REVERSE-ENGINEERING GOOGLE’S RESEARCH How to target the right content to the right customers at the right time.

@STATrob #SearchLove

DO YOU REMEMBER THE NAME OF THE ACTOR FROM THAT SCIFI MOVIE WITH THE SHORT OLD GUY WITH WEIRD EARS?

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REMEMBER BEFORE GOOGLE? How did you get the answers you needed?

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INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS THE NAME OF THE GAME FOR GOOGLE. Their goal is to give you the answers you need. Fast.

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THEY’VE CHANGED THE WORLD. And they’ve changed human behaviour.

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[NAME OF BAD GUY FROM HUDSON HAWK] Google isn’t good at this query. They totally suck, right?

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GOOGLE IS A VICTIM OF THEIR OWN SUCCESS. They have changed our expectations for information retrieval and they have to adapt to those changes.

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GOOGLE IS CHANGING THE RULES. BUT, THEY ALSO HAVE TO PLAY BY THE NEW RULES.

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IT’S LIKE A GIANT DRAWING A MAP WHILE ITS FOOTSTEPS ALTER THE LANDSCAPE.

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SERPS ARE THE FRONTEND TO GOOGLE’S MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR CONSUMER RESEARCH MACHINE.

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BY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE SERPS, WE CAN SNOOP ON GOOGLE’S RESEARCH. And we can learn what our customers are looking for when they search for something.

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LET’S TALK INTENT.

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CONSUMER SEARCH INTENT. There are three key stages of search intent when making consumer searches online.

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THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE IS THE START OF THE PATH TO PURCHASE.

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AT EACH STAGE OF THE FUNNEL, THE SEARCHER HAS A DIFFERENT INTENT.

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“…demographics don't help us understand what we really need to know — what consumers are looking for in an exact moment or where they are looking to find it.” THINK WITH GOOGLE

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SEARCHER INTENT IS THE NEW DEMOGRAPHICS.

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INTENT BEATS IDENTITY. IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY. In order to be where the searcher is looking, we need to understand their intent.

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THE RESEARCH

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14 PRODUCT CATEGORIES, 542 QUERIES:• Music (40 core queries)

• Computers (42 core queries)

• Sports & outdoors (38 core queries)

• And so on.

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EXAMPLE KEYWORD MODIFICATIONSAPPLIANCES ELECTRONICS PET SUPPLIES

INFORMATIONAL blender lcd tv cat brush

COMMERCIAL blender reviews best lcd tv compare cat brushes

TRANSACTIONAL buy blender lcd tv free shipping cat brush coupons

KEYWORD RESEARCH IS MORE ART THAN SCIENCE. Your keyword lists will be more nuanced than ours.

@STATrob

SIMPLE SHARE OF VOICE SCORINGWEIGHT SEARCH VOLUME SHARE OF VOICE SCORE

Rank 1 1 x 1000 = 1000

Rank 2 0.9 x 1000 = 900

Rank 3 0.8 x 1000 = 800

… … … …

Rank 10 0.1 x 1000 = 100

DON’T FORGET

THE DATA FROM OUR RESEARCH IS SPECIFIC TO OUR KEYWORD SET. YOUR RESULTS WILL DIFFER.

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I’M HERE TO SHOW YOU WHAT’S POSSIBLE. FOCUS ON THESE METHODS, RATHER THAN THE DATA.

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FOR EACH STAGE OF INTENT, WE MAPPED THE SERP.

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FEATURED SNIPPETS

IMAGES

NEWS

PLACES

PEOPLE ALSO ASK

VIDEO

SHOPPING

QUESTION ONE

HOW CAN WE UNLOCK GOOGLE’S INSIGHTS INTO WHAT SEARCHERS ARE LOOKING FOR AT EACH STAGE?

@STATrob

QUESTION TWO

WHAT POINTS OF LEVERAGE DO WE HAVE IN EACH STAGE TO MAKE SURE WE’RE VISIBLE AND USEFUL?

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QUESTION THREE

CAN WE REVERSE-ENGINEER THE WINNING STRATEGIES OF KEY COMPETITORS AT EACH STAGE?

