Happy Friday! Let’s dive straight in:

• 6 SEO concepts to concentrate on right now. SEO is constantly changing, but here are some things you can focus on immediately.

• Growth marketing is shrinking. We break down a study about how marketers are responding to recent economic conditions.

6 SEO concepts to concentrate on right now.

Since search algorithms are constantly changing, many marketers feel like they’re always scrambling to keep up with what works and what doesn’t for SEO.

If you feel this way, you’re not alone! Thanks a lot, Google! 🙄

Keeping up is hard, but the good news is that the Search Engine Journal (SEJ) team did the heavy lifting on research and wrote a great article that we can all learn from. They break down 6 key SEO concepts to focus on right now.

If you have time to check out the full article, we encourage it. If not, here are the highlights.

1) Understand content blocks

A common mistake people make is trying to write about a list of keyword phrases. But modern search engines don’t understand pages in terms of keywords anymore. Instead, they understand pages in terms of topics.

A webpage is about a topic, and that webpage contains relevant subtopics.

Here’s the example that SEJ gives:

An essential first step is to outline your topic and relevant subtopics. Then, you’re ready to write an article that's easy for search engines and people to understand.

2) Comprehensive is not always on topic.

Overwriting could be something causing your pages to rank low.

Creating comprehensive content is super important. But there is a line between being thorough and veering off-topic.

As outlined above, “How to Choose a Fishing Kayak” encompasses multiple subtopics. All of which are very relevant to choosing a fishing kayak.

But the topic of fishing kayaks at large contains many other topics, too. Like:

• Kayak paddles.

• Trolling motors.

• Fish finders (sonar units).

• Short handle fishing nets.

• Gear crates.

Even though these topics are relevant to the term “kayak fishing,” they would not be appropriate in the “How to Choose a Fishing Kayak” article. So they shouldn’t be included in it.

When you’re writing, keep an eye out for topic drift. A shorter article that is hyper-relevant to the critical topic is better than a long, rambling article when it comes to optimizing your writing for SEO.

3) Featured image

Google’s new Search Generative Experience (SGE) summarizes a topic’s answer and shows listings from three websites at the top of page one.

A scaled-down version of the web page’s featured image is also shown. That image is something you control, so make the best use of the featured image.

Do

• Create a colorful featured image with the image's main subject in the center.

• Images with a colorful background draw the eye. This also works if the main subject of the image is colorful.

Don’t

• Do not use an image with the main subject to the right or left. Google will display it, but it will look a little off.

• Don’t use a dark image or one where the overall picture is murky.

4) Be original

People complain that they’re indexed, but their content doesn't rank. SEJ says this might be because there is nothing different about their content than what’s already out there.

If you follow the philosophy of copying your competitors but making the content “slightly” better, you probably won’t see positive results.

Instead, always start with the user and think about how best to answer their question. Then, write that article.

As Google and Bing improve at natural language understanding, it becomes more imperative to better serve users in the way the search query requires.

5) People also ask

There’s a trend where people are mining Google’s People Also Ask (PAA) feature to find subtopics to add to their content.

If you search “How to Choose a Fishing Kayak,” this is the PAA section:

While some of the suggestions in the PAA section might be relevant to your topic, most won’t be. So, it’s essential not to take all the PAA suggestions and add them to your topic.

Otherwise, you run the risk of topic drift, as we talked about above in section 2.

6) Fake it until you make it doesn’t work anymore

AI makes it easy for search engines to find and derank inauthentic sites and content. So stay away from anything that’s not 100% genuine.

Inauthentic LinkedIn profiles

Some sites have tried to create fake authors and fake bios to manipulate the Google algorithm in a way they think relates to Experience, Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness.

But, LinkedIn is using AI to identify and block millions of fake profiles. This tactic won’t work, so don’t waste your time.

Authentic links

Google uses an AI called SpamBrain to analyze linking patterns to catch fake backlinks between websites. This AI can even learn to identify new tactics that link manipulators use.

So, make sure you use a clean backlink strategy.

Fake Google business reviews

Some businesses try to purchase fake reviews to boost their business ranking on Google. But Google now uses machine learning models to catch counterfeit reviews before publishing. In 2022 alone, they blocked over 115M fake reviews.

Getting reviews for your business is essential, but make sure they’re honest reviews from real people, or you risk your account being banned.

📰 In the news this week.

🤯  Sponsored post engagement rates are through the roof on TikTok.

👨‍💻  X’s privacy policy says the company will use public data to train AI models.

🎯 Reddit rolls out enhanced ad targeting tools.

👋 Social media trends: Low energy, high reward.

🏚  Clubhouse is trying to make a comeback.

📉 Growth marketing is shrinking.

One of the main takeaways from a recent report by digital agency, Dept, is that growth marketing is shrinking.

They define “growth marketing” as a blend of performance and brand strategies. There was a 40% drop in the number of marketers using growth strategies this year compared to last year.

This decline is likely because of recent economic conditions. Budgets are being cut, so marketers are choosing to only invest in things they know will work until they see what the future holds.

The report also discussed how marketers are currently approaching three “growth areas.”

Given the economic climate, it's worth considering these trends and how other marketers are approaching things. Try using these insights to refine your marketing strategies for the rest of 2023 and into 2024.

Data & analytics

Marketers are downsizing when it comes to data. The study found that only 48% of marketers are currently spending on analytics (compared to 70% last year).

Most marketers realize how powerful tracking and reporting can be, but finding and using a suitable attribution model can be difficult and expensive. Plus, with the effectiveness of cookies decreasing and AI increasing, many marketers are waiting to see what technologies emerge before investing more dollars here.

Planning & strategy

This is becoming a “luxury” that many marketers aren’t willing to spend on. The survey found that 45% of marketers are currently investing in planning and strategy (compared to 68% last year).

To keep their ads running with falling budgets, many marketers are skipping things like media planning and audience research. But marketers should be careful here. Continuing to spend on ads but relying on old data could start causing issues in the not-too-distant future.

Content & creative

Spending here dropped slightly, but not nearly as much as it did in other areas. 46% this year compared to 50% last year.

AI could be one of the reasons for this. Marketers are finding less expensive ways to create content and automate processes.

Additionally, content-driven tactics are traditionally cheaper than other marketing strategies. So, smaller budgets stretch farther in this category.

😂 Marketing meme of the week.

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