your approach, or go deeper into sub-niches or find new ones to explore and research.

Conclusion

I’ll leave you with some final takeaways:

1. Investing in content marketing without SEO is sub-optimal. You will limit your own success and end up publishing content that no one is interested in.
2. Effective content marketing will help build your brand and attract more qualified leads and paying customers.
3. Intersections of SEO and content marketing, where experts work together, will generate better outcomes.
4. Evergreen content lasts for years. Traffic, leads and sales will not stop when a campaign is over, but continue for many years.
5. Content planning and content promotion can help you leverage the incredible power and longevity of content marketing and SEO.

(Courtesy by: SearchEngineLand)