SEO
4 SEO Experts Share Key Actions To Raise Client Satisfaction
That’s why, as Sandford advises, you need to proactively communicate both the opportunity and the downsides.
According to him, you should:
Flag the issue in good time.
Flagging a potential issue in a good time frame before it happens shows that you are on the ball. If you can see an issue somewhere down the line, it shows that you are thinking about long-term strategy, and that you are invested in your client’s success.Don’t try to hide things.
The fact that you are being upfront is valuable, and most clients will appreciate it. You don’t need to frame a potential downturn as a disaster. Rather, think about it as an important insight that can help your client to make informed decisions.Back up all communications with data.
When you are communicating what might sound like “bad news,” back it up with rigorous data to show the basis of your analysis. Whether it’s competitor analysis, keyword data, or broader market data, this additional insight will add a lot of extra value for clients.
Operate Holistically: Understand All Critical Influences On Your SEO Performance
As Reilly also highlights, SEO performance doesn’t happen in a silo; it’s key to translate that to your stakeholders:
SEO can often be treated as a channel separate from anything else, but in reality, it interacts with so many parts of a business. Working out what makes our clients tick (or struggle) might alter what we invest our efforts into.
Aaron Dicks, Performance Director at Impression, adds the importance of differentiation, especially when catering to enterprise clients:
At the enterprise level, it’s likely there will be a lot of crossover in opportunities presented by agencies, and all will be thorough in their auditing. It then becomes trickier to stand out amongst the crowd.
Future thinking and efficiency techniques (for example, AI integration) are one great way to add to differentiation.
This is where forecasting tools can also make a difference.
Action 2: Highlight SEO Opportunities With SEO Forecasting
SEO forecasting can help uncover unique opportunities and help you evaluate evolving trends before your competitors do.
Uncover Real-Time Market Shifts: Evaluate Shifting Trends
One way to uncover real market shifts and underlying opportunities is to gauge the search landscape, including year-over-year trends, to estimate growth potential.
Reilly argues:
Forecasting can be difficult when it comes to SEO but is also crucial to make sure you’re working towards a target that can provide a return on investment.
We look into the total search volume of the market that our clients are targeting, how much of a share they’re currently getting, and then consider what improvements are needed to get X traffic and Y sale increases.
This really helps bring the opportunity to life and makes [SEO] more tangible as an investment.
Complement this with a forecasting tool that takes into account all key variables influencing your SEO goals, and you’ll create a solid business case that sets you apart.
Because, just as James Euinton, Account Director at The SEO Works, points out, macroeconomic factors are “like the weather, we have little to no control over them but we will inevitably have to face them in business. Though that doesn’t mean we have to be unprepared.”
Euinton argues:
Search volumes are never set in stone and will often change depending on a multitude of factors which we are unable to control.
We need to demonstrate, instead, the factors that we do have influence over in our work and provide our estimations for how they can directly affect the site.
Using the data sets available in SEO, such as those available in Search Console’s performance section and Google Trends, can be a great form of understanding emerging keywords to capitalize on. We can also use these data sets to make estimations on how search volume will be affected going forward and use that to predict what the knock-on effect on traffic and consequent factors will be.
That’s why it’s critical to consider seasonality and year-over-year search trends when forecasting or reforecasting for SEO – you’ll spot hidden opportunities that your competitors will probably miss.
In the end, Euinton explains it best:
Being responsive and having the ability to identify and capitalize on new opportunities quickly can really help to weather the storm of an uncertain business landscape.
Align: Map SEO To General Business Objectives
To prove SEO ROI and keep the cash flow in check, you need to show how your proposed campaign aligns with the general business objectives.
Here’s what Euinton advises:
In order to have a consistent cash flow, you need customers, and in order to have customers, you will likely require some form of marketing.
Marketing service costs are usually the first thing to be considered to be cut during difficult times. But slicing marketing budgets can be detrimental to cash flow later down the line, which in turn leaves less cash for the core operating costs of the business.
The advantage of SEO and similar digital marketing channels is that you have a wealth of data to show and demonstrate the effectiveness of your work.
