Search engine optimization (SEO) and search engine marketing (SEM) are different forms of digital marketing that require distinct skill sets and approaches, but one is not complete without the other.

Utilized correctly, SEO and SEM complement each other, allowing a marketing team to balance short-term and long-term gains to achieve their goals more effectively than they could using only one or the other.

Read on to learn how both SEO and SEM work, and why they serve as complementary cornerstones in an effective digital marketing strategy.

What’s the difference between SEO and SEM strategy?

Search engine optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization is the practice of continuously updating web pages to ensure they rank as well as possible for search engine result pages (SERPS) related to the keywords they’re targeting.

SEO refers to all activities focused on enhancing a page’s organic SERP ranking. Unlike SEM, SEO practices don’t involve explicitly paying search engines to appear in SERPs. Instead, this discipline is about creating and optimizing high-quality content that aligns with user intent to rank near the top of searches for important keywords and queries.

All on-page website optimizations you implement to improve a page’s SERP ranking could be considered part of your SEO strategy. These include keyword research and implementation, content optimization, link building, user experience improvement, and more.

Search engine marketing (SEM)

Search engine marketing is sometimes used as an all-encompassing term for search-related marketing activities (including SEO), but often refers specifically to paid search engine advertising. Where SEO aims to rank on SERPs organically by providing best-answer content, SEM initiatives involve using paid advertisements to increase SERP visibility for a predetermined set of highly valuable keywords. SEM ads can appear in the “sponsored” section at the top or bottom of a SERP, or in an additional designated space to the side of the results.

Though SEM involves direct paid advertising, it still requires considerable strategic planning and maintenance. Most search engines use a bid-based pay per click (PPC) model to determine which paid advertisements appear per SERP. These auctions occur whenever a SERP is called up by a user; winners are determined not only by the amount bid by each advertiser, but also by the quality, relevance, historical click-through rate, and more.

SEO and SEM differences in practice

The primary difference is that SEM refers to appearing in SERPs by paying to place advertisements in them, while SEO refers to everything you do to appear in SERPs without explicitly paying search engines to be there.

This distinction means SEO and SEM are typically used for two different but interrelated purposes. SEO is considered the long-term play for rankings. By steadily building authority and following SEO best practices, sites can improve their SERP rankings and, therefore, their brand’s visibility and share of mind.

Meanwhile, SEM is considered a short-term play for rankings and visibility. Though paying to appear in SERPs perpetually is not cost-efficient compared to SEO, SEM does offer brands the ability to appear at the top of SERPs for valuable keywords almost immediately, driving more surefire conversions. This allows organizations to devote extra resources to promoting tentpole marketing initiatives like special deals, announcements, or branding pushes.

How SEO and SEM strategies support each other

Despite their differences, brands tend to get the most out of both SEO and SEM by using them in tandem. The two approaches to search marketing naturally complement and enhance each other in several ways.

SEM visibility now, SEO authority always

SEO takes time, but it’s ultimately the best way to drive sustained, relevant, cost-efficient traffic to your website. SEM produces immediate visibility, but relying on it for too long will lead to high CPAs and diminishing returns. A strategy that uses both, however, can get the best of both worlds.

By targeting high-value, conversion-focused keywords with SEM, you can quickly generate attention and engagement in a short period. While driving these quick results, you can then focus on organically optimizing your landing page (and the rest of your supporting content), benefitting from the added traffic and first-party data it produces.

Good SEO leads to lower SEM costs

Unlike most auctions, the winner of an SEM auction isn’t necessarily whoever pays the most. Maximum bid per SERP is one element search engines consider when awarding these positions, but they also consider user experience, content quality and relevance, keyword rankings… and a whole host of other factors that are primarily impacted by your SEO.

The bottom line is that search engines like Google recognize they can’t simply sell out for the highest bidder; they need to deliver a good and meaningful experience to searchers.

