Marketing isn’t something you can do once and then leave it as is — adjustments need to be made as changes in the results and other factors occur. As we work with clients, we frequently check on their analytics. We check for things that look good, things that look like they need improvements, and large swings one way or another.
Periodically, Google updates its search algorithm to affect how the search engine calculates rankings and presents articles based on search terms. Google pushes an update, and there is a trickle effect. When looking at traffic sources, we noticed a downswing in a few clients' search traffic after a recent update Google released. We’ve seen this before, so we didn’t panic. Usually, we see a bounce back after a bit of lapsed time. That didn't happen in this case.
In the digital space, the environment is always changing, new things are constantly emerging, and it's important to stay on top of it and adapt as needed. Often with organic search updates, it's behind-the-scenes elements, like keywords and meta descriptions, that drives much of the action.
Google has always wanted to ensure that the written content is valuable and relevant to the end users. With this latest update, we saw that quality content is taking priority, and they are putting even more emphasis on it than they have in the past. These rules help keep sites from gaming the system and tricking them into visiting a site. At the end of the day, the algorithm is supposed to help users find exactly what they need.
Let's look at one of our manufacturing companies as an example. Pack Leader USA provides full-line labeling, filling, and capping solutions for manufacturers, providing cost-effective labeling solutions while keeping high levels of equipment to ensure a fast turnaround for clients and distributors.
They have worked with us for almost ten years, carrying out a Growth Program with inbound marketing. Over that time, they have built up steady traffic, leads, and sales. However, even though we helped them create consistent content relevant to the audience, they didn't escape the Google algorithm update.
The problem was, when we looked it over, nothing stood out as "wrong." We started looking at search-specific impressions, click-through rates, and traffic and began optimizing everything from what Google pulls and shows on the search page (the meta description data) to the buttons on the pages (calls-to-action) to titles and content being written.
We found that by refining the content, meta descriptions, and calls-to-action we could help improve traffic and ultimately affect the search traffic.
These optimizations start on the search result page with what appears to the user; we wanted to ensure it was relevant and enticing to click on. These changes increased impressions from search by 82% over the quarter before and increased clicks from search by 129%. So, with those adjustments, we now saw an increase in organic search traffic overall of 25%.
Once people were clicking their way onto the pages, we wanted to take it a step further. This involved ensuring they understood the content, found the content was valuable, and wanted to take the next step to solve their problem. To encourage these actions, we worked on optimizing the calls-to-action and adding them to additional trafficked pages on the site. A call-to-action leads people from the page they landed on to the next step in the sales process. We saw a 71% increase in CTA clicks on the optimized pages through text, image, and button testing.
Through these efforts, we regained their organic search traffic results, and they are seeing the climb month over month again. These results not only lead to increased traffic but also increased leads for the sales team to work. Even though we don't control what the search engines do, we can still use the updates to continue to improve.
By continually analyzing how content is performing, we are able to make adjustments and see results more accurately and consistently.
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