Adding captions and transcripts to your videos improves SEO with <a href="https://www.newtontech.net/en/blog/23083-captions-increase-viewership-accessibility-and-reach/" target="blank">up to 80%</a> of viewers watching videos to the end if they have captions. This blog post will discuss the benefits of captioning and transcribing your videos and some of the best techniques for doing so. Captions and transcripts help your videos rank higher in search engine results pages, and they make your content accessible to hearing impaired viewers.
## What is captioning?
![what is captioning?](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3RPK1mlMXrfjxFOMeiBwpy/bd6c44132c4af08f5a32168192b8c0ae/what_is_captioning.png)
<a href="https://accessibility.mit.edu/sites/default/files/2020-06/caption-image.jpg" target="blank">Image Source</a>

Captioning is converting spoken words into text displayed on a screen. Captioners use court reporting skills to transcribe what is being said, using abbreviations and symbols to speed up the process. Here is how the captioning process works:

- The text is edited to match the audio track and timing of the video, and signs or symbols are added to indicate non-verbal sounds such as laughter or applause 
- The finished captions are then synchronized with the video and displayed on a screen or television

### The benefits of captioning your videos

Captioning your videos can seem daunting and time-consuming, but it's quite easy and has numerous benefits. Here are just a few reasons why you should start captioning your videos:

●  __Videos become more accessible to a wider audience.__ Captioning your videos allows people with hearing impairments to enjoy them as well
●   __People can watch your videos without sound if they need to.__ This is great for places where watching videos with sound isn't possible or practical, like in an office or on public transportation.
●   __People can follow along more easily.__ if they're not native English speakers or if they have difficulty understanding spoken English.

__Captioning can be used for:__

- Live speeches or sporting events.
- For pre-recorded videos such as movies or television shows.
- Those who prefer to read rather than listen.
- Noisy environments where it’s difficult to hear the audio. 

By providing captions, broadcasters and content creators can ensure that their audiences don’t miss any important information.

## What is transcription?
![What is transcription?](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4B14Xm1oVHf9Pfvbw9gVgj/53255428f70dba5ca7f2ac20c48f4dc4/What_is_transcription.png)
<a href="https://laptopworld.review/best-transcription-software-to-convert-audio-to-text/" target="blank">Image Source</a>

Transcription is translating spoken language into written form. This can be done either manually using a keyboard, or automatically using speech recognition software.

Transcription is commonly used in legal settings, such as court proceedings, depositions, and interviews, to record what was said. It can also be used for other purposes, such as creating subtitles for videos or transcribing lectures and speeches.

While manual transcription is more accurate, it’s much slower than automatically transcribing audio. For this reason, many transcription services use both methods to provide accurate transcripts promptly.
# Captioning and Transcribing Techniques to Boost Video SEO
![Captioning and transcribing techniques to boost video SEO](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2LRSYCH54tKzvYPacNYbdN/9c56c8627e568f546200d67c2016d58e/Captioning_and_transcribing_techniques_to_boost_video_SEO.png)
<a href="https://cdn.searchenginejournal.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/traditional-to-enterprise-seo-6229f8159834d-sej.png" target="blank">Image Source</a>

Captioning and transcribing your videos are essential for <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/44-underutilized-seo-strategies-and-tactics" target="blank">SEO Optimization</a>. Here are key techniques you can use to make sure your videos are properly captioned and transcribed:
## 1. Use keywords in your titles
When creating titles for your videos,  to find the keywords that rank best and then include those keywords that describe the content of your video. This will help search engines index your videos more effectively and can lead to higher click-through rates and more traffic overall.

Your descriptions might also appear in other places where your content is shared, such as social media, so you want to make sure they contain keywords that will entice readers to click. Keep your descriptions short and to the point, and don’t forget to include your blog or website URL. 

You can use tools such as Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner or the SEO Book keyword search tools to discover which keywords to include in your description. Then use Nozzle.io's <a href="https://nozzle.io/" target="blank">keyword rank tracker</a> to track those keywords and see where they rank. It’s important to do <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">proper keyword research</a> to identify potential keywords you can rank for and include them in your videos.
## 2. Optimize your video tags
In addition to including keywords in your titles, you should also optimize your video tags. Include relevant keywords in the tags for each of your videos. Avoid using more than two or three tags per video; otherwise, they look spammy.

Make sure to use keywords that are specific yet broad enough to apply to your content. This helps search engines find your videos when people search for topics related to those keywords.
## 3. Create transcripts of your videos
Once you’ve published your video, you can generate a transcript of the audio. This way, you’ll have the content of your video available for readers who can’t hear the audio. If you publish your transcript on the same page as your video, Google will be able to index it and associate it with the video.

Creating transcripts is a great way to ensure that they are properly captioned and indexed by search engines. 
## 4. Use closed captions
If you cannot create transcripts of your videos, you can use closed captions instead. Closed captions are text overlays that display the spoken dialogue in a video. They can be turned on or off by viewers, so they're ideal for viewers who want to watch your videos without sound.

Adding closed captions to your videos allows search engines to index your videos. With closed captions, Google can read your video and associate it with relevant keywords.
## 5. Add subtitles
Subtitles are similar to closed captions but are always visible. They're often used in videos that are not in the same language as the viewer. Adding subtitles to your videos can help make them more accessible to a wider audience.
## 6. Use keywords in your descriptions
When you're writing the descriptions for your videos, be sure to include relevant keywords. People are always searching for relevant information. It’s your duty to ensure that you know which words they are using when searching.

Using exact or similar keywords used by people makes it easier for them to find your content fast.This will help search engines index your videos more effectively and using keywords in your video description makes it easier for viewers to find your video when searching for information.
## 7. Optimize your thumbnail images
The images you use in your video’s thumbnail and description can have an impact on its SEO. Choose images that represent the content of your video and include relevant keywords. Images can help bring clicks from people who don’t necessarily click on video links; instead, they click on images of interest and discover related content. 

Your thumbnail image is one of the first things people will see when they find your video in a search engine. Make sure your thumbnail image is high-quality and is relatable so that people can identify what your video is about at a glance.
## 8. Create catchy titles
The title of your video is one of the most important elements when it comes to SEO. This is because, in many cases, it’s the first thing people see when they click on your video. If a potential viewer is skimming through search engine results and sees an interesting title, they may click on your video, even if it ranks lower than other content on the page. 

The title of your video should be clickworthy and enticing. It should be short enough to remain attention-grabbing but long enough to include relevant keywords. Keep in mind that the title of your video will be displayed in search engine results, so you should be conscious of using appropriate language. 

You also want to avoid clickbait titles that trick people into clicking on your video but don’t deliver on their promises. If you’re unsure about the quality of your titles, you can post test titles to Facebook and see which ones get the most reactions.
## 9. Use annotations and cards
YouTube allows you to add annotations and cards to your videos. Annotations are text overlays that you can use to provide additional information about your video. Cards are clickable links that you can use to promote other videos or websites. 

Both of these features are <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/youtube-best-practices-for-beginners" target="blank">YouTube practices</a> that can be used to improve the SEO of your videos.
## 10. Promote your videos on social media
Social media can be a great place to promote your videos and drive traffic to your website. Make sure to post your videos on all of your profiles, and don’t forget to use relevant hashtags. You can also create a special video-focused account to drive even more traffic. 

Posting links to your videos on social media is another easy way to have them indexed by Google. You can also share your videos on social media while they’re still in production. This will help to build buzz around your content, which can lead to more traffic when your video is published.
## 11. Make it accurate
When you’re creating videos, make sure that the information you share is accurate. If a viewer finds that you’ve shared false information, they might click the “dislike” button on your video or mark it as spam. 

This can hurt your SEO by negatively impacting your video’s view count and decreasing its click-through rates. If you’re referencing another source or website in your video, make sure to provide a link to that website. This will help Google recognize your content as legitimate, and it will also allow viewers to verify the information you’ve provided.
## 12. Be consistent
The best way to ensure you’re keeping your videos SEO-friendly is to create a consistent schedule and publish content regularly. You can use a video publishing calendar to track your video ideas and make sure you don’t miss uploading your videos on time.

If you publish new content regularly, search engines will be more likely to associate your videos with your brand name. This leads to more traffic and higher click-through rates.

By using these techniques, you can improve the SEO of your videos and ensure they are properly captioned and transcribed. This will help you reach a wider audience and get more views for your videos.

### Best captioning and transcription software
There are various captioning and transcription software available. Below are some of them.

__Amberscript__
Amberscript is powerful, easy-to-use transcription software that offers various features to simplify transcribing audio and video files quickly and simply. This <a href="https://www.amberscript.com/en/convert-audio-to-text/" target="blank">online audio to text converter</a> supports many file formats, including popular ones like MP3, WAV, and MPEG and less common ones like FLAC and OGG.

Amberscript also offers a variety of customization options to fit your specific needs. You can choose from various output formats, including PDF, Word, and plain text. And you can set the software to automatically transcribe files as they're added to a specified folder.

Whether you're a student transcribing lecture recordings or a journalist transcribing interviews, Amberscript is the perfect tool for the job.

__Happy Scribe__
![Happy Scribe](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/61kukiZjerOeOpJ2LBmML9/0c8d0bdc8d15f0fe46505140dfcb41ab/Happy_Scribe.png)
<a href="https://www.happyscribe.com/" target="blank">Image Source</a>

Happy Scribe is a powerful transcription and subtitle generator that creates subtitles for your videos in just a few clicks. With <a href="https://www.happyscribe.com/subtitle-generator" target="blank">Happy Scribe's subtitle generator</a>, you can create subtitles in multiple languages and customize the appearance of your subtitles to match your video's style.

Happy Scribe also offers a wide range of features, including the ability to add keywords and descriptions to your subtitles, to help you optimize your video for search engines. With Happy Scribe, you can create professional-looking subtitles that will help engage your audience and improve your video's reach.

__oTranscribe__
<a href="https://otranscribe.com/" target="blank">oTranscribe</a> is a free and open-source transcription tool that makes it easy to transcribe audio or video files. It has a simple interface that allows you to play and pause the audio or video and type out the transcript. You can also adjust the playback speed, making it easy to transcribe even long recordings.

oTranscribe also includes a built-in word processor, so you can easily edit and format your transcript. And if you need to transcribe multiple files, you can create a project and add new files as you go.

oTranscribe is available for Windows, macOS, and Linux and is free to use. So, if you're looking for an easy-to-use transcription tool, oTranscribe is worth checking out.

__Express Scribe__
For anyone who works with transcribing audio files, Express Scribe is an essential tool. It’s highly accurate <a href="https://laptopworld.review/best-transcription-software-to-convert-audio-to-text/" target="blank">transcription software</a> that saves time and increases productivity.

With its easy-to-use interface, Express Scribe makes it simple to transcribe files quickly and accurately. It also has features that make it even more efficient, such as inserting time codes and automatically controlling the playback speed.

In addition, Express Scribe integrates seamlessly with various foot pedal controllers, making it even easier to use. Express Scribe is an invaluable tool for anyone who needs to transcribe audio files regularly.
### Closing thoughts
Captioning and transcribing your videos can help with SEO in a few ways. Not only do they make your videos more accessible, but they also provide valuable text content for search engines to index. By using transcription and captioning services, you can ensure that all of your video content is fully optimized for better visibility online.

Captioning and transcribing techniques to boost video SEO

The following are twelve captioning and transcribing techniques you can use in your videos.

The benefits of captioning and transcribing your videos and some of the best techniques for doing so. 

