Rob Bucci, CEO at STAT Search Analytics | @STATrob Google is telling us what our customers are looking for; they’ve spent billions doing the research. All we have to do is pay attention. In this session, Rob will provide a guide for how you can take cues from Google to create better strategies for gaining the attention of your customers at each stage of the purchase funnel.

2. SNOOPING INTO
GOOGLE’S INSIGHTS
How to target the right content to the
right customers at the right time.

3. @STATrob
#MNSearch

4. DO YOU REMEMBER THE NAME OF
THE ACTOR FROM THAT SCIFI
MOVIE WITH THE SHORT OLD GUY
WITH WEIRD EARS?
@STATrob

5. REMEMBER BEFORE GOOGLE?
How did you get the answers you needed?
@STATrob

6. INSTANT GRATIFICATION IS THE
NAME OF THE GAME FOR GOOGLE.
Their goal is to give you the answers you need. Fast.
@STATrob

7. THEY’VE CHANGED THE WORLD.
And they’ve changed human behaviour.
@STATrob

8. [NAME OF BAD GUY
FROM HUDSON HAWK]
Google isn’t good at this query. They totally suck, right?
@STATrob

9. GOOGLE IS A VICTIM OF
THEIR OWN SUCCESS.
They have changed our expectations for information
retrieval and they have to adapt to those changes.
@STATrob

10. GOOGLE IS CHANGING THE RULES.
BUT, THEY ALSO HAVE TO PLAY BY
THE NEW RULES.
@STATrob

11. IT’S LIKE A GIANT DRAWING A
MAP WHILE ITS FOOTSTEPS
ALTER THE LANDSCAPE.
@STATrob

12. SERPS ARE THE FRONTEND TO
GOOGLE’S MULTI-BILLION-DOLLAR
CONSUMER RESEARCH MACHINE.
@STATrob

13. BY PAYING ATTENTION TO THE
SERPS, WE CAN SNOOP ON
GOOGLE’S RESEARCH.
And we can learn what our customers are
looking for when they search for something.
@STATrob

14. LET’S TALK INTENT.
@STATrob

15. CONSUMER SEARCH INTENT.
There are three key stages of search intent
when making consumer searches online.
@STATrob

18. THE INFORMATIONAL STAGE IS
THE START OF THE PATH TO
PURCHASE.
@STATrob

19. LET’S MAKE SMOOTHIES!
INFORMATIONAL STAGE:
• [blenders]
• [smoothie blenders]
• [what is a food processor]
• [difference between blender and juicer]
@STATrob

21. “They are not directly transactional,
and may never result in an exchange of
goods, services, or monies, but they’re
not purely informational either.”
RAND FISHKIN, MOZ
@STATrob

22. LET’S MAKE SMOOTHIES!
COMMERCIAL STAGE:
• [quiet blenders]
• [heavy duty blender review]
• [best blender for smoothies]
• [combined blender and juicer]
@STATrob

24. LET’S MAKE SMOOTHIES!
TRANSACTIONAL STAGE:
• [buy blendtec blender]
• [blendtec professional 800 cost]
• [blendtec blender free shipping]
• [blendtec coupons]
@STATrob

25. AT EACH STAGE OF THE FUNNEL,
THE SEARCHER HAS A
DIFFERENT INTENT.
@STATrob

26. “…demographics don't help us
understand what we really need to
know — what consumers are looking
for in an exact moment or where
they are looking to find it.”
THINK WITH GOOGLE
@STATrob

27. SEARCHER INTENT IS THE
NEW DEMOGRAPHICS.
@STATrob

28. INTENT BEATS IDENTITY.
IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY.
In order to be where the searcher is looking, we need
to understand their intent.
@STATrob

29. THE RESEARCH
@STATrob

30. 14 PRODUCT CATEGORIES,
542 QUERIES:
• Music (40 core queries)
• Computers (42 core queries)
• Sports & outdoors (38 core queries)
• And so on.
@STATrob

