Rand Fishkin - The Inbounder Global Conference 2018

1. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
The Evolution of SEOHow searchers, engines, and algorithms have shifted and how marketers must react to get the best
results from their campaigns

2. My Big Questions:
Is search still growing? Is SEO opportunity growing or
shrinking? How much?
Who else (if anyone) sends significant referral traffic on the
web?
What are successful sites doing differently from 2-5 years
ago?
A)
B)
C)

3. There’s a Lot of Misleading Data
Out There...

4. Google has 63% of US Searches?

5. Facebook sent more
traffic than Google
the last 3 years?

6. This seems
important…

7. But when the media amplifies these stories, the
headlines are immensely misleading L

8. How Do We Get Trustworthy
Data?

9. The data I trust most comes from clickstream
sources like Jumpshot:
It’s biased by the panel of browsers, but not by the websites that
install a given tracker

10. Breakdown of Searches on
MajorWeb Properties
May 2017

11. Via Rand’s Blog
Core Google
Search
61.6%
Google Images
22.6%
YouTube
4.3%
Yahoo, 2.4%
Amazon, 2.3%
Bing, 2.2%
Facebook, 1.4% Google Maps, 1.3%
Pinterest, 0.5%
Twitter
0.4%
Breakdown of Searches on
MajorWeb Properties
February 2018

12. Good News for SEO

13. Google’s Still Growing
2017 trended ~10-15% higher than 2016, not including
voice or Apple devices

14. Via Rand’s Blog
For every paid ad click on Google, there were ~20
clicks to an organic result.

15. Via Google Trends

16. Via Google Trends

17. Bad News for SEO

18. 92% of clicks, 10% of
marketing spend
8% of clicks, 90% of
marketing spend

19. Via GetResponse
2,510 marketers surveyed by GetResponse in 2017 said SEO is only
the 4th highest ROI channel they invest in

21. Why am I taken here?
And not to their
website?

22. In Q3/4 2017, there were (seasonally) fewer clicks available for SEO for
perhaps the first time since Google’s launch
Via Rand’s Blog

23. Google’s Desktop CTRs
February 2018:
Paid: 3.82%
Organic: 65.72%
No Click Searches:
34.28%
*Note:Sumsaregreaterthan100%assearcherscanclick
multipleresultsperquery

24. Google’s Mobile CTRs
February 2018:
Paid: 3.12%
*Note:Sumsaregreaterthan100%assearcherscanclick
multipleresultsperquery

25. Google’s Mobile CTRs
February 2018:
*Note:Sumsaregreaterthan100%assearcherscanclick
multipleresultsperquery
Paid: 3.12%
Organic: 38.97%
No Click Searches:
61.03%

26. The Scary Part:
Organic Paid NoClicks
Mobile
Desktop
February 2016 February 2018
Organic Paid NoClicks
65.56% 2.50% 34.44%
58.43% 1.83% 41.57%
65.72% 3.82% 34.28%
38.97% 3.12% 61.03%
20% drop in mobile, organic CTR. 20%
increase in mobile “no click” searches.

27. AcrossAll Google’s Search Queries…
Organic CTR: 52.96%
Paid CTR:
No Click Searches:
3.49%
47.04%
~15 organic clicks for
every paid click.
Down from ~20 a year
ago.
For every 10 organic
clicks, 8.8 searches with
0 clicks.

28. Via Geoffrey Weg
These SERPs are
coming back for
revenge.

29. What are the Web’s True
Top Traffic Referrers?

30. Via
Google.com
Oct2016
Facebook.com
Reddit.com
YouTube.com
Imgur.com
Bing.com
Wikipedia.org
Gained/Lost
59.2%
6.5%
5.4%
4.5%
2.2%
2.2%
1.4%
Yahoo.com 6.0%
-1.4%
-1.3%
-2.0%
+0.3%
-1.2%
+1.5%
-0.1%
-1.7%
Amazon.com 1.3% +0.1%
TopTrafficReferrers Feb2018
57.8%
5.2%
3.4%
4.8%
1.0%
3.7%
1.3%
4.3%
1.4%

31. Via
Google
Facebook
Yahoo
Bing
Reddit
GoogleAdServices
Twitter
YouTube
Amazon
Traffic Referrer % of Referrals*Rank
Wikipedia
Gmail
Comcast
MicrosoftOnline
Imgur
MSOffice
DoubleClick
Ebay
AdServer
DuckDuckGo
Deloton
57.8%
5.2%
4.3%
3.7%
3.4%
2.7%
1.9%
4.8%
1.4%
1.3%
1.2%
2.3%
1.2%
1.0%
0.9%
0.9%
0.8%
0.8%
0.7%
0.6%
#1
#2
#4
#5
#6
#7
#9
#3
#10
#11
#12
#8
#13
#14
#15
#16
#17
#18
#19
#20
*Methodology:
Forthisdata,Jumpshotcombinedthelargest30
trafficreferralsourcestositesontheweb
(mobile+desktop),andisshowingthepercentof
thosetop30combined(thus,thelongtailof
referralsisn’trepresentedhere)
*Biases:
JumpshotdoesnotcollectdataoniOSdevices,
somobileisbiasedtoAndroidanddesktopis
biasedtoPC.DataisforFeb.1-28,2018,US
only.