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HERE’S A 10,000-FOOT VIEW OF WHAT WE FOUND.

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ORGANIC RESULTS RULE.

10%

90%

ORGANICALL OTHERS

BE THERE. BE USEFUL. BE QUICK. The core organic algorithm does an amazing job of determining which results are most useful to a given searcher’s intent.

@STATrob

BUT SHOPPING BOXES ARE MAAAAAAJOR.

40%

60%

SHOPPINGNON-SHOPPING

THESE ARE OUR POINTS OF LEVERAGE.

7%7%

9%

23%25%

29% IMAGESVIDEOANSWERSPLACESPEOPLE ALSO ASKNEWS

INFORMATIONAL INTENT STAGE.

@STATrob

TOPOLOGY OF THE INFORMATIONAL SERP

5%5%8%

18%

21%

42%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

SHOPPING RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.

42%

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IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY. Google knows that some people just want it now. Fast and cheap.

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IMAGE RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.

21%

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IMAGES ARE A GREAT UX FOR UNREFINED QUERIES. They’re an easy way to find the exact model, style or colour you’re looking for.

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The view when a searcher clicks on an image.

VIDEO RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.

8%

@STATrob

Video pack/carousel

Stand-alone video result

7 SITES WITH VIDEO RESULTSR

esul

ts

0

35

70

YOUTUBE PCGAMER LIFEHACKER VICE EBAY MASHABLE STANCE

111122

62

FEATURED SNIPPET RESULTS FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE.

5%

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LET’S LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL OF GOING AFTER THESE FEATURED SNIPPETS.

@STATrob

WHICH STYLE OF FEATURED SNIPPET IS THE MOST COMMON?

Res

ults

0

10

20

30

40

50

LIST PARAGRAPH TABLE

2

39

1

AVERAGE SEARCH VOLUME PER FEATURED SNIPPET RESULT FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS.

23,300

@STATrob

WIKIPEDIA IS THE OBVIOUS INCUMBENT HERE.R

esul

ts

0

5

10

15

20

WIKIPEDIA.ORG AMAZON.COM BESTBUY.COM XEROX.COM OFFICEDEPOT.COM

1223

17

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS?

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LESSON 1

RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU’LL NEED A PAID STRATEGY TO WIN.

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THE PREVALENCE OF SHOPPING BOXES CAN’T BE IGNORED. We need a paid strategy to give searchers what they want here.

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LESSON 2

LOOK FOR STRONG BIAS TOWARDS CERTAIN SITES.

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CAN YOU DISPLACE AN INCUMBENT LIKE WIKIPEDIA? They dominate the featured snippets in this stage. Is there really room for us to win there?

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LESSON 3

LOOKING AT THE SERP TOPOLOGY TELLS US WHAT GOOGLE THINKS THESE SEARCHERS WANT.

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IN THIS STAGE, WE SAW SEARCHER NEEDS BEING MET BY NEWS, IMAGES, AND ORGANIC. This is what Google has determined is the best outcome for these searches.

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COMMERCIAL INTENT STAGE.

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TOPOLOGY OF THE COMMERCIAL SERP

12%

13%

10%59%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

WHAT’S THE AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE CONTRIBUTION PER RESULT?

SHAR

E OF

VOI

CE S

COR

E

0

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

SHOPPING IMAGES NEWS VIDEOS P.A.A. ANSWERS PLACES

16

1,946

44188

5,184

53704

LET’S REVERSE-ENGINEER THE WINNING STRATEGIES IN THIS STAGE.

@STATrob

WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE IN THIS STAGE?

SHAR

E OF

VOI

CE S

COR

E

0

100,000

200,000

300,000

400,000

CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON CNET PCMAG

308K321K352K374K376K

BUT WHO HAS THE MOST RANKINGS?R

ANKI

NGS

0

1,750

3,500

CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG

204230

3,117

138299

WHO IS WINNING WHERE?SH

ARE

OF V

OICE

SCO

RE

0K

100K

200K

300K

400K

CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG

NEWSVIDEOANSWERSORGANIC

SEGMENT BY THE QUERY MODIFIER TO SEE WHICH RESULT TYPES GOOGLE LIKES.

