Generative Engine Optimization (GEO): A Marketing Primer

The new era of search is here. Artificial intelligence is unlocking new ways for people to find information and solve problems, with greater speed and confidence than ever before. AI-powered engines and platforms are fundamentally changing the nature of online search as we know it. 

It’s an exciting time. These emerging AI tools can do some really cool things. But for business leaders, it can also feel like a scary time, with your brand’s visibility and engagement at risk. 

Understanding generative engine optimization and the unique (but not radically different) principles it entails will be very helpful in charting your marketing strategy’s future. 

The good news is that if you’ve been developing a forward-thinking SEO strategy, you’re already on the right track, and if not, you aren’t yet too far behind.

What is generative engine optimization (GEO)?

Generative engine optimization (GEO) refers to the practice of optimizing content specifically for AI-driven search engines and features, such as ChatGPT, Google AI Overviews, Perplexity AI, Copilot, Gemini, Llama, and more. This involves tailoring your content to show up in AI-generated summaries and results, by incorporating the qualities these search tools prioritize. 

Generative engine optimization vs. search engine optimization

They have many overlapping elements, but GEO and SEO are distinct. While SEO largely focuses on traditional web optimization techniques like link-building, keyword placement and site structure, GEO is more narrowly concerned with the substance, makeup and credibility of the content itself.

In essence, GEO is about making your brand’s content stand out to intelligent technologies from a saturated information environment. Luckily, this is what modernized SEO strategies are already striving to do. 

Benefits of generative engine optimization

The rise of generative search and GEO best practices can have very positive implications for brands. Here are a few worth mentioning:

Customers have new ways to find your brand. As more and more people start using these AI-powered tools and platforms, you have more pathways to impressions and engagement beyond traditional search engines. 

Showing up in AI search makes a strong impression. At TopRank, we often remark that showing up near the top of a search for a target keyword is doubly beneficial: not only are you more likely to earn clicks, but you send a compelling signal to searchers, who recognize that Google heavily weighs credibility and authority of a source as SEO ranking factors. This can be even more true for generative AI engines, which scrutinize the distinct value of cited content as they synthesize and summarize.

Competitors are still catching up. Many companies still don’t have GEO in their marketing lexicon unless they’re talking about geographical regions. Optimizing for generative search as an extension of your SEO helps you stay ahead of the playing field.

GEO rewards audience-centered SEO strategies. If you’ve already been letting customer-centric elements like intent, usefulness, relevance and originality guide your SEO approach, your brand will be well positioned for the age of GEO. 

With that in mind, let’s explore some GEO best practices, which are still taking shape but well informed by early data and research.

How to optimize content for generative engines

“Companies will need to focus on producing unique content that is useful to customers and prospective customers. Content should continue to demonstrate search quality-rater elements such as expertise, experience, authoritativeness and trustworthiness.” – Alan Antin, Vice President Analyst at Gartner (Source)

Optimizing content for AI means optimizing for humans first and foremost. At a high level, these are some of the qualities to prioritize in your brand’s content if you want to gain visibility with generative search engines:

• Comprehensiveness: AI-driven engines prioritize detailed, well-rounded content that thoroughly addresses the user’s query. Traditional SEO fixtures like structuring content with clear headings and questions, using schema markup, and including diverse forms of media will help your cause.
• Credibility and Relevance: Since AI engines favor content from trustworthy and relevant sources, it’s essential to build credibility through linking to reputable sources, regularly updating content, and strengthening your online reputation.
• User Intent Alignment: Tailor content to align with user intent by analyzing common search queries and SERP features. This might involve creating various forms of content, such as guides or FAQs, that address different aspects of a topic.
• Structure and Accessibility: While traditional SEO techniques like using meta tags and optimizing for mobile devices remain key, GEO also requires adapting content for newer technologies like voice search, and structuring content in formats friendly to natural language processing models.

You might ask, how can I bring these qualities forward in practical ways? Here are a few specific tips and techniques for GEO success:

Include verifiable statistics, quotes and citations.

A lack of reliable accuracy has been one of the biggest objections raised around AI-driven search tools. Accordingly, there’s a major emphasis on countering this perception. Generative engines want information that sends signals of trust, so the addition of substantiating elements like expert quotes and data-backed insights is powerful.

A research paper found that relevant statistics, quotations and citations can boost content visibility in generative engines by up to 40 percent.

Focus on E-E-A-T principles in your content.

I know, I know: another acronym? But believe us, with respect to GEO, adhering to the principles of E-E-A-T (expertise, experience, authority, trust) is VVI. (Very, very important.)

As Kody Van Sistine shares at Search Engine Land, “The more you sound like a trustworthy, authoritative, experienced expert in your content, the more humans and AI want to read, remember and rank your pieces.”

Fortify your brand’s online presence.

Optimize content for AI and generative engines is about more than the piece of content itself. It’s about the context surrounding it: the author, the domain, the brand itself. If your company has an untrusted reputation, or no real online reputation at all, you’ll find it difficult to gain traction with these engines.

“SEO professionals and businesses should invest in brand-building initiatives, collaborate with influencers, provide exceptional customer experiences, and consistently deliver valuable content,” recommends SEO expert Andrew Chadwick. “A strong brand can help mitigate the impact of algorithm changes and promote sustained visibility and growth.”