 12 Captioning and Transcribing Techniques to Boost Video SEO

12 captioning and transcribing techniques you can use in your videos.

![Google Reviews](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/UTAF77UefMHtAHrmBNKxe/c3abcf961ce7ffb4909b80b69d4be8c6/Google_Reviews.jpg)
<a href="https://nozzle.io/features" target="blank">SERP monitoring</a> is not the only essential part of your SEO efforts if you own a small business. Google reviews play a big part in showing up in the local pack. Have you noticed that some of your Google reviews are either missing or have been removed? You are not alone. Business owners have been complaining about this for the last year or so.  If you have experienced this issue, you may be wondering why aren’t my Google reviews showing up?

As you know, Google reviews have a huge impact on your business. Your reviews not only affect your reputation but also <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/how-to-rank-better-in-google-maps-in-2022" target="blank">how you rank in Google Maps</a>. Business owners work hard to get clients to leave reviews, so when one goes missing, it’s a big deal. This year, some business owners have seen numerous reviews go missing, not just a few.

If you’re in this situation, it’s helpful to know that in most cases there is a reason why. These are the biggest reasons why your Google reviews aren’t showing up.

## So, Why Aren’t My Google Reviews Showing UP?
The main reason why Google reviews don’t get published is that they don’t meet Google’s guidelines for reviews. You should <a href="https://support.google.com/local-guides/answer/7400114?hl=en" target="blank">review the guidelines</a> to see if you notice any patterns in the reviews that you see published and the ones you don’t.  
It might seem like they are randomly choosing some reviews over others, but in most cases, unpublished reviews are rejected because Google’s automated filters flagged them for some reason.  Here are a few of the most common reasons why.

### 1. The review was posted using the same IP address as your business.  
![using the same IP address as your business](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2IENdjgSQIzqI206RnYYPh/39be9767477b68edce49692a534aa415/using_the_same_IP_address_as_your_business.jpg)
One of the ways Google flags fake reviews is by filtering out reviews that are posted using the same IP address the business owner uses. Google considers reviewing your own business a conflict of interest. Thus, if the person leaving a review posts a review while they are at your business location, it may be flagged. 

This may happen more often if your business provides free wi-fi. This could result in more of your reviews being rejected because they look like they could be coming from you (or one of your employees).  

### 2. The reviewer posts from your computer, phone, or an electric device.
![The reviewer posts from your computer, phone, or an electric device](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5I5tfiqhQ2m80fhbzR4O2o/38cebbfbb11af2877bf8dfea1e86f252/The_reviewer_posts_from_your_computer__phone__or_an_electric_device.jpg)
It’s best not to ask a customer to leave a review using a device that you personally use or use to manage your business. Even if you are not connecting over the same IP address, posting a review from your own device may look suspicious to Google. If you ask a client to leave you a review, make sure they do it from their own device and from a different location than your business.

### 3. The review was posted from a new Google account.
![The review was posted from a new Google account](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/HlbCsAUAcQlpvC0mCUZFa/271020baaa6654602e56c074710a4019/The_review_was_posted_from_a_new_Google_account.jpg)
Google is on the lookout for businesses that create fake reviews or that buy Google reviews. Google wants customers to trust the reviews they read in Google Maps. Google may reject reviews if a customer leaves a review from a brand new account, or if they leave a lot of reviews in a short amount of time. 

They may remove reviews from Google profiles that were recently created or look for other indicators that the account is fake.  For example, profiles with no name, no profile picture or history, or that have never posted a review before could be filtered.

### 4. The person leaving the review is nowhere near your location.
![The person leaving the review is nowhere near your location](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/eU3Dp4BnB7iwk9MfAAMkG/795b27d0fb7632dd1a9a229ee540e93e/The_person_leaving_the_review_is_nowhere_near_your_location.jpg)
Sometimes a review will be removed because the reviewer is leaving a review from a completely different area than where your business is located. Although as far as we know, Google isn’t tracking a user’s location to see if they have ever been to your business, some users may look sketchy if they are posting reviews from a location that is too far away from your business.

### 5. The reviewer left a link, email address, or promoted their business in your review.
![The reviewer left a link, email address, or promoted their business in your review](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5uBH6e97CVLxPYu6amDc79/379e68f90227a4ce0a916cf72d013f3f/The_reviewer_left_a_link__email_address__or_promoted_their_business_in_your_review.jpg)
Google will remove reviews from your profile if they contain promotional content. Google does not allow links, email addresses, or coupons in reviews. Reviews are for honest customer feedback about businesses and should not be used to promote other businesses or websites.

### 6. The reviewer left a political or off-topic comment.
![The reviewer left a political or off-topic comment](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4xMUh0d1GDiXoE9OrFHdJ6/4307a9935893b075203fc63210a8e718/The_reviewer_left_a_political_or_off-topic_comment.jpg)
Google does not want its review system to turn into a discussion board. Reviews must remain on topic or they will be removed. Occasionally, you’ll see a client stray off-topic in a review and this could cause it to be removed.

### 7. You manage the reviewer’s Google Analytics or Google Business Profile.
![You manage the reviewer’s Google Analytics or Google Business Profile](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6OzuN9bWe8nAoCpHWi7DxN/5bcb31fa6aace5a6392e340ba23e6f10/You_manage_the_reviewer___s_Google_Analytics_or_Google_Business_Profile.jpg)
This is a big issue for web designers and digital marketers. If you manage a client’s Google Analytics, Search Console, Google Ads campaigns, or Google Business Profile, it may be difficult for your client to leave a review for you without it being flagged. 

If your business email address and IP address are used when you log into their Google products, it may look like they are part of your business to Google’s automated system. To avoid this problem, create a separate Gmail account to use when logging into the client’s Google products.

### 8. The review was removed because of bad spelling and grammar.
![The review was removed because of bad spelling and grammar](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2UsLuT2jNiK7vr1e7KVXXC/9444a9bd8305db654c03c9dac519a6ea/The_review_was_removed_because_of_bad_spelling_and_grammar.jpg)
Google has been known to filter out customer reviews with bad spelling or grammar. While you might think this is ridiculous, the reason is actually quite logical. Google uses artificial intelligence to moderate Google reviews. If there are spelling and grammar errors it could look like an illegitimate review. 

Google is looking for quality reviews that meet their standards.  Because some businesses pay for fake reviews, often from people who don’t speak English as their native language, poor grammar and spelling can be a red flag.

### 9. You receive a lot of Google reviews at one time.
![You receive a lot of Google reviews at one time](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6KI2XY9zsP9zbPd77WxREx/ae68680948c9a626b7bba1c31477d245/You_receive_a_lot_of_Google_reviews_at_one_time.jpg)
Google is always on the lookout for things that look unusual. If your business has only had a handful of reviews and suddenly gets a slew of reviews all at once, it may cause the reviews to be removed or moderated. While every business owner wants to <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/how-to-get-more-google-reviews/" target="blank">get more Google reviews</a>, it’s best to be consistent when asking clients to leave reviews. 

### 10. Sometimes Google Reviews aren’t removed but delayed.
![Sometimes Google Reviews aren’t removed but delayed](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/asfECYEiwFijezla162pA/8e4212b928b4d72604b7de336648a029/Sometimes_Google_Reviews_aren___t_removed_but_delayed.jpg)
Usually, when someone leaves a Google review, you get an email notification and it shows up right away. But, sometimes a review doesn’t show up immediately.  In this situation, the review may not be removed; it’s just delayed. A review can sit in moderation for up to a week before it shows up on your Google Business Profile.  

## What can you do if you’re missing legitimate Google reviews?
In many cases, there isn’t a lot that can be done. Google has a community where you can bring up your issue with administrators.  You can post in the <a href="https://support.google.com/business/community?hl=en" target="blank">Google Business Profile community</a> for help.  You can also check out the <a href="https://localsearchforum.com/forums/local-reviews.99/" target="blank">Local Reviews forum</a> at Sterling Sky Local Search forum for advice. 

A lot of business owners have reported that they’ve even seen Google remove their legitimate reviews.  Google admits this occasionally does happen. Unfortunately, when it does, Google is unable to reinstate missing reviews.  You will have to ask your client to leave a review again. However, be mindful of this as well, because a client who leaves multiple reviews for the same business can also be flagged.

This problem is not just a problem for your business, but for every business owner. Consistently promoting your business and asking your clients to leave honest reviews is the best thing you can do if you have had issues with your reviews not showing up.


Google Reviews Not Showing Up

The biggest reasons why your Google reviews aren’t showing up.

These are the biggest reasons why your Google reviews aren’t showing up.

Why Aren’t My Google Reviews Showing Up? 10 Possible Reasons Why

According to a study conducted by Crayon, <a href="https://smallbiztrends.com/2020/01/competitive-intelligence-statistics.html" target="blank">94% of businesses</a> invest in competitive intelligence. __Competitor analysis__ is the first step towards understanding the market and the gap your organization can capitalize on. This includes keeping track of your competitors’ websites and learning the strategies they use to improve their digital presence. 

The insight gained from this analysis can help improve on existing strategies and create new ones. This article will talk about the tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

# 5 Tools To Help You Track Your Competitors 
Many tools can analyze the state of your competitors’ websites and give you meaningful insight on aspects such as keyword mentions, backlinks, website changes, and even social media. The following are some examples of tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

## Fluxguard
Fluxguard is a tool that allows you to crawl a competitor's website, find certain web pages and monitor these pages for activity. The software can constantly crawl your competitors' websites and return meaningful insights. The data obtained from <a href="https://fluxguard.com/how-to-guides/monitor-website-changes-with-fluxguard" target="blank">monitoring website changes</a> can include cookies, headers, network activity, and the frequency of visits to the competitor's website.

This data can help you understand the types of keywords the competitor is using, the types of tracking software they have, and how they are being used to target customers. This insight can help you make specific changes to your website that will drive more traffic and result in better performance.
![Fluxguard](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/523eJpQgVyzl1kzNNeiLAo/6006256172509c5a43a680e432de5d62/Fluxguard.png)<div><center><a href="https://fluxguard.com/" target="blank">Source</a>
## Owletter
Owletter offers data about your __competitor's email marketing strategies__. It allows organizations to automatically capture emails sent to their mailing list from a website. The software then takes screenshots of this data, stores it, and analyzes it. 

The tool also alerts you about the email based on preset parameters. This process will help you learn about your competitors' email behavior and offer insight that can be used to improve your existing __email marketing strategy__.

Owletter can help you figure out the types of emails to be sent, the frequency of emails, and content ideas for future newsletters. All this data is constantly tracked to empower your email marketing campaign.
![Qwletter](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2YP0sXs5MTinBxxpXj9gSr/81f671a09a3abfde8b84ea4574f5a999/Qwletter.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.owletter.com/" target="blank">Source</a>

## Social Blade
Social blade is free to use and mainly tracks your __competition's content__. If they have a YouTube channel, this tool will fetch data about subscribers, views, earnings, and growth. 

Moreover, it also allows you to search analytics on your competitor's Instagram, Twitch, and DailyMotion accounts. This data can serve as meaningful insight and set a benchmark to surpass your competition.
![Social Blade](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/55jXbcp2QdDeD2labbIgCk/cc92327ddd1020e4ae0c2e2890898e5f/Social_Blade.png)<div><center><a href="https://socialblade.com/" target="blank">Source</a> 

## Nozzle
Nozzle is a competitive analysis tool that lets you track the __top websites in the industry__, see any <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/featured-snippet-competitor-analysis" target="blank">featured snippets</a> your competitors may have, find who owns <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/google-local-rank-tracking" target="blank">local listings</a>, and even find <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/video-rank-tracker" target="blank">video content</a> that is performing well.

