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7 Local SEO Tips For Franchises & Their Locations

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7 Local SEO Tips For Franchises & Their Locations

Franchises, like all local businesses, require local SEO to rank in the search engines and reach new potential customers.

That includes SEO best practices such as optimizing the websites of individual franchise locations and creating business listings in national and local directories.

However, SEO for franchises differs from regular local SEO in several ways.

Read on to learn more about how to rank franchises in Google and other search engines.

The Importance Of Franchise SEO

Like all local businesses, franchises can use search engine optimization to get noticed by potential customers.

From creating Google Business Profile listings to writing blog posts that target relevant keywords, using the right franchise SEO strategies will help you increase brand awareness and boost your sales.

Organic traffic from increased search rankings is free.

As long as you maintain your rankings, you can drive leads and sales at almost no cost to you.

The Unique Challenges Of Franchise SEO

Franchise owners wanting to build an online presence face various unique challenges.

One of the top challenges you’ll face is avoiding duplicate content.

While each of your locations will have its website, the look and theme of each website should be similar to each other.

Avoiding duplicate content is harder when you’re a business owner that owns several of the same businesses in different locations.

Unfortunately, duplicate content won’t help your rankings, even if you own both of the sites the duplicate content is on.

Another challenge is deciding on the right SEO strategy for your franchise websites.

Do you optimize the content for topics related to each business location or area, or do you adopt a national strategy?

It’s also critical to provide the right contact details and address of each of your franchise businesses.

Franchise SEO: 7 Steps To Improve Your Rankings

Regardless of the products you sell and the niche you are in, follow these steps to rank for your target search queries and drive organic traffic.

1. Use Consistent Branding

The first step is to use consistent branding across all your individual websites.

The entire purpose of a franchise chain is to offer the same user experience at each of your physical locations.

Your online presence should be no different.

People who visit different branches of your franchise will expect a similar experience at each one.

Similarly, when they visit the website of each franchise location, they will expect a similar layout and color theme.

This is all about the user experience.

If people are expecting your website to look one way, and they land on a webpage with an entirely different design, they may exit your page, thinking that they landed on the wrong one.

2. Build Locality Into Each Individual Franchise Website

When it comes to building a website for your franchise, there are certain essentials that you should have regardless of the industry.

These will not only help with SEO and usability but also provide value in what people want from websites today:

  • Optimizing your franchisee pages with the most search localized terms and including them within Title Tags, and Content).
  • Embedded Google map of the franchise’s location.
  • Hours of operation.
  • Images of your management, work performed, before and after. Anything original to that location.
  • Localized testimonials from that franchise location.
  • Direction details, where are you located. If you are a service area business, what areas do you cover.
  • Structured local business markup.

3. Use The Right NAP

NAP stands for Name, Address, and Phone Number, and using the correct format is critical for local SEO.

When running a multi-location SEO campaign, you must use the correct NAP for each of your locations.

Furthermore, the NAP should be in the same format on each of your websites.

If you use parenthesis for the area code of one franchise’s number, use it for the phone numbers posted on the websites of all franchises.

It’s critical to use each location’s NAP as opposed to the corporate NAP.

You may include corporate contact details on a separate page and put a “Corporate” option in the footer menu.

4. Use Location-Based Keywords

Use location-specific keywords on each of your websites.

Use a keyword tool to find competitive keywords that will allow local people to find you.

Targeting national search terms on each website might not be the best idea.

You may rank for them, but the people who land on your page might live far from where the individual franchisee is located.

The exception is if you have a national website that automatically redirects people to the nearest franchise location.

5. Decide On A Content Marketing Strategy

This part is critical.

Content is a crucial aspect of any successful digital marketing campaign.

For franchises, however, it can get tricky

  • Should you blog about general topics related to your niche or products?
  • Or, should you blog about topics that are related to the specific location or area of each franchise?

As a general rule, it’s best to do the latter.

Create blog posts that have nearby residents in mind.

There are two types of locally-targeted blog posts.

The first type discusses general local news and events.

That type of blog post can be useful, but only if you have a broad target audience or sell a product that a wide range of people can use.

For example, if you have a bagel restaurant franchise in several cities, you can blog about local holidays and then offer limited-time promotions at the end of your posts.

As a general rule, however, it’s best to blog about your niche but with a local slant.

As an example, if you have a roofing contracting franchise, you can talk about how the different weather patterns in a specific city may cause readers’ roofs to get damaged and require repair.