By incorporating SEO on the landing pages you’re promoting with your SEM initiatives, therefore, you can win auctions more frequently without necessarily having to pay more to do it. The more relevant, appealing, and search-optimized your content, the more bids you’ll win for your budget and the more effective your SEM campaign will be.

Ideally your SEO strategy will start driving enough qualified traffic over time for important keywords that you can scale back or even stop running paid campaigns for them.

SEM remarketing to SEO visitors

One of the most effective forms of SEM is retargeting ads. These ads automatically follow up with users who provided you with their contact information or previously interacted with your marketing or website.

The more effective your SEO, the more visitors your website will receive, and the more relevant those visitors will be. This will help you create a robust list of users you can retarget with SEM.

SEM for research, SEO for implementation

Because SEM campaigns generate so much engagement so quickly, they’re also a great way to learn about what your audience wants.

By A/B testing multiple SEM campaigns with small changes, for example, you can see what kind of promotions and messaging perform, and which don’t. Use this information to inform your larger SEO and content strategies.

Of course, this can also work the other way. If you experience exceptional organic success with a page or piece of content, try to figure out what made that content resonate with your audience. Apply what you learn into your next SEM campaign for better PPC rates.

By integrating and coordinating SEM and SEO campaigns this way, you will continue to generate highly useful information about how to market to your audience more effectively.

Learn more about elevating your brand’s rankings and authority in search.

The post How SEO and SEM Strategies Work Together appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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The concept of a marketing funnel is one of the core differentiators between B2B marketing and B2C marketing.

This audience-centered model creates a tangible and visual depiction of the long and complex nature of B2B purchase cycles, while also providing a framework for marketing teams to build their strategies around.

What is the B2B marketing funnel?

The B2B marketing funnel is a representation of the progressive stages that businesses and their decision makers go through when making a purchase. It is described as a funnel to portray the expected narrowing of an audience from the top point (broad awareness) to the bottom (converted customers).

Traditionally, the B2B marketing funnel has been divided into five categories.

Stages of the B2B marketing funnel

1. Awareness: A company becomes aware of a problem, pain point, or opportunity that it needs to act on.
2. Interest: The company begins to explore vendors and solutions capable of helping solve their challenges.
3. Consideration: Buyers and decision makers within the company reach the point of actively evaluating and comparing potential solutions.
4. Conversion: The company chooses your solution and becomes a customer.
5. Retention & Advocacy: The post-purchase relationship continues with the goal of retaining, upselling, or building customer advocacy.

Marketers often use the marketing funnel as a way to categorize and position their content. For example, top-of-funnel (TOFU) content might be focused on building brand awareness and expanding visibility with your target audience.

Bottom-of-funnel content (BOFU) is usually more oriented toward warm prospects who are already familiar and more likely to take action.

B2B marketing funnel vs. B2B sales funnel

Although they are often used interchangeably, you might sometimes hear “marketing funnel” and “sales funnel” referenced in different contexts. Some companies distinguish the two models based on their specific functions.

A B2B sales funnel might look more like this:

1. Prospecting
2. Qualification
3. Proposal
4. Notification
5. Closing

The two variations are fundamentally similar in that they narrow down a broad field of potential customers into a more qualified set and eventually convert some of this set into won customers.

“79% of marketing leads never convert into sales due to a lack of lead nurturing.” (WifiTalents)

Why the top of the funnel matters

Historically, B2B marketers have had an understandable tendency to focus overwhelmingly on the lower part of the funnel. They are under pressure to drive and prove results, and the bottom of the funnel is where marketers can demonstrate their most direct revenue impact.

However, it’s critical for B2B companies to recognize that the vast majority of their potential buyers, at any given time, are not actively in the market for their solution. Marketing only to the small fraction of people who are ready to buy means missing a huge opportunity to develop brand recognition and salience with those who will be ready to buy in the future.

An effective upper-funnel strategy is essential for maximizing conversions within that segment of active buyers. Someone who knows, trusts and likes your brand is more likely to remember it or consider it when a need arises.

