Use Data Or Be Used By Data!

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The November 6 issue of Seotistics is here for you!

Last time we talked about diversification in SEO and the first things you can do.

Today we go over some more advanced concepts you can use to avoid getting scammed while buying domains or doing SEO.

​You can read Part 1 here.

⏳ Where We Left Last Time

Super quick summary for those who missed Part 1 and are too lazy to read it:

• Distributing and Repurposing your content is a necessity
• Diversifying your traffic is the key to win
• The traffic of websites is often asymmetric

Nothing groundbreaking per se but the devil is in the details.

🧮 Distributions (once again)

This is one of the most important concepts out there and the reason why many SEO claims are wrong.

The famous long-tail is actually misinterpreted a lot... now what that even is?

According to your favorite SEO sources, long-tail keywords are often defined as high intent and made up of many words.

So the requirements are word length and intent? Sounds a little bit too odd to me.

Because it's wrong.

Long tail refers to the frequency of keywords or to their "volume" if you prefer.

Do you consider "how to turn off iphone 14" a long-tail keyword? Check the volume and tell me.

The lesson here is that targeting the "wrong" type of long-tail exposes one to greater danger.

While the old strategy of targeting low-volume keywords is not less powerful, are we even sure many actually did it?

The key insight here is to avoid overfocusing on long-tail keywords and start thinking in terms of clusters.

Long-tail keywords are 100% fine IF you can put them into context and the SERPs suggest you need more pages.

🏹 Flanking

A good strategy should leverage your strong points and/or play around your weaknesses.

In the alternative, you can also exploit market gaps. This applies to pretty much anything else.

I've already talked about this topic before as you may see from the picture below:

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Defending your assets means being less vulnerable against lateral attacks on your weakest articles/pages.

This is even truer for large publishers or Ecommerce with a wide catalog since they can be attacked from any side.

The answer here is in creating measures to tackle attacks and what actions you can take immediately to prevent damage from snowballing.

In niches where there isn't much keyword data with tools

📉 Content Decay

I always mention this concept and you can read more in an article I wrote that covers it in depth.

Content Decay is a massive problem for everyone and it harms your assets. The shield against it is setting up policies and keeping some budget for it.

The picture above does a good job of explaining what happens. This is why I depress you with processes, systems and prevention all the time!

📰 News/Churn & Burn Content

Some websites rely on news content or social media traffic to make money and in those cases, different rules apply.

This type of content is extremely sensitive to decay and you need to churn out new content before your revenue drops to 0.

Some publishers often republish or redirect to a new page or use tricks to make content popular again but...

This isn't the most reliable of options.

The same applies to social media content and Discover, the algorithms will stop giving you reach after some time.

What you can do is:

• Consider having evergreen content (no-brainer)
• Delegating content production for churn and burn
• Shifting into an evergreen mindset

Avoid delegating important content that defines your brand because you need in-house talent for that!

This is the main reason why I prefer content websites over news publishers.

Discover and/or News can surge in traffic again but you can't rely on hope/luck to build a strategy.

I can tell you that Discover can get you crazy high RPMs in case you are using Display Ads on your website.

🛒 Ecommerce/SaaS/Others

These aren't really my industries but I am currently testing and studying more and more.

I'd say that content-driven SaaS websites follow the same criteria I mentioned before, with an even bigger focus on social media and/or other channels.

For Ecommerce, it's a little bit different because you have to consider products and categories too.

I can talk about it in the next issues as I am practicing more and more with Ecommerce websites.

Apply what I said about content/pages to what you sell to and you will realize that many websites are weak.

Of course, it's not always possible to have a wide catalog and diversify your risk, just sayin'.

📚 Free SQL Code

If you are incredibly lazy to connect to the GSC API and run some Python/R code, I give you an example of SQL code you can use in BigQuery.

Mind you, this assumes you are using the automatic export but you can always change the fields to adapt it.

0-Clicks Percentage: https://gist.github.com/MarcoGiordano96/0576ac4520aa32956549c5a69d3c43f5​

Top 1% Pages by Clicks Contribution: https://gist.github.com/MarcoGiordano96/5107945b4c1f803d6e96ba5bcc7f8798​

Replace table_name with the actual name of your table in BigQuery between single quotation marks.

The code above filters out jumplinks and selects WEB data explicitly.

BigQuery is a great aid in toying with your data because it's easy to use and cheap.

Now you have infinite options to code with AI so please, start writing some simple code because it's never been easier.

P.S. Let me know if the code is helpful but please, read the requirements and figure out how it works first.

🗣 A Note On SEO Advice

After reading this and the previous newsletter, you have learned how most SEO advice is situational and incomplete.

The only thing that can get you more safety is diversification and using your brain.

Advice on the following topics is even more random:

• Google Discover
• Recovering websites after the HCU

Before you make any move, think twice about it.

A good strategy doesn't need to be changed at every update, as I already mentioned before.

🥡 Takeaways

As usual, I give you some actionable takeaways you can apply today:

• Complement SEO with at least another channel in terms of distribution/repurposing
• Always check what gets 0 clicks and what gets the most clicks
• Prepare a list of actions to update your articles every X weeks/months

Yes, this is common sense but do you read it often?

👥 Join Our Community

Our Discord community offers a small place where we can talk business and SEO.

If you hate all the noise of social media, then this place is for you.

Join our Discord Community!

🔎 Analytics For SEO Ebook (v6)

This ebook is aimed at SEOs or Business Owners who want to explore the combination of SEO and Analytics.

If you want to start building your data empire, this is the (initial) path to take.

It will teach you or your employees to:

👉 Avoid common pitfalls that cost you money 💸

👉 Create meaningful analyses that add value 💯

👉 Shorten the learning time of Analytics ⏳

This comes with monthly updates because I want to create the Ultimate Guide out there.

v6 includes the following information:

✅ Strategy in terms of SEO & Data

✅ Decision Making

✅ Integrating Data with SEO

Unlock Powerful Insights Now!

v7 will include additional info on DataViz and topics on request.

📚 Recommended Reads - Peak Content 🗻

I know I give you too much stuff to read so don't worry, it's time for a recap.

• ​The 8-Step Content Auditing Framework For SEO & Marketing​
• ​How To Fight Content Decay With Data & Prevent It​
• ​Long-Tail Distribution​
• ​The Pareto Principle: The Harmful Myth People Should Disregard​
• ​What is Flanking?​

As with everything, understand the context first and then apply the most reasonable solution.

Most of what I read online is extremely inaccurate and doesn't take key differences into account.

📞 One-Hour Call

If you have doubts about SEO or Analytics, you can book a call with me.

Have doubts about your content website or with your data?

Look no further, I can help you:

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Book A Call Now!

❗️ Feedback and Recommendations

If you have ideas/recommendations for the next issues of Seotistics, you can reply to this email.

Marco Giordano
​SEO Specialist & Data Analyst

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Bernerstrasse Süd 169, Zurich, Switzerland
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