Or, if you have a pest control business, you can talk about the common pests and rodents that people in that city (or different areas of the city) deal with the most.

If you have a hair salon franchise, you can talk about how weather patterns can affect people’s hair and what to do about it, or you can discuss local hairstyles that are trending and popular.

If you own a well-recognized national brand, you don’t need to write locally-targeted content.

Most people will already have some exposure to your brand.

They may consider you an authority in your industry and turn to you for general information.

Examples of such companies would include Starbucks, Dunkin’ Donuts, etc.

Of course, you likely don’t own a business that well-known.

However, the point remains: Businesses with such a level of visibility can position themselves as authorities on coffee, donuts, hamburgers, etc.

6. Get Listed On Google Business Profile And Other Platforms

You’ll also need to create a Google Business Profile listing for all your individual businesses.

Each location should have its own Google Business Profile listing.

However, there are a few possible ways to manage access and control.

You can have each franchise owner create their listing, depending on how responsible they are for marketing.

Alternatively, you can set up each listing under your own Google account (you can use one account for all listings).

Then, you can add franchise owners as users to manage and control their listings.

Either way, having a GMB profile that you link to each franchise’s website is critical for local SEO.

When people search Google for local businesses, websites aren’t the only results that show up.

In addition to websites, Google features a few local GMB profiles at the top of the search results.

These profiles appear alongside ratings and other engaging data, and the lucky businesses that show up in the first few GMB profiles tend to get the most clicks.

Similarly, a local GMB profile allows you to show up on Google Maps. Many local searchers use Google Maps to find businesses instead of searching on Google itself.

Google will use data such as the distance of each company from the searcher to determine which businesses will show up first.

If you have several franchises within the city, there’s a good chance you’ll show up in any given search.

However, creating a Google Business Profile is just the beginning.

Also, create profiles on other popular directories, including Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Apple Maps.

While those are national directories, they are optimized for and appear in local searches.

In addition to large platforms like Google Business Profile, you should be building listings in as many local directories as possible.

Getting citations and links from local directories will do wonders for your search engine rankings – the more local citations you can build, the better.

A franchise SEO service can take care of this for you and submit your data to multiple directories at once.

Each franchise should get listings from directories that focus on its city or area.

Local directories shouldn’t be your only sources of citations, either.

Look for directories that are nationwide but deal with your specific niche.

For example, if your franchises offer home repair or construction services, get listed in directories like HomeAdvisor.

For both GMB listings and local citations, it’s critical to include the correct contact data.

Use the same NAP format as you use on your franchise websites.

In addition, optimize each listing or citation by ensuring store hours are correct and uploading images when allowed.

Google Business Profile also allows you to publish post updates, which you should do from time to time to show that you are active.

Different post types are available on GMB.

Some can include general updates, while others can announce discounts or promotions, new product launches, a change of hours, or Covid-19 updates.

You should include your top target keywords in your GMB profile description, as well as in your post updates.

Each platform and directory will have different requirements.

In general, however, try to add as much relevant information, upload as many images, and target as many relevant keywords as you can.

Once you created listings on GMB, Yelp, and other directories, encourage customers to leave reviews.

Profiles with many positive reviews tend to rank better.

Many platforms forbid incentivized reviews, so you can’t give customers discounts or freebies in exchange for reviews.

However, you can encourage reviews by putting up stickers or posters in each franchise location reminding customers to look you up on Google, Facebook, Yelp, etc., and share their feedback and comments.

An excellent hack is to create QR codes that take users to your official profile on Google or Yelp and put those QR codes on your menus, storefronts, receipts, and other materials.

7. Build Local Backlinks

Local backlinks are critical for local rankings as well.

Building local backlinks as a franchise can be complicated.

On the one hand, you need to find local businesses to collaborate with within each area you are operating in.

On the other hand, you don’t want to get links from or link to competitors.

Try to work with local organizations, schools, charities, and events.

You may be able to sponsor a lunch day at a local school, for example, in exchange for a blog post announcing the sponsorship and linking to you.

If you own a food-based franchise, you may be able to set up an initiative in which you collaborate with local charities to feed the homeless.

Final Thoughts

In many ways, the same SEO practices and strategies that apply to most local businesses apply to franchises.

However, it’s important to understand the challenges that franchises face and create a roadmap and a list of guidelines that all individual locations should adhere to.

More resources:


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Bing Expands Generative Search Capabilities For Complex Queries

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Bing Expands Generative Search Capabilities For Complex Queries

Microsoft has announced an expansion of Bing’s generative search capabilities.