This is an effective tool to monitor competitor __keyword lists__ on a monthly and quarterly basis, <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/finding-your-top-serp-competitors-across-all-your-keyword-groups" target="blank">keeping track of organizations within your industry</a> and the global SERP landscape. It can also show you the highest-ranking URLs in your niche, so you can analyze them using SEO tools for on-site optimization and backlinks. This should allow you to focus on specific keywords and work accordingly to improve your ranking. 

![Number of Domains with Featured Snippets within a specific Keyword Group (2)](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1EUKu30N1IqRd05WTCfgWK/befb0c9053d7c5323718315eefa446cd/Number_of_Domains_with_Featured_Snippets_within_a_specific_Keyword_Group__1_.jpeg)

## Semrush
SEMRush helps conduct a competitor analysis based on __search engine marketing strategies__. It allows you to track keywords used by your competitors and see how these keywords are ranked on global SERPs. 

Each keyword is accompanied by data such as domain authority, ranking difficulty, and the countries where it ranks the highest. If you are confused with your keyword research and want to look at some strategies that have produced results, SEMRush is your go-to tool.
![Semrush](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1H6S1lZTpFZIfPIJrYMUGx/39067d85a53429afe7f69726e875d86d/Semrush.png)<div><center><a href="https://www.semrush.com/" target="blank">Source</a>  

# Importance Of Tracking Your Competitors' Websites
A competitor's website can give you a clear picture of how they are performing and the strategies and keywords they are using to improve their ranking on SERPs. Getting a strong ranking on search engine result pages is primary if you want to improve your traffic and customer base. Doing this can require several strategies that need to work in unison for the results to be successful and give you a favorable outcome. Creating a strategy from scratch might not always work, and even if you do put in extensive research, it is always good to analyze any data you can extract.

A competitor doing well in the market is a clear indication that whatever they are doing is working for them. Tracking the movement and changes of successful competitors can help you gain enough data to devise your own strategy or improve on your existing one.

Competitors can give you a clear picture of how the industry is functioning, and analyzing their data can offer the following benefits:

- Get competitive insights that can be incorporated into your strategies
- Find pricing and inventory gaps to capitalize on and capture the market
- Understand what types of strategies work in your niche
- Stay aware of industry trends
- Identify and plan for new competitive threats

## Wrapping up
Businesses worldwide are looking for ways to improve their marketing practices and get the word out to more people. According to a study, <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/17515631111106821/full/html" target="blank">90% of Fortune 500 companies</a> conduct competitor analysis to find out what others are doing to achieve these goals. The resulting data is then used to devise branding and marketing strategies that deliver results faster than shooting in the dark.

Experts believe that the best way to see if a strategy works is by seeing if someone else is doing it and how it is performing. Learning from the performance of your competitors can help you tweak your own strategies and eventually produce similar - if not better - results. Several tools in the market can track the competitor's website and precisely track each aspect of the competitor and how they are going about their daily operations.

When done right, competitor analysis can be a shortcut to explosive growth and lightning-fast sales for new businesses


Competitors

The following are tools used to analyze your competitors and how they work towards helping you with insights for improving existing strategies.

The tools needed to monitor and track the performance of competitor websites.

Get One Step Ahead Of Your Competitors - 5 Tools To Help You Track Their Movements

In the pursuit of doing the best SEO work we can, one thing that may be overlooked or undervalued is optimizing for voice search. 
![voice recognition](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7GbHFiFrUOoRh3w2K5zths/729723c516067c1ad0f4c0aff9ba22c6/voice_recognition.png)

Here is a list of things you can review to make sure you are getting the most out of the voice search capability.

# Have you read the official guides to voice search for each major platform?
Who loves to read the official “how to”s published by companies? Anyone? I didn’t think so. In this case though, it might be a great place to start so you can really understand the ‘behind the scenes' of voice search.
![read official guides](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6qrvUv7b4MKCDPdyNYrwUK/2cf475bfbe818916d09563603bd1ceae/read_official_guides.png)
Google's <a href="https://storage.googleapis.com/guidelines-eyesfree/evaluation_of_search_speech_guidelines_v1.0.pdf" target="blank">Evaluation of Search Speech - Guidelines</a> might be a great place to start. 

__Follow that up with guides from:__
- <a href="http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-cortana-tips" target="blank">Cortana</a>
- <a href="https://support.google.com/websearch/answer/2940021?hl=en" target="blank">Google</a>
- <a href="http://www.apple.com/ios/siri/" target="blank">Apple</a>

__Also these guides to commands from CNET:__
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-complete-list-of-siri-commands/" target="blank">Siri</a>
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/the-complete-list-of-cortana-commands/" target="blank">Cortana</a>
- <a href="http://www.cnet.com/how-to/complete-list-of-ok-google-commands/" target="blank">OK Google</a> 

# Do you understand your customers and their devices?
Have you evaluated the generation that is your targeted audience? 

Think about the Gen Zers versus the Baby Boomers. Is there an infant out there that doesn’t know how to navigate their parents' smartphone? On the other end of the spectrum, a lot of the Baby Boomers limit how they use their phones, yet they seem to use personal assistants, such as Siri and Alexa, more.

In the <a href="https://www.salesforce.com/form/pdf/state-of-the-connected-customer-2nd-edition/?d=7010M000000uQVWQA2" target="blank">State of the Connected Customer</a> report it shows the differences for each generation.
![generation voice search graph 1](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4QsaadULZbvEXMhRoT5kie/bb00b095c36106b03c27e01cb5a3413a/generation_voice_search_graph_1.png)
While 39% of Baby Boomers “love or like” personal assistants, only 10% of them use or prefer it when communicating with companies. 

Whereas 64% of Gen Zers “love or like” personal assistants and 35% use or prefer them when communicating with companies.
![generation voice search graph 2](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/xWbca8qjXjwaAFo0UK165/4ed2fe2245a2ea9289b2257dff341940/generation_voice_search_graph_2.png)
Understanding the behavior of who you are targeting, and with what device can help you focus on, and market to the right group of people. 

# Is your content personal and compelling?
Why are customers going to look for your services/product? What are their pain points that you can solve or answer for them?

Compel your audience to engage with your product by reaching them on a personal and informative level. Because people’s emotions are touched more visually, you should have relatable pictures to accompany the text.
![personal and compelling content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2BZsUbxvG3dmF7FH7PwKNw/a37697ffa6f9e8ec98fe6b95df2da97e/personal_and_compelling_content.png)
Ask a question they may have and then answer it in a succinct way that reaches their emotions. Feel free to elaborate more after that and incorporate the keywords that you are targeting. This format is attractive to <a href="https://www.searchenginejournal.com/search-engines/algorithms/" target="blank">Google’s ranking algorithm</a>. 

# Do you use conversational words?
![use conversational words](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6sts5XbiwW3UKcgSBFbjcB/71269e8225a8774ec809e5e03f3c67cc/use_conversational_words.png)
To optimize for voice search, optimizing for conversational queries is a must.  

Think about when you __type__ in a search versus using __voice__ search. With voice you tend to use more specific and conversational speech such as “show me” or “what do I need for” rather than just using a short phrase. It gives a direction for your answer to take you.

What are some questions your audience might ask?

For example, if they are searching for information on pruning fruit trees you may optimize for these questions:

- How do I prune fruit trees?
- When is the best time to prune fruit trees?
- What equipment do I need to prune fruit trees?
- Can I prune fruit trees if the leaves are still on?

Another great resource for thinking of targeted questions is using the People Also Ask (PAA) boxes to see what people are actually asking Google about your niche. <a href="https://nozzle.io/" target="blank">Nozzle.io</a> is a great resource for this. They generate a <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">PAA report</a> with all of the questions asked related to your keywords.

# Have you focused on long-tail keywords?

Now that we know that people’s voice search is more natural than a typed search is, long-tail keywords should be your focus, as they will be what those using voice search will use more. 
![long tail keywords](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/10uKEgUrL96z2dBG4M2vtd/418e01c95f97e995b4d1f4e3bb421224/long_tail_keywords.png)
This is where the <a href="https://nozzle.io/paa" target="blank">PAA report</a> comes in handy. It shows search term variations people are looking for. You can also use <a href="https://moz.com/blog/a-beginners-guide-to-the-google-search-console" target="blank">Google Search Console</a> to discover the queries that are bringing people to your site. 

Another resource is using questions people have asked your customer support.

Your content pages based on these questions should contain long, conversational terms.

# Have you built an FAQ page?

Do you have a Frequently Asked Questions page?

![build faq pages](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2dWsj4nNn8ErN6gKXU1vWz/9cea5341a8e6b74612dce70daa8ac987/build_faq_pages.png)
When you use voice search I’m guessing it starts with the word “Who,” “What,” “Where,” “When,” “Why,” or “How.”  You have a need, and you want it answered quickly.

"FAQ pages are also vital to organic performance. As they answer prominent questions of current and prospective customers, they lead them down to the path of solving their problems. Eventually, it may be a conversion for the business." according to <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies#FAQ_Schema_Markup" target="blank">Bernie Wong</a> of <a href="https://social-stand.com/" target="blank">Social Stand Limited</a>.  

To provide this information have a FAQ page that answers all of these questions (don’t forget, conversationally) for your audience. <a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data/faqpage" target="blank">Google loves FAQ page</a>s and often uses them in the SERP.

<a href="https://www.zendesk.com/blog/the-best-faq-page-examples-and-how-to-make-your-own/" target="blank">Here are some tips for writing a good FAQ page</a>:
1. Use data to pick the right questions
2. Form clear criteria around responding
3. Offer multiple solutions
4. Track your progress
5. Make your FAQ page easy to find

# Have you claimed your Google Business Profile and is all of your info up to date?
A key factor in optimizing for voice search is building your local listing and presence. <a href="https://www.webfx.com/blog/marketing/voice-search-digital-marketing-2019/" target="blank">Over 55% of people</a> use voice search to find local businesses.
![google my business profile](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7BOh9KACJShAzlGTnLZW9V/cd7e915f6b54e8e328d5b70b16e53e72/google_my_business_profinle.png)
If you haven’t claimed your <a href="https://support.google.com/business/?hl=en&_ga=1.197736111.1817838323.1480536666#topic=4539639" target="blank">Google Business Profile listing</a> yet, you need to. This is where you add your business’ information such as hours of operation, address, phone, services, reviews, pictures, link to your website and a short bio about your business. The more information you share on your listing the more confidence people will have in your business and the easier it will be for someone to choose you.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/how-to-rank-better-in-google-maps-in-2022" target="blank">These are suggestions by Patty Malowney</a> from <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/" target="blank">Badass Web Goddess Agency</a> to optimize your Google Business Profile:
- Use your keywords in your GBP name
- Fill out your GBP completely
- Add photos
- Post updates
- Ask clients and customers for Google Reviews
- GBP Behavioral Signals

Don’t forget to use keywords related to your business while setting up your information. Also, take into account the regional slang or dialects that might be pertinent in your area. For example, in Utah fried dough is called a “scone” but is referred to as “fry bread” in most other places. In Wisconsin a drinking fountain is called a “bubbler”.

# Have you added microdata?
![add microdata](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/W03Kg383nHnX5FvYprLME/82e9a294a3499f4f9ed8f14d14394a71/add_microdata.png)
Who remembers Jerry Maguire’s famous line, “Help me, help you.”? That’s what microdata does for Google.