@STATrob

SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “BEST” QUERIES

29%

12%

5%

50%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “COMPARE” QUERIES

8%6%

42%10%

34%SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “NEW” QUERIES

4%12%

7%

27%

50%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

DON’T FORGET

GO DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE DATA. DIG INTO SHARE OF VOICE.

@STATrob

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR COMMERCIAL KEYWORDS?

@STATrob

LESSON 1

BY USING SHARE OF VOICE, MEASURE WHICH DOMAINS ARE WINNING.

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WITH ALMOST 3,000 FEWER RANKINGS, TECHRADAR STILL BEAT AMAZON. Focusing on share-of-voice winners makes the analysis easier.

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LESSON 2

PERFORM SHARE OF VOICE ANALYSIS ON RESULT TYPES TO ASSESS THEIR POTENTIAL.

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WE CAN REVERSE ENGINEER TECHRADAR’S WINNING STRATEGY: FEATURED SNIPPETS.

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LESSON 3

SEGMENT EVEN DEEPER ON QUERY MODIFIERS LIKE “BEST” TO SEE HOW THE SERPS ADAPT.

@STATrob

FOR “BEST” SEARCHERS WANT SNIPPETS. FOR “COMPARE” THEY WANT VIDEOS. This is where you get some of the most actionable insight into searcher intent.

@STATrob

TRANSACTIONAL INTENT STAGE.

@STATrob

TOPOLOGY OF THE TRANSACTIONAL SERP

9%

7%

11%

69%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE IN THIS STAGE?

SHAR

E OF

VOI

CE S

COR

E

0K

125K

250K

375K

500K

AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM

104K165K

205K

397K400K

WHO IS WINNING WHERE?SH

ARE

OF V

OICE

SCO

RE

0K

100K

200K

300K

400K

AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM

ORGANICNEWSVIDEOANSWERS

TWEETABLE TIP

THE FURTHER DOWN THE FUNNEL YOU GO, THE MORE DISTILLED THE SERP BECOMES.

@STATrob

THIS IS GOOD OL’ FASHIONED SEO! (Ok, and PPC.)

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ARE YOU RANKING HIGH? RANKING THE RIGHT CONTENT?

@STATrob

WHAT KIND OF CONTENT IS AMAZON RANKING?

RAN

KIN

GS

0

400

800

1200

1600

CATEGORY PRODUCT COUPON OTHER

104

706

1,590

WHAT ABOUT WALMART’S CONTENT?R

ANKI

NGS

0

400

800

1200

1600

CATEGORY PRODUCT

162

1,008

AND OVERSTOCK’S CONTENT?R

ANKI

NGS

0

400

800

1200

1600

CATEGORY PRODUCT BUYERS' GUIDE

1011

422

WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR TRANSACTIONAL KEYWORDS?

@STATrob

LESSON 1

THE DEEPER YOU GO IN THE FUNNEL, THE MORE YOU HAVE TO RELY ON ORGANIC RANKINGS.

@STATrob

ORGANIC RESULTS WERE THE BEST WAY TO PUSH TRAFFIC IN THIS STAGE. Catering content towards universal results isn’t going to win the day when searchers are this low in the funnel.

@STATrob

LESSON 2

ANALYZE RANKING URLS TO FIND OUT WHAT UX SATISFIES THE SEARCHER’S INTENT.

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THE MAJORITY OF PAGES WE SAW RANKING HIGHEST WERE CATEGORY PAGES. We also identified a few potential areas, like coupons, where we might be able to develop new content.

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SO WHAT CONCLUSIONS HAVE WE REACHED?

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GOOGLE’S ADVICE

YOU HAVE TO BE THERE, BE USEFUL, AND BE QUICK.

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HOW TO “BE THERE”

QUALITY KEYWORD RESEARCH AND THOROUGH SEGMENTATION BY INTENT STAGES IS CRUCIAL.

@STATrob

HOW TO “BE THERE”

YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE “THERE” BY MEASURING SHARE OF VOICE. You can break this out by stage or result type.

@STATrob

HOW TO “BE USEFUL”

LOOK AT SERP TOPOLOGIES TO FIND OUT WHAT GOOGLE THINKS IS USEFUL TO SEARCHERS.