Reaching buying committees early is vital: A study by McKinsey found brands that made it into the initial consideration set were more than twice as likely to win business compared to brands considered later in the decision journey.

Read more on our blog: Top SEO Strategies for Lead Generation

Shortcomings of the B2B marketing funnel

The funnel concept is valuable as a shorthand tool for explaining the B2B customer journey and how marketing interacts with it at a high level. However, certain limitations should be considered, such as:

• Linearity: The marketing funnel can make a B2B purchase journey seem far more straightforward than it usually is.
• Oversimplification: B2B buying cycles and committees are too complex to be captured in such a basic paradigm.
• Neglects or minimizes post-purchase stages: Retention and the growth of existing accounts are central to many B2B business models (e.g. SaaS).
• Lack of adaptability: Using one singular consistent model to encompass all customer journeys doesn’t work in the evolving digital world of B2B commerce.

As Anouschka Elliott of Goldman Sachs Asset Management shared with Marketing Week: “The funnel is very, very useful to explain to non-marketers what we do… But we’re missing advocacy, we’re missing the loyalty, we’re missing that continued relationship we need to be building, and all of the complexity of the actual journey.”

Despite these shortcomings, the B2B marketing funnel is certainly helpful for orchestrating your marketing strategy at a high level. Here’s a framework.

How to build a B2B marketing funnel

Building a customized B2B marketing funnel tailored to your specific brand, solutions, and audience is a helpful exercise for guiding your keyword strategy, content creation, and measurement approach.

#1. Conduct in-depth audience research

Lay groundwork for your marketing funnel by understanding it from the perspective of your customers and prospects.

#2. Develop an intent-based customer journey map

Intent-driven keyword research will help you understand how your audience searches for information and engages with content at each stage of the marketing funnel, from their first interaction to the completed purchase.

#3. Create strategic content for various funnel stages

Organize your content strategy around the marketing funnel, as informed by your customer journey map, to ensure you are meeting user intent at every stage. CTAs should be dictated by the logical action that helps prospects progress forward.

#4. Integrate organic and paid marketing activities

A balanced and coordinated combination of organic and paid marketing helps a full-funnel strategy work. Use broad organic acquisition to fill the upper funnel and invest in paid media to generate demand, nurture prospects, and convert customers.

#5. Measure and optimize

As with any aspect of B2B marketing, rigorous and relentless measurement will hold the key to success. Track the effectiveness of your content and ads relative to their specific funnel stages to keep optimizing for desired outcomes across the customer journey.

Which content works at different funnel stages?

The answer to this question will vary based on the brand, solutions and audience. However, a survey by Semrush (via Search Engine Journal) found that these content types are most effective at different marketing funnel stages. As you’d expect, educational content and resources are most popular at the top, while case studies and product information lead at the lower funnel.

Top of Funnel Content:

1. “How-to” guide
2. Landing page
3. Infographic
4. Checklist
5. Ebook/White paper

Middle of Funnel Content:

1. “How-to” guide
2. Product overview
3. Case study

Bottom of Funnel Content:

1. Product overview
2. Customer review
3. Success story

70% of marketers say organic search is the most efficient channel in attracting traffic at the top of the funnel. (Search Engine Journal)

Measuring results across marketing funnel stages

Ensuring that your measurement strategy aligns to your marketing funnel is how you verify that you are optimizing for the right outcomes. For example, marketers who measure solely by lower-funnel metrics are at risk of sacrificing future growth by overlooking key upper-funnel metrics.

These are some common marketing metrics used at each stage of the B2B funnel:

Awareness

• Website traffic
• Social media reach and engagement
• Brand mentions
• Share of voice

Interest

• Click-through rate
• Content conversion rate
• Leads generated

Consideration

• Content engagement
• Lead quality
• Opportunities generated

Conversion

• Lead/opportunity conversion rate
• Average deal size
• Sales cycle length

Retention & Advocacy

• Customer lifetime value
• Retention rate
• Referrals/upsells

Keep your B2B marketing funnel flowing

The support of seasoned experts who fully understand the B2B marketing funnel and its fundamentals is invaluable. Learn about TopRank Marketing’s strategy and planning services, and how we can help you build a sustainable growth machine.

