Diversifying Beyond Google- Brighton SEO October 24, Nathan Height

With the rise of AI platforms such as Perplexity or Chat GPT, alongside the progression of social platform’s function & adoption (eg TikTok) in the past few years, we’re seeing the search landscape shift rapidly. Whilst Google still holds the top spot for the most used search engine, other platforms are moving in on Google's market share and the landscape looks set to become more diverse than ever.

Nathan Height, our Organic Strategy Director, spoke at Brighton SEO this October about how SEOs can prepare for the future of search; what SEOs should be monitoring (and measuring) to cater to the new diverse search landscape; alongside practical tips to stay ahead and win.

1. @ CroudMarketing Diversifying beyond Google Nathan Height C roud @ CroudMarketing /in/nathanheight/

2. We are entering a transformative phase

3. Market share of search engines https://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/ Google are not holding this fairly (And we can see some signs of decline)

4. R estricting Access to the Search Market Google is (potentially) anti-competitive in the following ways Paying to be the default search engine on devices Favouring Its Own Products and Services Prioritising flights packs, shopping results & maps packs in SERPs

5. We’ve been here before

6. In 1998, the DOJ cracks down on Microsoft and its monopoly on internet browsers In 1998, the DOJ cracks down on Microsoft and its monopoly on internet browsers

7. Outdated complacent browser Preventing alternative browsers entering the market Competitors (Mozilla, Safari and later Chrome) waiting to pounce

8. Research from Datos & Sonata insights Alternative search engines threaten Google in the same way

9. AI search engine, Perplexity, has seen traffic growth of 5x over the past 12 months

10. And has Copilot given Bing a fighting chance? https://www.statista.com/statistics/216573/worldwide-market-share-of-search-engines/

11. Competitors recognise appetite to diversify

12. The likes of SearchGPT will disrupt the search engine market “I don’t think the world needs another copy of Google.” “Do I think we can have a great business that pays for our compute needs without ads? …I think the answer is yes.”

13. Google have been trying to respond

14. But they cannot implement large changes which disrupt revenue and shareholder value

15. AI search will change user behaviour

16. “ Office space shoreditch” VS

17. Long tail commercial keyword - ad based model Long tail commercial keyword - subscription based model VS Google’s model will struggle to accommodate this

18. Social search is also threatening the space

19. Research by Adobe in 2024

20. TikTok’s algorithm is based on user engagement, not brand authority Tryp.com rank in p.1 for “Holiday Packages in Spain”

21. “ 40% of young people, when looking for a place for lunch, they don’t go to Google Maps or Search, they go to TikTok or Instagram.” Google’s SVP of search, Prabhakar Raghavan

22. Google are now responding to this threat “A range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches”

23. How will they do this? Google and Open AI are turning to Reddit

24. Google learned harsh lessons leaning too heavily on Reddit for AIO

25. But forum contributions are skyrocketing in organic Increases in Reddit organic traffic between July 23’ and July 24’ https://www.reddit.com/r/dataisbeautiful/comments/1b3yrgc/reddit_traffic_growth_from_google_oc/ https://searchengineland.com/forums-google-adapt-444065 +253% Increases in Quora organic traffic between July 23’ and July 24’ +133%

26. Where do we go from here?

27. Scale content for conversational queries 1

28. “Running Shoes” Eligible brands "Lightweight waterproof trail running shoes for men with wide feet for running on rocky terrain" Eligible brands There’s a lot of content out there for short tail queries

29. Efforts focussed on the broader categories Category Guides Main Category Subcategory Subcategory Subcategory Category Guides Product Product Product Product Product Product Product Product

30. Category Guides Main Category Products with benefit A Subcategory Subcategory Subcategory Category Guides Product Product Product Product Product Product Product Product Needs of audience A and products Products for Audience D Desired Features C Product content for Audience C Product content for Audience D Efforts focused on specific product information

