‘Googling’ has become second nature – as such search trend data is often used to represent zeitgeist or the mood of the nation. But it’s too often seen as a short-term performance channel rather than a diagnostic tool. Now, ad industry effectiveness heavyweight Les Binet has unveiled 6 years’ worth of research that shows share of search as a valuable measurement tool and an indicator of future share of market. Tim Lawrence, Head of Strategy & Planning at leading global digital marketing agency iCrossing UK will dig into the findings and look at some top tips for ensuring you have a good share of search and how this can enhance your growth.
“Google it.” From the moment Larry Page signed off an email “Have fun and keep googling!” in June 1998 ‘To Google’ became a verb that has ultimately defined the category, it has become so much part of our social lexicon that in 2006 it was added to the Oxford English Dictionary.
Since then, the proliferation of smart devices means that search engines like Google have become an omnipresent connection between us and all the information in the world. ‘Googling’ has become second nature – as such search trend data is often used to represent zeitgeist or the mood of the nation. However, such has been the growth of paid search advertising, the advertising industry has focused on search as a short-term performance channel and under utilised it as a diagnostic tool.
Les Binet research – search as indicator of future market share
Now, that looks set to change. Ad industry effectiveness heavyweight Les Binet has unveiled six years’ worth of research that shows share of search as a valuable measurement tool and an indicator of future share of market. Binet’s research, released with the IPA (Institute of Practitioners in Advertising) and indicates that search trends are a fast, cheap and predictive way to measure both short and long term effects of advertising and brand awareness.
Like the best digital data sources, search trend data is scaled, actual behaviour (i.e. not claimed) and near real time and best of all, free to access. The fact this data is so easy and cheap to access may be part of the reason brands have overlooked using it seriously.
Binet’s work adds credibility to the notion that the searches we make are a window into consumer awareness, providing an indicator of two proven growth drivers for brands; salience and distinctiveness. Understanding volumetric change in brand searches over time in relation to competitors and category can give a gauge of brand salience, whilst monitoring product descriptors such as ‘trusted’ or ‘cheap’, particularly in relation to your marketing, can indicate distinctiveness as well as the impact of communications.
Expertise, Authority and Trust
There are so many different ways to utilise search trend data. From its use in research and insight reports, informing content creation to understanding the impact of Covid-19 through bespoke dashboards. In light of Les Binet’s findings we recommend all brands utilise search data, creating dashboards to track volumes over time both of brand terms within category and understanding changes in associated terms, to assess and inform both brand and marketing performance.
If share of search is such an important metric to monitor, then how can we improve it? The tip is to create content that Google wants and therefore be more visible and discoverable. Google assesses content by something called E-A-T which stands for Expertise, Authority and Trust, a set of guidelines that helps it determine quality content, grading it as either high or low E-A-T, with high being the goal. Here are three few tips for optimising content for E-A-T:
- Show content expertise
- Use customer journey mapping to understand audience intent, evaluate existing content and identify content gaps you could fill, improving the breadth and depth of content on your site
- Write clear, high-quality content with descriptive, relevant titles.
2. Show content authority
- Create content with purpose. Do you want to inspire, inform, or entertain? Spend some time pinpointing the why, who, what (before the where and when) when planning your content.
- Be link-worthy. Really great content should naturally attract links from reputable sources, and this in turn will demonstrate your site’s authority. But there are other ways to become part of the in-crowd on a particular topic, like content partnerships or working with a renowned expert or influencer
3. Show content trustworthiness
- Involve an expert author. Expert authors are vital for Google, an easy solution is to find a subject matter expert in your company to interview.
- Add author tags and bios: spell out the author’s qualifications and the input they’ve had in the content.
- Own your knowledge panel. That’s the information box that appears on Google when you search for something. This makes it easier for users and Google to recognise you as a reputable source of information.
Update your content to keep it current and relevant. We recommend creating a content catalogue with planned refresh dates, making updates part of your business as usual programme. And remember to alter the live date whenever you refresh pages so the reader knows the information is current. By focusing in on E.A.T you have the best framework for improving your share of search and boosting your future share of the market.
By Tim Lawrence
Head of Strategy & Planning
iCrossing UK