 “You’ll need to submit a sitemap to Google including information such as: prices, directions to your physical location, store hours, your address and phone number. Next, use microdata to help Google understand what this text means. Create markups for various use cases.”  according to the <a href="https://digitalmarketinginstitute.com/blog/seo-how-to-optimize-for-voice-search" target="blank">Digital Marketing Institute</a>.

Helping Google to help you answer people’s voice search.

<a href="https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/structured-data/faqpage" target="blank">This is an example from Google of microdata.</a>

# Does your brand have an abnormal spelling that you need to take into consideration?
How well can people pronounce your brand? Does it transcribe well? Is voice search going to recognize it easily?

We’re all familiar with the company Xerox. They’ve been around for decades, therefore recognized by Google, but what if it was a new company that no one was sure how to say their name? 

Be aware of the limitations that Google might have in recognizing uniquely spelled brands. You could add a pronunciation guide to help.

If your brand name is a bit ambiguous, at least try to make the product memorable, unique and easy to search for.

# Have you optimized your schema markup?
Again, “Help me, help you.” with schema markup. This helps make sense of your content and make your site discoverable to search engines.
![optimize schema markup](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3fyrfgnV8BoA4xhPXxTP1j/388291590af1999f009fea5929eefe13/optimize_schema_markup.png)
Structured data can be used to mark up all kinds of items from products to events to recipes. It is most often used to provide additional information about the following:
- Creative work
- Event
- Organization
- Person
- Place
- Product

A full list of items you can mark up with schema is available <a href="https://schema.org/docs/full.html" target="blank">here</a>.

"Each type of information has properties that can be used to describe items in more detail. For example, a "book," which falls under the category "creative work," can have the properties "name" (title), "author," "illustrator," "isbn," and more, depending on how fully you want to describe it. Similarly, an "event" can be classified as anything from a "businessevent" to a "theaterevent." according to <a href="https://moz.com/learn/seo/schema-structured-data" target="blank">Moz</a>.

Have you adopted schema markup for voice search by including an indicator of intent and relevancy to your site?

# Does your website load fast and is it mobile friendly?
![website speed](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5MpR1gt8tqmPe1VuIKHGsg/1822fd1780848354f08e282ef3a8d7e9/website_speed.png)
A big factor to bounce rate, especially in relation to voice search is your load speed. Who wants to sit and watch a circle spinning when you have lots to do?

If you’re using voice search, chances are that you are busy or in a hurry. Google is too. They will offer sites with greater loading speed and with less bounce rate.

<a href="https://neilpatel.com/blog/speed-is-a-killer/" target="blank">According to Neil Patel’s research</a>, 47% of consumers expect a website to load in no more than two seconds.
![every second counts](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4CyXyRAqbOYReIpLWIAqCG/9a89022c299670e57d204d9912cf7804/every_second_counts.png)
Every second afterward damages user experience. Viewers don’t want to wait for your page to load, and they’ll often bounce to find another business with a better user experience.

In a study cited by <a href="https://www.crazyegg.com/blog/speed-up-your-website/" target="blank">crazyegg.com</a>, the relationship between load times and conversion rates showed a <a href="https://conversionxl.com/blog/testing-tools-site-speed/" target="blank">25% decrease in conversion rates</a> with just one extra second of load time.
![loading time impact](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Ly3ngvfiWvqUvRtqNGEwz/171e96e9ebd63ebe64405862b48f7465/loading_time_impact.png)
It’s clear that putting in the effort to increase your site speed — even by one second — could have a major impact on conversions.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/mistakes-in-seo-that-can-lead-to-google-ranking-drop" target="blank">Stephanie Long</a> from <a href="https://stephaniemariemarketing.com/" target="blank">Stephanie Marie Marketing</a> says: A tool I like to use and test my website for speed regularly is <a href="https://developers.google.com/speed" target="blank">Google’s PageSpeed Insights</a> (PSI) because it shows how fast your website is loading for both mobile and desktop. It also provides detailed solutions on how you can fix any issues, plus it also gives you a grade from 1-100, with 100 being the best. The tool that I think does a great job on showing what images are too large and are causing slow loading times is <a href="https://www.screamingfrog.co.uk/seo-spider/" target="blank">Screaming Frog</a>.

“In the summer of 2015, more Google searches were carried out via mobile than desktop for the first time ever – and you’d better believe they’ve only gone up since then!” according to <a href="https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/how-to-make-website-mobile-friendly/" target="blank">WebsiteBuilderExpert</a>. 

<a href="https://www.websitebuilderexpert.com/building-websites/how-to-make-website-mobile-friendly/" target="blank">To make your website mobile-friendly, you’ll need to</a>:
1. Choose a mobile-responsive theme or template
2. Strip back your content
3. Make images and CSS as light as possible
4. Avoid Flash
5. Change button size and placement
6. Space out your links
7. Use a large and readable font
8. Eliminate pop-ups
9. Test regularly

So, is your site updated with the fastest speeds possible?

Is it mobile friendly?

# Is your content scannable?
Do you know what the very best guarantee is that I will exit a site just as fast as I opened it? If there are a lot of ads or sign-ups that pop up before I can even see that homepage. I’m gone and won't return.
![scannable content](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3AVpBnGWJ7Yy4rsDsL06Ka/555584880bdfd5cf437a902002bb7969/scannable_content.png)
If I’m using voice search for something, I want to be able to scan the content quickly and easily without interference.

Is your site easily scannable with headers and links offering information that is easy to grasp? Will I find answers easily just by scanning your homepage? 

Need some ideas to get you started? <a href="https://www.bigdcreative.com/5-ways-to-make-your-sites-design-scannable/" target="blank">Here are 5 from bigDcreative</a>.
1. Design With Visual Hierarchy in Mind
2. Make Your Navigation Menu Easy to Spot
3. Take Advantage of White Space
4. Write for Brevity
5. Use Numbers Where Possible

# Do your videos rank in Google?
![videos rank in google](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2m3xoudiSsGmbq25CIcodk/f4a5d809abb371c1a468529a46f3d0f0/videos_rank_in_google.png)
How well do your videos rank in Google? In SEO you need to utilize every resource you have available, and a big component of that is video. People love to be visually stimulated, and most people learn better through being shown. 

If you’ve never made Beef Wellington before, are you more likely to use the recipe from the blog with the video tutorial, or relying on the typed out recipe?

Most sites can find a place for useful videos and then optimize them so they will draw people in. 

If you’re not sure if YouTube is something worth investing in, you should know that YouTube is owned by Google. Perhaps that is why <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/youtube-best-practices-for-beginners" target="blank">over 80% of the videos that rank in the top ten for video-related searches in Google are from YouTube</a>, as opposed to other video platforms, embeds on websites or natively hosted video.

According to <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/content-marketing-for-small-businesses-and-coaches-2022-edition" target="blank">Thomas Anthony</a>, an organic marketing consultant: 
- Videos have higher engagement than written content
- The average consumer spends 100 minutes a day watching video
- <a href="https://blog.hootsuite.com/youtube-stats-marketers/" target="blank">YouTube is the world's second most visited website</a>
- Views increase as more people work from home

## In conclusion
Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate. It’s worth taking the time to do.

<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies#Optimize_for_Voice_Search" target="blank">Paige Arnof-Fenn</a> of <a href="http://mavensandmoguls.com/" target="blank">Mavens & Moguls</a> said:

"Websites must be optimized for voice search adding usability/functionality to your site making it accessible to all users including those with limitations/disabilities. It’s not just about complying with the ADA/responsible web design/CSR goals but it is also good for the bottom line by reaching a broader audience."


voice recognition

Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate.

Optimizing your site for voice search will help increase your traffic and decrease your bounce rate. This is a check list to help evaluate your voice search optimization.

Voice Search Optimization Checklist

Most business owners understand the importance of ranking well in Google Maps. If you are in the SEO business, <a href="https://nozzle.io/features" target="blank">search enginge position analysis</a> isn't the only concern. Helping your clients to rank well in Google Maps is also what you do. Even if you understand the fundamentals of local SEO, Google is constantly updating its algorithm. Keeping up with these updates is the key to outranking your competition.

Google made several changes to local search this year, and some of them affect how a business ranks in Google Maps. If you want to know how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022, you need to know about these changes.

In 2016, Google introduced what SEOs call the “map pack”, “3-pack”, or “local pack”. The new design featured a map of just three business listings. This small change dramatically affected local SEO. There were no longer 7 spots, but only an elusive three. Getting your business to rank in the map pack became the main focus of local SEO.

## Why rank better in Google Maps?
It is not necessary for every business to be in Google Maps. However, for local businesses, ranking better in Google Maps is the best way to bring in more local customers and ultimately make more money. 

If someone is searching for your business on Google Maps, they will most likely search “local business near me”. So, if you own a pizza restaurant, for example, if someone is looking for pizza, they will most likely search for “pizza near me”.

This is what makes ranking well in Google Maps so important. If your business isn’t in the top 3 spots, your customers may never find you. The map pack shows up at the top of the page <a href="https://www.seoclarity.net/how-googles-local-pack-update-has-reshaped-the-organic-landscape-12952/" target="blank">in 93 percent of Google searches</a>, according to SEO Clarity, which makes ranking in the map pack the best way for small businesses to be found in Google.

Every business is trying to get into this coveted spot in Google Maps. With every business vying for it, how do you get there? And what’s changed in 2022?

If you want a competitive edge, keep reading. Here is how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022.
![google-maps](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Fno8XdXYYukJrtvKs5gci/960062999b80fdb274573c95a4deee05/google-maps.png)
## How does Google decide which businesses rank in Google Maps?

Understanding how Google picks which businesses they display in Google Maps will help you to understand how to rank better. Google Maps was created for local businesses - not so much for online businesses. 

It was mainly designed for brick-and-mortar businesses to help customers and clients locate them on the map. This is why proximity is such an important ranking factor. Google tries to show you the businesses that are closest to you in proximity.

However, just adding your business to Google Maps doesn’t automatically make your business show up first, even if you are the closest in proximity. Google uses numerous ranking factors to determine which business shows up on top. And, Google tells you exactly what they are looking for.

### These are the ranking <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/7091?hl=en#zippy=%2Center-complete-data%2Cadd-photos%2Crelevance%2Cdistance%2Cprominence" target="blank">factors Google looks for</a>: 

__Relevance__: This means how closely your business matches what someone is searching for when they do a Google search. They determine this based on your business name, description, and what people say in your Google Reviews.

__Distance__: How close your business is to the person searching. 

__Prominence__: According to Google, prominence is determined by information Google has about a business from links, articles, and directories. Google also looks at your Google reviews. Having a higher percentage of positive ratings will improve your prominence in Google.

Wonder why your reviews aren't showing up? Check out <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/why-arent-my-google-reviews-showing-up-10-possible-reasons-why" target="blank">this article</a>.

## Google Maps Ranking Factors

Ranking in Google Maps is similar to ranking in organic search. Google looks at on-page and off-page factors. However, unlike organic search, where on-page SEO is done on your website, in Google Maps the on-page SEO is done on your Google Business Profile. This is why a business can rank well in Google Maps even if they don’t have a website. Here are some of the on-page and off-page SEO factors Google uses to rank businesses in Google Maps.

__Google Business Profile SEO__

- GBP (Google Business Profile) Optimization
- Google Reviews
- GBP Updates
- Behavioral Signals

__Google Maps Off-Page SEO__

- Citations
- Website SEO
- Backlinks
- Social Signals

## How to Optimize Your GBP (Google Business Profile)
The first step to ranking on Google Maps is to claim your Google Business Profile. To create a Google Business Profile go to https://www.google.com/business/. Claim your listing and verify it. Once your listing is verified, optimize your profile. 