The update focuses on handling complex, informational queries.

Bing provides examples such as “how to effectively run a one-on-one” and “how can I remove background noise from my podcast recordings.”

Searchers in the United States can access the new features by typing “Bing generative search” into the search bar. This will present a carousel of sample queries.

Screenshot from: blogs.bing.com, October 2024.

A “Deep search” button on the results page activates the generative search function for other searches.

1727808962 226 Bing Expands Generative Search Capabilities For Complex QueriesScreenshot from: blogs.bing.com, October 2024.

Beta Release and Potential Challenges

It’s important to note that this feature is in beta.

Bing acknowledges that you may experience longer loading times as the system works to ensure accuracy and relevance.

The announcement reads:

“While we’re excited to give you this opportunity to explore generative search firsthand, this experience is still being rolled out in beta. You may notice a bit of loading time as we work to ensure generative search results are shown when we’re confident in their accuracy and relevancy, and when it makes sense for the given query. You will generally see generative search results for informational and complex queries, and it will be indicated under the search box with the sentence “Results enhanced with Bing generative search” …”

This is the waiting screen you get after clicking on “Deep search.”

1727808962 993 Bing Expands Generative Search Capabilities For Complex QueriesScreenshot from: blogs.bing.com, October 2024.

In practice, I found the wait was long and sometimes the searches would fail before completing.

The ideal way to utilize this search experience is to click on the suggestions provided after entering “Bing generative search” into the search bar.

Potential Impact

Bing’s generative search results include citations and links to original sources.

1727808962 321 Bing Expands Generative Search Capabilities For Complex QueriesScreenshot from: blogs.bing.com, October 2024.

This approach is intended to drive traffic to publishers, but it remains to be seen how effective this will be in practice.

Bing encourages users to provide feedback on the new feature using thumbs up/down icons or the dedicated feedback button.

See also: Google AIO Is Ranking More Niche Specific Sites

Looking Ahead

This development comes as search engines increasingly use AI to enhance their capabilities.

As Bing rolls out this expanded generative search feature, remember the technology is still in beta, so performance and accuracy may vary.


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12 Link Builders Share Strategies That Work in 2024

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12 Link Builders Share Strategies That Work in 2024

I asked 12 SEOs for the link building strategy that’s working best for them right now.

Here are the tactics they shared, how to do them, and tips for success. 

This has been my go-to link building strategy for quite some time now. What makes this approach very effective is that it touches multiple campaign objectives beyond just building topical authority and improving search rankings.

Jason AcidreJason Acidre

How to do it

Let’s say you were doing this for MailChimp. You might want to find listicles that feature brands like ConvertKit and Aweber but not MailChimp—like this one: 

List of the best email marketing software that features brands like ConvertKit and Aweber but not MailChimpList of the best email marketing software that features brands like ConvertKit and Aweber but not MailChimp

To find these, run this search in Ahrefs’ Content Explorer: 

[competitor 1] +[competitor 2] -[your brand] title:(best OR top)

For example, to find listicles that mention Aweber and ConvertKit but not MailChimp, you’d search for: convertkit +aweber -mailchimp title:(best OR top)

Searching for listicles in Content ExplorerSearching for listicles in Content Explorer

If you spot a listicle where you feel you should be listed, find their email address and reach out to them. 

Here’s an example email Jason used: 

Example outreach email from Jason AcidreExample outreach email from Jason Acidre

I don’t recommend copying Jason’s email word for word, but here’s his and Alex Tachalova’s advice on what to include: 

Some key pointers for emails: 

  • Briefly highlight why your product or service merits inclusion on their list.
  • Reference other reputable lists that have already featured your product or service.
  • Inquire about their criteria and requirements for inclusion.
  • Offer free tool access, complimentary products for review, or case studies that they can review (if you’re providing a service).
Jason AcidreJason Acidre

Our pitches generally include: 

  • The client’s previous features in listicle posts.
  • A suggestion to collaborate on enhancing the quality of their listicle post, given the client’s industry expertise.
  • An analysis of top-ranking listicle posts to identify missing tools or information that could offer a competitive edge and improve their post’s rankings.
Alexandra TachalovaAlexandra Tachalova

As Jason points out, this strategy has benefits beyond improving rankings for your website. It also exposes your brand to more people as you’re consistently listed as a top option in your industry. 

