Longtime followers of SparkToro’s Rand Fishkin should not be surprised by the following statistic, as we've been approaching this milestone for years, but it finally happened in June 2019: More than half of all searches in Google do not result in a click.
In the video below, Morey Creative Studios CEO Jed Morey provides some additional insight into how the nature of search is changing and how brands and agencies can better position their content for the ever-changing battle that is SEO—along with a charming piano tune.
Here are the top takeaways from Jed’s talk:
- “The pie has been divvied up so much that we need to change our game.”
- More than 50% of Google searches in June 2019 did not result in a click.
- 50% of queries will be made through voice search this year.
- Paid results account for more than 4% of pages clicked.
- Roughly 6% of pages clicked belong to Google or its parent company Alphabet.
As Jed explains in the video, it’s no longer an option for agencies and brands to exist solely in the organic, written space. They must instead leverage a combination of tactics to maximize reach and generate traffic where users are going. That means implementing paid strategies, as well as shifting how we approach our content production.
“So, the answer now in terms of what your digital marketing strategy has to be—check the box ‘All of the Above.’”
“The battle is no longer happening at the top of the funnel,” Jed declares.
Whereas content production previously focused on targeting the awareness stage of the buyer’s journey, it is now necessary to move lower to the MOFU (Middle of the Funnel) or BOFU (Bottom of the Funnel) to target the consideration and decision stages with more specific queries and higher intent behind them.
Content strategy that remains ahead of the curve must also expand beyond the written word.
As Jed notes, 90% of all content consumed online will be video in 2020. Skipping this medium means sacrificing the opportunity to connect with countless audiences in their preferred means of consuming information, including on the world’s second largest search engine, YouTube.
We at Morey Creative Studios find this so imperative that we’ve partnered with the video hosting service Vidyard and made video packages a mandatory part of our retainer agreements in 2020.
Beyond video, podcasting has emerged as a new frontier that promises to be a must for any brand looking to stay on top of media's evolution. More than half the U.S. population listened to podcasts in 2019, up more than 130% from 10 years ago, with the majority of such growth throughout the last four years alone. Developing content for this format, therefore, will only grow with each passing year, especially as Google expands its ability to deliver podcasts in its results.
This accelerated growth is what has prompted Morey Creative Studios, already home to an award-winning podcast, to launch our much-anticipated podcast division.