__Use your keywords in your GBP name__

Use your keywords in your profile name if possible. Make sure your profile name reflects what your business actually does. For example, if you own a fitness center, use a name like ABC Fitness Center instead of just ABC Company. Although including keywords in your profile name can help with SEO, Google is cracking down on business owners using keyword spam to rank well in Google Maps. Therefore, having keywords in your profile name may not be as beneficial in 2022 as it was before.

__Fill out your GBP completely__

Fill out every section of your GBP including your physical address, phone number, category, and attributes. Make sure to provide a description of your business using your keywords, location, and the products or services you offer. Also, add your hours of operation.

Select the best category for your business. If you are not sure which category to choose, do a search for your keyword and see what category your competitors are using. Add as many secondary categories to your profile as you can (but be sure they are relevant).

Select appropriate <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/9049526?hl=en&co=GENIE.Platform%3DDesktop" target="blank">attributes</a>, for example, identified as woman-owned or veteran-owned. Select a short name for your profile. And, make sure to create a free Google website, even if you have your own website. Your Google.business.site will display information about your business, your contact info, and all your GBP updates. 

__Add photos__

Adding photos to your profile helps more than you might think. “Businesses with photos receive 42% more requests for driving directions to their location from users on Google, and 35% more clicks through to their websites than businesses that don’t have photos”, according to a <a href="https://www.brightlocal.com/research/google-my-business-insights-study/" target="blank">Google insight study</a>.

__Post updates__

Post updates on your GBP regularly. Although this does not help directly with SEO, it may help with the click-through rate. It also adds content to your Google business website if you have added one.

__Ask clients and customers for Google Reviews__

Google Reviews are one of the ways Google decides how popular your business is and what people in your location have to say about your business. Having positive Google reviews will improve your prominence and ranking in Google Maps. 

Asking your clients and customers to leave a review for your business is one of the best ways to get more Google reviews. However, many business owners have noticed that Google is filtering more reviews, even from legitimate happy customers. Since Google knows reviews are an important ranking factor, they have tightened the ropes on fake Google reviews. If you are <a href="https://localu.org/unfilter-missing-google-reviews/" target="blank">missing Google reviews</a>, Google’s filtering system may be why.

Don’t just ask for reviews, reply to your customer's reviews. According to Google, this is one way to make your <a href="https://support.google.com/business/answer/6335804?hl=en" target="blank">Google Business Profile awesome</a>.

__GBP Behavioral Signals__ 

If you want to rank better in Google Maps in 2022, focus on improving interaction on your Google Business Profile. Google doesn’t just look at the information on your GBP. They also look at what your customers do when they find you. For example, do they call you? Do they visit your website? Do they search for directions? These actions show Google how customers feel about your business. 

## __Google Maps Off-Page SEO__

The truth is it’s possible to rank well in Google Maps just by having an optimized GBP and positive Google reviews. However, there are other important factors that can improve your position in Google Maps. These are off-page SEO signals such as information from your website, directories, social media, articles, and backlinks.

__Website Optimization__

Optimizing your website will improve both your organic search results and your ranking in Google Maps. This is because Google looks for information about your business across the web to determine how they rank you. This includes the information on your website.

__How to optimize your website for Google Maps__

Optimize your website for local keywords. For example, if you own a real estate business, you might optimize your website for “Atlanta realtor” or “best realtor in Atlanta” or “Atlanta real estate”. 

Also, add location pages or city pages for specific cities you service. This will tell Google you provide services in that city and provide more information about what services you provide for that location.

Include your name, address, and phone number on your website. Embed a Google map to your business as well. You can add this in the footer of your website or your contact page.

Add schema markup to your website. <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/schema-markup-for-seo-google-maps/" target="blank">Schema markup</a> is code that can be added to your website to tell Google more about your business. It provides information like where you are located, your phone number, your business hours, and what social media profiles are associated with your business.

__Citations listing your NAP (Name, Address, and Phone Number) __

One of the ways Google determines your prominence in Google Maps is based on the information it collects from links, articles, and directories. Mentions of your business’ name, address, and phone number are known as citations. Citations are generally considered listings in directories like Yellow Pages, Manta, Yelp, or Angie’s List. Local business directories or industry-specific directories are also a good way to build citations.

__Backlinks__

A lot of SEOs think <a href="https://www.badasswebgoddess.com/what-helps-more-with-local-seo-citations-or-backlinks/" target="blank">citations and backlinks</a> are the same things. While directories often include a link back to your website, which technically makes it a backlink, they are different. A citation is any mention of your business name, address, and phone number on another website. A backlink is a link from another website back to your website. 

A backlink doesn’t always include your name, address, or phone number. It can link to your website’s home page or internal pages or blog posts. Having more backlinks will help you to rank better in local searches. 

__Social Signals__

Having an active social media presence may improve your ranking in Google, although it may help more indirectly than directly. There is a lot of debate in the SEO community about how much social media helps with SEO or if it helps at all. However, having an active social media presence can help because it drives traffic to your website, can generate natural backlinks (from people who might not have otherwise seen your content), and encourages customers to visit your website. 

## What’s Changed with Google Maps and what to expect in 2022

In 2021, Google made quite a few changes to Google Maps, including making it easier for business owners to get listed in Google Maps, changing the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile, changing the look of the map pack, and adding new features for business owners.

__Google changed the name of Google My Business to Google Business Profile__

On November 4, 2021, Google changed the name of its business profiles from <a href="https://support.google.com/business/thread/133876833/introducing-new-updates-to-business-profile?hl=en" target="blank">Google My Business to Google Business Profile</a> and made it easier for business owners to claim and verify their business information on Google Maps.

There are now two ways to get your business listed in Google Maps. You can go to https://www.google.com/business/ to create your Google Business Profile or you can simply search for your business name in Google Maps. If you don’t see it listed, search for your business address. Then click on Add your business. This will take you to the Google Business Profile page where you can set up your profile.

__Google added new features for business owners__

In addition, Google added <a href="https://blog.google/products/ads-commerce/connect-local-holiday-shoppers/" target="blank">several new features for business owners</a>. You can now message your visitors directly from search, without having to log in to your business profile. You can also see your call history to see which visitors found you in Google Maps and called you from your profile.

Shop owners can now display their inventory directly from Google. Shoppers can now search for which stores have the item they are looking for in stock. This is a win for customers and shop owners as many customers check to see which stores have a product on hand before they shop there.

__Google added several new attributes__

There are now a wide range of attributes businesses can add to their profile, <a href="https://www.seroundtable.com/google-my-business-crowd-lgbtq-friendly-transgender-safespace-32287.html" target="blank">including LBTQ+ friendly</a>, and health and safety features like “staff wears masks”. In 2022, there may be more attributes added to GBP. Be sure to check for new attributes in the upcoming year.

__Google changed the way the map pack is displayed__
![map-pack-chicago](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4VEnH5GSCZYra2CmvO286p/0eb015658fbe1f8f303cb23a17da15f8/map-pack-chicago.jpg)

In 2021, Google redesigned the map pack. Now when you search for a business on Google, the map is larger and more prominent than before. The businesses also appear on the left side of the map instead of underneath it.

__Google rolled out the “Vicinity Update”__

In 2021, Google started cracking down on spam. In the <a href="https://www.sterlingsky.ca/vicinity-algorithm-update/" target="blank">most recent Vicinity update</a>, businesses that were dominating local search simply because they had keywords in their business name noticed significant drops in their ranking in Google Maps. A keyword in your business name is no longer as important as your prominence and proximity.

Google confirmed the algorithm update in December. Although they did not specifically say that the latest algorithm places a heavier emphasis on proximity, they did say that the update “involved a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results.” 

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Our November 2021 local search update has concluded. It began Nov 30 and ran through Dec 8. It involved a rebalancing of various factors we consider in generating local search results. General guidance for businesses remains the same as covered here: <a href="https://t.co/uyXFfmUEIR">https://t.co/uyXFfmUEIR</a></p>&mdash; Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) <a href="https://twitter.com/googlesearchc/status/1471546117125029889?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 16, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

What the Vicinity update did, essentially, was bring proximity back as one of Google’s main ranking factors. Google has stated before that the three factors they look at are relevance, distance, and prominence. 

As 2022 moves forward there may be more changes in store for Google. Overall, Google’s aim is to improve user experience. This includes making Google Maps more useful to customers using their services.


map-pack-chicago

This is how to rank better in Google Maps in 2022.

How to rank better in Google Maps in 2022

# Local SEO
<br>
I posed the question to SEO professionals what they thought was the most underutilized SEO strategy or tactic. I got over 100 responses which I broke up into <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/44-underutilized-seo-strategies-and-tactics" target="blank">8 categories</a>, and 44 sub categories. This is part 6, which highlights the underutilized strategies related to local SEO.
<img src="//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/7EXJOgfCZjihviJTp0FpjV/b4a01d17b44b0316368ce5d1b2e072e0/local_seo.jpg"  style='float: right; margin: 1rem;' />

__Local SEO Sub Categories:__
- <a href="#Optimize_Local_SEO_Landing_Pages">Optimize Local SEO Landing Pages</a>
- <a href="#Google_Maps_Optimization">Google Maps Optimization</a>
- <a href="#Optimize_your_Google_My_Business_Page">Optimize your Google My Business Page</a>
<a id="Optimize_Local_SEO_Landing_Pages"></a>
<br>
## Optimize Local SEO Landing Pages
![Optimize Local SEO Landing Pages](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/ueaxYinRCphe69WLxgK7s/c1952af8e2d3cecee45ceb4c52eefadc/Optimize_Local_SEO_Landing_Pages.png)
__Carmine Mastropierro, Co-Founder of <a href="http://wisemedia.ca" target="blank">WiseMedia</a> points out:__

"Almost all businesses can universally optimize their website, service pages, and channels like Google My Business for local areas to generate leads and drive sales. I recommend using an SEO tool like Ubersuggest to first find local keywords to target. These are primarily a location followed by a service like "New York Business Accountant." They tend to have low competition but a high conversion rate. With voice search on the rise, these keywords are also continuing to drive more traffic. Optimize your website for these search terms and make dedicated pages for every location you service."

__Sean Darlow, Founder and business manager at <a href="https://affiliates-sloty.com/" target="blank">Affiliate Sloty</a> said:__

"The most underutilized SEO strategy is local SEO. The majority of businesses invest in SEO in order to reach a larger, often global audience. Local clients, whether online or in person, are still the lifeblood of most modern businesses. Local SEO makes a company more visible to local customers. Google has also been putting a lot of effort into regional results. As a result, adding local SEO to a small business's SEO plan is the only reasonable choice."

__Matt Tutt from <a href="https://matttutt.me" target="blank">Matt Tutt Digital Marketing</a> recommends to make use of local landing pages:__

"These have a bit of a dirty name associated - perhaps from some people who associate these pages with really thin, cookie-cutter content, which ends up being pretty spammy!

"For me I've seen them work really well when working with clients who are trying to target specific geographic areas. I actually love the process of creating these pages. Once you've got a great framework of the page, you can really scale them up in a huge way, obviously depending on how wide an area you want to target for your client.

"I've worked with a world-class dog breeder in the US who ships their dogs across the US, and this strategy has helped them to target many states where they had no kind of online presence before. It was just a case of creating a great framework page which talked about region-specific content in a way that was relevant to the topic (in this case, dogs!).

"Looking back at data from the past 12 months I can see that this landing page strategy has contributed approximately 30% of the total organic traffic for this client. So it's been massive - and has led to many additional leads the client wouldn't have had otherwise."