31. EXAMPLE KEYWORD MODIFICATIONS
APPLIANCES ELECTRONICS PET SUPPLIES
INFORMATIONAL blender lcd tv cat brush
COMMERCIAL blender reviews best lcd tv compare cat brushes
TRANSACTIONAL buy blender lcd tv free shipping cat brush coupons

32. KEYWORD RESEARCH IS
MORE ART THAN SCIENCE.
Your keyword lists will be more nuanced than ours.
@STATrob

34. SIMPLE SHARE OF VOICE SCORING
WEIGHT SEARCH VOLUME SHARE OF VOICE SCORE
Rank 1 1 x 1000 = 1000
Rank 2 0.9 x 1000 = 900
Rank 3 0.8 x 1000 = 800
… … … …
Rank 10 0.1 x 1000 = 100

35. DON’T FORGET
THE DATA FROM OUR RESEARCH
IS SPECIFIC TO OUR KEYWORD
SET. YOUR RESULTS WILL DIFFER.
@STATrob

36. I’M HERE TO SHOW YOU WHAT’S
POSSIBLE. FOCUS ON THESE
METHODS, RATHER THAN THE DATA.
@STATrob

37. FOR EACH STAGE OF INTENT,
WE MAPPED THE SERP.
@STATrob

38. FEATURED SNIPPETS

39. IMAGES

40. NEWS

41. PLACES

42. PEOPLE ALSO ASK

43. VIDEO

44. SHOPPING

45. QUESTION ONE
HOW CAN WE UNLOCK GOOGLE’S
INSIGHTS INTO WHAT SEARCHERS
ARE LOOKING FOR AT EACH STAGE?
@STATrob

46. QUESTION TWO
WHAT POINTS OF LEVERAGE DO
WE HAVE IN EACH STAGE TO MAKE
SURE WE’RE VISIBLE AND USEFUL?
@STATrob

47. QUESTION THREE
CAN WE REVERSE-ENGINEER THE
WINNING STRATEGIES OF KEY
COMPETITORS AT EACH STAGE?
@STATrob

48. HERE’S A 10,000-FOOT VIEW
OF WHAT WE FOUND.
@STATrob

49. ORGANIC RESULTS RULE.
10%
90%
ORGANIC
ALL OTHERS

50. BE THERE. BE USEFUL. BE QUICK.
The core organic algorithm does an amazing job of
determining which results are most useful to a given
searcher’s intent.
@STATrob

51. BUT SHOPPING BOXES
ARE MAAAAAAJOR.
40%
60%
SHOPPING
NON-SHOPPING

52. THESE ARE OUR
POINTS OF LEVERAGE.
7%
7%
9%
23%
25%
29% IMAGES
VIDEO
ANSWERS
PLACES
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
NEWS

53. INFORMATIONAL
INTENT STAGE.
@STATrob

54. TOPOLOGY OF THE
INFORMATIONAL SERP
5%
5%
8%
18%
21%
42%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

55. SHOPPING RESULTS FOR OUR
KEYWORDS IN THE
INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
42%
@STATrob

56. IMMEDIACY BEATS LOYALTY.
Google knows that some people just want it now.
Fast and cheap.
@STATrob

57. IMAGE RESULTS FOR
OUR KEYWORDS IN THE
INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
21%
@STATrob

58. IMAGES ARE A GREAT UX
FOR UNREFINED QUERIES.
They’re an easy way to find the exact
model, style or colour you’re looking for.
@STATrob

59. The view when a searcher clicks on an image.

60. NEWS RESULTS FOR
OUR KEYWORDS IN THE
INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
18%
@STATrob

61. WHICH RESULT TYPES HAVE
THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SEARCH VOLUME?
0
30,000
60,000
90,000
120,000
SHOPPING IMAGES NEWS VIDEOS P.A.A. ANSWERS PLACES
0
28K33K33K
117K
34K
51K

62. LET’S EVALUATE THE POTENTIAL
OF GOING AFTER NEWS BOXES.
@STATrob

63. 102 MEDIA SITES WITH 128 NEWS RESULTS
Results
0
1
2
3
4
5
DIGITALTRENDS.COM YAHOO.COM BUSINESSWIRE.COM NEWATLAS.COM PCADVISOR.CO.UK
3333
5

