SEO

8 Brands Using Twitter Effectively

Published

1 year ago

October 27, 2022

Twitter has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 2006 as a 140-character microblogging site.

Today, more than 436 million people use the social media site every month to follow the news, interact with celebrities, and share information.

It was initially a platform for individuals to share thoughts, opinions, and ideas with the world. Enterprising marketing strategists soon realized it was the perfect app for engaging with consumers and initiating conversations about brands.

That’s not to say there weren’t several missteps along the way.

In the early days of social media, which was sometimes called “new media,” so-called “experts” didn’t know much more than your average early tech adopter.

Without much data to back up their strategies, they often made things up as they went along. And this sometimes had disastrous results (remember when DiGiorno coopted a trending hashtag without realizing it was about domestic abuse?)

But as is usually the case, as Twitter became a regular part of global culture, savvy marketers began to understand how to use the platform effectively.

But like no two businesses are alike, no two tweet strategies will be identical.

Let’s take a look at some brands that are top performers on Twitter and discuss what it is about them that makes them so successful.

The Fan Interaction Master

Few fanbases are as rabid as gamers.

From sharing gameplay footage to discussing the latest release rumors, video games are a consistently popular topic on social media platforms.

And in the Twitterverse, no one is more popular than PlayStation.

At the time of writing, the primary account for the Sony gaming console had 26.6 million followers. Used to promote games via trailers, advertise sales on the PlayStation store, and tease new content, nearly every post receives hundreds of retweets and thousands of likes.

And this is just one of the accounts under the PS brand.

In addition to the main account mentioned earlier, they also have a dedicated support account to help users resolve hardware issues and bugs, an account dedicated to Vita (its handheld gaming system), and different accounts for different global regions.

Working together under one umbrella, PlayStation provides remarkable brand consistency and offers everything from technical support to game recommendations.

But what separates PlayStation from lesser brands is the responsiveness with which its accounts are managed.

From resolving hardware issues and bugs to recommending games for purchase, the account is known for being approachable and seeking to help the gaming community in any way it can.

They’re not stingy with the retweets, and fans have rewarded them with engagement.

What you can learn from PlayStation’s Twitter: Social media is all about conversations. Whereas traditional media like television or outdoor are a one-way street where brands speak at their targets, Twitter allows you actually to hold a conversation. Engage with your audience for maximum results.

The Entertainer

Once known as the fast-food place with the square burgers, Wendy’s has lapped the competition through social media.

And the main reason for that is how the account is run. With 3.9 million followers, Wendy’s outperforms the bigger burger joints in interaction and engagement.

This may be because, unlike most companies, Wendy’s doesn’t play it safe on Twitter.

Looking for a way to stand out (circa 2017), it went all-in on hilarious takedowns of the competition and savage clap backs on consumers. And people love it.

In 2018, Wendy’s launched National Roast Day with its hashtag.

This social media holiday quickly became a can’t-miss event for the platform, with the fast-food brand pulling no punches and showing no mercy in short and insulting tweets aimed at competitors and customers alike.

And every year, people and companies of all types lined up for their roast, hoping to snag a little bit of Wendy’s social media clout.

What makes Wendy’s Twitter so successful? It’s the consistency, creativity, and wit with which it is run. Wendy’s has created a brand voice that is unique and authentic, adding to conversations in a humorous manner that resonates with audiences.

In an era where many brands are afraid of taking chances, lest they fall afoul of public opinion, Wendy’s is unabashedly outspoken. Their content is relevant and on-topic with current events, insulting without verging into the offensive. It’s a fine line to walk, but Wendy’s has mastered it.

What you can learn from Wendy’s Twitter: Funny will get you a long way. Your Twitter account doesn’t have to be run by an insult comedian, but developing humorous content will generate a lot more follows and shares that boring vanilla “look how great we are” or “this is our new product” posts.

The Account With Humanity

Flying is stressful. Just ask anyone who has run through a terminal to catch a connecting flight or remove their belt, shoes, and jacket, only to set off the metal detector at security.

And in this high-stress, often the uncomfortable environment, one brand manages to stand out on Twitter: JetBlue.

On an all-too-often impersonal platform, JetBlue has found a way to convey authenticity and personality while demonstrating an exceptional level of customer service.

Unafraid to tackle complicated customer service issues or address negative feedback, this account provides unexpected responsiveness from a corporation this size – or any size, for that matter.

JetBlue’s dedicated customer service team seeks to respond to every Tweet directed their way. From helping travelers change reservations to tracking down lost luggage, their Twitter account shows a remarkable amount of compassion and self-awareness.