__Brenton Thomas founder and CEO of <a href="https://www.twibiagency.com/" target="blank">Twibi</a> says:__

"The importance of local SEO cannot be underestimated when a business has a limited service area. For example, if a small mom-and-pop restaurant is paying for ads seen by people all over the world that will never walk through the door. If there's a limited-service area such as only providing a service for several towns or counties, you don’t want people outside of that service area seeing the website. This also leads to disappointment when these visitors try to schedule an appointment.

"This is why local SEO is vastly underrated since it will generate more qualified prospects, people in that business' area who are looking for their products or service."

<a id="Google_Maps_Optimization"></a>
<br>
## Google Maps Optimization
![Google Maps Optimization](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/7f2qfJEODaUJE7dP9NTmoL/3eec6dee590c8d8b09a161bf1b0acb8e/Google_Maps_Optimization.jpg)
<div><center><a href="https://www.samma3a.com/tech/en/google-maps-full-article-en/" target="blank">Image Source</a></center></div>
<br>
__Danny Star from <a href="https://websitedepot.com/" target="blank">Website Depot</a> claims Google Maps Ranking and Optimization should be focused on.__ 

"For those who rely on phone calls as conversions, this is a gold mine that is often overlooked in favor of ad placement or organic SEO. In many cases, some of my best-performing clients like lawyers and treatment centers get a majority of their calls from their Google My Business listing that is showing on top of their competitors."

<a id="Optimize_your_Google_My_Business_Page"></a>
<br>
## Optimize your Google My Business Page
![Optimize your Google My Business Page](//images.contentful.com/z8uwv83tofbw/4l9FbGAqHnkqRceok8lnxF/ba4c92461fb211650b0de283071e8d7a/Optimize_your_Google_My_Business_Page.png)
__Ela Iliesi, Digital Marketing & SEO Trainer at <a href="https://londonmarketingacademy.com/" target="blank">London Marketing Academy</a> comments about creating a well optimised GMB page:__

Adding a keyword or key phrase in your business name besides the brand. This can offer huge visibility for free, something not even purchasing Google Ads publicity can offer, as you can appear in the searches for that key phrase and have your GMP posts seen and clicked by thousands of people each month, for free.

__Lauren Amor, Organic Search Specialist for <a href="https://tandem.buzz/" target="blank">Tandem Buzz</a> states:__

Another tactic that's more up and coming than anything is short snippets for Google and Alexa Echo products. This refers to the short snippets that people often say to Alexa when they're trying to find something quickly, such as, "Flower shop Miami". If you're a flower shop in Miami, it's important to have keywords that can double as short snippets on your GMB, site, and other online tools to increase your chances of coming up for these short searches.

### In conclusion

Optimizing your Local SEO is an important, even if it's an underutilized SEO strategy.

<br>
__Other Categories in this Series:__
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/1-underutilized-keyword-research-strategies" target="blank">#1- Underutilized Keyword Research Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/2-underutilized-onsite-optimization-strategies" target="blank">#2- Underutilized Onsite Optimization Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/3-underutilized-content-strategies" target="blank">#3- Underutilized Content Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/4-underutilized-link-building-strategies" target="blank">#4- Underutilized Link Building Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/5-underutilized-technical-seo-strategies" target="blank">#5- Underutilized Technical SEO Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/7-underutilized-video-seo-strategies" target="blank">#7- Underutilized Video SEO Strategies</a>
<a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/8-miscellaneous-underutilized-seo-strategies" target="blank">#8- Miscellaneous Underutilized SEO Strategies</a>


local seo

This is what the experts say are the most underutilized SEO strategies regarding Local SEO.

#6- Underutilized Local SEO strategies

Local SEO Strategy - Local Search Strategy - Local SEO Strategist

With Nozzle, it’s easy to discover <a href="https://nozzle.io/features" target="blank">which of your competitors own featured snippets</a>  and how many each competitor owns.

This is important if you are trying to optimize your content for featured snippet status. Analyzing the featured snippets of different competitors can give you an idea of what a webpage or article needs in order to be made a featured snippet by Google. By taking a close look at the content of the competitors that are dominating featured snippets, you can learn about and imitate the dominating competitors’ strategies.

Why would you want to rank in a featured snippet? Click <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/what-are-featured-snippets" target="blank">here</a> to learn more about featured snippets and why they are important.

## Find Out Who Owns Featured Snippets

To view who owns the featured snippets for your keywords, go to the Competitive Share of Voice dashboard and select Domains or Brands in the Rollup dropdown menu. In the Segment dropdown, type in “featured snippet” and you’ll see five options for viewing featured snippets. 

![Featured snippet segment options](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/kDenJg1eOLSPXaeQel5nF/8b1b9667dcbd3cc5048976fcda62f296/Featured_Snippet_Segments.png)

The first one, “Featured Snippets (unpaid),” will show you who is ranking in all the featured snippets for your keywords. The others will show you those ranking for featured snippets containing tables, bulleted lists, numbered lists, and images.

For now, select the first one, then sort by Keywords. Filter by keyword group as desired.

![Sort by Keywords](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/37RlflAx5f5IjjYm6KaeHQ/b1e8bea9ac82efe47170b0328edb4e3c/Sort_by_Keywords.png)

Once you apply the filters, you’ll see charts and a table below showing the domains or brands that have featured snippets. Under the Keywords column, you’ll find the number of keywords for which these domains have a featured snippet. Mine shows that marketingevolution.com owns 13 featured snippets, lumenlearning.com owns 11, and so on.

![Featured snippet competitor analysis charts](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1uxepUGqhUZ6qReI5UbpNa/b0ccc114177847cf5fc43c3e384374c9/Charts.png)
![Featured snippet competitor analysis table](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5KYvz9CsscT2CdOIW5shgd/da04d68d59d3c4a260cb2f2cd1e8969d/Table.png)

## Diving Deeper

This bird’s eye view of the featured snippet landscape is helpful, but to get even more information about specific domains and their featured snippets, click on one of the domains or brands in the table. I prefer to right click and open it in a new tab in case I need to refer back to this table.

Doing so will take you to a performance overview page for that domain or brand. Make sure your previous segment is applied, then scroll down to the Keywords table at the bottom to see the exact keywords for which this specific competing domain has featured snippets.

I clicked on vocabulary.com. You can see the 8 phrases for which vocabulary.com holds featured snippets, along with their corresponding URLs (for this particular domain, only one URL is ranking for all 8 of these keywords) and other helpful metrics like Search Volume, <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/pixels-from-top-a-nozzle-feature" target="blank">Pixels from Top</a>, and <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/nozzles-crackerjack-calculation-of-clickthrough-rate" target="blank">Click Through Rate</a>.

![Featured snippet domain performance overview keyword list](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5oNunMIZFIWjP4Fgg0wY3z/57d07503626ac56f78f36a340c38bd4e/Domain_Performance_Overview_-_Keywords.png)

Since featured snippets appear at the top of the SERP, you can see that they are all ranked #1. Every once in a while, featured snippets are pushed down to position 2 or 3 by other featured snippets and suggestions.

Clicking on one of these URLs will open it in a new tab, so you can analyze a competitor’s webpage and strategize accordingly. If you click on one of the keywords, you will be taken to that single keyword’s performance page.

On a keyword’s performance page, scroll down to view the SERP Results displayed in a functional table format. Below that you’ll find the SERP HTML--exactly how the SERPs look in Google. Play around with the <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/introducing-nozzle-vision" target="blank">Nozzle Vision</a>, <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/the-functionality-of-side-by-side-serp-html-comparison" target="blank">SERP history comparison</a>, search, and zoom tools to make the most out of the SERP Results and HTML.

Let’s look at the SERP Results and HTML for the phrase “receptivity definition” above.

![Featured snippet individual keyword SERP results table](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5pETK7ASTUVtO2QnX1UWDS/40a9cc03e6cfa542e24df510aa511ccd/Individual_Keyword_SERP_Results.png)
![Featured snippet individual keyword SERP HTML](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6CveyJKoo3XDSocLMritEH/63642ee2678583f58a319e6cc90366f2/Individual_Keyword_SERP_HTML.png)

## Analyzing Featured Snippet URLs Directly

Earlier, we looked at the domains that owned the featured snippets, then we dove deeper and found the keywords for which they held featured snippets, along with their corresponding URLs.

Alternatively, you can directly examine what URLs are ranking as featured snippets by changing from Domain to URL in the dropdown menu.

This will pull up a new table with data about the URLs that are ranking as featured snippets. Under “Keywords” you’ll see how many featured snippets each URL is ranking as.

![Featured snippet competitor analysis by URL](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/5Ap1sHuNW3eR2OhNyvKHv/bdaacea6dc0a86fd909d5e3e8f22a1e9/By_URL.png)

Click on a URL to see the keywords for which it has featured snippet status. I clicked on the third URL, vocabulary.com/dictionary/receptivity, to see its keywords, which matches the data we saw for vocabulary.com above.

![Featured snippet URL performance overview keyword list](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3dXuhOoeeyok0JSqLqS3x7/419687fa96ba9479997bab09fb6b0f60/URL_Performance_Overview_-_Keywords.png)

Checking out the URLs directly is an easier way to see if your competitors have one URL that is dominating several featured snippets or if there are multiple. This helps you know real quick which specific URLs you need to analyze and beat out of the featured snippet spot.

## Analyzing Featured Snippet Keywords Directly

Like directly filtering for featured snippet URLs, it can be very useful to pull up a list of the keywords that serve up a featured snippet--because not all keywords do. Such a list will point you to where you have the opportunity to take a competitor’s featured snippet spot.

To see a featured snippet keyword list, you’ll use the Explore by Keyword dashboard, which will be available in a future update, so stay tuned.

And there you have it! Featured snippet competitor analysis with Nozzle. As you can see, Nozzle is a very useful tool for analyzing featured snippets in terms of your competitors. 

New to Nozzle? <a href="https://nozzle.io/trial" target="blank">Try out our tool</a> today!

Featured snippet individual keyword SERP HTML

Learn how to analyze the domains, URLs, webpages, and keywords of your competitors' featured snippets with Nozzle. 

Analyzing the domains, URLs, webpages, and keywords of your competitors' featured snippets

Featured Snippet Competitor Analysis with Nozzle

Featured Snippet Competitor Analysis -- Analyze Featured Snippet Domains, URLs, and Keywords

Google Search Console performance overview

Like most free tools, Google Search Console is limited. A paid rank tracking tool is often what you need to take your SEO to the next level.

Do you really need a rank tracker? Read on to find out

Do I Need a Rank Tracker?

Do I Need a Rank Tracker? | Rank Tracker vs. Google Search Console

![New SEO Jokes and Marketing Jokes 2020 Edition](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/62uv1Xc0UKLKK5jXnmFvdp/57750ebffdfed998ad13895c49484c4b/SEO_Jokes_2020_Edition.JPG)

SEO can be stressful at times and <a href="http://workplacementalhealth.org/Mental-Health-Topics/Workplace-Stress" target="blank">stress is bad for your health</a> so let's all sit back and relax and live longer by reading the following SEO jokes.

All of these SEO jokes are brand new and original as of this year, 2020, and created by the author unless otherwise noted. 