Stay adaptive with your strategy.

Generative engines and AI-driven search are still in their early days. This is an area that promises to evolve constantly in the months and years ahead. Keeping track of what’s happening, what’s changing, and what matters most requires a significant level of energy and experience.

At TopRank Marketing, keeping a close eye on the evolution of SEO and AI search trends is what we do, because the success of our client programs depends on it. Check out our SEO services to see how we can help you future-proof your strategy.

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A Complete Guide to Using Original Research to Elevate B2B Content Marketing

Let me know if this sounds familiar: You’re drafting a masterful thought leadership piece and want to back up your thesis with a strong data point. After a bit of searching, you find the perfect one! But when you click through to the source, it takes you to one of those “Billionty Best Statistics For Marketers” lists.

Okay, so you find the stat again, click through, and it takes you to… an older stat round-up list.

Many (many…) frustrating clicks later, you find you’re back in 2012. Maroon 5 is topping the charts, London’s hosting the summer Olympics, and the stat you’ve been chasing is no longer relevant. 

If you’ve ever found yourself at the bottom of the dreaded stat source rabbit hole wishing you just had reliable data – do I have a solution for you!

Original research. At TopRank Marketing, we’ve partnered with several big brands on ambitious original research reports that have driven amazing results for lead gen and brand awareness. We’ve got tips to share from our experience.

Your guide to B2B original research

Publishing your own marketing research reports, on the surface, may appear daunting — they take budget, time, and certain skills to do well. That’s why we’ve broken down the benefits and best practices of conducting B2B original research.

B2B original research influences your bottom line

Here are a few high-quality data points that drive home the value of publishing your own marketing research: 

• 84% of deals are already won or lost before vendors even know they’re on the radar.
• Research reports are a sought-after form of content. 55% of B2B buyers regularly consume research reports, and rate them as the most valuable type of content when evaluating purchasing decisions.
• High-quality research and data are the top factors that motivate B2B buyers to express interest in a sales conversation.

In short: Your buyers are looking for your company to be the voice of authority and to offer insights that make their jobs easier, ahead of ever contacting your sales team. 

“Early-stage positioning can reduce the number of vendors that buyers consider before they arrive at the 70% Constant… and affect which vendors are top-of-mind when it’s time to engage sellers.” – The 2023 B2B Buyer Experience Report, 6sense 

Brand benefits of B2B original research

From strengthening thought leadership to giving your customers information they’re hungry for, publishing your own research data has a number of benefits: 

Becoming the  primary source

Being the source of a data point or unique research positions your brand as the authoritative origin of valuable information. Your company owns the insights and findings, allowing you to control the narrative and provide exclusive content to your audience.

Positioning your brand as an industry leader

The most powerful way to build your brand’s reputation is to publish data-backed thought leadership that aligns with your company’s vision and meets the needs of your customers and stakeholders. B2B original research helps your company present fresh, data-driven insights, and establishes your business as a go-to authority on new trends and issues within your sector. 

Cementing trust and credibility

By publishing the most sought-after data-backed insights under your logo, you gain the twin advantages of differentiation and credibility. Data-backed content builds trust with your audience by providing factual, relevant information that helps readers determine their own path forward. B2B buyers are often decision-makers looking for reliable information to guide their business strategies and purchases, and research-based content offers the credibility they seek.

Amplifying your brand 

When you publish high-quality information, other B2B thought leaders and media outlets take notice. As the primary source of original research, your company becomes a go-to expert. Any publication that cites your work, every podcast that discusses your findings, and each webinar that invites your brand thought leaders on to share their insights amplifies your brand that much further. 

Types of original research

The type of research you publish depends largely on your end-game: do you want the research to generate leads? Are you after greater brand awareness? Is this a marketing research report you want to publish on a regular cadence?

These are a few types of reports to consider adding to your marketing strategy:

Yearly benchmarks

These are annual studies that track key metrics or industry trends over time. They are useful for showing how specific areas evolve year after year. 

Example: LinkedIn 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark

One-off research

Research focused on a single topic, often related to emerging trends, industry disruptions, or niche subjects. These are useful for addressing specific questions or timely issues.

Example: Sprinklr and LinkedIn: Proving the Power of Brand*

Customer Insights and preferences

Studies that survey your customers or broader market to understand buyer behaviors, needs, or preferences. This data helps craft solutions that better address customer pain points.

Example: Global B2B Buyer Report, BigCommerce 

Trend reports

Regular publications that analyze and predict key market trends in the B2B space. This helps your audience stay ahead of the curve with industry developments.

Example: TopRank 2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report: Elevate & Ignite*

Reporting on disruptive trends

Research that measures how companies are reacting to major industry shifts, economic changes, or technological advances like AI positions your brand as responsive and in tune with industry needs.

Example: HubSpot: The Intersection of Marketing, Data and AI*

* TopRank Marketing partnered on or led these original research projects.

Repurposing marketing research reports: The content gift that keeps on giving

The dollars you invest in original research can be stretched far and wide as that research is repurposed into blog posts, infographics, white papers, webinars, video series, and so on … all unlocking different ways to reach and provide value for your audience.