And on top of this, the airline has a clearly defined brand persona that is warm, inviting, and above all, human.

From vacation ideas to silly puns to employee photos, JetBlue posts various original content that doesn’t feel like mechanical branding delivered by mindless marketing drones.

What you can learn from JetBlue’s Twitter: Be authentic, own up to your mistakes, and show a bit of personality. Stiff and robotic Twitter accounts are a dime a dozen and easily forgettable. Show your audience that there is a real person behind yours, and they’ll respond positively.

The Content King

If there’s one thing baseball fans love, it’s statistics.

From basic numbers like batting average to complex stats like wins above replacement, the numbers tell a story you can’t find in most other sports. And no one knows this better than Major League Baseball.

But there’s also so much more to the game than just data. There are also diving catches, clutch extra-base hits, and tense squeeze play scenarios.

So, how does a major sporting league deal with this diversity? With segmentation, of course.

MLB’s main account is chock full of numbers for the stats geeks. Infographics give baseball fans appealing visuals about things like Albert Pujols’ on-base and slugging percentages over the last ten games.

Are you looking for something with more flash? MLB utilizes the full power of GIFs with a Twitter account dedicated to them, MLBgifs.

And for the fans still upset about an umpire’s call or those who want to brush up on the nuances of the rulebook, MLBReplays gives them another look at close and controversial plays.

Major League Baseball does a wonderful job of creating and posting the type of content its fans want for a league sometimes accused of losing touch with its fanbase.

What you can learn from MLB’s Twitter: Content reigns supreme over everything else. Give your followers the kind of content that only you can deliver.

And don’t be afraid to branch out. If your content is too diverse for a single account, create another – make sure you’re dedicating the resources to make that one successful, too.

The One Who Speaks Up

A lot is going on in the world right now, and it can sometimes feel like we’ve reached an unprecedented level of polarization. And nowhere is this more evident than on Twitter.

This is partly due to the platform’s algorithm, which promotes content similar to what a person has already interacted with. The anonymity provides for trolls and other bad actors.

In this climate, it’s no surprise many brands are afraid to take a hard stance on anything. After all, changing political winds could lead to calls for a boycott ala Keurig or Chick-fil-a.

However, one brand isn’t afraid to buck this trend and stand up for its values: Ben & Jerry’s.

From working with controversial NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick to develop a new flavor to speaking out against the gender pay gap, the Vermont-based ice cream company has demonstrated a willingness to risk social backlash in the name of its principles.

And while this strategy may cost them some sales from people who oppose them ideologically, Ben & Jerry’s places its ability to influence the world above its corporate profits.

What you can learn from Ben & Jerry’s Twitter: Don’t be a milquetoast brand. You risk alienating a portion of your target audience by taking a stand, but you also boldly display your company’s values. And this may benefit you more in the long run.

The Thought Leader

The technology Twitter-sphere is filled with all sorts of companies run by all kinds of people.

And while some do a great job at sharing their organization’s vision of the future with the world, too many are only interested in telling you about their latest product.

And then there’s General Electric. Look at its bio: “Every minute of every day, GE rises to the challenge of building a world that works.”

GE isn’t using its Twitter account to sell you lightbulbs or washing machines.

Instead, it’s being used to establish the company as an expert in the tech industry. From green energy and healthcare to the NFL draft, GE effectively explains complex concepts within the character limit.

It uses the platform to highlight GE’s commitment to innovation while simultaneously maintaining a commitment to accessibility and personality.

Much like your favorite high school science teacher, they’ve found a way to showcase their excitement about new technologies without boring you with the minute details.

What you can learn from GE’s Twitter: Own your expertise and share your passion. It comes through with unmistakable authenticity when someone is legitimately enthusiastic about a topic. And it’s contagious. Use your Twitter account to promote what it is that excites you.

The Interesting One

Do you know that one person at a party who is incredibly captivating and is surrounded by a crowd the entire time? On Twitter, that’s Forrester.

If right now, you’re saying, “Wait, who?” don’t feel bad. Forrester isn’t a major consumer brand, unlike the other brands on this list.

If your job doesn’t regularly require you to seek out business reports and analysis, there’s a good chance you may never have come across it.

But there’s a good reason it belongs on this list: Nearly every Tweet posted by this research company is packed with links to interesting and valuable information.

For example, suppose inclusivity is integral to your customer acquisition and retention strategy (and it should be). In that case, Forrester has a Tweet and related blog post on the importance of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) language.

Many of Forrester’s tweets include tips, statistics, or infographics that interest their target audience (primarily business professionals). It’s good at pulling out a key statistic, then linking to one of its studies after your interest is piqued.

