Gillian Muessig presentation at SMSin2011

1. The Evolution of Search
The Merging of Search and Social
Gillian Muessig – Chennai Nov, 2011

2. The King is Dead! Long live the king!

4. 2001: A Crazy Search Landscape
Via Bruce Clay’s classic search engine relationship chart:
http://www.bruceclay.com/serc_histogram/histogram.htm

5. The Algorithm:
(Keyword Use + Anchor Text)
X
PageRank
Simpler times. Spammier times, too.

6. SERPs All Looked Like This:
Via Google’s 10th Birthday post: http://googlesystem.blogspot.com/2008/09/google-time-machine-
web-in-2001.html

7. SEO Meant a Few Fundamentals
Make good content, make it accessible, target the right keywords… That was pretty much it!

8. And a Lot of Link Building
Links were pretty much everything once you got a crawlable, keyword-targeted page set up.

9. Hello Spam!
Even Rand bought some of these back in the day…

10. Fast Forward 7 Years
Google celebrated the year with a TCP/IP protocol reference:
http://blogoscoped.com/archive/2008-01-01-n53.html

11. Google’s Dominating
Via http://searchengineland.com/comscore-new-google-high-new-yahoo-microsoft-lows-
though-both-rise-in-raw-searches-13784

12. Local/Maps is on the Rise
Matt McGee charted the astounding rise of Google Maps/Local starting in 2008:
http://www.smallbusinesssem.com/charting-the-undeniable-growth-of-google-maps/1046/

13. There’s a Few New Protocols
The Sitemaps.org homepage literally hasn’t changed since February of 2008!

14. But Not Much Else Has Changed
In early 2009, I wrote a post about the shift in importance of algorithmic factors at Google:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/how-googles-rankings-algorithm-has-changed-over-time-

15. Jump Ahead… to 2011

16. It’s a Whole New World
Image via http://gizmodo.com/5478787/the-most-accurate-highest-resolution-earth-view-to-
date (which is pretty cool, BTW)

17. SERPs Rarely Look Like This Anymore
It took me serious time to find a query this sparse

18. They Look Like This:
Google’s instant answers are getting more detailed and sophisticated, as illustrated by
http://www.google.com/search?q=nfl+schedule+2011

19. And This:
News results, shopping results and video snippets + the new, shrunken sitelinks for the top result

20. And This:
Awesome!

21. And This:
Personalization and social sharing dominate the page because I’m logged in.

22. Rich Snippets & Schema.org
There’s a good post by Rich Baxter on Schema here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/schemaorg-a-
new-approach-to-structured-data-for-seo

23. Rel=Author
Good advice on how to get it set up here: http://www.blindfiveyearold.com/how-to-implement-
rel-author

24. Video Results
Google on how to create video XML sitemaps and appear in these results:
http://www.google.com/support/webmasters/bin/answer.py?answer=80472

25. And Social Annotations
Not only are the results annotated with the share / social data; they also outrank the top result

26. SERPs Are Almost Always Personalized
Search history, social networks, previous clicks and more impact personalization + rankings

27. And Geographically Biased, Too
Geography impacts both search result ordering and search suggestions/instant

28. Search Barely Requires Typing
BTW – I tried this same search from Portland vs. Yoder, and “Fox News” is not a top suggestion, but
“Firefox “and “Fred Meyer” both are 

29. Misspellings are a Thing of the Past
A few years back, there would be entire sessions at conferences on SEO for misspellings

30. Instant Answers are Everywhere
Google even offered instant answers as to the sexual orientation of celebrities: http://gawker.com/5844769/google-
will-now-tell-you-which-celebrities-are-gay (but the feature appears to have been removed)

31. The Algorithm Has Changed
Check out Dr. Pete’s Algorithm History guide: http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change

32. We Had Vince
Aaron Wall did some excellent analysis on Vince here: http://www.seobook.com/google-branding

33. And May Day
Barry Schwartz summarized the impact as described by Matt here:
http://www.seroundtable.com/archives/022293.html

34. And the Pandas
Some good analysis from Cyrus Shephard here: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/beat-google-panda