For example, Jason got his client mentioned in nearly every top-ranking listicle for “best dropshipping suppliers.” That’s a lot of extra brand exposure! 

Apart from the selfie battle I have with Tim Soulo, this is one of the most effective link-building strategies we’re using right now. 

Jason HennesseyJason Hennessey

How to do it

Start by finding a trending topic journalists care about. Google News and Google Trends are good places to start. 

We start by identifying current trends using tools like Google Trends and monitoring industry news. 

Jason HennesseyJason Hennessey

We use lots of techniques from monitoring news sources in real time to conducting research with Google News to understand the types of topics that have been previously covered at specific times of year. 

Amanda WallsAmanda Walls

You can also use the Growth metric in Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer.

For example, if I enter “vaping” and sort by the Growth column, I see lots of lung health searches breaking out in the past three months: 

Growth for terms related to lung health and vaping in the past three months, via Ahrefs' Keywords ExplorerGrowth for terms related to lung health and vaping in the past three months, via Ahrefs' Keywords Explorer

I also see this echoed in Google News: 

Google News results for vaping features many stories about lung issuesGoogle News results for vaping features many stories about lung issues

It’s then a case of sourcing some unique data, publishing it in an easy-to-utilize format, and sending it to journalists. Matt Diggity shared a few great sources with me: 

For government databases you have usa.gov for the states. Data.gov is another alternative. UK Data Service is the equivalent for the UK. Eurostat is great for other countries in the EU. And Statistics Canada is for… yeah, Canada. Internationally, World Bank Open Data and United Nations Data are treasure troves. Pew Research Center is great for social issues, public opinion, and demographic trends. FBI Crime Data Explorer is great for crime stats. And the CDC is great for health data. 

Matt DiggityMatt Diggity

Amanda also often uses freedom of information (FOI) requests for data, as she did for her piece on the UK’s illegal vape hotspots:

UK illegal vaping hotspots campaignUK illegal vaping hotspots campaign

This campaign earned links from 72 referring domains and got featured in many online newspapers: 

The campaign earned links from 72 referring domains according to AhrefsThe campaign earned links from 72 referring domains according to Ahrefs
Lancashire Post article that links to the campaignLancashire Post article that links to the campaign
Example feature in the Lancashire Post
Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herald article that links to the campaignArdrossan & Saltcoats Herald article that links to the campaign
Example feature in the Ardrossan & Saltcoats Herand
South Wales Guardian article that links to the campaignSouth Wales Guardian article that links to the campaign
Example feature in the South Wales Guardian

How do you find journalists? 

Here’s Jason’s advice: 

We start by researching those who have previously covered similar topics or industries. We use tools like Muck Rack, Cision, or even X to find journalists by searching for keywords related to our story. We look at bylines in relevant publications to see who is writing about related subjects and review their past articles to understand their interests and writing style. 

Jason HennesseyJason Hennessey

Journalists are always looking for comments, tips and advice from thought leaders. Nurture these relationships and meet request deadlines, and you position yourself as the PR expert who can help during busy periods.

Eva ChengEva Cheng

How to do it

One way is to sign up for HARO and other alternatives, but Eva recommends a more proactive approach. She builds relationships with journalists relevant to her clients so they come directly to her for tips and quotes.

How can you find these people? 

Eva uses keyword alerts: 

I have Google Alerts set up for relevant keywords related to a brand or topic. For example, I have the words “vet,” “dog behaviour,” and “cat behaviour” set up for a pet insurance brand so I can see the related coverage mentioning these words. 

Eva ChengEva Cheng

You can also use Ahrefs Alerts. The benefit of this over Google Alerts is that you can filter by language, traffic, Domain Rating (DR), etc. to separate the wheat from the chaff: 

Setting up alerts for "cat behaviour" in Ahrefs AlertsSetting up alerts for "cat behaviour" in Ahrefs Alerts

Alternatively, use Content Explorer to find people who’ve talked about topics recently. Just search for a keyword and filter for pages published in the last 90 days. 

For example, if I search for “vet,” I see this recent article on a DR 83 site from Jessie Quinn: 

Content Explorer shows the author of the postContent Explorer shows the author of the post

It looks like she’s written a couple of pet-related articles recently: 

This author has written a few pet-related articlesThis author has written a few pet-related articles

Her profile also says she writes for many well-known sites and has a pug called Daphne: 

She also has a pet of her ownShe also has a pet of her own

This journalist would clearly be a great person to build a relationship with! 