@STATrob

SERP TOPOLOGY FOR “COMPARE” QUERIES

8%6%

42%10%

34%SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

HOW TO “BE USEFUL”

CREATE STRATEGIC CONTENT EXPERIENCES THAT SATISFY SEARCHERS’ IMMEDIATE NEEDS.

@STATrob

HOW TO “BE QUICK”

OPTIMIZE SITE SPEED AND GET RIGHT TO THE POINT. Omit everything that distracts from the immediate needs of the searcher.

@STATrob

HOW MANY UNIVERSAL RESULTS ARE THERE IN EACH STAGE?

0%

50%

100%

INFORMATIONAL COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONAL

10%11%15%

TOPOLOGY OF THE INFORMATIONAL SERP

5%5%8%

18%

21%

42%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

TOPOLOGY OF THE COMMERCIAL SERP

12%

13%

10%59%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

TOPOLOGY OF THE TRANSACTIONAL SERP

9%

7%

11%

69%

SHOPPINGIMAGESNEWSVIDEOSPEOPLE ALSO ASKANSWERSPLACES

WHICH RESULT TYPE HAS THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE?

SHAR

E OF

VOI

CE S

COR

E

0

1,500

3,000

4,500

6,000

ORGANIC SHOPPING EVERYTHING ELSE

2,997

5,312

1,992

KEY TAKEAWAY

OPTIMIZING FOR UNIVERSAL RESULTS IS THE BEST WAY TO ENSURE YOU’RE SATISFYING SEARCHER INTENT.

@STATrob

KEY TAKEAWAY

WE CAN SNOOP INTO GOOGLE’S FINDINGS ON SEARCH INTENT BY LOOKING AT SERP TOPOLOGY.

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KEY TAKEAWAY

AS WE MOVE DOWN THE INTENT FUNNEL, DIFFERENT RESULT TYPES RISE AND FALL IN VALUE.

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KEY TAKEAWAY

WITH KNOWLEDGE OF INTENT, WE CAN CRAFT THE RIGHT CONTENT FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT OF THE SEARCHER’S JOURNEY.

@STATrob

THIS ANALYSIS IS EASY TO DO. HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:• A SERP tracking tool that can break out result types

• Search volume data

• A share of voice model of your choosing

• Excel or SQL

@STATrob

DOWNLOAD THE WHITEPAPER: GETSTAT.COM/SEARCHLOVE

ONE MORE THING…

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WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE SOME FRESH FEATURED SNIPPET RESEARCH?

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WE WERE CURIOUS ABOUT FEATURED SNIPPET VOLATILITY. So, naturally, we ran the numbers!

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THREE TYPES OF VOLATILITY• Featured snippet disappearing

• Featured snippet reappearing after it’s disappeared

• Featured snippet URL changing

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WE TRACKED THE DATA FOR 20 DAYS• 232,451 keywords that showed snippets on day one

• Tracked on a smartphone device

• Tracked in Los Angeles, California

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GOOD NEWS! Most snippets are actually quite stable.

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68% OF SNIPPETS WERE UNCHANGED OVER 20 DAYS.

68%

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89% OF QUERIES HAVE SNIPPETS THAT APPEARED EVERY DAY.

89%

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MOST OF THE VOLATILITY WE SAW WAS DUE TO URL CHANGES. When SERPs have a snippet, it looks like they stick around.

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SNIPPETS ARE SELECTED FROM UP TO THREE DIFFERENT SOURCE URLS 98% of snippets are sourced from up to three different URLs.

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STABLE SNIPPETS PULL MOSTLY FROM RANKS THREE & FOUR. If you spot a snippet pulling from below rank four, you have a better chance of stealing it.

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PARAGRAPH SNIPPETS ARE THE MOST STABLE FORMAT. Table snippets are Google’s least favourite format.

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KEY TAKEAWAY: TRACK THE SNIPPETS IN YOUR SPACE. See how snippet appearance and formats are changing, track their volatility, and see what three URLs are your competition.

@STATrob

READ MORE: GETSTAT.COM/VOLATILITY

@STATrob