When we talk to our clients about their corporate blogging strategy we always start with why we’re blogging for search engines as well as potential customers. The reason you blog exists is to foster a relationship with customers as well as to attract the attention of potential customers, (and customers who have forgotten about you), by showing up in their online search results.
Things get tricky when search engines design their results to be almost alive! Google, in particular, is very good at answering your question immediately, no click-throughs needed. This feature in Google is called Featured Snippets, (well named), and you’ll find your search’s snippet outlined in a big beautiful box at the very top of your search results. Go ahead and search “What is a Google featured snippet” in Google and take a look.
But back to Featured Snippets and how they affect your blog’s analytics. While the Featured Snippet is fantastic for the user – for whom Google’s Artificial Intelligence artificially lives and breathes – it can cause frustration for your business blog because potential customers’ get their question answered without ever visiting your website! The horror is even worse if your blog post content isn’t the focus of the Featured Snippet.
Don’t panic!
Start by doing a bit of research to find out what kind of content Google highlights in these Snippets, then write your posts to be at least as delectable to the algorithms. Hint: answer questions! It’s a lot like answering a word problem on a math test:
Q: If Timmy has 30 jelly beans and his sister eats 12, how many jelly beans does Timmy have left?
A: Timmy has 18 jelly beans left. Timmy and his sister are also likely both in time out for the resulting fight that occurred post jelly beans “sharing” incident.
What? We were all honour roll students, of course, we go beyond expectation! Anyway, what you want is to write blog posts that will answer a burning question that someone out there has about your industry, product, service, or brand and answer it clearly so that search engines, Google included, can easily best-match your page to the query. And that’s why you’re writing for Google first. But, you are still writing for your clients!
We’re here to remind you that blogs have never been of the Fix It and Forget About It marketing strategy. As a piece of your overall social media marketing rather than the whole, you have other options at the ready to optimize your blog’s reach. Use your channels – Facebook, Twitter, newsletter – to get your post out to your fans. They’re following you because they have interest in your brand, and you’re courting them with curated content. Make your blog the box of chocolates.
One last reason not to panic about Featured Snippets? Google’s algorithms don’t always nail it, or the user may not have expressed their question properly and so, Snippet or not, your content still has a good chance of drawing attention.
Jelly Triangle can help you navigate the ever-changing world of online marketing and SEO management. Call us today at 519-624-8888 to book your complimentary consultation.