How? Eva says it all starts with a simple “hello”:

Reach out and introduce yourself and your client to journalists and niche publications who cover related topics regularly. Offer them the opportunity to receive exclusive commentary when requested. After a journalist has covered your campaign or expert commentary, always drop them a note to say thank you. You never know it can also lead to another request or opportunity for your client. 

Eva ChengEva Cheng

Oh, and don’t rely on AI when actually replying to requests, whether direct or via platforms like HARO. Greg explains why: 

AI is not yet capable of replacing a high quality writer. Simply copy/pasting their content over to a journalist outreach email is a fantastic way to earn your client a spot on a journalist or publication’s ban list. When our writers use AI, they use it for idea generation to overcome writer’s block. This is how I recommend using it. 

Greg HeilersGreg Heilers

Data-driven digital PR campaigns, like maps, are our most effective method for driving backlinks at the moment. 

George DriscollGeorge Driscoll

How to do it

Start by brainstorming topics with map potential that make sense for your brand. 

Ask yourself, what would a journalist and user expect you to be an expert on? For a cocktail brand, doing a map on speakeasy bars around the world would make perfect sense, or a map on the rooftop bars with the best reviews, etc. 

George DriscollGeorge Driscoll

If you’re struggling for ideas, search for a topic in Content Explorer and filter for pages with lots of backlinks. These are proven ideas you know people want to link to.

For example, if I search for “tax,” I see over 300 referring domains to a page listing countries where you have to pay “tourist tax”: 

This list of countries with tourist taxes has links from 325 referring domainsThis list of countries with tourist taxes has links from 325 referring domains

This immediately sparks an idea: map out countries with the most and least expensive “tourist taxes.” 

Once you have your map, send it to journalists who might be interested in covering it. 

Find journalists who write about that kind of content, either literally map based data, or perhaps in the example above, they write about travel. 

George DriscollGeorge Driscoll

George did this for his map of which states will pay the most taxes over their lifetime… 

George's campaign for which states pay the most taxes in their lifetimeGeorge's campaign for which states pay the most taxes in their lifetime

… earning links from 188 referring domains in the process: 

George's campaign earned links from 188 referring domains according to AhrefsGeorge's campaign earned links from 188 referring domains according to Ahrefs

As Jason suggested earlier, tools like MuckRack, Cision, and X can be useful for finding journalists interested in your topic. But you can also just search Content Explorer for pages published about a topic in the last 90 days, and extract journalist names from there. 

Using Content Explorer to find journalists who've covered a topic in the last 90 daysUsing Content Explorer to find journalists who've covered a topic in the last 90 days

Our unique process for this has worked amazingly well for us for years now. In fact, we’ve just finished some internal research and found our assets like this generate an average of 102 referring domains. 

Darren KingmanDarren Kingman

How to do it

  1. Enter a topic into Ahrefs’ Keywords Explorer
  2. Go to the Matching terms report
  3. Filter for keywords that include terms like “statistics,” “facts,” “graph,” etc.
Finding stats keywords in Keywords ExplorerFinding stats keywords in Keywords Explorer

This will find keywords people search for when looking for facts and figures for their articles. Rank for these, and your page will often earn links on autopilot. 

Here’s Darren’s advice on what make a good keyword: 

The most important thing is that there isn’t just one or two top-ranking pages soaking up all the links. If there’s 3 or 4 that have 100+ and a couple with 20+ or so, that’s all good. It shows there’s a nice spread and journalists/linkers are happy to mix it up themselves. 

Darren KingmanDarren Kingman

This is exactly how the SERP looks for “uk salary statistics:” 

The top search results for "uk salary statistics" have lots of referring domainsThe top search results for "uk salary statistics" have lots of referring domains

In fact, Darren and his team created one of the top-ranking pages. As of today, it’s earned links from 98 referring domains: 

Darren's page, which earned links from 98 referring domainsDarren's page, which earned links from 98 referring domains

And this is without outreach! 

Importantly, we don’t do outreach for these campaigns. They’re designed to remove that element of time and therefore making it more affordable for clients compared to our other activities. 

Darren KingmanDarren Kingman

How do you create a winning page? It’s all about picking low-hanging opportunities and beating the competition on the content front. 

We’re often looking for opportunities where the ranking pages aren’t properly fulfiling a user’s intention. They may not have many images to engage users, the key stats might be buried in a wall of copy, etc. So we’re utilising content marketing 101 to see where we might be able to elevate a page and make it more engaging. 