What you can learn from Forrester’s Twitter: People love to learn. Use your Twitter account to share your knowledge. This will not only paint you as an expert but also garner interest from your target audience.

The One Who Is Unabashedly Itself

Whether or not you’re a coffee drinker, you probably have strong feelings about Starbucks.

From the controversy around the design of its holiday cups to accusations of union-busting, the Seattle-based coffee giant has been a lightning rod for controversy.

And yet, through it all, the brand has thrived, with a Twitter account with more than 11 million followers.

How has it done this? Simply by being itself.

Starbucks embraces its role on the social media platform by creatively employing different types of media.

Everything posted, from clever headlines to GIFs of the latest drink creation, shares a certain joie de vivre while maintaining a bit of the Pacific Northwest quirkiness for which the brand is known.

For such a massive corporation, Starbucks’ Twitter account does a remarkable job of coming across as friendly and approachable.

And it probably doesn’t hurt that the account is well-known for its fan interactions. It responds to mentions with a joyfulness that is often lost in the digital sphere.

The Starbucks’ social media account team is highly skilled at portraying the brand’s confidence without venturing into arrogance.

Product images tempt Twitter users scrolling through their feeds, while witty banter keeps the brand engaging.

What you can learn from Starbucks’ Twitter: Don’t be afraid to show the Twitter world what your brand is all about. Rather than seeking to conform, celebrate your differences from the competition. Project confidence and joy, and people will love interacting with you.

Find Your Own Voice

As you’ve probably already ascertained, there’s no magic bullet to Twitter success.

Each brand must determine what works best for them and its audience. And while it may take you some time to do that, it’s well worth the effort.

According to a Hootsuite study, the average Twitter user spends more than five hours per month on the site, nearly double that of Snapchat or Messenger.

That’s a lot of opportunity for exposure, especially when you consider many people use the platform to conduct brand research.

For some brands, a successful Twitter strategy may only require posting original content twice daily.

For others, it may mean round-the-clock social listening and rapid response to questions and concerns.

Your Twitter persona may be serious or silly – make sure it matches your overall brand voice. You may be informative or inquisitive. It all depends on your industry and your audience.

But one thing you may have noticed all the brands listed above have in common: They’re all authentic. None of the examples provided give you the impression that they’re putting on a façade or attempting to portray something false.

Instead, they all find ways to find or create value in their vertical while building relationships with followers. Exactly how you do, that is up to you and will probably require some experimentation.

But one thing is sure: Twitter is only increasing in popularity, and you may miss out every day. You may not use it effectively.

So, get started today. Sit down with your team for a brainstorming session, and identify your goals, values, and voice. Then develop your strategy and then get Tweeting.

More Resources:

Featured Image: George Rudy/Shutterstock

Related Topics:brands Effectively seo Twitter

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SEO

2024 WordPress Vulnerability Report Shows Errors Sites Keep Making

Published

59 mins ago

April 18, 2024

Max

2024 Annual WordPress security report by WPScan

WordPress security scanner WPScan’s 2024 WordPress vulnerability report calls attention to WordPress vulnerability trends and suggests the kinds of things website publishers (and SEOs) should be looking out for.

Some of the key findings from the report were that just over 20% of vulnerabilities were rated as high or critical level threats, with medium severity threats, at 67% of reported vulnerabilities, making up the majority. Many regard medium level vulnerabilities as if they are low-level threats and that’s a mistake because they’re not low level and should be regarded as deserving attention.

The WPScan report advised:

“While severity doesn’t translate directly to the risk of exploitation, it’s an important guideline for website owners to make an educated decision about when to disable or update the extension.”

WordPress Vulnerability Severity Distribution

Critical level vulnerabilities, the highest level of threat, represented only 2.38% of vulnerabilities, which is essentially good news for WordPress publishers. Yet as mentioned earlier, when combined with the percentages of high level threats (17.68%) the number or concerning vulnerabilities rises to almost 20%.

Here are the percentages by severity ratings:

Critical 2.38%
Low 12.83%
High 17.68%
Medium 67.12%

Authenticated Versus Unauthenticated

Authenticated vulnerabilities are those that require an attacker to first attain user credentials and their accompanying permission levels in order to exploit a particular vulnerability. Exploits that require subscriber-level authentication are the most exploitable of the authenticated exploits and those that require administrator level access present the least risk (although not always a low risk for a variety of reasons).

Unauthenticated attacks are generally the easiest to exploit because anyone can launch an attack without having to first acquire a user credential.