32. My Big Questions:
Is search still growing? Is SEO opportunity growing or
shrinking? How much?
Who else (if anyone) sends significant referral traffic on the
web?
What are successful sites doing differently from 2-5 years
ago?
A)
B)
C)

33. The 6 Big Shifts in SEO

34. Page One isAvailable to Many, But
Dominated by a Few
#1

35. TwoYearsAgo,
16 Companies Dominated Google’s
Results.
Via Viperchill

36. In 2018, nearly every one of these
sites ranks better for more
keywords.
Via Viperchill

37. 3 Ways to Fight Back
Become a brand
Go hyper-niche
Use barnacle SEO
#1
#2
#3

38. Become a Brand
Via SELand

39. Go Hyper-Niche

40. Use Barnacle SEO

41. On-Page SEO is 75% Intent, 25%
Keywords
#2

42. I Filed SparkToro’s
Trademarks in Early
April
Then I got this bill in
the mail

43. Thank Goodness Google Knows
What I Mean > What I Searched For
Oh Damn!

44. Keyword-Optimized Means…

45. Intent-Optimized Means…

46. Keyword-Optimized Means…

47. Intent-Optimized Means…

48. Keyword-Optimized Means…

49. Intent-Optimized Means…

50. 5 Steps to Intent Optimization
List all of the tasksand problemsthe searcher isattempting to solve with their
query
#1
Visit all the pagesrankinginthe top10-20 results, andadd to yourlist anytasks
they’re helping to solve
#2
Use relatedsearches,searchsuggest,rankingcompetitors,andintuitionto
prioritize the list
#3
Write a title/headline that coversthe top 1-3,and optimize the page’slayout to
addresstosolve the list inorder
#4

51. Domains inherit and pass topical
authority
#3

52. Google: Websites Don’tAccumulate Ranking
Signals

53. I Think That’s Semantic B*{{$#!^
Sigh…

54. Domains/BrandsAcquire RankingAbility
Wait… What? Why Rick Riordan’s Site?

55. Hmm….
Via Moz’s Link Explorer

56. And They Earn Semantic Connections

57. Queries + Content +Associations =

58. Sometimes for Multiple Brands

59. Often, Crappy Content on the Right Site Beats
Great Content on a Weak Site
Mediocre But “Authoritative”
Crappy But “Authoritative”
Crappy But “Authoritative”
Awful But “Authoritative”
Mediocre But “Authoritative”

60. Decent Low Authority
Ugh. But “Authoritative”
Don’t Get Me
Started
But “Authoritative”
Awful But “Authoritative”
Solid
Ranking b/c it’s “Fresh
Content”

61. I’m Not Saying Moz’s DAis How GoogleAssigns
RankingAbility to Sites:
Via Moz’s Link Explorer

62. I’m Saying: RankingAbility is Not Website
Agnostic.
Take this exact
content, with the
same link profile,
put it on a low DA
site; it won’t rank.

63. And Domains Now Build Credibility with Topics More
Than Raw LinkAuthority
That’s why the sites that rank
are so often the sites you
*expect* to rank

64. OptionA: Build a Content Strategy that Earns
Your Site the Right Signals
If we create _________, provide unique value to
__________, and market it to __________, we will, over
time, earn the signals we need to rank for the keywords in
our space.

65. Option B: Craft a PR Story that EarnsYour Site
the Right Signals
Reporters, bloggers, social sharers, & web-based influencers in
our space are hungry for _________. If our story is
_________, and we build relationships with __________, we
can win the signals we need to rank in our space.

66. Option C: Leverage a Community to Build the
Signals ForYou
If we give people who __________ a place online with
___________, they will build content, amplify, and earn the
ranking signals we need.

67. Links Still Work, But They’re Not
Alone
#4

68. Queries + Clicks

70. Pogosticking
Oooo…CLICK!

71. Pogosticking
Uhh… This sucks.

72. Pogosticking
Guess I’ll try
this one.

73. Pogosticking
I hate all the popups
and sign-in prompts,
but at least it’s
relevant.

74. Coverage + Virality

75. QueriesAlso Helped Here

76. Engagement

77. If You’re Winning on Links, Consider
Are my competitors earning more branded searches?A)
Am I losing searchers to pogo-sticking?B)
Is my media coverage, amplification, & mentions the problem?C)
Am I losing on visitor engagement?D)

78. We need to learn to influence searchers
who don’t leave Google
#5

79. You don’t need to
outrank Nerdwallet, you
need to rank *in*
Nerdwallet

80. No need to get the click;
just get a compelling
listing.

81. If Arm+Hammer can
convince Target to bid for
them… PPC is as good as
SEO!

82. Website clicks are
irrelevant next to nailing
these bits

83. If you could rank #1 or be
listed in this box…

84. Steering thought patterns in
the SERPs, even without the
click, is probably a smart
move

85. This is “reputation
management SEO” now

86. Rand Fishkin | Founder & CEO
Thank You!