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Explore strategic insights from Kevin Amos, Brunner Partner, Chief Media and Data Officer.

Perspectives from Kevin Amos | Brunner

Partner, Chief Media and Data Officer

Kevin Amos

BlogArticle

<p>News about the leak of Google internal documents has ricocheted around the digital marketing world. This wasn’t just any leak. This was from the world’s dominant search engine and included insights on more than 14,000 potential ranking factors from Google’s internal Search API documentation.&nbsp;</p><p>Google <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2024/5/29/24167407/google-search-algorithm-documents-leak-confirmation" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">verified the leak was authentic</a>, even if not all the metrics inside are still actively used.&nbsp;</p><p>At Brunner, our SEO team was on it.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>Our top takeaways? The leaked documents provide a valuable perspective on Google’s priorities, and we learned some factors may be more important than Google communicated previously.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>But based on our team’s scrutiny, the leak confirms and reinforces the best practices we follow rigorously at Brunner, all built on decades of testing, learning, and optimizing in SEO. Here are some key areas of marketing strategy and tactics affected by the leak, along with tips to improve performance, so your website continues to deliver on your marketing and business goals.&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>User Interaction And Engagement</strong>&nbsp;</h2><p>One of Google’s stated goals for its search algorithm is to reward websites that best serve the needs of users. Google has said previously they did not consider clicks or click through rates as a ranking factor. At Brunner, our experience showed us there might be something else going on. That’s why we’ve always prioritized pre-site messaging, such as well-crafted page title tags and compelling meta descriptions, and onsite experience.&nbsp;</p><p>The leaked documentation shows Google could be tracking users’ behavior after they click your link in search engine results, even across multiple searches. In addition, Google could be measuring the quality of your site overall by how well you seem to meet those searchers’ needs. For your brand’s website to serve your business goals, it’s more important than ever to pay attention to what happens when a user lands on your site and to ensure the content users see is what they expect.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Clicks matter</strong></h3><p>Google has publicly maintained for years that they do not consider click-through-rate (CTR) when ranking sites. Yet the leak contains many metrics for users’ behavior around when and how often they click your links. This leak underlines how important CTR is for your SEO strategy.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Make sure your metadata is relevant</strong></h3><p>Since users see your title tags and meta descriptions in search results, make sure this information matches your page’s content. If your page is different from what users expect, they may go back to Google to try again.&nbsp;The leaked documentation indicates Google cares about measuring how often this happens on your website.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Page content should get to the point and move them along</strong></h3><p>Once users land on your website, your content should immediately show them what they want. You’ll lose their interest if your page takes too long to prove that. Making sure that visitors have a clear path from where they land to what they need next will also send good signals to Google as your users stay on your website to view other pages and content.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>The more impressions, the better</strong></h3><p>Page impressions are the total number of times a page shows up in the search engine results for all search terms. The leak documentation indicates Google aggregates and applies impressions based on topics. Based on that insight, creating thoughtful content on a broader range of subtopics that ladder up to your core focus should improve your sitewide ranking potential.&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>User Experience (UX)</strong>&nbsp;</h2><p>If your website is hard to use, visitors will be less likely to convert into customers. Brunner’s integrated approach to website design, content, and SEO ensures our clients’ sites meet this central need. Google’s Core Web Vitals have been a ranking factor since the Page Experience Update in 2021. But the leaked documentation shows that Google could be measuring how users engage with your pages directly through Chrome data.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Accessibility may be a ranking factor</strong></h3><p>Simple accessibility steps such as providing alternative text for images, ensuring proper contrast ratios and font size, improving readability, and enabling keyboard navigation can significantly enhance usability. Some metrics in the leak suggest that Google directly considers accessibility in its rankings.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Use video content</strong></h3><p>UX is about creating intuitive, accessible, and engaging experiences for users. Video content can fill many of these needs and provide a strong hook for potential customers.&nbsp;Google’s leaked metrics suggest that if you can increase the time users engage with your page content, Google may show your page to more search users.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Make sure your navigation isn’t frustrating visitors</strong></h3><p>Intuitive navigation is a critical component of good UX. Users should be able to find what they’re looking for with minimal effort. Implementing clear, logical navigation structures helps users interact more effectively with your website, reducing the rate at which users give up and go back to search again.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Your content should just be as long as it needs to be</strong></h3><p>Longer content can cover topics in more depth, and that may be what’s right for your users. However, the leak shows Google’s metrics focus more on measuring how well web pages cover a topic. Short content doesn’t have to be thin content if it meets your users where they are.&nbsp;&nbsp;</p><p>As a regular part of Brunner’s content strategy, we focus on the creation of specialized content that addresses specific user needs rather than aiming for a particular word count on every piece.&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>Site Authority and Brand Awareness</strong>&nbsp;</h2><p>Despite Google’s past denials, documents in the leak suggest Google directly measures how authoritative sites are on their most relevant topics. This calculated “site authority” may significantly affect search rankings. Building site authority involves creating relevant and thorough content that establishes your website as a trusted source of information.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Show your authority in a wide range of formats</strong></h3><p>A diversified content approach enhances user engagement and strengthens your site’s authority in the eyes of search engines. Google seems to care about seeing your brand’s content speak to the needs of your users in many formats, such as text, videos, photos, illustrations, and infographics.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Focus on quality backlinks</strong></h3><p>While many agencies push services to gain as many backlinks as possible for your website, Google has consistently claimed that this is not an effective way to rank your site. In the leak, we can see metrics that favor backlinks with relevant anchor text from frequently updated, highly authoritative, and well-known sites. This supports the idea that you should focus on obtaining backlinks from quality, authoritative sites and avoid spammy link-building tactics.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>Make it clear that your authors are authoritative</strong></h3><p>Google regularly denied that writers’ credentials were a ranking factor, but the leak metrics imply Google directly stores information about a website’s authors, so relevant credentials can help establish content authority. To do this, you should clearly state who your authors are and what makes them experts on your blog posts and dedicated author pages. That includes structured data that ties the author as an “entity” to the content they wrote.&nbsp;</p><h3><strong>You need to build your brand outside of Google</strong></h3><p>Building brand equity and demand outside of Google is vital. In SEO, “entities” refers to distinct, identifiable things— like brands — that Google evaluates for authority. Establishing a strong brand presence on social media, YouTube, and other non-search platforms enhances your brand’s authority and trustworthiness, positively impacting SEO.&nbsp;</p><h2><strong>What’s Next? Let’s chat!</strong></h2><p>The leaked documents provide valuable insights, but it’s important to remember that Google’s algorithms continually evolve. This rare glimpse into how Google thinks reaffirms the core principles of effective SEO:&nbsp;</p><ul><li>Focusing on user engagement&nbsp;</li><li>Enhancing UX&nbsp;</li><li>Building site authority&nbsp;</li><li>Building high-quality, natural backlinks&nbsp;</li></ul><p>Brunner’s holistic and time-honored approach to SEO leverages cross-channel expertise and knowledge sharing across disciplines and teams. If you’d like to chat about how SEO can help your brand’s website serve your business goals, please get in touch. We’d be happy to talk through your challenges and share ideas on how we could help.</p>

You’ve heard about the Google Search API leak, but what does it mean for you? We dive into key takeaways from the leak and how it affects your SEO strategy.

How the Google API Leak Could Affect Your Business

How the Google API Leak Could Affect Your Business

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