Blog posts: In what we like to refer to as a “turkey slice,” you can break down key findings into a series of blog posts, each focusing on a different aspect of the research. 

Infographics: Visualize data and insights from the report into easily digestible infographics.

Social media posts: Share individual stats, charts, or quotes across LinkedIn, X/Twitter, or other social media platforms, driving engagement.

Whitepapers: Combine the research with related content to create a detailed whitepaper or guide for your audience.

Ebooks: Expand on the research findings by providing additional context or case studies, turning the data into an in-depth ebook.

Webinars: Host a webinar discussing the report’s insights, with key speakers diving deep into the findings.

Case studies: Use the data to support a case study highlighting how a company benefited from the trends or insights revealed in your research.

Podcasts: Create a podcast episode discussing the findings, either with internal experts or guest industry professionals.

Presentations: Develop a presentation or slide deck to share at industry conferences or with prospects.

Video series: Create short videos discussing the top takeaways, explaining how the insights apply to your audience’s challenges.

Newsletters: Feature snippets from the marketing research report in a company newsletter or as part of an email marketing campaign.

Best practices for B2B original research

Our team has a great deal of collective experience putting together high-quality reports based on original research. Here are the best practices we’ve developed along the way.

#1. Establish your research goals: Understand what insights you want to uncover, how they align with your company’s strategic goals, and how they serve your audience’s needs.

#2. Target the right audience: Ensure your research is aimed at your core audience, whether it’s clients, prospects, or key industry players.

#3. Ask neutral, focused questions: Design survey or interview questions that are free of bias. If the results of your surveys and interviews don’t support your original hypothesis, remember: that data still holds insights, and may be even more newsworthy!

#4. Don’t be afraid to outsource the research: For your data to be high-quality and accurate, you may want to work with a third-party research organization. They have the connections and expertise to ensure the quality of your questions, rapidly deploy your survey, and help you make sense of the responses.

#5. Validate and cross-check data: I once stumbled upon a data point that had been published far and wide, long after the original publisher pulled their report due to inaccuracy. Cross-checking data strengthens its credibility and prevents misleading conclusions.

#6. Use a blend of quantitative and qualitative data: While quantitative (hard numbers) data can provide a broad overview, qualitative (observable but not measurable) data offers deeper insights. Use both forms of data to give your report more dimension and support a compelling narrative.

Source: 2024 B2B Marketing Benchmark

#7. Get other industry experts involved: Data from a single voice is interesting, but a consensus of thought leaders backing up that data? That’s compelling! Partnerships can be accomplished through co-branded research, or by including quotes and feedback from experts.

Source: 2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report: Elevate & Ignite

#8. Give your audience actionable takeaways: Data is great, but useful insights are what drive impact and motivate organic sharing. Highlight key findings and suggest practical applications that can help your audience use the insights to inform their strategies.

Source: The Intersection of Marketing, Data and AI

#9. Prioritize the report design: Design can make or break your report’s readability. Make your research accessible and easy to digest by using a combination of visuals (infographics, charts) and detailed insights to present your findings.

Source: Proving the Power of Brand

#10. Promote, promote, promote: Publishing a research report should never be a one-and-done campaign. Make sure you continue to leverage your research findings by promoting the report across various channels and through different content formats to reach a broader audience and maximize the impact of your research.

Source

Our friends at Content Marketing Institute have also drafted an excellent self-assessment for marketers who are considering diving into original research: Don’t Start an Original Research Project Before Answering These 8 Questions.

Learn to stop worrying and love B2B original research

Publishing a marketing research report is an excellent way for your company to share the next Big Idea with your industry. At TopRank, we’ve helped companies bring their research to life, as well as published our own proprietary insights.

Some highlights from this last year of report drafting include:

• The TopRank 2023 B2B Influencer Marketing Report: Elevate & Ignite
• Sprinklr and LinkedIn’s Proving the Power of Brand
• HubSpot’s The Intersection of Marketing, Data and AI

Interested in learning more about how we can help you develop a marketing report based on original research? Contact us. 

The post A Complete Guide to Using Original Research to Elevate B2B Content Marketing appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

SEO in 2025: Adapting to Google’s New Reality

In the latter half of 2023 and throughout 2024, the SEO landscape has been thrown into upheaval. Monumental updates and changes have left many small- and mid-size websites reeling, especially in niches where they once outperformed larger competitors.

The reality is, SEO results almost never happen in a vacuum. Every action you take on your site is influenced by a web of concurrent developments — algorithm updates, SERP feature shifts, and more. This makes it difficult to isolate variables and pinpoint what’s really driving disruptions in your performance.

Understanding what’s currently happening in the world of SEO is more vital than ever for informing your strategy as you plan for what’s ahead in 2025.

A timeline of SEO turbulence: Late 2023 into 2024

The last six months of 2023 saw relentless volatility in the SERPs, with one major algorithm update after another.