It’s important that we are mindful of this by showing clients the value that we are providing to the site in a way in which they are able to understand and relay upwards.
Maintaining a good and consistent level of reporting and communication ensures that the client is fully able to understand the role that SEO not only has in terms of our KPIs, such as traffic and conversions, but where they fit into the general objectives of the business, too.
It’s also a question of reiterating the long-term gain of SEO. As a professional, you have the know-how and the responsibility to explain why continuing the investment in SEO makes sense.
Or, as Reilly explains:
Getting buy-in for the long-term benefits SEO can bring is integral. When faced with adversity, companies that are able to continue improving their website and market themselves effectively do tend to reap the rewards from it when out of the other side. Though, as we did during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, giving some payment flexibility is also something we’re keen to do.
A forecasting exercise can be useful to achieve this, as well.
Once you explain how achieving desired ranking targets will bring additional sessions, conversions, and revenue, the mid- and long-term benefits become visible from a business perspective.
By comparing costs and results with their Google Ads spend equivalent, you get an external benchmark that makes your argument more compelling.
Image by SEOmonitor, October 2022Bonus Tip: Always Show How You’re Moving The Needle
This insight comes from The SEO Works, giving you even more arguments to be proactive in client communications and explain the real impact of your work:
Focusing on tasks that move the needle and prioritizing them is key in uncertain times.
There are so many improvements you can make for a website in SEO that it’s difficult to isolate the tasks that are really going to be impactful in terms of obtaining rankings, traffic, and conversions. Add the complexity of different website types (such as ecommerce, brochure, single page apps), CMS platforms and business areas, and this becomes even more unclear.
When we audit a site or draw up tasks for the upcoming quarter, prioritizing impactful work should be the cornerstone.
In addition to assessing the site thoroughly to get a full picture of where a site is at, it’s important to take stock of what issues are raised and consider what the resource cost for both ourselves and the client will be when advising what to tackle.
SEO projects are always going to be undertaken within the confines of a budget, and it’s essential to be able to adhere to this by working as efficiently as possible and prioritizing the correct tasks.
For example, it’s pointless to commit several developer tickets and campaign hours to work on improving a Core Web Vitals score by a few points if the content is unable to be crawled and assessed by Google in the first place.
In addition to the actual tasks, observing our workflow and using tools to minimize repetitive manual work, such as using scripts to automatically test redirects and status codes can be hugely beneficial to project efficiency.
In A Nutshell
Every conversation with stakeholders and clients is an opportunity to be proactive and tackle all uncertainties involving digital marketing budgets, SEO, and business objectives.
Being transparent, sharing potential issues and caveats as the market trends shift, and constantly connecting your SEO work with business KPIs are crucial to keeping churn low.
As you’ve seen from top digital marketing agencies and their advice, showing that you’re a business partner and care for the long-term experience becomes a winning strategy.
That’s why, at SEOmonitor, we’ve developed a forecasting solution that’s fully integrated with our daily ranking data, search data (search volumes, seasonality, and year-over-year trends), and has a transparent algorithm – so you know what makes your business case trustworthy and you can explain it, especially when everything feels uncertain.
Join us if you want to create trust and prove the business value of your SEO work.
SEO
brightonSEO Live Blog
Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.
Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary. sun, sea, and SEO!
SEO
Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome
Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.
The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.
Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025
Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.
Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The statement reads:
“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”
Continued Engagement With Regulators
Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.
This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.
The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.
Transition Period & Impact
In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.
However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.
The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.
While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.
Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.
Publisher & Advertiser Implications
The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.
Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.
However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.
With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.
Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock
SEO
How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results
ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.
However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.
To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
Writing Prompts For ChatGPT
What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?
A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.
The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.
Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.
ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.
How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT
Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”
ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.
Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.
If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.
For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”
Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.
However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.
Must-Have GPTs Assistant
I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.
This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.
It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)
For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.
With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.
Master Reverse Prompt Engineering
ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.
By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.
One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.
This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.
Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.
Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts
First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.
- Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.
- Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.
Go Deeper
Prompts and examples for SEO:
- Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
- Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
- Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”
Important Considerations:
- Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
- Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
- Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.
Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.
Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.
Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques
Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.
Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.
Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.
This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.
More resources:
Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock
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