The WPScan vulnerability report found that about 22% of reported vulnerabilities required subscriber level or no authentication at all, representing the most exploitable vulnerabilities. On the other end of the scale of the exploitability are vulnerabilities requiring admin permission levels representing a total of 30.71% of reported vulnerabilities.

Permission Levels Required For Exploits

Vulnerabilities requiring administrator level credentials represented the highest percentage of exploits, followed by Cross Site Request Forgery (CSRF) with 24.74% of vulnerabilities. This is interesting because CSRF is an attack that uses social engineering to get a victim to click a link from which the user’s permission levels are acquired. This is a mistake that WordPress publishers should be aware of because all it takes is for an admin level user to follow a link which then enables the hacker to assume admin level privileges to the WordPress website.

The following is the percentages of exploits ordered by roles necessary to launch an attack.

Ascending Order Of User Roles For Vulnerabilities

Author 2.19%
Subscriber 10.4%
Unauthenticated 12.35%
Contributor 19.62%
CSRF 24.74%
Admin 30.71%

Most Common Vulnerability Types Requiring Minimal Authentication

Broken Access Control in the context of WordPress refers to a security failure that can allow an attacker without necessary permission credentials to gain access to higher credential permissions.

In the section of the report that looks at the occurrences and vulnerabilities underlying unauthenticated or subscriber level vulnerabilities reported (Occurrence vs Vulnerability on Unauthenticated or Subscriber+ reports), WPScan breaks down the percentages for each vulnerability type that is most common for exploits that are the easiest to launch (because they require minimal to no user credential authentication).

The WPScan threat report noted that Broken Access Control represents a whopping 84.99% followed by SQL injection (20.64%).

The Open Worldwide Application Security Project (OWASP) defines Broken Access Control as:

“Access control, sometimes called authorization, is how a web application grants access to content and functions to some users and not others. These checks are performed after authentication, and govern what ‘authorized’ users are allowed to do.
Access control sounds like a simple problem but is insidiously difficult to implement correctly. A web application’s access control model is closely tied to the content and functions that the site provides. In addition, the users may fall into a number of groups or roles with different abilities or privileges.”

SQL injection, at 20.64% represents the second most prevalent type of vulnerability, which WPScan referred to as both “high severity and risk” in the context of vulnerabilities requiring minimal authentication levels because attackers can access and/or tamper with the database which is the heart of every WordPress website.

These are the percentages:

Broken Access Control 84.99%
SQL Injection 20.64%
Cross-Site Scripting 9.4%
Unauthenticated Arbitrary File Upload 5.28%
Sensitive Data Disclosure 4.59%
Insecure Direct Object Reference (IDOR) 3.67%
Remote Code Execution 2.52%
Other 14.45%

Vulnerabilities In The WordPress Core Itself

The overwhelming majority of vulnerability issues were reported in third-party plugins and themes. However, there were in 2023 a total of 13 vulnerabilities reported in the WordPress core itself. Out of the thirteen vulnerabilities only one of them was rated as a high severity threat, which is the second highest level, with Critical being the highest level vulnerability threat, a rating scoring system maintained by the Common Vulnerability Scoring System (CVSS).

The WordPress core platform itself is held to the highest standards and benefits from a worldwide community that is vigilant in discovering and patching vulnerabilities.

Website Security Should Be Considered As Technical SEO

Site audits don’t normally cover website security but in my opinion every responsible audit should at least talk about security headers. As I’ve been saying for years, website security quickly becomes an SEO issue once a website’s ranking start disappearing from the search engine results pages (SERPs) due to being compromised by a vulnerability. That’s why it’s critical to be proactive about website security.

According to the WPScan report, the main point of entry for hacked websites were leaked credentials and weak passwords. Ensuring strong password standards plus two-factor authentication is an important part of every website’s security stance.

Using security headers is another way to help protect against Cross-Site Scripting and other kinds of vulnerabilities.

Lastly, a WordPress firewall and website hardening are also useful proactive approaches to website security. I once added a forum to a brand new website I created and it was immediately under attack within minutes. Believe it or not, virtually every website worldwide is under attack 24 hours a day by bots scanning for vulnerabilities.

Read the WPScan Report:

WPScan 2024 Website Threat Report

Featured Image by Shutterstock/Ljupco Smokovski

SEO

An In-Depth Guide And Best Practices For Mobile SEO

Published

20 hours ago

April 18, 2024

Max

Mobile SEO: An In-Depth Guide And Best Practices

Over the years, search engines have encouraged businesses to improve mobile experience on their websites. More than 60% of web traffic comes from mobile, and in some cases based on the industry, mobile traffic can reach up to 90%.