64. WHICH MEDIA SITES ARE PUSHING THE MOST
SEARCH VOLUME WITH NEWS RESULTS?
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
500,000
600,000
700,000
CNET.COM ENGADGET.COM FORBES.COM RELAYMEDIA.COM COOLHUNTING.COM
368K368K
673K673K673K

65. NEWS RESULTS SUFFER FROM
AN IRRELEVANCY PROBLEM.
@STATrob

66. [jacket] (search volume: 54,450)

67. [desk] (search volume: 196,800)

68. [best laptop] (search volume: 44,400)

69. TWEETABLE TIP
DON’T GO RUNNING AFTER NEWS
RESULTS JUST BECAUSE THEY
RANK ON HIGH-TRAFFIC SERPS.
@STATrob

70. VIDEO RESULTS FOR
OUR KEYWORDS IN THE
INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
8%
@STATrob

71. Video pack/carousel

72. Stand-alone video result

73. 7 SITES WITH VIDEO RESULTS
Results
0
35
70
YOUTUBE PCGAMER LIFEHACKER VICE EBAY MASHABLE STANCE
111122
62

74. FEATURED SNIPPET RESULTS
FOR OUR KEYWORDS IN THE
INFORMATIONAL STAGE.
5%
@STATrob

75. LET’S LOOK AT THE POTENTIAL
OF GOING AFTER THESE
FEATURED SNIPPETS.
@STATrob

76. WHICH STYLE OF FEATURED SNIPPET
IS THE MOST COMMON?
Results
0
10
20
30
40
50
LIST PARAGRAPH TABLE
2
39
1

77. AVERAGE SEARCH VOLUME PER
FEATURED SNIPPET RESULT FOR
OUR INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS.
23,300
@STATrob

78. WIKIPEDIA IS THE OBVIOUS INCUMBENT HERE.
Results
0
5
10
15
20
WIKIPEDIA.ORG AMAZON.COM BESTBUY.COM XEROX.COM OFFICEDEPOT.COM
1
22
3
17

79. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED
ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR
INFORMATIONAL KEYWORDS?
@STATrob

80. LESSON 1
RECOGNIZE WHEN YOU’LL NEED A
PAID STRATEGY TO WIN.
@STATrob

81. THE PREVALENCE OF SHOPPING
BOXES CAN’T BE IGNORED.
We need a paid strategy to give searchers what they
want here.
@STATrob

82. LESSON 2
LOOK FOR STRONG BIAS
TOWARDS CERTAIN SITES.
@STATrob

83. CAN YOU DISPLACE AN
INCUMBENT LIKE WIKIPEDIA?
They dominate the featured snippets in this stage.
Is there really room for us to win there?
@STATrob

84. LESSON 3
LOOKING AT THE SERP TOPOLOGY
TELLS US WHAT GOOGLE THINKS
THESE SEARCHERS WANT.
@STATrob

85. IN THIS STAGE, WE SAW
SEARCHER NEEDS BEING MET BY
NEWS, IMAGES, AND ORGANIC.
This is what Google has determined is the best
outcome for these searches.
@STATrob

86. LESSON 4
NEWS RESULTS ARE OFTEN
CROWDED WITH IRRELEVANT
STORIES.
@STATrob

87. DON’T JUST BLINDLY CHASE
SEARCH VOLUME.
Look deeper to understand if there’s a real opportunity.
@STATrob

88. COMMERCIAL
INTENT STAGE.
@STATrob

89. TOPOLOGY OF THE
COMMERCIAL SERP
12%
13%
10%
59%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

90. WHAT’S THE AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE
CONTRIBUTION PER RESULT?
SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
1,500
3,000
4,500
6,000
SHOPPING IMAGES NEWS VIDEOS P.A.A. ANSWERS PLACES
16
1,946
44188
5,184
53
704

91. LET’S REVERSE-ENGINEER
THE WINNING STRATEGIES
IN THIS STAGE.
@STATrob

92. WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE
IN THIS STAGE?
SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
100,000
200,000
300,000
400,000
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON CNET PCMAG
308K321K
352K
374K376K