• August 2023 Core Update: This marked the beginning of a turbulent period, shaking up rankings across the board.
• September Helpful Content Update (HCU): Previously separate from core updates, this iteration has left many sites struggling to recover.
• October and November Core Updates: These continued the trend of volatility, with significant impacts on rankings and traffic.
• Google’s Deal with Reddit: In February of 2024, Google licensed Reddit’s content to train its AI models. At the same time, Reddit’s presence in the SERPs exploded, sparking debate about its usefulness and safety for users. While Reddit’s AI overview appearances are dwindling, its influence on search visibility remains significant.
• March 2024 Core Update: This 45-day-long update aimed to reduce unhelpful content by 40%, with harsh penalties for offenders. Sites were deindexed within days, making this one of the most impactful updates in recent memory.
• August 2024 Core Update: With this update, Google acknowledged that many smaller sites saw major losses during the HCU, aiming to connect people with “a range of high quality sites, including small or independent sites that are creating useful, original content, when relevant to users’ searches.” Early results show some signs of recovery for those sites.

Adding to the complexity, Google replaced the First Input Delay (FID) with Interaction to Next Paint (INP) as a Core Web Vitals (CWV) metric. While not a primary ranking factor, INP and CWV could act as tie-breakers among top-ranking pages — a crucial detail given the fierce competition on the SERP today.

The rise of AI Overviews and the impact on organic search

In May of 2024, during Google I/O, Google launched its AI Overviews (AIO), formerly known as the Search Generative Experience (SGE) following a period of beta testing. Despite the initial excitement, AIO quickly came under fire for generating hallucinated answers. 

Although its visibility has decreased, AIO still significantly impacts the SERP, pushing organic results down by an average of 900 pixels. This shift affects the click-through rates of even top-ranking pages.

It’s possible to have your content cited in AIO, which is theoretically prime placement. However, trying to tell where your site is appearing in these overviews is extremely hard (a “maddening adventure,” as Search Engine Roundtable puts it). Google Search Console currently lumps those clicks and impressions into overall data.

Learn more on our blog: Age of SGE: How Will AI Affect Search Traffic in the Next Decade?

The resulting outcome: More zero-click searches

As these changes unfold, we’re seeing a rise in zero-click searches — instances where users either get the information they need directly from the SERP without clicking through to any site, or create a new search because the initial results didn’t satisfy them. For the former case, this trend ties closely to Google’s apparent goal of keeping users within its ecosystem for longer, thereby increasing ad revenue. Features like AIO contribute to this, as they deliver information-rich content that satisfies user queries without the need for external clicks.

This change has profound implications for organic search. The traditional click-through rate curve may start to change shape, with even top-ranking positions losing their prime status as SERP features push them further down the page. Higher competition and the evolution of search behavior mean that being number one might not be as valuable as it once was.

Sounds scary, I know. But rest assured, there are steps you can take to confidently navigate these challenging times in SEO.

How to respond: Re-establishing your SEO strategy in 2025

Given the current landscape, it’s important to re-establish your baselines and goals. Don’t hyperfocus on year-over-year losses, especially if your site has been hit by updates like the September Helpful Content Update. In some cases, recovery might not be the right goal — stability could be the new success.

Here’s what you can do to adapt:

• Prioritize Quality Traffic: Not all traffic is created equal. Focus on creating content designed to convert, following Google’s guidelines for helpful content as well as the Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines. Write for humans, not search engines!
• Solidify Your Technical Foundation: Crawlability is key — Google needs to access your content easily. Core Web Vitals may not be everything, but as mentioned, they can break a tie when all else is equal. Audit your site’s technical state and incorporate elements like schema markup to help search engines quickly understand your content.
• Emphasize Content Freshness: Google now considers multiple dates when crawling your content — byline date, syntactic date, and semantic date. Consistency across these signals is key. Avoid URL dates if possible, as they’re harder to update.
• Bolster E-E-A-T: Expertise, Experience, Authority, and Trustworthiness should be the pillars of your content strategy. Author bylines, bios and expert quotes will help build credibility, while structured data helps communicate your industry niche and relationships to other organizations.
• Optimize for Conversion: With organic traffic potentially dropping, optimizing for conversion becomes critical. Understand your user funnel and tailor CTAs to guide users further down the path. This way, any losses in traffic will have less impact on your bottom line.
• Prioritize Your Efforts: When planning your action items, use a chart to outline resource intensity and estimated impact. This will help you prioritize tasks wisely.

Staying agile in an ever-changing world of SEO

SEO is inherently dynamic, but the strategies outlined here are evergreen. As the landscape continues to evolve, staying informed and adaptable is key. Focus on creating high-quality content, maintaining a strong technical foundation, and optimizing for user experience.

Working with an expert partner in all things SEO will help you stay in front of the curve, and your competitors. 

The post SEO in 2025: Adapting to Google’s New Reality appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

Try These 7 B2C Influencer Marketing Tactics for B2B Success

Despite their differences, business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) influencer marketing share several key similarities. 

Both audiences seek value, with a strong emphasis on trust, credibility, and social proof. They are actively engaged online and respond well to relevant, high-quality content. Effective influencer marketing strategies for both segments leverage this content to address specific needs and interests, driving engagement and fostering meaningful connections.

This is all to say that the many successful tactics that work for B2C influencer marketers can work for those on the B2B side of things, too. Yes, the goals and audiences may differ but the fundamental principles behind these tactics — building trust, leveraging content, and engaging authentically — are always relevant. By digging into these B2C tactics and adapting them for B2B, we can uncover strategies that get results. Let’s take a look at seven popular B2C methods that can be optimized for B2B influencer marketing.