The post What Does a B2B Marketing Funnel Really Look Like? appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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It’s a content marketing quandary: case studies are widely considered the most effective and impactful B2B content format, but very few of them are actually all that good.

When you are able to share a true story of your product or service making a difference for real customers, that can be an incredibly powerful tool for validating your brand in the eyes of prospects and leads. The hurdle: getting people to want to read case studies, or to even find them in the first place.

One of the top content-related questions our agency hears from B2B companies is: How can we do case studies better? Many are not seeing the results they would like, while recognizing that this content is in-demand and highly influential for buyers.

So our team has put a great deal of thought and energy into elevating the marketing case study, developing a refined set of best practices based on industry insights and our own experiences with clients. Read on for a rundown on our approach and process.

Marketing case studies get results

In Content Marketing Institute’s latest benchmarking research, case studies were tied with videos as the type of content producing the best results for B2B marketers. It makes sense that brands are able to attribute a lot of lower-funnel impact to case studies because they’re often leveraged later in the buyer journey, when decision-makers are evaluating a vendor’s capabilities in the consideration phase.

Case studies serve as excellent stepping stones for interested customers, which is why they are frequently used as CTAs in upper-funnel content. Once someone has learned about a topic related to your solutions, they can learn how you do it, lending credibility.

Demand Gen Report’s 2023 Content Preferences Survey found that case studies are far-and-away the content format that buyers find most appealing at the middle stage of their journeys. (It was also fourth-highest for the final stage, after demos, user reviews, and ROI calculators.)

Case studies are extremely valuable in marketing. That statement is intuitive enough on its own, and well supported by data. So how can you do them better?

Where many case studies miss the mark

A big problem with case studies is found in the name itself. The term “case study,” which has become popularized in business, originated with applications in scientific research, so it’s no surprise these retrospective examinations can often feel a bit stuffy and academic.

Producing a dry “just-the-facts” case study might help a decision-maker check boxes for capabilities and verify your organization’s track record, but it’s probably not going to captivate them or inspire them.

The other common issue with case studies is that they tend to be highly self-serving, and as any content marketer knows, that’s not a recipe for success. Given their purpose, it’s fair to say case studies are inherently self-serving in a way, but there are key differences in framing that can make the content more engaging and valuable for readers.

Over the years, many companies have come to refer to case studies as “customer stories” or “customer success stories.” This phrasing gets at the right mindset: telling a compelling story, and putting the subject at the center. Brands have an opportunity to lean into this mindset even more.

Let’s explore some case study tactics and techniques in depth.

Best practices for customer-centric marketing case studies

There’s no need to reinvent the wheel in terms of structure. Generally speaking, a case study will include most or all of these basic elements, which marketers and customers have come to expect:

• Title: Brief descriptor of the story and result
• Summary: Quick overview with key details for execs
• Challenge: What problem was solved?
• Solution: How was the problem solved?
• Results: What impact was seen?
• Quotes: Direct insight from customer
• Statistics: Evidence of success

At TopRank, the question we like to ask is, how can we elevate each of these elements for greater impact? How can we make every part of the case study more resonant, relevant and memorable for readers? Think holistically about the various components in applying these best practices.

Make the customer the hero. (Really.)

Many marketers seem to have this aspiration, but I must say that I often find the follow-through to be lacking. So many case studies I read from brands are framed as “Our product did this” or “Our service did that.” I understand why. Case studies need to showcase what the solution can do.

But the best case studies I’ve come across truly celebrate the companies whose results are being spotlighted. These customer stories break down the smart strategies and talented execution that led to overcoming a challenge at hand. It’s more “Their team did this (and our product helped)” or “Their company achieved this (and our service played a role).”

