SEO - Know Agency

What You Need to Know About Google MUM

October 15, 2021/in SEO /by Jane Phelps

Search intent and a focus on readers is what Google MUM wants

Google Search has made updates to the Google MUM algorithm. These updates place a heightened priority on search intent, focusing on reader needs, content quality and formats, and SEO.

In this blog we give you an overview of what Google MUM is and then dive into what’s new with Google MUM and how it impacts you and your readers.

These quotes from the Google MUM announcement, underscore what the company is trying to do for people who search:

“We are bringing the latest in AI to Google’s products, giving people new ways to search and explore information in more natural and intuitive ways.

In the coming months, we’ll introduce a new way to search visually, with the ability to ask questions about what you see.

By combining images and text into a single query, we’re making it easier to search visually and express your questions in more natural ways.”

At its core, Google MUM is about making it easier for you to receive the information you want. AI means Google Search is trying to help you by suggesting related information and asking the deeper and related questions for you.

And this is exactly why you need to give your readers content that addresses their search intent. Think beyond the basic question and provide the supporting and complementary content that provides the full picture.

What is Search Intent? Your Complete Guide to Search Intent

August 13, 2021/in SEO /by Jane Phelps

Learn the facts on search intent, SEO, and your search engine results

Search intent is the problem, question, or query a person wants solved. This drives the terms they enter in a search engine.

Knowing search intent or user intent is essential to optimizing your content for your users. When you know what your users are looking for, you can create content that resonates and helps them.

Ultimately, Google’s goal is to provide your searchers with the best content that answers their questions. And you want this to be your content that Google displays at the top of the search engine results.

And this is why search intent is critical to optimizing your content for SEO and your audience. What search intent tells you is that not all keyword terms and phrases are equal.

For example, how a searcher uses the word cat in a search query determines the intent or problem and how you should be optimizing for this keyword.

If you operate a veterinarian clinic specializing in cats, you want content that meets search queries like “how do I know if my cat is sick?”, “how often should my cat be vaccinated?”, or “common cat healthy issues”. But if you sell cat toys, you want content optimized around these search queries, “why do cats like catnip?”, “best cat toys for senior cats”, or “where to buy cat toys”.

Ultimately, Google cares about search intent. If Google cares – we care – and you need to care as well.

Keep reading to learn:

More about why search intent is important
About the 4 different types of search intent
How to determine search intent
4 search intent optimization steps

At the end of this blog, we’ve created a short 4-step search intent checklist for you. Use this whenever you’re researching keywords, writing or refreshing new content, or doing an audit of your content.

How to Optimize for Google Featured Snippets

July 23, 2021/in SEO /by Jane Phelps

Creating content optimized for Google’s featured snippets requires you to follow the basics of on-page SEO with a strategy twist.

You need to do more than standard keyword and searcher intent research. You need to do more than write clear and concise content.

To optimize for featured snippets, you need to research who is ranking for the featured snippet spots you want. To optimize for featured snippets, you need to write content that answers questions and queries.

Optimizing for featured snippets is one of the best SEO and Google search strategies available. Think of how your eyes go to the top of the search engine results page (SERP). And when you add voice search to the mix, optimizing for featured snippets only make sense.

We know that there’s a lot to think and know about when it comes to SEO, Google, search engine rankings, and getting people to read your content. Above all else, we don’t want you to be overwhelmed.

Read this blog, learn about featured snippets and how they can help you. And then contact us with your questions. We get it – there’s a lot to take in. Our goal is to share with you what we know so you can understand why we suggest what we do.

Website and Content Quality Checklists: Four Content Self-Assessment Checklists

May 29, 2021/in SEO /by Jane Phelps

The key to creating a useful and well-ranking website is the content. Your content needs to be high-quality, informative, add value, and differentiate your website from your competitors.

But how do you know if your content is ticking all these boxes (and more)?

Google has put together some excellent questions to help you assess your content quality. We have tweaked Google’s list of questions to provide you with more information and a better understanding of what quality content is.

Use these checklists to self-assess your website and to start a conversation with your colleagues about what you want, expect, and need from your website.

If you can answer Yes to each of these questions, this is a strong indicator that your website and content provide high-quality, high-value, relevant, and informative content.

Google MUM, SEO, Content, and Search – What You Need to Know

May 27, 2021/in SEO /by Jane Phelps

Learn the facts on Google MUM and how it impacts your SEO and content strategy

New Search technology is coming from Google. At I/O 2021, Google revealed the work the company is doing into AI and improving search results.

Google says Multitask Unified Model (MUM) is a new AI milestone for understanding information. While MUM is not live and has not been rolled into any Google products, it’s important to understand MUM and how it could impact SEO, content, and search.

In this blog we tell you what you need to know about MUM, provide a refresher on BERT and natural language processing, explain how MUM could change search, and what you can do today to get ready for MUM.