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Jake Derry
Live From #INBOUND2021
INBOUND 2021 is finally here. Equipped with our digital passes and an endless amount of decaf , we are ready to sink our teeth into the 3-day event.
In today’s session held by VP, Tony Verre, The Integer Group, we are learning all about delivering next-level SEO strategies by applying product design methodologies to our search processes – creating a content experience that thrives!
Tony Verre has 12 years of SEO and digital marketing experience. In this time Tony has created and executed digital, SEO and eCommerce strategy for a number of the Top Fortune 100. (Equally important to note, he’s a big sci-fi and comic-book nerd – my kind of person!)
Google consistently highlights the importance of the user experience and content quality within our websites; most recently, in their Page Experience Update, in May 2021. In this update they discussed how winning-search is now dependent on simultaneously developing a strong brand alongside curating an amazing content experience.
But as the industry continues to evolve, Google has continually restricted access to our buyer personas’ search queries, making it incredibly difficult to accurately uncover their needs.
History of SEO
Tony discusses how Hummingbird changed the arena of SEO, moving away from 'keywords in strings' to 'semantic search' in 2013. This new holistic view helped to provide more relevant answers to more complex queries.
Here is an overview of how things have changed since Google moved away from the archaic and restrictive keyword method to the new and expansive semantic search.
User-centric SEO
Google has shown that it’s ethos for SEO is all about E.A.T.
Expertise, Authority and Trust.
The primary focus of this belief system is high quality content that helps to answer users’ queries and provides each user with their own bespoke authoritative and expert content.
From listening to Tony it’s clear to see that a lot of the new SEO methodology is centred around being user-centric. This new focus requires us to look at the users needs and pain points and centre our strategies around this, not simply the keywords they use.
So how does this affect those of us working in SEO?
Well, ultimately keyword-driven SEO is vanishing. Over the last decade, google has put things in place that remove the focus from keywords. Most recently, in 2020, Google Ads removed the queries and keywords terms that were displayed as having “not significant” data.
Marketing Personas
The first step in this new world of SEO is to create marketing personas. These are simply composite sketches of a key customer segment or demographic. Importantly, these are made by blending all customers within their segment, not by focusing on a single individual.
This couldn’t be more important for the construction agency, as the market is seeing rapid growth and huge shifts in customer and specifier behaviour. By amassing this new data, we can see how to best answer the questions they are asking in 2021.
These personas will deliver information on a number of areas, Tony highlights the most important of these areas as:
- Demographics
- Psychographics
- Media Consumption
- Goals and Challenges
Search Need States
So how can we track customers behaviours and intents?
Search Need States are a succinct method we can use to map and understand the needs of our customers whilst they search for a product or service. This is achieved by analysing the searches’ self-identified search need states.
Tony makes a great point here, answering the question ‘Why do search need states work?’. The answer is surprisingly simple: No one lies to Google.
Product Design Methodology
Next Tony is discussing a methodology that integrates the needs of the people, whilst taking into account the technological possibilities and business requirements.
Product design methodology allows us to define a user’s problem, develop a solution and validate the solution with real users.
Tony Verre, explains that there isn’t just one type of product design methodology for SEO. He categories them into 3 key types each targeting a specific area we require knowledge on and illustrating different customer behaviour patterns.
Through an in-depth look at how to use behaviour or trigger mapping in your SEO strategy it’s clear to see how each one has a place in any business’ marketing plan. We would highly recommend taking a deeper look into these methodologies to fully appreciate their value for your business.
The most interesting of these SEO product design methodologies for us lies in the Trigger Mapping methodology. Tony discusses the way in which Toyota deal with solving customers pain points: The 5 Whys’s?
By challenging customers pain points like this, a business can really dig into what is preventing their customers from achieving ultimate success with their product or services. Rather than dealing with a problem at the surface level, you can find the real root of a point of contention.
Conclusion
Listening to Tony is truly a breath of fresh air when it comes to SEO strategy. Not only is he aware of the pain points that we face as businesses when it comes to truly understanding our potential consumers, but he competently displays how slightly adjusting the way we do things can achieve huge benefits.
Our biggest takeaway here is moving away from keyword SEO is hugely important going forward. As Google works to reduce the usefulness of keyword-driven research, we must challenge our industries to move towards ‘semantic search’ research.
About Insynth
At Insynth we deliver a predictable flow of leads, customers, and specifications for building product brands through our inbound marketing approach, proven to reach a technically demanding audience.
We use the latest marketing techniques such as construction inbound marketing, to equip building product companies to grow sustainability in this era of digital transformation.
As the only HubSpot certified agency to major in construction marketing. We have a proven formula of bringing a variety of functionalities together including CRM Implementation, Web Design, Sales Automation, SEO, and Email Marketing to achieve your ultimate aim: Growing your business and gaining new specifiers and customers.