Darren KingmanDarren Kingman

From some campaigns, I’ve seen over 291 referring domains secured from media sites. The crazier the giveaway, the more chance of backlinks. 

James NorquayJames Norquay

How to do it

Brainstorm trending topics with potential for a unique promotion that you can tie back to your brand. 

For example, Dish Network ran a promotion offering $1,000 to anyone willing to binge watch 15 hours of The Office: 

Dish promotion where you could earn $1k for watching The OfficeDish promotion where you could earn $1k for watching The Office

It earned links from 150 referring domains, including big media sites like Thrillist, Business Insider, CNET, Mental Floss, and many others. 

Dish's campaign earned links from 150 referring domainsDish's campaign earned links from 150 referring domains

Struggling for ideas? Try asking ChatGPT: 

Hey ChatGPT. I found a unique promotion online where Dish Network offered to pay people $1,000 to binge watch 15 hours of The Office. My brand is [brief description]. Give me a few ideas for a similar promotion I can run.

Here’s one idea it came up with for a coffee brand: 

ChatGPT is a great way to come up with ideas for your brandChatGPT is a great way to come up with ideas for your brand

Not bad! 

But who should you tell about your wacky campaign once you have it? Here’s a smart tip from James: 

It’s as simple as reaching out to the same publications and journalists who’ve covered similar things before. You can find plenty of these already online from movies and tv shows. 

James NorquayJames Norquay

For example, you can just export the 150 sites linking to The Office campaign via Site Explorer and reach out to them. 

Find people linking to similar campaigns in Site Explorer, then reach out to themFind people linking to similar campaigns in Site Explorer, then reach out to them

I have to give credit to Russ Jones (RIP) who was one of the most switched on link builders and SEOs I have ever met for this tip he shared with me. 

James NorquayJames Norquay

How to do it

Start by finding relevant pages with lots of backlinks in Ahrefs: 

  1. Search for a topic in Content Explorer
  2. Filter for pages with 100+ referring domains
  3. Filter out subdomains, homepages, and multiple pages per domain
Finding pages with lots of backlinks in Content ExplorerFinding pages with lots of backlinks in Content Explorer

In the example above, there are 1,952 pages about tax with links from over 100 websites. One of them is this federal income tax calculator with 1,500 referring domains: 

Example of a page with a federal income tax calculator that has backlinks from over 1,500 referring domainsExample of a page with a federal income tax calculator that has backlinks from over 1,500 referring domains

Next, run a free audit with a tool like AccessScan to check how accessible the page is for people with disabilities: 

Running a compliance audit with AccessScanRunning a compliance audit with AccessScan

In this case, the page is non-compliant. This means that over 1,500 sites are linking to a resource that isn’t accessible for users with vision, motor and cognitive impairments—including a few government and education websites: 

Filtering for educational and government backlinks in Site ExplorerFiltering for educational and government backlinks in Site Explorer

Here’s what James says to do next: 

You reach out to the website and say the resource on your page is not accessible to visually impaired users. This is a highly successful outreach method vs just sending emails at scale asking for guest posts. 

James NorquayJames Norquay

Of course, this does mean you need to create an alternative resource that is compliant. But that’s easily worth it when there’s a pool of hundreds or thousands of potential linkers. 

I know it might sound a bit old-school, but guest posting still delivers great results. However, the days of mass emailing generic pitches are over. The strategy is the same—offering valuable content for a link—but the execution needs a fresh approach. 

Bibi Lauri RavenBibi Lauri Raven

How to do it

First, you need to find sites that might be open to a guest post. 

To do that: 

  1. Run an “In title” search for a broad industry term in Content Explorer
  2. Filter for sites with a Domain Rating (DR) between 30-60 (this removes big sites that probably won’t accept guest posts)
  3. Go to the “Websites” tab
Searching for guest post prospects in Content ExplorerSearching for guest post prospects in Content Explorer

Here you will see the top 100 sites getting the most search traffic to content about your topic. These are good sites to pitch a guest post, as they’ve already written about similar topics before. 

Bibi recommends using AI to help with your pitch: 

Ai is an awesome tool [for pitching]. It can help you create everything from catchy subject lines to compelling pitches and even eye-catching visuals. 

Bibi Lauri RavenBibi Lauri Raven

For example, she used AI to create Midjourney images that combined cats and dogs with her target niche. When she reached out to trucking companies, this charming approach got a lot of positive attention. 