In this approach, the subject of the case study is the star of the show, and your brand is a supporting actor. That might feel counterintuitive in some respects, but when deftly crafted, the content will still establish your solution as essential in this success story, and the reader will be better able to recognize its impact through the customer’s eyes.

Imagining case studies as co-branded assets

Another big benefit of creating truly customer-centered case studies is that they also can become a case study for the company you are profiling. After all, you’re highlighting what they accomplished, how skilled their team is, how innovative their usage of your solution.

This flattering focus makes people within the featured company more likely to proactively share the case study in their own circles out of pride and excitement – precisely the kind of authentic reach brands should be aiming to achieve.

Tell an emotionally resonant story

Purchase decisions are made emotionally. A study by CEB and Google famously illustrated that emotional connection is more likely to differentiate a B2B brand in the eyes of buyers than distinguishing features or functionalities. Those things matter, of course, but they shouldn’t be driving the narrative of your case study.

As Stephen Cheliotis wrote in an article for the Association of National Advertisers: “While practical considerations are vital in B2B purchases – you wouldn’t buy an IT system with flimsy security or hire a security firm with a questionable track record – the choice isn’t simply a binary one between rationality and emotion. It’s about combining the two, presenting the tangible benefits of your brand in a way that also elicits an emotional response to drive mental market share and greater impact.”

Aim to make your case study bring through the emotions of the people involved: the frustration of the previous situation, the relief of a smooth implementation, the triumph of a turnaround in results.

Build content repurposing and promotion into your campaign plan

Too many marketing case studies are sitting in difficult-to-find sections of company websites, largely unpromoted and unnoticed. It’s a shame! Developing a promotional strategy in the early stage of your case study campaign will help ensure it gets the most reach and engagement possible.

Here are some tips for maximizing impact:

• Consider SEO best practices in naming, designing and publishing your case study. People might not be likely to search for “How [client] got results with [company]’s product”; but they might search for something like “financial software implementation example.” Google rewards authentic content reflecting real-life experience and expertise, meaning these true stories have powerful ranking potential.
• Repurpose the content to share in various ways. Once you’ve drafted the case study, you can efficiently create different forms of content to help people find or use it. These might include infographics, sales presentations, social media slideshows, and more.
• Make case studies easy to find contextually. As mentioned above, case studies make for great mid-funnel content, so be intentional about helping users find them along their journey. Add links to specific case studies as CTAs in upper-funnel content where the example is pertinent.

Bring your customer stories to life

Don’t let one of the most powerful content formats in your B2B arsenal be an afterthought. Taking steps to make your case studies more customer-centered, emotionally resonant, and easy to find can make a huge difference in the success of your B2B content marketing strategy.

Ready to work with an experienced partner to elevate your case studies? Learn about TopRank Marketing’s content services.

The post The Customer Hero: Keys to Creating Case Studies That Get Results appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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B2B video marketing has emerged as a powerful strategy for engaging with business decision makers and driving business growth. By incorporating video into your B2B marketing strategy, you can effectively communicate your brand message, nurture leads, and establish your company as an industry expert.

Let’s explore how video marketing helps B2B marketers and how to develop your own B2B video marketing strategy.

What is B2B video marketing?

B2B video marketing is the use of promotional video content to capture the attention of business decision makers. This type of marketing content is most often found on social media platforms, but it can be used in a wide variety of contexts, from streaming services to digital out-of-home (DOOH) platforms. LinkedIn recently launched a dedicated CTV advertising product, signaling a bellwether moment in the growth of video marketing for B2B.

Unlike B2C video marketing, B2B video marketing is not confined to short, flashy advertisements. While TV-style ads do have a role in B2B marketing, the unique nature of the business buying process means that there is room for a much wider variety of video content.

Some examples of B2B video marketing content includes:

• Thought leadership
• Product demos
• Tutorials
• Live-streams
• Webinars
• Short-form social videos

LinkedIn’s 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark report found that video is both the top content type currently used by B2B organizations, and also the leader in planned usage going forward.

