Search engine optimization is an ongoing practice that every ecommerce brand should engage in, but it is important to remember the user will always be king. Without anyone searching, you have no chance of showing up. In addition to that, when users change their search behavior, it can change your SEO strategy.
Over the last six months, Google has shown to begin favoring ‘best of’ content for users searching product categories, travel destinations and even brands themselves. ‘Best of’ content refers to lists or information that are easily digestible and give the user a ranking or feedback on the best products, services and brands for their search query. Here are some examples below. You can see my search query at the top:
Ranking this type of content is a reaction by Google and a reflection of what users want to see. Over time, enough people inquired about “the best of” lists for products, services and destinations, so Google listened and updated results.
Why Does This Matter?
Large brands do not always have ‘best of’ type of content on their site. The websites producing this information are mostly independent reviewers, capturing traffic at the top of a user’s research phase. In some cases, you could have previously ranked on page one of Google but these third party sites have pushed you down the page or even to page 2 and 3. Naturally, your brand would not produce content that rates, reviews or lists competition – this is where shifting and evaluating your content strategy is very important. If this search landscape change is affecting your rankings and traffic, the goal should be to figure out how you can take rankings back or shift focus to win in new areas of search.
How Can You Adapt?
I would recommend starting in two areas:
- Reviewing your trending keyword rankings for priority pages of your site and;
- Creating a plan to enhance the content contained on your priority pages.
In reviewing your keyword trends, identify if it makes sense to update and compete with the same target phrases, or whether it makes more sense to review other keywords you can win at and gain new traffic? For your website pages, it is ideal to have multiple areas and types of content easily accessible on your pages. Videos, images, infographics, copy sections, dropdowns, guides, etc are all part of a user’s research and journey to the final click (purchase) and something Google is ranking more heavily.
For any questions on how MoreVisibility can help your content strategy, please contact us.