One of the images Bibi used in an outreach campaignOne of the images Bibi used in an outreach campaign

If zany or “out there” isn’t really your jam, that’s fine. As Bibi says, it’s not a necessity. The point is to use AI to improve your pitches and make them more creative. 

You don’t always need to be funny or wild, but AI lets you create highly targeted content in formats that would typically require a whole team with specialised skills. So, even though guest posting might seem basic, the possibilities are endless with AI. Just keep experimenting with it! 

Bibi Lauri RavenBibi Lauri Raven

Find a page with links, make something better, pitch it as a replacement (aka the “skyscraper” technique)

[/blockquote]

Most people assume that “skyscraper” is dead because it worked well in 2017, then got abused until it didn’t work anymore. But we’re finding that it’s starting to open up again now.

Eric CarrellEric Carrell

How it works

This is arguably the most famous link building technique there is, but if you’ve been hiding in a cave for the last decade, here’s how it works in a nutshell: 

How the Skyscraper Technique worksHow the Skyscraper Technique works

For example, this list of best headphone recommendations has 469 referring domains… 

Example of a potential skyscraper prospectExample of a potential skyscraper prospect

… but it hasn’t been updated since 2021: 

The page hasn't been updated for years and is now out of dateThe page hasn't been updated for years and is now out of date

Given how fast the headphone industry moves these days, this means that hundreds of sites are linking to a completely outdated list of recommendations. 

To take advantage of this, you would: 

  1. Publish an up-to-date list of headphone recommendations (aka. “skyscraper” content)
  2. Pitch this as a replacement to everyone linking to the outdated post.

Here’s a quick tip from Eric to help maximise your results: 

Give people extra incentive to link by offering to share their content on your social networks. We do this when promoting our clients’ content and it still works relatively well. 

Eric CarrellEric Carrell

Keep learning

Thanks to everyone who contributed to this post. If you want to learn even more about building links, check out these posts and courses: 

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Google AIO Is Ranking More Niche Specific Sites

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Google AIO Is Ranking More Niche Specific Sites

New data from BrightEdge shows significant changes to Google AI Overviews, prioritizing topic-specific sites and a stronger focus on ecommerce ahead of the year-end shopping season.

Google Core Update And AIO

An interesting insight from the data is that there is more overlap between AIO and Google’s organic search results, that there is more agreement between the two results. Is AIO mirroring the organic search results or are the organic search results more closely aligned with AIO?

The organic search results themselves changed after the August 2024 core algorithm update and so did AIO. BrightEdge’s data offers evidence of how Google’s organic search results changed.

BrightEdge data shows:

  • The overlap of URLs cited in AI Overviews with those ranking in the top 100 increased from 37% to 41% post-update.
  • This is following Google’s August 15th Core Update.
  • The shift indicates that AI Overviews are prioritizing organic results more than before, pulling from lower-ranked results to create comprehensive responses.

BrightEdge data shows that AIO is ranking lower-ranked web pages for more precise answers. Something else to consider is that both AIO and the organic search results changed and it could be the criteria for ranking changed in a similar way for both AIO and organic, that the algorithms for both are doing something similar.

A significant characteristic of the last update is that it is showing less of the big brand sites and more of the independent niche sites. BrightEdge data shows that AIO is also ranking websites that are more precisely about a topic.

Keep reading because there’s more about that in BrightEdge’s data which could offer insights into what’s going on in the organic SERPs.

BrightEdge Dataset

Research was conducted using the BrightEdge Data Cube X, an SEO and content performance platform for researching industries. |

Data Cube X Facilitates:

  • Comprehensive Keyword Research
  • Competitive Analysis:
  • Automated AI-Powered Content and Keyword Research
  • Traffic Fluctuation Analysis

Non-Logged-In AI Overviews

Google has rolled out AI Overviews (AIO) to users that are not logged-in to Google accounts, expanding the audience for AIO to a greater amount of people. But it’s not showing across all industries. The data shows that the integration of AIO varies.

Within the context of users who are not logged in, Ecommerce search results for not logged-in users dropped in AIO is less than logged-in users by a whopping 90%.

Users that are not logged-in didn’t see AIO in the following topics:

  • Education: 21% relative decrease
  • B2B Tech: 17% relative decrease
  • Healthcare: 16% relative decrease

Although there’s a decrease in AIO shown to non-logged-in users for ecommerce queries, there is an increase in product grids that are shown to these users compared to logged-in users. BrightEdge speculates that Google is better able to target logged-in users and is thus showing product grids to them on a more precise basis than to non-logged-in users.