1. Content co-creation

• B2C: Influencers create content that authentically showcases the brand, often integrating the product into their daily life.
• B2B Adaptation: Co-create content that aligns with both the brand’s marketing goals and the influencer’s expertise and audience.
• The Stat: 40% of brands say creator and/or user-generated content was the most important part of their 2023 social media strategy. (Source: Wall Street Journal) 

“What’s a faster way to connect with a target audience than building thought leadership from scratch? Working with influencers that already have authority and credibility with the target audience you want to reach.” – Lee Odden, Board Advisor, TopRank Marketing

2. Authentic storytelling

• B2C: Influencers share personal stories and experiences with a product to connect emotionally with their audience.
• B2B Adaptation: Humanize your brand by encouraging B2B thought leaders to share their professional journeys, challenges, and how your solution helped solve their specific problems. For best results, ensure the influencers in your selection pool have vast experience with your brand.
• The Stat: Conversions improve by 30% when brand-influencer posts focus on storytelling. (Source: Sprinklr)

3. Product demonstrations and reviews

• B2C: Influencers create captivating short-form videos to show products in action.
• B2B Adaptation: Because of their sometimes intangible traits (think software), showcasing a B2B product, service or solution takes special care. Rely on the influencer to share their POV on the offering, being sure to back it up with their industry expertise, the value proposition, their personal experience, and use cases. 
• The Stat: 96% of B2B companies plan to use video product demos in their content marketing over the next year (Source: RIVIA.AI)

“Influencers showcasing the practical applications of B2B products or providing authentic reviews can significantly influence potential buyers. This type of content aids in decision-making and boosts product credibility.” – Neil Patel, Co-Founder, Neil Patel Digital

4. Event partnerships and live streaming

• B2C: Influencers often attend brand events and live-stream their experience to their followers.
• B2B Adaptation: Partner with influencers to live-stream industry events, conferences, or product launches. These types of activations not only increase your reach but also adds a layer of credibility when an industry expert endorses your brand.
• The Stat: 68% of B2B marketers found that having influencers attend and cover industry events significantly enhances brand visibility and generates quality leads. (Source: Influencer Marketing Hub)

5. Long-term partnerships

• B2C: Consumer-facing influencers form long-term relationships with brands, promoting products over a series of months or even years.
• B2B Adaptation: Turn your B2B influencers into brand ambassadors. Recurring content creation, thought leadership, and event appearances can build sustained credibility and trust over time.
• The Stat: 56% of CMOs interviewed believe that the best way to optimize the use of B2B influencer marketing campaigns is to “build long-term relationships that show true brand advocacy.” (Source: Warmly,)

“Influencer marketing in the B2B space cannot be focused on short-term tactics; it’s about building long-term relationships with key opinion leaders. These relationships can lead to ongoing collaborations, where influencers become advocates for your company.” – Rafael Schwarz, CRO, TERRITORY Influence

6. Leveraging niche platforms

• B2C: Influencers often engage with audiences on niche platforms like TikTok or Instagram, depending on where their audience is most active.
• B2B Adaptation: Identify and engage with influencers on niche platforms relevant to your industry, like TikTok, Instagram, Reddit, newsletters, and even Threads. These platforms might have smaller but more engaged and relevant audiences for B2B brands, allowing for more targeted influencer campaigns.
• The Stat: Instagram is the top platform for influencer marketing, with 80.8% of marketers planning to use it in 2024. (Source: Sprout)

7. Influencer-driven content series

• B2C: Creators develop multi-part series to keep their audience engaged and the brand on their radar. 
• B2B Adaptation: Partner with influencers to develop a content series that explores different aspects of a relevant industry topic. Examples include blog posts, videos, or webinars that allow the influencer to provide insights on complex subjects over an extended period of time.
• The Stat: B2B buyers engage with 3-7 pieces of content before talking to a sales rep. (Source: Kurve)

“As brands, we need to stop building pay-per-post influencer campaigns.” – Justin Levy, Head of Social Media, Influencer Marketing and Community, ZoomInfo

Are you ready to unlock the potential of B2C strategies for your B2B organization? Our team of award-winning influencer marketing experts is here to help you every step of the way, from strategy development to execution. Contact us today.

The post Try These 7 B2C Influencer Marketing Tactics for B2B Success appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

Content Localization Tips From the Experts

Content localization can be a time-consuming, research-intensive process, which is probably why it’s often overlooked — even by big brands that otherwise have highly robust and effective SEO strategies in place. But that’s also what could make it such a key differentiator for you.

When you take the time to accurately localize your content, your brand won’t just feel like another option for your audiences. Instead, you’ll feel like a brand that actually understands them and takes the time to speak to them on their own terms (literally). You’ll stand out from your competition, form more authentic relationships with your audience, and drive more qualified traffic to your web pages. All it takes is a little extra work on the front end.

If you’re wondering whether it’s worth localizing your content for different regions, that’s already a pretty good sign the answer is yes. 

What is content localization?