Since Google has completed its switch to mobile-first indexing, the question is no longer “if” your website should be optimized for mobile, but how well it is adapted to meet these criteria. A new challenge has emerged for SEO professionals with the introduction of Interaction to Next Paint (INP), which replaced First Input Delay (FID) starting March, 12 2024.

Thus, understanding mobile SEO’s latest advancements, especially with the shift to INP, is crucial. This guide offers practical steps to optimize your site effectively for today’s mobile-focused SEO requirements.

What Is Mobile SEO And Why Is It Important?

The goal of mobile SEO is to optimize your website to attain better visibility in search engine results specifically tailored for mobile devices.

This form of SEO not only aims to boost search engine rankings, but also prioritizes enhancing mobile user experience through both content and technology.

While, in many ways, mobile SEO and traditional SEO share similar practices, additional steps related to site rendering and content are required to meet the needs of mobile users and the speed requirements of mobile devices.

Does this need to be a priority for your website? How urgent is it?

Consider this: 58% of the world’s web traffic comes from mobile devices.

If you aren’t focused on mobile users, there is a good chance you’re missing out on a tremendous amount of traffic.

Mobile-First Indexing

Additionally, as of 2023, Google has switched its crawlers to a mobile-first indexing priority.

This means that the mobile experience of your site is critical to maintaining efficient indexing, which is the step before ranking algorithms come into play.

How Much Of Your Traffic Is From Mobile?

How much traffic potential you have with mobile users can depend on various factors, including your industry (B2B sites might attract primarily desktop users, for example) and the search intent your content addresses (users might prefer desktop for larger purchases, for example).

Regardless of where your industry and the search intent of your users might be, the future will demand that you optimize your site experience for mobile devices.

How can you assess your current mix of mobile vs. desktop users?

An easy way to see what percentage of your users is on mobile is to go into Google Analytics 4.

Click Reports in the left column.
Click on the Insights icon on the right side of the screen.
Scroll down to Suggested Questions and click on it.
Click on Technology.
Click on Top Device model by Users.
Then click on Top Device category by Users under Related Results.
The breakdown of Top Device category will match the date range selected at the top of GA4.

Screenshot from GA4, March 2024

You can also set up a report in Looker Studio.

Add your site to the Data source.
Add Device category to the Dimension field.
Add 30-day active users to the Metric field.
Click on Chart to select the view that works best for you.

A screen capture from Looker Studio showing a pie chart with a breakdown of mobile, desktop, tablet, and Smart TV users for a site

Screenshot from Looker Studio, March 2024

You can add more Dimensions to really dig into the data to see which pages attract which type of users, what the mobile-to-desktop mix is by country, which search engines send the most mobile users, and so much more.

How To Check If Your Site Is Mobile-Friendly

Now that you know how to build a report on mobile and desktop usage, you need to figure out if your site is optimized for mobile traffic.

While Google removed the mobile-friendly testing tool from Google Search Console in December 2023, there are still a number of useful tools for evaluating your site for mobile users.

Bing still has a mobile-friendly testing tool that will tell you the following:

Viewport is configured correctly.
Page content fits device width.
Text on the page is readable.
Links and tap targets are sufficiently large and touch-friendly.
Any other issues detected.

Google’s Lighthouse Chrome extension provides you with an evaluation of your site’s performance across several factors, including load times, accessibility, and SEO.

To use, install the Lighthouse Chrome extension.

Go to your website in your browser.
Click on the orange lighthouse icon in your browser’s address bar.
Click Generate Report.
A new tab will open and display your scores once the evaluation is complete.

An image showing the Lighthouse Scores for a website.

Screenshot from Lighthouse, March 2024

You can also use the Lighthouse report in Developer Tools in Chrome.

Simply click on the three dots next to the address bar.
Select “More Tools.”
Select Developer Tools.
Click on the Lighthouse tab.
Choose “Mobile” and click the “Analyze page load” button.

An image showing how to get to Lighthouse within Google Chrome Developer Tools.

Screenshot from Lighthouse, March 2024

Another option that Google offers is the PageSpeed Insights (PSI) tool. Simply add your URL into the field and click Analyze.

PSI will integrate any Core Web Vitals scores into the resulting view so you can see what your users are experiencing when they come to your site.

An image showing the PageSpeed Insights scores for a website.

Screenshot from PageSpeed Insights, March 2024

Other tools, like WebPageTest.org, will graphically display the processes and load times for everything it takes to display your webpages.

With this information, you can see which processes block the loading of your pages, which ones take the longest to load, and how this affects your overall page load times.