More Product Comparisons

BrightEdge’s data indicates that Google AIO is showing more product comparisons and visuals.

Their data shows:

  • In August, product carousels for apparel-related queries increased by 172%.
  • The use of unordered lists across industries rose by 42%.

These adjustments make AI Overviews more user-friendly by organizing complex product features and specifications for easier decision-making.

All of those features allow users to make comparisons between products by what the products look like as well as by price. A takeaway from this data is that it may be increasingly important to show original product images (if possible) and to make sure that images shown are high quality and allow users to get a good sense of the product.

Data is always important and it’s a good way to make a product listing or product review stand apart from competitors. Any information that makes improves a consumer’s decision making is valuable.

A good example is for clothing where it’s not enough to indicate that something is a size small, medium or large. Sizes are inconsistent from manufacturer to manufacturer and even within a brand’s own products. So, for clothing, it may be useful to add comparison information about actual sizes within a product line in terms of inches or metric measurement so that a consumer can make an even better choice.

Comparison between products, especially within the context of a product review, is important. One of the product review best practices (and maybe a ranking factor) that is recommended by Google is a comparison of the product being reviewed. Google’s product reviews best practices recommendation is that publishers compare a product to another product so that users can presumably make a better decision.

Google recommends:

  • “Cover comparable things to consider, or explain which might be best for certain uses or circumstances.”

According to BrightEdge:

“As the holiday shopping season approaches Google is refining AIO search results to focus on comparative content, which rose by 12% in August. AIOs prioritized product carousels with engaging imagery, which rose by 172%. Unordered lists (lists of items that are related but in no specific order, such as general searches for ‘winter boots’ or ‘iPhone cases’) also increased by 42%.”

Google AIO Rankings Are More Precise

A data point that all search marketers should be aware of is that Google is ranking more precise content in AIO in a way that might reflect on what is going on with the organic search algorithms.

BrightEdge discovered that generalist sites had massive decreases in rankings while specialists sites had increases. People like to talk about “authority sites” and what they’re usually referring to is “big brands” with a lot of money and reach. But that’s not authority, it’s just a big brand with reach.

For example, most people consider news organizations as authority sites. But who would you go to for SEO information, Search Engine Journal or big sites like the New York Times or Fox News? What the BrightEdge data shows is that AIO is making a similar consideration of what kinds of sites are actual authorities on a given topic and then showing those sites instead of a big brand site.

The obvious question is, does this have something to do with Google’s last core update in August? One of the goals of Google’s last update is to show more independent sites. If the AIO trends mirror the organic search results to a certain extent, then perhaps what Google’s algorithms are doing is identifying sites that are authoritative in a topic and showing those sites instead of a more general big brand site.

BrightEdge’s data shows that AIO rankings of generalist technology review sites dropped. TechRadar.com dropped by 47.3 and TomsGuide.com dropped by 16.4%. This trend was also seen in health related queries where the kinds of sites that AIO quotes also became more precise.

AIO showed less consumer-focused sites and blogs and began showing more sites that are precisely about health. The BrightEdge data showed that consumer news and general sites like VerywellHealth.com experienced 77.9% drop in AIO exposure and EverydayHealth.com virtually dropped out of AIO with a 95.6% decline.

Sites like MayoClinic.org experienced a 32.4% increase and citations of the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services AIO increased by +83.2%. It’s not just a trend away from consumer and general news sites, it’s a trend toward more precise rankings of expert and authoritative content.

BrightEdge noted that the following precisely-focused sites experienced increases:

  • Spine-Health.com +266.7%
  • Arthritis.org +89.5%
  • BrightEdge’s report observes:

“This demonstrates Google’s push toward more detailed, factual content in AI Overviews.”

AIO And Organic SERPs

Google has significantly increased the use of product carousels for apparel-related queries, reflecting a 172% rise. These carousels and grids allow for easier product comparisons based on visuals, pricing, and features.

AI Overviews and Google’s organic search results have more overlap than before. The reason for that may reflect a change to prioritize increasingly precise answers from sites that are authoritative for specific topics. Niche sites have gained prominence in both organic and AI Overviews while large more general sites have lost visibility.AI Overviews continues to evolve but the changes from last month indicate that there is a certain amount of agreement between what’s in the SERPs and AIO.

Read more about AI Overviews data at BrightEdge

Featured Image by Shutterstock/BobNoah

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