__Skip to an SEO joke__

<a href="#Jesus">1. What did Jesus say to the SEOs?</a>
<a href="#Surgeon_General">2. The surgeon general told some SEOs...</a>
<a href="#Hyper_Links">3. What did Googlebot tell all the hyper links?</a>
<a href="#Lawsuit">4. Why did the search engine receive a lawsuit?</a>
<a href="#Canonical_Tag">5. SEOs prefer canonical tag...</a>
<a href="#Overlooking_Field">6. What do you call an SEO sitting up in a tree branch overlooking a field full of sheep?</a>
<a href="#Bungee_Jumping">7. What is an SEO's most important question before he bungee jumps for the first time?</a>
<a href="#Hockey">8. Why are black hat SEOs horrible at hockey?</a>
<a href="#General_State_of_Everything">9. The general state of everything and everyone...</a>
<a href="#1-Year-Old">10. What did the 1-year-old SEO teach the 8-month-old?</a>
<a href="#Child_Picking_Nose">11. What did the mom do to the naughty SEO child who kept picking his nose?</a>
<a href="#Profile_Picture_Haircut">12. What do you call getting a haircut to look good for your online profile pictures?</a>
<a href="#Larry_Page_Haircut">13. What is it called when Larry Page or Sergey Brin get a haircut?</a>
<a href="#Time_On_Page">14. SEO: Yes! My time on page is increasing.</a>
<a href="#Universal_Search">15. When Google launched its Universal Search...</a>
<a href="#Awesome_GA-Bot">16. My new GA-bot is awesome!</a>
<a href="#House_Business_Meeting">17. An SEO invited me to a business meeting at his house.</a>
<a href="#Finger_Nails">18. Why did Google cut its finger nails?</a>

<br>

So without further ado, let's hear some SEO jokes!
<a id="Jesus"></a>

##### 1. What did Jesus say to the SEOs?
"Come (do)follow me."
__What did Satan say in response?__ 
"Nofollow Him!"

![Funny SEO jokes and marketing jokes about links](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/oqz7cLAG1A8hm7D50xhIP/616f49f2758a80612cc686e80d39422b/Why_did_the_search_engine_receive_a_lawsuit__Because_it_was_a_creepy_crawler.__2_.png)
<a id="Surgeon_General"></a>

##### 2. The surgeon general told some SEOs...
to stop smoking because there is a link between smoking and cancer. The SEOs replied, "Well... is the link between smoking and cancer followed or nofollowed?"
<a id="Hyper_Links"></a>

##### 3. What did Googlebot tell all the hyper links? 
"Calm down!"

![Googlebot and Hyper link SEO Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2TGTwVqbtcxZuCSg8A5wfc/7a3d7b9bc25a8e317d6a058320d15a9c/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema.__1_.png)

<center><h5>Is your current <a href="https://nozzle.io" target="blank">keyword rank tracker</a> a joke?</h5></center>
<span class="hs-cta-wrapper" id="hs-cta-wrapper-87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b"><span class="hs-cta-node hs-cta-87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b" id="hs-cta-87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b"><a href="https://cta-redirect.hubspot.com/cta/redirect/2030303/87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b"  target="_blank" ><img class="hs-cta-img" id="hs-cta-img-87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b" style="border-width:0px;" src="https://no-cache.hubspot.com/cta/default/2030303/87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b.png"  alt="Check Out Nozzle&#39;s Free Trial!"/></a></span><script charset="utf-8" src="https://js.hscta.net/cta/current.js"></script><script type="text/javascript"> hbspt.cta.load(2030303, '87cce768-4031-4dff-bbfa-43ad5c96d50b', {}); </script></span>
<a id="Lawsuit"></a>

##### 4. Why did the search engine receive a lawsuit? 
Because it was a creepy crawler. 

![ Search Engine and Creepy Crawler SEO Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/1QcMdzMlaF3TdOv0gQSnD9/a1e870b795944a51dcf3fad684a3c765/Why_did_the_search_engine_receive_a_lawsuit__Because_it_was_a_creepy_crawler..png)
<a id="Canonical_Tag"></a>

##### 5. SEOs prefer canonical tag...
over freeze tag or laser tag.
<a id="Overlooking_Field"></a>

##### 6. What do you call an SEO sitting up in a tree branch overlooking a field full of sheep? 
Above the fold.
<a id="Bungee_Jumping"></a>

##### 7. What is an SEO's most important question before he bungee jumps for the first time? 
"Can you please tell me what my bounce rate is?"

![Bungee jumping SEO Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3UAdOxZQe93gLhLMtBqJaX/e2a9bf03584ee9093f963941583e8755/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema.__6_.png)
<a id="Hockey"></a>

##### 8. Why are black hat SEOs horrible at hockey? 
Because they spend a lot of time in the penalty box.

![Black Hat and Hockey SEO Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2clcgTdiIvhEPr9yMHcywa/6e93d9147ae71dfe979e7d4cc1695667/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema.__3_.png)
<a id="General_State_of_Everything"></a>

##### 9. The general state of everything and everyone...
makes me think that "discontent" is king, not "content".

![Funny SEO Joke about Content Making ](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2g24AWn7N1T1OTYgl6nFY/a21e3c71ed2069c2f43f4b28e0f4279e/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema.__4_.png)
<a id="1-Year-Old"></a>

##### 10. What did the 1-year-old SEO teach the 8-month-old?
"Don't waste your crawl budget going for that toy. Just scream until your mom 301 redirects you to it."
<a id="Child_Picking_Nose"></a>

##### 11. What did the mom do to the naughty SEO child who kept picking his nose?
She de-indexed him.

![Funny SEO Child Joke About Being De-Indexed ](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3hJF1O2hB4NnF7qtSs7Go5/38c6131eaf42cef73d539604d9d2b152/Why_did_the_search_engine_receive_a_lawsuit__Because_it_was_a_creepy_crawler.__1_.png)
<a id="Profile_Picture_Haircut"></a>

##### 12. What do you call getting a haircut to look good for your online profile pictures? 
A featured snippet.

![ Featured Snippet and Profile Picture Funny SEO Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/3ed2ruiHFQ1Zsj8CWe5ejY/67b1d6479ace5d695366d11697bb52f5/Why_did_the_search_engine_receive_a_lawsuit__Because_it_was_a_creepy_crawler.__3_.png)
<a id="Larry_Page_Haircut"></a>

##### 13. What is it called when Larry Page or Sergey Brin get a haircut? 
A rich snippet.
<a id="Time_On_Page"></a>

##### 14. SEO: Yes! My time on page is increasing.
Parent: Why are you happy that you are now reading slower?
<a id="Universal_Search"></a>

##### 15. When Google launched its Universal Search... 
many people were excited that we will finally discover alien life.

![Google's Alien life Universal Search SEO Joke or Marketing Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/31Ji6HCbURDqQh2NJlMiZT/d42bde956e32982f610820f850d34d70/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema.__5_.png)
<a id="Awesome_GA-Bot"></a>

##### 16. My new GA-bot is awesome! 
Unfortunately, batteries and keywords are "not included."
<a id="House_Business_Meeting"></a>

##### 17. An SEO invited me to a business meeting at his house. 
It turned out to be a Pyramid Schema.

![Business Meeting Turned Pyramid Schema SEO Joke or Marketing Joke](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/60qSpl03t7HkdkZIjSv9xA/9d41066b181e0c50da5bcecca07f72ae/An_SEO_invited_me_to_a_business_meeting_at_his_house._It_turned_out_to_be_a_Pyramid_Schema..png)
<a id="Finger_Nails"></a>

##### 18. Why did Google cut its finger nails?
Because a lot of websites were complaining about being scraped.

<br>

Hopefully some of these cheesy SEO jokes put a smile on your face. Share your favorites with your friends and team members!

Also, here is some more <a href="https://nozzle.io/blog/seo-humor-from-the-twitterverse">SEO humor</a> from the Twitterverse that you might enjoy.

New SEO Jokes 2020 Edition

I guarantee you'll either chuckle or eye-roll. :)

SEO Jokes (Brand New and Original in 2020)

SEO and Marketing Jokes You've Never Heard Before - SEO Humor One SEO Joke at a Time

In 2018, Google launched 3,234 improvements to Search. That is an average of 8.86 changes a day. Yowza! Google engineers are busy.

For the curious, I've compiled some videos and quotes from Google engineers that explain very well how an update goes from new idea, to approved, to launched.

If you're short on time and just want a quick summary, watch Video 1 below. It's just under 4 minutes.

But for those of you who are SEO geeks like me and have more time, I present to you a few more videos. Below the videos, I have pulled out snippets from the videos and an article from Google, where I attempt to come up with a more in depth flow of the process behind how SERP and algorithm changes get approved at Google.
<br />

__Video 1: *How Google makes improvements to its search algorithm*__
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/J5RZOU6vK4Q" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />

__Video 2: *SMX West 2016 - How Google Works: A Google Ranking Engineer's Story*__
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/iJPu4vHETXw" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />

__Video 3: *The Evolution of Search*__
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/mTBShTwCnD4" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>
<br />

__Video 4: *Search Quality Meeting: Spelling for Long Queries*__
<iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JtRJXnXgE-A" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe>

## Goal
Video 3 at 00:08-00:26 —
> "Our goal is actually to make improvements to Search that just answer the user's information need. Get them to their answer faster and faster. So that there's almost a seamless connection between their thoughts and their information needs and the search results that they find."

## Ideas

Video 1 at 00:34-00:37 —
> "The first step in improving Google Search is coming up with an idea."

Video 1 at 00:43-00:50 —
> "Ranking engineers then come up with a hypothesis about what signal, what data, could we integrate into our algorithm."

Video 2 at 25:30-25:42 —
> "[Google has] a team of a few hundred software engineers. They are focused on [the] metrics and signals. They run lots and lots of experiments and they make a lot of changes." And they come up with a lot of ideas.

## Search Quality Tests

Video 1 at 00:50-00:58 —
> "We test all these reasonable ideas through rigorous scientific testing. The first is with raters."

Rigorous Testing Article —
> "We work with external Search Quality Raters to measure the quality of search results on an ongoing basis. Raters assess how well a website gives people who click on it what they are looking for, and evaluate the quality of results based on the expertise, authoritativeness and trustworthiness of the content."

Video 2 at 16:34-16:56 —
> "We published our human rater guidelines last year (in 2015). There are about 160 pages (168 pages in 2019) of great detail about how we think about what's good for users. If you're wondering why Google is doing something, often the answer is to make it look more like what the rater guidelines say.

&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;[You can find the rater guidelines <a href="https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf" target=blank>here</a>.]

Rigorous Testing Article —
> 595,429 Search quality tests with raters (2018)

## Side-by-Side Experiments

![Panda Comparison Side by Side](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/4G0YAbhna2iBZBTMACSLjG/02518f0e695bf8b85cf4420e0e6b21cb/Panda_Comparison_Side_by_Side.jpg)

Video 1 at 01:01-01:07 —
> "We [show] these raters side-by-side [experiments] for queries that the engineer's experiment might be affecting.

Rigorous Testing Article —
> In a side-by-side experiment, we show Raters two different sets of search results: one with the proposed change already implemented and one without.

Rigorous Testing Article —
> 44,155 Side-by-side experiments (2018)

## Live Traffic Experiments

Video 1 at 01:11-1:25 —
> "We also confirm these changes with live experiments on real users. And we do this in something that's called a Sandbox. We send a very small fraction of actual Google traffic to the Sandbox. We compute lots of different metrics."

Rigorous Testing Article —
> "We enable the feature in question to just a small percentage of people, usually starting at 0.1%."

Video 2 at 12:48-13:26 —
> "We do A/B experiments on real traffic. And then we look for changes in click patterns. And I should just mention that we run a lot of experiments. It is very rare, if you do a search on Google and you're not in at least one experiment. Now not all of these are ranking experiments. [Famously](https://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/01/business/01marissa.html) Google tested the color blue that we use for links and other blue highlighting with 41 different blues and came to the conclusion what was the perfect blue."

