posted by Becky Vardaman on August 12, 2015 in Converge Blog
This week, SEOs around the world have something to celebrate. The 2015 Search Engine Ranking Factors Study has been released!
“Moz’s Ranking Factors study helps identify which attributes of pages and sites have the strongest association with ranking highly in Google.
This year, with the help of Moz’s data scientist Dr. Matt Peters, new data partners, and over 150 search marketing professionals, we were able to study more data points than in any year past. All together, we measured over 170 correlations and collected over 15,000 data points from our panel of SEO experts.” Moz.com
For those of us looking to get our sites to show up higher in search engine results (so ALL of us), this data is like Christmas came early. Why? Let’s take a step back and talk about how search engines work.
Of course you know how a search engine works. You type in (or verbally ask) a search phrase and you get an answer. But do you really know what’s driving that answer?
Here’s a (simplified) description of how search engines work:
- Search engines deploy little bots, or spiders, that crawl the internet link-by-link.
- They then create a database of the content on the web, recording certain pieces of information about each page to reference later.
- Then you come in with your search query. “What’s the best BBQ in Memphis?”
- And the search engine uses a top-secret algorithm to determine which page on the internet is the best match (and second best, and third best…)
- And the Search Engine Results Page (SERP) is born!
What this study does is help us to see the correlations between certain page and site elements and ranking high on the SERPs. While Moz is the first to remind you that correlation does not equal causation, modern search engine algorithms are complex enough that we can certainly use this data to make strategic decisions about our own websites.
So let’s dig in. Moz has called out some of the initial highlights of the report. I’m going to elaborate on a few of them and what they mean for higher education marketing.
Ranking Factor Summary Finding:
“We continue to see lower correlations between on-page keyword use and rankings. This could likely be because Google is smarter about what pages mean (through related keywords, synonyms, close variants, and entities) without relying on exact keyword phrases. We believe matching user intent is of the utmost importance.” Moz.com
We at Converge have been supporting this idea for several years with the development of keyword themes, and we’re delighted to see that it is the first highlight pulled from the new data.
Search engines are smart enough to understand that when you search for “movie about tiger on a boat” that what you’re really looking for is “Life of Pi” despite the fact that the words “life” “of” and “pi” are not in your original search phrase. That means that search engines are also smart enough to understand that searching for MBA means the same thing as Masters of Business Administration, Master’s of Business Administration and pretty much all of the other minor variations.
Instead, we focus on the intent of the search and providing content that answers questions that your prospective student audience might have around your programs like:
- “Best flexible MBA program”
- “Evening MBA programs in Connecticut”
- “Online accredited MBA programs”
These questions can be answered through on-page keyword placement and developing content like blogs, videos, infographics, eBooks and news releases.
Ranking Factor Summary Finding:
“Despite rumors to the contrary, the data continues to show some of the highest correlations between Google rankings and the number of links to a given page.” Moz.com
Imagine you’re in New York City. You’re on the subway and looking over the map. You see that at Times Square, many of the subway lines converge at this one stop. When you emerge street side, you’re not terribly surprised by the flashing lights and excitement because you could tell – lots of people are trying to get to this spot.
The same is true with your website. The more links that are driving to any given page of a website, the more likely people are trying to get there. It’s a no brainer and search engines are continuing to use this as an indicator of quality and match.
What does this mean for higher education? It means you need to be creating content on your website that provides value. Whether that is some kind of utility (like a financial aid calculator), emotion (a great blog post from a successful graduate) or notoriety (a YouTube video of President Obama speaking on campus), you need to be providing value to your website users. Value = links. Links = rankings. Value is also a fantastic way to future-proof your site for SEO change in the future because value never goes out of style.
Ranking Factor Summary Finding:
“Always controversial, the number of social shares a page accumulates tends to show a positive correlation with rankings. Although there is strong reason to believe Google doesn’t use social share counts directly in its algorithm, there are many secondary SEO benefits to be gained through successful social sharing.” Moz.com
Finally, we often develop a strong social media strategy along with a SEO content strategy. The study confirms that this is still a best practice but draws the line here between correlation and causation.
While Moz concludes that social shares don’t necessarily contribute directly to rankings, the secondary benefits are worth the efforts. This is part of your content amplification strategy. You’ve created valuable content so share it! The more you share, the more people see your content, the more they share, the more others link, the more direct traction you see in the SERPs. Let’s not forget, your content is also hopefully creating a relationship with potential students, so it translates to more applications and inquiries.
We recommend college and universities be active on good ‘ole Facebook and Twitter. Be sure to update and maintain your LinkedIn University Page. Instagram is emerging as an outstanding space to connect with prospective students, especially undergraduate. Also do not be afraid of using newer networks like Snapchat in higher education. There are plenty of success stories here and early adapters are able to cut through the social media noise.
This is just the tip of the Mozberg! With so much data, there are many more interesting findings to be had. Read the full Search Engine Ranking Factors Study.Or better yet, come to Converge 2015 and hear Moz’s Matthew Brown speak about SEO and content for higher education. His session is a must see! Early bird pricing ends August 15th.
What SEO trends are you most interested in?