How does B2B video marketing add value for your brand?

Video marketing is generally more time and resource intensive than other approaches, so it’s fair to ask: what value does video add? And the answer is clear: video adds a lot of value in a lot of ways. Respondents in CMI’s B2B content marketing trends research found that video was in a two-way tie with case studies for most effective content format. Here are some benefits that make B2B video marketing indispensable.

Enhanced brand awareness and recognition

Compelling video content is among the most effective ways to capture attention and leave a lasting impression on potential customers. By showcasing your company’s expertise, thought leadership, and customer success stories, B2B video marketing can elevate your brand’s visibility and make it more recognizable in the competitive B2B landscape.

Strengthened brand reputation and credibility

High-quality video production and engaging storytelling can foster trust and credibility among business decision makers. By demonstrating your company’s understanding of industry challenges and its ability to provide solutions in a polished video format, you can establish your brand as a reliable and trustworthy partner.

Improved lead generation and nurturing

Engaging video content can effectively attract potential customers and nurture them through the sales funnel. According to research from LinkedIn, video content is shared 20x more on their platform than any other content type. Combined with video’s ability to stick in viewers‘ minds and integrated lead capture tools, B2B video marketing can generate qualified leads and move them closer to making a purchasing decision.

Enhanced customer education and support

Video can be a powerful tool for educating customers about your products or services, providing clear instructions, and resolving common issues. By creating comprehensive video tutorials and FAQs, B2B video marketing can improve customer satisfaction, reduce support costs, and open the door for upselling to your most well qualified audience.

Effective thought leadership and positioning

Thought leadership is one of the best ways to establish your brand as an authority in your industry. B2B video marketing provides an excellent platform to establish your brand’s thought leaders in a format that instantly humanizes them. By sharing thought leadership through videos, you can more efficiently position your brand as a trusted source of information and attract potential customers who value your expertise.

91% of businesses used video as a marketing tool in 2023. (Wyzowl)

Why create a B2B video marketing strategy?

As with any marketing approach, establishing a strategy is the only way to ensure your success is measurable. But beyond that, there are a few compelling reasons why a video strategy in particular is worth your time.

Go into deeper detail

Video allows you to go into deeper detail about your products or services than you can with text or images alone. This is especially important for complex B2B solutions that require more explanation. With video, you can demonstrate how your product works, show its benefits, and address any potential concerns that your audience may have — all within a media format that holds your audience’s attention.

Offer content for a wider range of learning styles

Text is one of the easiest ways to convey your message, but it is far from the only way people consume information. Consider the online acronym TL;DR: too long, didn’t read. Many people are visual learners, and they prefer to learn by watching videos. Others are auditory learners, and they prefer to learn by listening to audio or podcasts. Still others are kinesthetic learners, and they prefer to learn by observing or doing. Video can accommodate all of these learning styles, making it an effective tool for reaching a wider audience.

Richer analytics

Analytics for tactics like content marketing, PPC, and email all tend to be rather binary: either the user took an action or they didn’t. Video, on the other hand, provides analytics data about all the standard binary metrics, but it also provides details about view-through rates.

This metric in particular lets you know whether your viewers are actually watching your content, and at what point they are dropping off. These are invaluable insights for fine tuning your video marketing content, which will ultimately help it perform even better.

96% of video marketers say video marketing has increased user understanding of their product or service. (Wyzowl)

6 key steps in building an effective B2B video marketing strategy

Define your objectives

Before you start creating videos, you need to clearly outline your goals for your B2B video marketing efforts. Whether it’s increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or educating your audience, having clear goals will help guide your strategy and determine how to measure your success.

Conduct audience research

To make video content that is relevant and engaging to your target audience means you need to understand who they are, what their pain points are, and how their buying decisions are made. These insights will help you tailor your videos to address their specific interests and needs.