93. BUT WHO HAS THE MOST RANKINGS?RANKINGS
0
1,750
3,500
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG
204230
3,117
138299

94. WHO IS WINNING WHERE?
SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
100K
200K
300K
400K
CONSUMER REPORTS TECHRADAR AMAZON.COM CNET PCMAG
NEWS
VIDEO
ANSWERS
ORGANIC

95. SEGMENT BY THE QUERY
MODIFIER TO SEE WHICH
RESULT TYPES GOOGLE LIKES.
@STATrob

96. SERP TOPOLOGY FOR
“BEST” QUERIES
29%
12%
5%
50%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

97. SERP TOPOLOGY FOR
“COMPARE” QUERIES
8%
6%
42%
10%
34%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

98. SERP TOPOLOGY FOR
“NEW” QUERIES
4%
12%
7%
27%
50%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

99. SERP TOPOLOGY FOR
“REVIEWS” QUERIES
26%
24%
4%
42%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

100. DON’T FORGET
GO DEEPER THAN THE SURFACE
DATA. DIG INTO SHARE OF VOICE.
@STATrob

101. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED
ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR
COMMERCIAL KEYWORDS?
@STATrob

102. LESSON 1
BY USING SHARE OF VOICE,
MEASURE WHICH DOMAINS ARE
WINNING.
@STATrob

103. WITH ALMOST 3,000 FEWER
RANKINGS, TECHRADAR STILL
BEAT AMAZON.
Focusing on share-of-voice winners makes the
analysis easier.
@STATrob

104. LESSON 2
PERFORM SHARE OF VOICE
ANALYSIS ON RESULT TYPES TO
ASSESS THEIR POTENTIAL.
@STATrob

105. WE CAN REVERSE ENGINEER
TECHRADAR’S WINNING STRATEGY:
FEATURED SNIPPETS.
@STATrob

106. LESSON 3
SEGMENT EVEN DEEPER ON
QUERY MODIFIERS LIKE “BEST”
TO SEE HOW THE SERPS ADAPT.
@STATrob

107. FOR “BEST” SEARCHERS WANT
SNIPPETS. FOR “COMPARE” THEY
WANT VIDEOS.
This is where you get some of the most actionable insight
into searcher intent.
@STATrob

108. TRANSACTIONAL
INTENT STAGE.
@STATrob

109. TOPOLOGY OF THE
TRANSACTIONAL SERP
9%
7%
11%
69%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

110. WHO HAS THE MOST SHARE OF VOICE
IN THIS STAGE?
SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
125K
250K
375K
500K
AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM
104K
165K
205K
397K400K

111. WHO IS WINNING WHERE?
SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
100K
200K
300K
400K
AMAZON.COM WALMART.COM OVERSTOCK.COM BESTBUY.COM SEARSOUTLET.COM
ORGANIC
NEWS
VIDEO
ANSWERS

112. TWEETABLE TIP
THE FURTHER DOWN THE
FUNNEL YOU GO, THE MORE
DISTILLED THE SERP BECOMES.
@STATrob

113. THIS IS GOOD OL’ FASHIONED SEO!
(Ok, and PPC.)
@STATrob

114. ARE YOU RANKING HIGH?
RANKING THE RIGHT CONTENT?
@STATrob

115. WHAT KIND OF CONTENT
IS AMAZON RANKING?
RANKINGS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT COUPON OTHER
104
706
1,590

116. WHAT ABOUT WALMART’S CONTENT?
RANKINGS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT
162
1,008

117. AND OVERSTOCK’S CONTENT?
RANKINGS
0
400
800
1200
1600
CATEGORY PRODUCT BUYERS' GUIDE
1011
422

118. WHAT HAVE WE LEARNED
ABOUT THE SERPS FOR OUR
TRANSACTIONAL KEYWORDS?
@STATrob

119. LESSON 1
THE DEEPER YOU GO IN THE
FUNNEL, THE MORE YOU HAVE
TO RELY ON ORGANIC RANKINGS.
@STATrob

120. ORGANIC RESULTS WERE THE BEST
WAY TO PUSH TRAFFIC IN THIS STAGE.
Catering content towards universal results isn’t going to win
the day when searchers are this low in the funnel.
@STATrob