Content localization is the process of creating or editing content for a specific region. Though localization is related to — and frequently conflated with — content translation, the two are separate undertakings that require separate expertise.

Where translation is about converting the text of one piece of content from one language to another, localization can be thought of as converting the meaning of a text. Localizers are in charge of rewriting text to ensure its message makes sense to and resonates with the localized audience they are attempting to communicate with.

Compared to translation, content localization is much broader in focus. It could involve any number of alterations to content, including changes to:

• Spelling, such as changing American English to British English (for example, changing the spelling of “color” to “colour”).
• Measurements, such as switching from the imperial measurement system to the metric system (for example, changing feet to meters).
• Time and date formatting, such as changing the MM/DD/YYYY format used in the US to the DD/MM/YYYY format used in most of Europe.
• Idioms and phrases, which may rely on cultural knowledge that makes them difficult to translate to other cultures, requiring a replacement or analog instead.
• Hyperlinks, including any links to other webpages or websites you include in the content. You don’t want to localize one page only to send your visitors to an un-localized, irrelevant webpage when they want to learn more.
• Images and other media are often overlooked by localizers, but swapping out images and videos with media that’s more relevant to a local audience is a great way to make a page feel more targeted.
• Emojis, which can have different connotations in different cultures and regions. For example, the smiley face emoji actually symbolizes contempt or distrust in China.
• Keywords are also highly affected by localization. Using localized keywords is an opportunity to rank highly in the locales you’re targeting, significantly boosting your visibility to the right audience. Keyword localization is an important part of international SEO.

Depending on the nature of the content itself, even more substantial changes may be necessary. For instance, if you’re writing about celebrations or cultural events that aren’t observed in every region you’re targeting, then it won’t make much sense to publish that content in those regions. Instead, your content team should consider creating an alternate piece of content for those regions — or scrapping the idea entirely in favor of something with broader appeal.

Content localization best practices

No matter your audience, your content, or the region you’re localizing to target, you should always take the time to follow each of these best practices.

Get to know your regions first

The earlier you start your localization process, the more effective it will be. If possible, make thoughtful localization a part of your content and SEO market entry strategizing. As you develop audience personas, take note of where these audiences are located, and gather insights such as the following:

• Languages spoken in the regions
• Formatting styles used in the region (for date, time, measurements, spelling, etc.)
• Average demographics in the region (including age, education, income level, etc.)
• How people within this region typically find and interact with content online
• Major competitors in the region and how they approach content creation
• Audiences most likely to be interested in your product 
• Major holidays celebrated in the region
• Unique cultural factors to be aware of within the region
• Specific words, phrases, and subject matter to avoid 
• Anything else your content creators should know about the region

The later you implement your localization strategy, the more content you’ll have to retroactively localize, which can be a time-consuming and resource-intensive process. If you already have a great deal of existing content you’d like localized, it’s worth taking the time to conduct an SEO content audit with your new regions in mind.

Create (and maintain) regional style guides

Once you’ve researched the regions you’re targeting, build out separate style guides for each. These style guides should contain all of the information you found during your research and will serve as a source of truth for your content and SEO specialists.

Consult these style guides frequently and continuously update them as you learn more information about the region in question. If and when you conduct additional customer research, cross-check your learnings with your regional style guides and update them accordingly. If you maintain them properly, your style guides should continue to become more accurate and useful the longer you have them — just like your personas.

Don’t think of your regions as “primary” and “secondary”

Chances are, you probably do most of your business in one or two major regions. It’s tempting to think of these regions as your “primary” regions and narrowly focus on them. But by deprioritizing “secondary” regions, you risk stifling their potential for growth.

Take the time to consider all of these regions a primary source of traffic and potential revenue, and create content for them accordingly. Doing any less will only serve to alienate your “secondary” regions — which is exactly what localization aims to avoid.

Measure success for continuous optimization

Track all the localization changes you make to content closely so you can measure their success. Detailed, regionally segmented reporting will help you understand the specifics of progress and opportunities. 

Keeping a close eye on how your localization efforts affect your success within target regions can inform your ongoing content approach. Include learnings in your regional style guides to build out more informed and impactful localization strategies for each of your regions over time.

Ask for local guidance

There’s nothing more valuable than local insight for any stage of your content localization. If you’re just starting out, ask locals to review your research and style guide and add anything they can come up with. Have these locals review any localization edits you make to your content on an ongoing basis to ensure a higher level of authenticity and effectiveness.

You’ll find that your brand gets out of content localization what you put into it. If you take the time and invest the resources to accurately and thoughtfully localize your web content per target region, you’ll see just how valuable localization can be.

Want to learn more about advanced content strategies that can help your brand get ahead? Check out our full content marketing hub.

The post Content Localization Tips From the Experts appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

How Strong SEO Strategies Will Boost Your Lead conversion

Whether you work at an agency or you’re managing a marketing budget in-house, you’ve probably had the classic debate before: do you focus on organic lead cultivation through SEO or try to generate as many leads as possible with aggressive tactics right now? 

I won’t pretend to be impartial: When you have the choice, favoring SEO is almost always the better investment. This isn’t an unfounded hunch, either: in our client programs here at TopRank Marketing, organic traffic consistently converts at a higher rate than overall traffic across a range of conversion types. 