Develop a content calendar

Consistency is key to building any aspect of brand identity, and video marketing content is no different. Create a content calendar to plan your video production schedule and ensure a consistent flow of content. Map out the types of videos you’ll create, their target audience, and the planned release dates. This will help you stay organized and ensure you’re producing videos that align with your overall marketing goals.

Choose the right platforms

Whether it’s LinkedIn, YouTube, or other industry-specific platforms, you need to identify the platforms where your target audience is most active. This will help you tailor your video strategy to the platforms your audience frequents, which means they are more likely to see and engage with your videos.

The top three video distribution channels for marketers in order are social media, websites, and YouTube. (Vidyard)

Optimize for search and sharing

Video content is increasingly featured among the top results on Google. Optimizing the titles and descriptions of your videos can positively impact your website’s ranking. Optimize your video titles, descriptions, and tags with relevant keywords to improve their search engine visibility. Encourage sharing by including social media buttons and calls to action within the videos and on your website. Learn more on our blog about optimizing YouTube content for SEO.

Establish and track KPIs

Regularly analyze the performance of your B2B videos using analytics tools. Determine which metrics will define success for your video marketing campaign and track them regularly to assess the effectiveness of your strategy. Metrics typically tracked for B2B video include total views, view through rate, engagement, and conversion rates.

Lay the groundwork for sustainable success with video marketing as part of an integrated marketing approach: learn more about Strategy and Planning services from TopRank.

The post How to Build a B2B Video Marketing Strategy appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

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Google’s bold new foray into generative AI – dubbed AI Overviews or Google Search Generative Experience (SGE) – has elicited big reactions, and not many of them positive. A few high-profile slip-ups aren’t helping boost confidence in AI to provide useful, accurate results.

Despite these hiccups, AI in search is likely here to stay. With search engines and SEO being such a core aspect of digital marketing, there’s understandably a lot of attention being paid to the ripple effects of this evolution in search.

As a marketer, here’s what you need to know about Google SGE and the broader impact of AI on search.

What is Google SGE?

Google Search Generative Experience is Google’s new approach to incorporating generative AI into their search algorithm. When in use, SGE will provide an “AI-powered snapshot” of information requested in a query at the top of the resulting search engine results page (SERP). These snapshots will provide a quick overview of the topic, with information collected, composited, and arranged from top results by the generative AI.

The screenshot below from Google’s overview of SGE provides an example of what one of these AI-powered snapshots looks like:

Reactions to Google SGE

Google SGE has received significant attention and criticism, primarily focused on how the tool will disincentivize users from actually clicking through to the websites surfaced in search results. The Atlantic, which says it gets up to 40% of its current traffic from Google, published an analysis on the subject and concluded: “75% of the time, the AI-powered search would likely provide a full answer to a user’s query.” As a result, Wall Street Journal reported that publishers expect to lose “between 20% and 40% of their Google-generated traffic” in a post-SGE landscape.

Other publishers and SEO experts are less concerned. While Forrester Research Senior Analyst Nikhil Lai was quoted by Reuters saying SGE is “definitely going to decrease publishers‘ organic traffic, and they’re going to have to think about a different way to measure the value of that content if not click-through rate,” he also said he believes appearing in the new SGE-provided summaries will help protect and enhance publisher reputation.

Some SEO experts even believe that Google SGE could represent a new opportunity to rank for brands and publishers that may have previously lacked the authority to appear in the top 10.

How generative AI will affect search traffic in the next decade

There are still a lot of unknowns when it comes to Google SGE. As one publisher interviewed by Reuters shared: “The new AI section is a black box for us. We don’t know how to make sure we’re a part of it or the algorithm behind it.”

The overarching reality is that in the coming years, brands will likely see a collective decrease in traffic sourced to search engines. This owes in part to AI and changes to the makeup of SERPs, but it also relates to evolving habits of users (e.g. using TikTok for search, or running video searches on YouTube).