31. How can we cover every search permutation? "Lightweight waterproof trail running shoes for men with wide feet for running on rocky terrain" Eligible brands Your brand, here, Everytime you are eligible

32. FAQ rich info Product/Service information repository User reviews content Audience rich info Product rich info SEO teams to build a deep understanding of products

33. Category Field Sub Field Data Entry General Information Product Name Bicycle Light Secondary Product Name Bike light Associated keywords Front bike light Road bike light Waterproof bike light USB bike light Purchase Information Price ££££ Offer period Order within January for 10% off Delivery timeline 2 weeks Returns Policy 30 days no fee Sustainability Practices Compostable mailing bags Desirable Features Portability Can be carried and clipped onto any other bikes Lightweight Weighs only 50g Battery life 15-20 hours Locations City Approved by your local authority Audience Cyclist This is for use on all types of bicycle Road Cyclist Rad safety features Map and document everything

34. This will help provide the content to roll out at scale Product Information repository Product page content Article: Feature A for Audience Type A Article: Feature B for Audience Type B Content available to match user queries

35. Sales Team Brands who withhold information will suffer Showing the price of our product puts people off… we want people to call us to find out this information

36. Keyword research will help us prioritise the content Traditional search engine keyword volumes (Google, Bing, Yahoo..) Newer forms of searching for information

37. Next Step Scale content to cover conversational queries Structure content for LLMs Spread content everywhere 1 2 3 Scale content for conversational queries 1 Structure content for LLMs 2

38. “ PerplexityBot” “GoogleBot” Retrieval-Augmented Generator (RAG) models R elies more on newer data and has less advanced deep-learning capabilities compared to GPT models You.com “YouBot”

39. Familiar ranking factors are key Content Crawlability Internal links to relevant content Schema Mark-Up Clear Introduction Use of H1’s & H2’s Highlight key information (bullet points or number lists)

40. Gemini ChatGPT 4o Perplexity Copilot Landing page Authorship Reviews on page Answer Format Forum data Schema Text only Text only Text only Text only Article Article Article Article Article Breadcrumb blogposting Breadcrumb Article Assess what content formats work for your niche

41. Gemini ChatGPT 4o Perplexity Copilot Landing page Authorship Reviews on page Answer Format Forum data cites Schema Text only Text only Text only Text only Article Article Article Article Article Breadcrumb blogposting Breadcrumb Article Results from LLMs fo queries searching for office space with rooftops 💡 We need a text-based article page featuring a dedicated author , with content updated weekly . The page should include headings for each key feature , bullet points highlighting products that offer these features, and links to the corresponding product pages for detailed information.

42. We’ve been testing…. Article: Offices with parking

43. Scale content to cover conversational queries Structure content for LLMs Spread content everywhere 1 2 3 Scale content for conversational queries 1 Push content beyond your website 3 Structure content for LLMs 2 Scale content for conversational queries 1

44. WebText2 Books1 & Books2 LLMs use content from trusted sites & user engagement signals

45. Content syndication to broaden influence

46. And using it to be present in the community

47. Website Article: Feature A for Audience B Editorial Syndicators Forum Content Social video content “Author discusses top 5 features for target audience”

48. Website Article: Feature A for Audience B Editorial Syndicators Ranking factors for all platforms Forum Content Social video content “Author discusses top 5 features for target audience” Authorship Brand mentions Popularity Engagement

49. To Summarise

50. Summarising Structure content for LLMs Spread content everywhere 2 3 Scale content for conversational queries 1 Document everything about your product and audience needs

51. Structure content for LLMs Spread content everywhere 2 3 Structuring content for LLMs 2 Optimal content format and technical SEO is key

52. Structure content for LLMs Spread content everywhere 2 3 Push content beyond your website 3 Target all sources used to train the LLMs Adapt the content for use across all platforms to generate engagement

53. Thank You Organic Strategy Director https://www.linkedin.com/in/nathanheight/ Nathan Height Organic Strategy Director