Marketers tend to argue that SEO is important because it’s essential for “long term” growth. The time’s come to reframe that argument: SEO is essential because it unlocks the true potential of a brand’s lead conversion. 

Here are the big ways SEO unlocks that potential, with real-world examples from TopRank’s case studies.

Brand awareness generates more leads than demand generation over time

When the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) noticed that brand marketing was “losing the budget war” to lead generation a number of years ago, they conducted a large scale study to find out why. 

At first, this study confirmed the conventional wisdom that led to marketers emphasizing lead gen over brand marketing in their budgets. Direct response efforts yield much faster results that translate to a quick spike in leads. Marketers can point to these short-term results as a measurable win. 

As they looked at the results, however, the IPA noticed something else: brand marketing driven by SEO took longer to ramp up than lead gen, but while these lead gen tactics fizzled out quickly, the brand marketing’s effectiveness kept rising.

Ultimately, the IPA study showed that SEO-based brand marketing initiatives reliably generated more leads for the same share of budget than their direct response counterparts. On average, your money goes further when you use it on brand marketing than when you spend on lead gen.

This conclusion led the IPA to formulate the famous “60-40” rule, which states that the optimal balance of brand and demand is 60% branding and 40% direct response. Your lead gen efforts guide your customers through your sales funnel to conversion, but your SEO brand marketing is what brings them into that funnel in the first place. 

As this study proves, when you emphasize brand marketing, you simply put your brand in front of more leads overall than you would with lead gen alone. And if you want to maximize your lead gen potential, SEO is a clear necessity. 

Intent-driven SEO provides the right kind of visibility for lead gen

Impressive as these numbers may be, the best argument for the importance of SEO has more to do with quality than quantity. In today’s SEO, search volume isn’t the end-all, be-all it once was. When determining which keywords to pursue now, SEO experts carefully consider a combination of search volume, keyword difficulty, and — most importantly — search intent. 

Search intent attempts to understand why a search engine user types in the keyword they’re looking for. Understanding this intent is the best way to provide best answer content to these users. As search engines become more intelligent, intent is increasingly the best way to rank highly in Search Engine Result Pages. But understanding and capturing search intent is also one of the most important things you can do to generate leads. 

Your ideal leads have specific intent whenever they use a search engine. If you can understand this intent and provide users with the information they’re looking for, the quality of traffic to your site will rise. The people who find you via organic search will be looking for what you have to offer. Through your best-answer content, get to know your brand, start to associate you with your area of expertise, and then look to you for help if and when they become leads. 

The right intent-focused SEO doesn’t just raise your brand visibility; it brings you the right visibility to generate leads. And, as the IPA proved, it continues to do so effectively over time.

An example of how this works: one of TopRank’s clients, a public accounting firm, came to us for help raising their brand visibility. Instead of focusing on general visibility, we developed a highly-focused SEO strategy to zero in on the relatively low-volume but high intent keywords the firm’s highly-educated, relatively technical audience would be looking for. 

This strategy helped the client rank for over 55 new keywords in SERP positions 1-3 and earn a 96% year-over-year gain in new keywords in top search positions. Even more crucially, however, the keywords we were able to rank for drive the right kind of audience to the firm’s site permanently. The client has become visible to the right people for the right reasons, and the leads follow.

Strong SEO can multiply the effect of all other lead gen initiatives

As the examples above show, SEO strategies aren’t just for raising brand awareness. Instead, it’s more accurate to think of them as the central hub of any digital marketing strategy. 

After all, everything you do — from your long-term brand raising efforts and content marketing to your SEM lead generation — feeds back to your site. The more effective you can make this hub, the more all your other efforts will benefit as a result.

When a luxury home décor retailer approached TopRank Marketing, they were looking for a way to stand out against much larger national brands and e-commerce juggernauts in their competitive category. To do that, they would need to carefully manage a long, multi-touchpoint customer journey.

To help them achieve their goal, TopRank incorporated every tool in our tactical mix into an integrated, multifaceted strategy with SEO at the heart. 

Through competitive auditing and analysis, our SEO experts identified high-intent keywords our client’s audience was searching but their competitors weren’t winning. We pivoted the client’s SEO and content strategies to focus on these opportunities, then used a combination of lead-generating influencer marketing, social media marketing, and video and content affiliate marketing to drive leads back to the newly SEO-optimized pages.

The result of this strategy was a 11.2% month-over-month increase in revenue, driven by +28.6% MoM gains in organic traffic, +30.9% gains in total website sessions, and a +55% return on ad spend. 

By starting with SEO strategy, TopRank was able to provide the backbone that the rest of the initiatives needed. First, organic SEO, focused on intent, captured the attention of the right audience. Then, we retargeted this audience with social media and influencer lead generation advertising. Finally, these ads led the audience back to search engines – and back to the high-intent pages we optimized to give them what they wanted. 

It’s time to stop thinking of SEO and lead conversion as two separate objectives to be pursued in isolation: they are both a part of the same buyer’s journey. If you want your marketing to convert leads as effectively as possible, building a strong SEO strategy should be one of your top priorities.

For more help using SEO to drive the measurable results you need, check out our Top SEO Strategies for Lead Generation.