You can also emulate the mobile experience by using Developer Tools in Chrome, which allows you to switch back and forth between a desktop and mobile experience.

An image showing how to change the device emulation for a site within Google Chrome Developer Tools

Screenshot from Google Chrome Developer Tools, March 2024

Lastly, use your own mobile device to load and navigate your website:

Does it take forever to load?
Are you able to navigate your site to find the most important information?
Is it easy to add something to cart?
Can you read the text?

How To Optimize Your Site Mobile-First

With all these tools, keep an eye on the Performance and Accessibility scores, as these directly affect mobile users.

Expand each section within the PageSpeed Insights report to see what elements are affecting your score.

These sections can give your developers their marching orders for optimizing the mobile experience.

While mobile speeds for cellular networks have steadily improved around the world (the average speed in the U.S. has jumped to 27.06 Mbps from 11.14 Mbps in just eight years), speed and usability for mobile users are at a premium.

Best Practices For Mobile Optimization

Unlike traditional SEO, which can focus heavily on ensuring that you are using the language of your users as it relates to the intersection of your products/services and their needs, optimizing for mobile SEO can seem very technical SEO-heavy.

While you still need to be focused on matching your content with the needs of the user, mobile search optimization will require the aid of your developers and designers to be fully effective.

Below are several key factors in mobile SEO to keep in mind as you’re optimizing your site.

Site Rendering

How your site responds to different devices is one of the most important elements in mobile SEO.

The two most common approaches to this are responsive design and dynamic serving.

Responsive design is the most common of the two options.

Using your site’s cascading style sheets (CSS) and flexible layouts, as well as responsive content delivery networks (CDN) and modern image file types, responsive design allows your site to adjust to a variety of screen sizes, orientations, and resolutions.

With the responsive design, elements on the page adjust in size and location based on the size of the screen.

You can simply resize the window of your desktop browser and see how this works.

An image showing the difference between Web.dev in a full desktop display vs. a mobile display using responsive design.

Screenshot from web.dev, March 2024

This is the approach that Google recommends.

Adaptive design, also known as dynamic serving, consists of multiple fixed layouts that are dynamically served to the user based on their device.

Sites can have a separate layout for desktop, smartphone, and tablet users. Each design can be modified to remove functionality that may not make sense for certain device types.

This is a less efficient approach, but it does give sites more control over what each device sees.

While these will not be covered here, two other options:

Progressive Web Apps (PWA), which can seamlessly integrate into a mobile app.
Separate mobile site/URL (which is no longer recommended).

Interaction to Next Paint (INP)

Google has introduced Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as a more comprehensive measure of user experience, succeeding First Input Delay. While FID measures the time from when a user first interacts with your page (e.g., clicking a link, tapping a button) to the time when the browser is actually able to begin processing event handlers in response to that interaction. INP, on the other hand, broadens the scope by measuring the responsiveness of a website throughout the entire lifespan of a page, not just first interaction.

Note that actions such as hovering and scrolling do not influence INP, however, keyboard-driven scrolling or navigational actions are considered keystrokes that may activate events measured by INP but not scrolling which is happeing due to interaction.

Scrolling may indirectly affect INP, for example in scenarios where users scroll through content, and additional content is lazy-loaded from the API. While the act of scrolling itself isn’t included in the INP calculation, the processing, necessary for loading additional content, can create contention on the main thread, thereby increasing interaction latency and adversely affecting the INP score.

What qualifies as an optimal INP score?

An INP under 200ms indicates good responsiveness.
Between 200ms and 500ms needs improvement.
Over 500ms means page has poor responsiveness.

and these are common issues causing poor INP scores:

Long JavaScript Tasks: Heavy JavaScript execution can block the main thread, delaying the browser’s ability to respond to user interactions. Thus break long JS tasks into smaller chunks by using scheduler API.
Large DOM (HTML) Size: A large DOM ( starting from 1500 elements) can severely impact a website’s interactive performance. Every additional DOM element increases the work required to render pages and respond to user interactions.
Inefficient Event Callbacks: Event handlers that execute lengthy or complex operations can significantly affect INP scores. Poorly optimized callbacks attached to user interactions, like clicks, keypress or taps, can block the main thread, delaying the browser’s ability to render visual feedback promptly. For example when handlers perform heavy computations or initiate synchronous network requests such on clicks.

and you can troubleshoot INP issues using free and paid tools.

As a good starting point I would recommend to check your INP scores by geos via treo.sh which will give you a great high level insights where you struggle with most.