121. LESSON 2
ANALYZE RANKING URLS TO FIND
OUT WHAT UX SATISFIES THE
SEARCHER’S INTENT.
@STATrob

122. THE MAJORITY OF PAGES WE
SAW RANKING HIGHEST WERE
CATEGORY PAGES.
We also identified a few potential areas, like coupons,
where we might be able to develop new content.
@STATrob

123. SO WHAT CONCLUSIONS
HAVE WE REACHED?
@STATrob

124. GOOGLE’S ADVICE
YOU HAVE TO BE THERE, BE
USEFUL, AND BE QUICK.
@STATrob

125. HOW TO “BE THERE”
QUALITY KEYWORD RESEARCH
AND THOROUGH SEGMENTATION
BY INTENT STAGES IS CRUCIAL.
@STATrob

126. HOW TO “BE THERE”
YOU KNOW IF YOU’RE “THERE”
BY MEASURING SHARE OF VOICE.
You can break this out by stage or result type.
@STATrob

127. HOW TO “BE USEFUL”
LOOK AT SERP TOPOLOGIES TO
FIND OUT WHAT GOOGLE THINKS
IS USEFUL TO SEARCHERS.
@STATrob

128. SERP TOPOLOGY FOR
“COMPARE” QUERIES
8%
6%
42%
10%
34%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

129. HOW TO “BE USEFUL”
CREATE STRATEGIC CONTENT
EXPERIENCES THAT SATISFY
SEARCHERS’ IMMEDIATE NEEDS.
@STATrob

130. HOW TO “BE QUICK”
OPTIMIZE SITE SPEED AND
GET RIGHT TO THE POINT.
Omit everything that distracts from the immediate
needs of the searcher.
@STATrob

131. HOW MANY UNIVERSAL RESULTS
ARE THERE IN EACH STAGE?
0%
50%
100%
INFORMATIONAL COMMERCIAL TRANSACTIONAL
10%11%15%

132. TOPOLOGY OF THE
INFORMATIONAL SERP
5%
5%
8%
18%
21%
42%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

133. TOPOLOGY OF THE
COMMERCIAL SERP
12%
13%
10%
59%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

134. TOPOLOGY OF THE
TRANSACTIONAL SERP
9%
7%
11%
69%
SHOPPING
IMAGES
NEWS
VIDEOS
PEOPLE ALSO ASK
ANSWERS
PLACES

135. WHICH RESULT TYPE HAS
THE HIGHEST AVERAGE SHARE OF VOICE?SHAREOFVOICESCORE
0
1,500
3,000
4,500
6,000
ORGANIC SHOPPING EVERYTHING ELSE
2,997
5,312
1,992

136. KEY TAKEAWAY
OPTIMIZING FOR UNIVERSAL
RESULTS IS THE BEST WAY TO
ENSURE YOU’RE SATISFYING
SEARCHER INTENT.
@STATrob

137. KEY TAKEAWAY
WE CAN SNOOP INTO GOOGLE’S
FINDINGS ON SEARCH INTENT BY
LOOKING AT SERP TOPOLOGY.
@STATrob

138. KEY TAKEAWAY
AS WE MOVE DOWN THE INTENT
FUNNEL, DIFFERENT RESULT TYPES
RISE AND FALL IN VALUE.
@STATrob

139. KEY TAKEAWAY
WITH KNOWLEDGE OF INTENT, WE
CAN CRAFT THE RIGHT CONTENT
FOR THE RIGHT MOMENT OF THE
SEARCHER’S JOURNEY.
@STATrob

140. THIS ANALYSIS IS EASY TO DO.
HERE’S WHAT YOU NEED:
• A SERP tracking tool that can break out result types
• Search volume data
• A share of voice model of your choosing
• Excel or SQL
@STATrob

141. DOWNLOAD THE
WHITEPAPER:
GETSTAT.COM/MNSEARCH