Video 2 at 28:36-28:48 —
> "By and large, [Google engineers] try to move results with good human ratings and live experiment ratings up. And move results with bad ratings down."

Rigorous Testing Article —
> 15,096 Live traffic experiments (2018)

## Launch Reports by Quantitative Analysts
Video 2 at 26:31-26:42 —
> "A launch report is written by a quantitative analyst who is basically a statistician and someone who's an expert at analyzing our experiments."

Video 1 at 01:34-01:41 —
> "For each project, it's usually one analyst assigned from the moment that we're talking to the engineers trying to learn about their change.

Video 1 at 01:51-01:58 —
> "Ultimately, the goal of the search eval analyst team is just to provide an informed, data-driven decision and present an unbiased view."

## Launch Reviews

Video 2 at 27:54-28:00 —
> He mentions a video Google created of one of their weekly Search Quality meetings. I'm pretty sure Video 4 above is the one he is referencing.

Video 4 in video description —
> "We hold the meeting almost every Thursday to discuss possible algorithmic improvements and make decisions about what to launch."

Just look how many people are at that meeting. After looking at all the angles, I count at least 37 people crammed into that conference room but I think I'm missing a few more that are behind the cameras angle of vision. That is one expensive meeting!

Video 2 at 27:29-27:41 —
> "We try to debate ... is this good for the users, is this good for the system architecture, are we going to be able to keep improving the system after one of the these changes is made."

Rigorous Testing Article —
> "Of the proposed changes this past year (2018), many never went live, because unless we can show a change actually makes things better for people, we don’t launch it."

## Launch

Video 1 at 2:03-2:10 —
> "If our scientific testing says this is a good idea for Google users, we will launch it on Google."

Video 5 at 0:31-0:48 —
> "We might batch [algorithm changes] up and go to a meeting once a week where we talk about 8 or 10 or 12 or 6 different things that we would want to launch, but then after those get approved ... those will roll out as we can get them into production."

Video 2 at 28:07-28:36 —
> "[Once] approved, getting into production can be an easy thing. Some teams will ship it the same week. Sometimes you have to rewrite your code to actually make it suitable for our production architecture. Making things fast enough, making things clean enough. That can take awhile. I've known it to take months. In the worst case I know about, it took just shy of two years between approval and actually launching."

Rigorous Testing Article —
> 3,234 Launches (2018)

## Issues With The Process and How Google Engineers Fix It

Video 2 at 28:51-32:35 —
This is a great 4 minute segment showing two cases that illustrate where the raters and the metrics weren't cutting it and how the engineers fixed the problem.

Two kinds of problems at the core of everything engineers see:

- Systematically bad ratings
- Metrics don't capture things they care about

Video 2 at 32:28-32:35 —
> "[W]hen the metrics miss something, what ranking engineers need to do is fix the guidelines or develop new metrics."

## Summary

Video 3 at 04:24-04:40 —
> "Our goal is to make it so that the improvement we make is so much what you wanted and fits so cleanly into the flow of what you are looking for that you almost don't notice that it's happened. And looking back at it, it seems obvious that that's the way it should have always been in the first place."

Video 1 at 03:24-03:29 —
> "We've put a huge investment into understanding what works for users."

Video 1 at 03:36-03:41 —
> "I think we get excited when we feel like we've hit on an idea that really helps a lot of users."

As you can see, Google engineers are modern day superheroes. They work very hard to improve Search for all of us. And it's obviously working since Google has been the number one search engine for just under two decades now.

### Appendix A: Videos and Content Quoted
Video 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J5RZOU6vK4Q
Video 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJPu4vHETXw
Video 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mTBShTwCnD4
Video 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtRJXnXgE-A
Video 5: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1_jm_isupFY
Rigorous Testing Article: https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/mission/users/

Other interesting and related articles you'll enjoy:

- [How Often Does Google Update Its Algorithm?](https://moz.com/blog/how-often-does-google-update-its-algorithm)
- [Complex Search-Results Pages Change Search Behavior: The Pinball Pattern](https://www.nngroup.com/articles/pinball-pattern-search-behavior/)


Panda Comparison Side by Side

Google engineers have an important and difficult job. Learn how they work to improve the search algorithm.

How Google Engineers Decide What Changes to Make to the Algorithm

On March 28, 2019, [Kevin Indig](https://twitter.com/Kevin_Indig), VP of SEO & Content at [G2.com](https://www.g2.com/), tweeted a question that sparked some good discussion on how to find the best SEO tools to use.

![How do you choose which SEO tool to use and buy from Kevin Indig's tweet](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/7ocntSw64U4MFmrlZiRJ0g/b6813e89d8256486c9dbc856871ace98/How_do_you_choose_which_SEO_tool_to_use_and_buy_from_Kevin_Indig_s_tweet.JPG)

With 45 replies and dozens of sub replies, we were able to compile a great list from a host of digital marketers and SEOs. 

__These are the sources people said they use to find SEO tools:__
- Peers/Network/Co-workers/Mentors (17 mentions) 
- SEO articles, blog reviews and case studies mentioning SEO Tools (13 mentions)
- Twitter (9 mentions)
- Event/Conference speakers and sponsors (5 mentions)
- Google (4 mentions)
- Webinars, youtube videos (3 mentions)
- [@G2CrowdReviews](https://twitter.com/G2CrowdReviews) (2 mentions)
- [Product Hunt](https://www.producthunt.com/) (2 mentions)
- Linkedin
- [AppSumo](https://appsumo.com/)
- [Detailed.com](https://detailed.com/)
- [Ahrefs blog](https://ahrefs.com/blog/)
- [Backlinko blog](https://backlinko.com/blog)
- [Moz blog](https://moz.com/blog)
- Google trends
- Forums
- [Search Engine Journal](https://www.searchenginejournal.com/)
- Magazine articles
- Reddit
- Github

__And then this is how they determine whether or not to use/buy the tool they find:__

[David Iwanow (@davidiwanow)](https://twitter.com/davidiwanow) suggested the following:
- CS support and post sales service
- Willingness to improve the product and fix issues/bugs (not shrug them off)
- Aggressively adding to and improving the product
- Proactive support

[Alexandra Tachalova (@AlexTachalova)](https://twitter.com/AlexTachalova) looks to the source:
- Try to understand the {SEO Tools} data source. There are a HUGE number of tools simply reselling someone else's data.

[Arnoldo Cabrera (@spanskseo)](https://twitter.com/spanskseo) looks for the following:
- It is scalable multilingual, geographies, data set
- provides api connectivity not only to your data but to your toolbox
- time saving, e.g. reporting time
- it has good support and product managers listen to the user feedback
- enable cross collaboration outside seo team

[Matt Ramage (@ramagetime)](https://twitter.com/ramagetime)
- Cost and ease of use. And of Course the data.

[Hardik Oza (@Ozaemotion)](https://twitter.com/Ozaemotion) lists the following:
- Freshness of data
- Quality of data rather than quantity
- Number of users
- Support

[Kelly Stanze (@KellyStanze)](https://twitter.com/KellyStanze) offers:
- Similar clientele and their happiness
- The tool features itself, and how data for those tools is supplied/supported
- Support - do we get an account team? What’s included?
- Pricing structure (don’t nickel and dime me)
- Innovation

[Seb Adler (@seoseb)](https://twitter.com/seoseb) advises:
- Does it state to be the all-in-one solution → skip it
- Do a trial, test it on a real life project, check against existing workflows. Does it automate workflows oder provide additional insights? If so:
- Does it integrate well in our data warehousing.

[Damien Anderson (@echwa)](https://twitter.com/echwa) suggests you:
- Understand and document needs
- Ask select vendors to demonstrate to needs

[Willow Colios (@willowcolios)](https://twitter.com/willowcolios) puts forward these thoughts:
- Can you align the tool with team processes and workflow?
- Is it usable for those that use it every day/week?
- Is it a good fit for the organisation
- Right spec at the right price?

[Adam J. Humphreys (@Making8)](https://twitter.com/Making8) offers some great insight:
- Features, UX (time savings, compatibly with other platforms, easily exported reports, actionable data summaries), price compared to others (this really matters as some are 2500 a month per client)
- The best way to engage with us is letting influencers in search test it then blog about it on a main journal.
- One can’t really win over our industry without letting us test it out and given our time constraints we often don’t get to use it right away so capping amount of uses vs time is also best."

__Biggest Takeaway:__
Use your network to find tools that they love and would recommend. If at all possible, sign up for a trial run to find out if it can solve your needs and will be compatible with your processes and workflows. 

It may be cool but is it the right fit?
<div style="width:100%;height:0;padding-bottom:90%;position:relative;"><iframe src="https://giphy.com/embed/6klKY9ggNR744" width="100%" height="100%" style="position:absolute" frameBorder="0" class="giphy-embed" allowFullScreen></iframe></div>

Kevin Indig's tweet asking how do you choose which SEO tool to use/buy?

How do you choose which SEO tool to use and buy from Kevin Indig's tweet

Learn how dozens of marketers find SEO tools and decide which ones to use/buy.

Dozens of Marketers Share How They Choose Which SEO Tool to Use and Buy

A coworker stumbled upon a tweet yesterday from [@BrittanyZerr](https://twitter.com/BrittanyZerr) which showed a funny featured snippet mistake that the great Google machine made.

![Brittany Zerr Tweet Image of Featured Snippet Gone Wrong](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/6VEnaQ54z7a4keKYC8XfTJ/9631d42512feed28e4a06a6fe4fe1f97/Brittany_Zerr_Tweet_Image_of_Featured_Snippet_Gone_Wrong.JPG)

If you search for "How to make the best risotto", you'll see the featured snippet from the image above at the top of the SERPs. But if you head on over to the [bonappetit article](https://www.bonappetit.com/test-kitchen/common-mistakes/article/how-to-make-the-best-risotto-and-avoid-these-8-common-mistakes), you'll see that it's subtitle is, "Here are the 8 most common mistakes people make when cooking the beloved Italian rice dish, so you can avoid them".

As you scroll down you'll see that each numbered item is crossed out as it is something you should avoid if you want to make the best risotto.

![crossed out numbered items as things to avoid-1](//images.ctfassets.net/z8uwv83tofbw/2Mf4JaPOKI6I93bBFCCuBZ/d24eeb23210a4b51e1e254dceeb22843/crossed_out_numbered_items_as_things_to_avoid-1.JPG)

To be fair, it is a useful list of things that can help you make the best risotto if you avoid doing them but the featured snippet doesn't point out that fact which is where the failure lies. Obviously a human being wouldn't feautre a list of things to avoid doing and present them as things to do. Even the great Google machine can make mistakes and isn't quite human--yet. ;)

__What we can learn from this:__

Google likes to display numbered list snippets when the query implies the searcher is looking for a list of steps to accomplish a specific task.

So if you rank for queries that have this intent, make sure to list the tasks to be performed in an html numbered list.

Furthermore, add a bulleted list to any post or article where it makes sense. People love them because they are skimmable and Google loves them too. 

Your numbered or bulleted lists may not become the featured snippet for a query but they absolutely will not if they do not exist. As they say, you miss 100% of the shots you don't take--so take them!




Google featured snippet showing opposite results than what was intended.

Brittany Zerr Tweet Image of Featured Snippet Gone Wrong

Funny featured snippet mistake that Google made that implies the exact opposite of what was intended.

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