35. Brands Can Now Dominate Entire Pages
Nothing but Apple.com from top to bottom

36. Some are Dominated by Google Itself
http://www.seobook.com/google-eats-their-organic-search-results

37. Social is on the Rise Like Never Before
Via http://searchengineland.com/top-internet-activities-search-email-once-again-88964

38. Why Social Signals Trump Links
Via http://www.michael-jackson-photos.com/

39. We Know Who Rules the News That Day

40. And Google Pivoted

41. Social Is The Immediacy Signal

42. Social Signals Rose Again Yesterday
http://mashable.com/2011/11/03/google-tweaks-search-ranking-algorithm/

43. We Want News, Not Ancient History
http://mashable.com/2011/11/03/google-tweaks-search-ranking-algorithm/

44. We Want Today’s Reviews
http://mashable.com/2011/11/03/google-tweaks-search-ranking-algorithm/

45. It Means You’ve Got Work
• Websites need fresher content
• Comment Marketing increases
• Facebook, Orkut & Twitter increase
in power… again
http://mashable.com/2011/11/03/google-tweaks-search-ranking-algorithm/

46. Social Fragmentation Appears Certain
Users: 50mm 750mm 200mm 120mm 10mm
Users: 14mm Millions 14mm 6.5mm
This growth is a big reason why I’ve changed my tune on social media marketing and now strongly endorse it
for almost every business: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/everyone-should-hire-social-media-experts

47. What’s More…

48. Search No Longer Works in a Vacuum
Earning a click in the SERPs is merely one step in a greater process.

49. It Lives in the Broader Inbound Funnel
Eloqua’s content grid does a great job exploring where content sits in the marketing funnel:
http://media.eloqua.com/images/The-Content-Grid-v2.jpg

50. But is Nearly Useless By Itself
Via http://www.seomoz.org/blog/tracking-the-roi-of-social-media

51. SEO from 2001-2008

52. Make the Site Search-Engine Friendly
Via http://www.seomoz.org/blog/4-essential-seo-infographics

53. Target Keywords
Via http://www.seomoz.org/blog/perfecting-keyword-targeting-on-page-optimization

54. Build Links
Via http://opensiteexplorer.org

55. Good Enough
Yep; it really used to work.

56. That SEO
is Dead.

57. You Might Rank
Before you even do that, make sure you’re choosing the right goals:
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/the-6-goals-of-seo-choosing-the-right-ones-for-your-business

58. You Probably Won’t Convert Well
Unless the rest of the funnel rocks, SEO is in a rough spot: http://www.seomoz.org/blog/winning-
the-seo-battle-at-every-step-of-the-purchase-path

59. The New Look of Search
http://www.indiazooms.com/?p=137846

60. Top Ten Tips for Chennai SEOs!

61. #10: New Heirarchy of Social Credibility

62. #9: Info-graphics Are the New Linkbait
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-is-a-reverse-proxy-and-how-can-it-help-my-seo

63. #8: Video Rules!
http://www.seomoz.org/blog/what-is-a-reverse-proxy-and-how-can-it-help-my-seo

64. #7: Branding is Baaaaa-ack!

65. #6: Leverage All the Social Networks
Users: 50mm 750mm 200mm 120mm 10mm
Users: 14mm Millions 14mm 6.5mm

66. #5: Recommend Sites to Searchers

67. #4:Build Links With Your Social Followers

68. #3: Play Games!
http://www.dreamstime.com/royalty-free-stock-photo-beach-soccer-game-between-ukraine-and-russia-image21025805

69. #2: Thought Leadership = CTR Bump

70. #1: Ask Rand; He’s Not Busy ;-)

71. +1!: Follow the Money Backwards

72. SEO is Bigger than SEO

73. And We Have the Skills, Knowledge,
Experience and Adaptability to Win.

74. Long Live SEO!
http://guide2chennai.blogspot.com/2009/04/marina-beach-is-beach-situated-along-12.html

75. Thank you!
Gillian Muessig
Founding President of SEOmoz | @SEOmom | gillian@seomoz.org