Even if overall search volume decreases to some degree in the coming years, however, that doesn’t mean SEO’s strategic role in digital marketing will be diminished. Google will remain a powerhouse driver and director of web traffic. Staying aligned with its guidelines and priorities will help you continue to grow your authority and attract high-quality visitors.

By referencing the history of Google algorithm updates, along with the ultimate goals and purpose of the search engine, we can start to chart a path forward for SEO in the age of AI.

Ranking highly in SERPs will become even more important

As the screenshot above indicates, SGE summaries take top billing on SERPs, above even sponsored content. With less space to list organic rankings after sponsored content, some results that would have previously been on page one will slip to page two.

Given how few people navigate to page two of any SERP result, this means Google SGE will likely have a somewhat counterintuitive effect: it will make SEO even more important.

While SERP organic results may be receiving fewer clicks overall, the pages that are getting clicks will be on page one… and competition to appear there will be fiercer than ever.

Meanwhile, Google SGE summary results are primarily useful for informational queries: users just looking to have a question answered may be able to get what they need from the AI-generated summary. For users with commercial intent, however — such as individuals searching for complex information about B2B challenges and solutions — organic results will still be the place to look.

“With AI Overviews, people are visiting a greater diversity of websites for help with more complex questions. And we see that the links included in AI Overviews get more clicks than if the page had appeared as a traditional web listing for that query. As we expand this experience, we’ll continue to focus on sending valuable traffic to publishers and creators. As always, ads will continue to appear in dedicated slots throughout the page, with clear labeling to distinguish between organic and sponsored results.” – Liz Reid, VP, Head of Google Search (Source)

Authoritative, in-depth content will gain demand

Google became the search engine juggernaut it is today precisely because it was able to provide the most relevant content for users. Each of its updates over the years has focused on refining the search engine’s algorithm to serve results in accordance with Google’s “E-E-A-T” rating guidelines: Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

As Google assured in their overview of SGE, the search engine remains committed to these guidelines when providing all information on their SERPs — including and especially the information their generative AI model produces. However Google updates Google SGE in the future, you can bet they’ll be focused on making sure it provides authoritative best answer information; their reputation hinges on it.

Embodying E-E-A-T principles in your content will become all the more important as AI-driven search ramps up. SEO techniques like link-building and utilizing semantically related keywords will be key to demonstrating authority and winning placements within AI summaries.

Helpful, expert-sourced content will rise above the rest

Google SGE presents a unique opportunity for B2B creators. Compared to most B2C content, B2B content is more complex, niche, and difficult to summarize. AI will have a limited ability to offer adequate information to informed B2B audiences, especially if those audiences include buyers looking to make critical purchasing decisions.

As a result, there is reason to expect substantial, renewed demand for content that explores B2B topics in-depth from an expert point of view. As Google’s SGE provides only top-level summaries, audiences will crave deeper insights and guidance on topics that matter to them. They’ll likely spend more time using SGE’s new features to refine their searches while they look for information curated for them specifically.

If you can provide this information, you can form stronger relationships with your audience faster, establishing yourself as a go-to source for reliable information in your business category. At TopRank Marketing, we often say that increased direct traffic is a great long-term outcome from successful SEO, because it can mean your audience starts bypassing searches (and AI results) to visit your website directly.

Know your audience and what they need

As the search landscape evolves with the rapid expansion of generative AI, we continue to believe that understanding and harnessing search intent holds the key to driving valuable organic traffic going forward. While Google SGE may be able to synthesize and summarize results on higher-level topics, your organization can differentiate with expert, in-depth content that speaks to your audience and their unique needs.

Additionally, make sure you’re continually exploring alternative channels as part of your marketing strategy. As search habits evolve, staying innovative will ensure your audience can continue to discover your content, whether that’s through Google, social media, email, trade publications, or paid media.

Download our guide, Marketing with Intent, to learn more about creating a future-proof SEO strategy within this framework.

The post Age of SGE: How Will AI Affect Search Traffic in the Next Decade? appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

Source:: toprankblog.com