The post How Strong SEO Strategies Will Boost Your Lead conversion appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.

Should You Develop a Microsite for SEO? Learn Why and How

If you’re searching for Nike shoes, you might go to Nike.com and browse. But what if you want to know more about Nike as a company? Say you wanted to research their sustainability commitments and practices before you buy your new kicks. In that case, you can visit nike.com/sustainability and find a whole mini-website dedicated to everything Nike and eco-friendly.

Nike’s sustainability hub is a great example of a microsite. It helps a particular audience explore a single topic, with depth and breadth of coverage. It’s easier for people to find the information they’re looking for and explore related topics, too.

Microsites can be a powerful way for B2B brands to reach specific audiences with specific messages. Here’s what you need to know about microsites for SEO.

Developing a microsite SEO strategy

Microsites have a bad reputation in some SEO circles, and it’s true the technique can come off as spammy or convoluted if it’s not done properly. But the right microsite strategy helps everyone:

• Improves the user experience
• Helps people find information easily
• Highlights topics important to your brand
• Helps your audience self-select
• Builds your domain’s authority around a specific area

But let’s start with the basics:

What is a microsite?

A microsite is a small standalone website with a specific focus on a topic, product, campaign, sub-brand or event. They usually have their own subdomain or even a unique url, such as business.att.com or HubSpot’s Website Grader at website.grader.com.

Advantages of microsites for B2B

There are a few key ways that a microsite can improve your site SEO and your customers’ experience:

1. Targeted content. Microsites are highly focused, which helps attract niche audiences and can boost rankings for long-tail keywords.
2. Link building. When microsites are crosslinked with the main website, it helps the SEO of both sites.
3. Enhanced user experience. Microsites encourage users to explore the entire collection of pages, which helps boost time on page, lower bounce rates, and signal to search engines that the content is valuable.
4. Brand authority. Specialized microsites can establish a brand’s authority on a particular topic, with in-depth content that boosts credibility.

Microsites in action: A case study

A TopRank Marketing client has a solution with two distinct audiences: 

1. Individual end users, who might purchase a monthly subscription (B2C)
2. HR leaders, who would purchase a business licenses for their teams (B2B)

It’s easy to see how these two audiences need dramatically different messaging. Trying to reach both with one site was underserving the B2B audience and failing to generate traction.

To better reach the B2B audience, we helped this client develop a microsite focused on the benefits of the solution for teams. We created content aimed at helping this audience, and at  demonstrating the solution’s value.

Ultimately, the microsite helped target the B2B audience more effectively. The site is now ranking in the top 10 for dozens of keywords with B2B-specific intent — a feat that would have been almost impossible without the microsite.

When to create a microsite

Here are a few simple guidelines to help determine whether your audience/message would be best served with a microsite or simply a page on your main site.

1. You’re launching a new product or campaign. If your latest launch has its own messaging, branding, goals or unique audience, it could benefit from a microsite.
2. You’re targeting a new audience. As with the B2C/B2B example, a new audience for your brand could use a clean-slate introduction.
3. You’re testing a new idea or product. Microsites are a good way to soft launch a new service without cluttering the main site.
4. You’re telling a new brand story. As with Nike’s sustainability site, microsites help tell brand stories beyond the products and services you offer.
5. You want to optimize for a subset of keywords. If you have your eye on a juicy collection of long-tail keywords, a microsite can help you rank for them.
6. You have a complex navigation structure on your main site. Convoluted navigation is a bad user experience that can hurt your ranking potential. Microsites are an effective way to get organized.

Developing a microsite SEO strategy

The process for developing a microsite is similar to strategically creating content for your main site, with a few key differences. Follow these steps:

1. Determine your objectives. Set specific goals for the microsite to accomplish.
2. Analyze your audience. Make sure it’s unique enough to warrant a microsite, and explore content and keywords related to this particular audience.
3. Develop your content strategy. Research your keywords as they relate to your audience and refine your topics and subtopics.
4. Create content. Develop your content with an eye toward specificity, depth of coverage and value for the intended audience.
5. Optimize for SEO. Meta descriptions, tags, headers and SCHEMA can all help your content get seen.
6. Publish and promote. Use paid and organic social, influencer activation, and paid search to help launch the site.
7. Measure and optimize. Keep tabs on your site’s performance and adjust as needed.

Microsite challenges to watch out for

As useful as microsites can be, there are a few challenges you’ll need to meet:

1. Keeping the site up to date. It can be challenging to manage multiple microsites. Make sure you have the resources to support what you’re creating.
2. Brand consistency. A microsite should have its own look and feel, but still be recognizable as part of your brand.
3. Duplicate content. It’s important to not cannibalize your main site for microsite traffic. Make sure all microsite content is original and unique.

A microsite with macro impact

When they’re strategically created, deployed and supported, microsites can be a great way to reach a specific audience or promote a new product, service or campaign. 

A microsite makes it easier to target a specific subset of keywords. This helps the site reach a more relevant audience, which helps search engine algorithms see the value of your content. 

Need help building your own microsite SEO strategy? Our SEO team is on the case.

 

The post Should You Develop a Microsite for SEO? Learn Why and How appeared first on TopRank® Marketing.