INP scores by Geos

Image Optimization

Images add a lot of value to the content on your site and can greatly affect the user experience.

From page speeds to image quality, you could adversely affect the user experience if you haven’t optimized your images.

This is especially true for the mobile experience. Images need to adjust to smaller screens, varying resolutions, and screen orientation.

Use responsive images
Implement lazy loading
Compress your images (use WebP)
Add your images into sitemap

Optimizing images is an entire science, and I advise you to read our comprehensive guide on image SEO how to implement the mentioned recommendations.

Avoid Intrusive Interstitials

Google rarely uses concrete language to state that something is a ranking factor or will result in a penalty, so you know it means business about intrusive interstitials in the mobile experience.

Intrusive interstitials are basically pop-ups on a page that prevent the user from seeing content on the page.

John Mueller, Google’s Senior Search Analyst, stated that they are specifically interested in the first interaction a user has after clicking on a search result.

Examples of intrusive interstitial pop-ups on a mobile site according to Google.

Not all pop-ups are considered bad. Interstitial types that are considered “intrusive” by Google include:

Pop-ups that cover most or all of the page content.
Non-responsive interstitials or pop-ups that are impossible for mobile users to close.
Pop-ups that are not triggered by a user action, such as a scroll or a click.

Structured Data

Most of the tips provided in this guide so far are focused on usability and speed and have an additive effect, but there are changes that can directly influence how your site appears in mobile search results.

Search engine results pages (SERPs) haven’t been the “10 blue links” in a very long time.

They now reflect the diversity of search intent, showing a variety of different sections to meet the needs of users. Local Pack, shopping listing ads, video content, and more dominate the mobile search experience.

As a result, it’s more important than ever to provide structured data markup to the search engines, so they can display rich results for users.

In this example, you can see that both Zojirushi and Amazon have included structured data for their rice cookers, and Google is displaying rich results for both.

An image of a search result for Japanese rice cookers that shows rich results for Zojirushi and Amazon.

Screenshot from search for [Japanese rice cookers], Google, March 2024

Adding structured data markup to your site can influence how well your site shows up for local searches and product-related searches.

Using JSON-LD, you can mark up the business, product, and services data on your pages in Schema markup.

If you use WordPress as the content management system for your site, there are several plugins available that will automatically mark up your content with structured data.

Content Style

When you think about your mobile users and the screens on their devices, this can greatly influence how you write your content.

Rather than long, detailed paragraphs, mobile users prefer concise writing styles for mobile reading.

Each key point in your content should be a single line of text that easily fits on a mobile screen.

Your font sizes should adjust to the screen’s resolution to avoid eye strain for your users.

If possible, allow for a dark or dim mode for your site to further reduce eye strain.

Headers should be concise and address the searcher’s intent. Rather than lengthy section headers, keep it simple.

Finally, make sure that your text renders in a font size that’s readable.

Tap Targets

As important as text size, the tap targets on your pages should be sized and laid out appropriately.

Tap targets include navigation elements, links, form fields, and buttons like “Add to Cart” buttons.

Targets smaller than 48 pixels by 48 pixels and targets that overlap or are overlapped by other page elements will be called out in the Lighthouse report.

Tap targets are essential to the mobile user experience, especially for ecommerce websites, so optimizing them is vital to the health of your online business.

Prioritizing These Tips

If you have delayed making your site mobile-friendly until now, this guide may feel overwhelming. As a result, you may not know what to prioritize first.

As with so many other optimizations in SEO, it’s important to understand which changes will have the greatest impact, and this is just as true for mobile SEO.

Think of SEO as a framework in which your site’s technical aspects are the foundation of your content. Without a solid foundation, even the best content may struggle to rank.

Responsive or Dynamic Rendering: If your site requires the user to zoom and scroll right or left to read the content on your pages, no number of other optimizations can help you. This should be first on your list.
Content Style: Rethink how your users will consume your content online. Avoid very long paragraphs. “Brevity is the soul of wit,” to quote Shakespeare.
Image Optimization: Begin migrating your images to next-gen image formats and optimize your content display network for speed and responsiveness.
Tap Targets: A site that prevents users from navigating or converting into sales won’t be in business long. Make navigation, links, and buttons usable for them.
Structured Data: While this element ranks last in priority on this list, rich results can improve your chances of receiving traffic from a search engine, so add this to your to-do list once you’ve completed the other optimizations.

Summary

From How Search Works, “Google’s mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful.”

If Google’s primary mission is focused on making all the world’s information accessible and useful, then you know they will prefer surfacing sites that align with that vision.

