Top tips to a stronger search strategy

New data out from Searchmetrics underlines the need for brands and merchants to update their search strategies. According to their data organic traffic coming from Google's traditional 'first ten blue lines' continues to fall, thanks in part to mobile screens, video results, and even voice-assisted search features.

According to the report, there are a few strategies that businesses need to begin incorporating now to garner better search marketing results.

First, use Direct Answers for both mobile and voice-assisted search functions

"Information in direct answer boxes usually comes from sites with high authority, with clear well-ordered content structured using specific web code that helps Google's crawlers to understand it," write the report authors. "4% of mobile searches now feature a direct answers box, which Google shows when a searcher is obviously looking for an answer to a specific question such as 'Flu symptoms' or 'How to plant roses'. They appear high on the mobile screen, usually before scrolling and - as well as being great for mobile branding and traffic - they could help brands win in voice search on smart speakers. Google Home, for example, only reads out one answer to a question - and this is usually the result that features as a direct answer in search results."

Utilize video boxes from branded YouTube channels

"16% of searches on mobile trigger at least one videos integration on the first page and the share of video from YouTube in them has risen from 90% to 92% since 2016. Upload videos to YouTube - and optimize by using the right keywords and phrases in titles and descriptions. Including subtitles - which give Google a much better understanding of the content in the video - can also help. And Google is also more likely to display videos that show positive engagement such as likes and comments," write the report authors.

Use Accelerated Mobile Pages

"Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP), which are optimized to load faster on mobile phones, now appear in 21% of all organic results. The universal search integration with the most AMP pages are news boxes (78%). Non-news websites including ecommerce sites are starting to adopt AMP and Google's Speed Update, which makes speed a ranking factor in mobile results, is likely to spark wider interest from brands that want to make it part of their mobile marketing strategies," write the report authors.

Tags: advertising, mobile marketing, search ads, search marketing, search marketing tips, search marketing trends, Searchmetrics