Since a growing percentage of users are on mobile devices, you may want to infer the word “everywhere” added to the end of the mission statement.

Are you missing out on traffic from mobile devices because of a poor mobile experience?

If you hope to remain relevant, make mobile SEO a priority now.

Featured Image: Paulo Bobita/Search Engine Journal

SEO

HARO Has Been Dead for a While

Published

1 day ago

April 17, 2024

Entireweb News Bot

Every SEO’s favorite ~~link-building~~ collaboration tool, HARO, was officially killed off for good last week by Cision. It’s now been wrapped into a new product: Connectively.

I know nothing about the new tool. I haven’t tried it. But after trying to use HARO recently, I can’t say I’m surprised or saddened by its death. It’s been a walking corpse for a while.

I used HARO way back in the day to build links. It worked. But a couple of months ago, I experienced the platform from the other side when I decided to try to source some “expert” insights for our posts.

After just a few minutes of work, I got hundreds of pitches:

So, I grabbed a cup of coffee and began to work through them. It didn’t take long before I lost the will to live. Every other pitch seemed like nothing more than lazy AI-generated nonsense from someone who definitely wasn’t an expert.

Here’s one of them:

Example of an AI-generated pitch in HARO

Seriously. Who writes like that? I’m a self-confessed dullard (any fellow Dull Men’s Club members here?), and even I’m not that dull…

I don’t think I looked through more than 30-40 of the responses. I just couldn’t bring myself to do it. It felt like having a conversation with ChatGPT… and not a very good one!

Despite only reviewing a few dozen of the many pitches I received, one stood out to me:

Example HARO pitch that caught my attention

Believe it or not, this response came from a past client of mine who runs an SEO agency in the UK. Given how knowledgeable and experienced he is (he actually taught me a lot about SEO back in the day when I used to hassle him with questions on Skype), this pitch rang alarm bells for two reasons:

I truly doubt he spends his time replying to HARO queries
I know for a fact he’s no fan of Neil Patel (sorry, Neil, but I’m sure you’re aware of your reputation at this point!)

So… I decided to confront him 😉

Here’s what he said:

Shocker.

I pressed him for more details:

I’m getting a really good deal and paying per link rather than the typical £xxxx per month for X number of pitches. […] The responses as you’ve seen are not ideal but that’s a risk I’m prepared to take as realistically I dont have the time to do it myself. He’s not native english, but I have had to have a word with him a few times about clearly using AI. On the low cost ones I don’t care but on authority sites it needs to be more refined.

I think this pretty much sums up the state of HARO before its death. Most “pitches” were just AI answers from SEOs trying to build links for their clients.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not throwing shade here. I know that good links are hard to come by, so you have to do what works. And the reality is that HARO did work. Just look at the example below. You can tell from the anchor and surrounding text in Ahrefs that these links were almost certainly built with HARO:

Example of links build with HARO, via Ahrefs' Site Explorer

But this was the problem. HARO worked so well back in the day that it was only a matter of time before spammers and the #scale crew ruined it for everyone. That’s what happened, and now HARO is no more. So…

If you’re a link builder, I think it’s time to admit that HARO link building is dead and move on.

No tactic works well forever. It’s the law of sh**ty clickthroughs. This is why you don’t see SEOs having huge success with tactics like broken link building anymore. They’ve moved on to more innovative tactics or, dare I say it, are just buying links.

Sidenote.

Talking of buying links, here’s something to ponder: if Connectively charges for pitches, are links built through those pitches technically paid? If so, do they violate Google’s spam policies? It’s a murky old world this SEO lark, eh?

If you’re a journalist, Connectively might be worth a shot. But with experts being charged for pitches, you probably won’t get as many responses. That might be a good thing. You might get less spam. Or you might just get spammed by SEOs with deep pockets. The jury’s out for now.

My advice? Look for alternative methods like finding and reaching out to experts directly. You can easily use tools like Content Explorer to find folks who’ve written lots of content about the topic and are likely to be experts.

For example, if you look for content with “backlinks” in the title and go to the Authors tab, you might see a familiar name. 😉

Finding people to request insights from in Ahrefs' Content Explorer

I don’t know if I’d call myself an expert, but I’d be happy to give you a quote if you reached out on social media or emailed me (here’s how to find my email address).

Alternatively, you can bait your audience into giving you their insights on social media. I did this recently with a poll on X and included many of the responses in my guide to toxic backlinks.

Me, indirectly sourcing insights on social media

Either of these options is quicker than using HARO because you don’t have to sift through hundreds of responses looking for a needle in a haystack. If you disagree with me and still love HARO, feel free to tell me why on X 😉