In the wake of the March 2024 Google Core Algorithm update, we wanted to share how we have been helping our SEO clients stay visible in SERPs by providing helpful, unique content.
Case Study Summary:
The Client: IRIS Software Systems
The Goals:
- Increase user experience (UX)
- Increase Keyword Rankings
- Increase conversion rate for leads
The Results: More people visiting the pages, keyword rankings increased plus ranking for more keywords, engagement time on the page increased, and demo leads increased while keeping quality of leads good.
Our EEAT Approach
You might be wondering why we keep referencing ‘EEAT’ and what it means.
EEAT is a framework set out by Google whereby you create content to establish Expertise, Experience, demonstrating your Authority on your topic. Therefore, Google will determine your site is Trustworthly enough to rank you in SEPRS.
EEAT SEO strategy is nothing new – Google originally came out with this type of framework in 2014, when it was just ‘EAT’. But with the use of AI becoming more and more common, in 2022 Google added the extra E – Experience – to help its algorithm sort genuine, unique content from the rest. Fast forward to the 2024 update – Google is using everything it has learned and really cracking down on those who do not establish EEAT.
A perfect example – we have been improving our clients, IRIS, service pages with EEAT in mind.
Here is what we’ve achieved:
User Experience:
- 18% Increase in Average Engagement Time
Keyword Rankings:
Google considers user experience as one of the main ranking factors,
because this has increased we have also seen:
- 63% of keyword rankings increased
- Ranking for 3 new, high-intent keywords
Traffic:
As a result of showing higher in SERPs, for more keywords,
and having better visibility in SERPs, the website saw:
- 27% Increase in Sessions
- 30% Increase in New Users
Lead Generation:
By incorporating more trust elements and CTAs on the page, we improved the conversion rate while keeping the quality of leads good.
Often, when you increase the number of leads coming through, you might see a fall in lead quality, but this did not happen with IRIS, implying that the SEO is working to reach the right people – and the content resonates well enough to get them to take the desired action.
Google actively seeks signals showing expertise, experience, authority, and trustworthiness.
Here are the elements we emphasised:
- Unique, helpful content, written by humans, not AI!
- Current customers (linking to case studies showing the results and experience)
- Testimonials from customers
- Reviews / ratings
- Better user experience / overall feel & flow of the page
- Incorporating more CTA’s
That’s only to name a few – behind the scenes there is a lot of technical SEO work put into the design and development of the code which supports the SEO.
In addition to the improved results we saw after these pages went live, they were also some of the only pages that continued to see an increase in traffic AFTER the March 2024 update.
WHY? Because we have established the trust elements on this page that Google is looking for! We expect similar results across the other pages as we continue to update the rest of the website.
Key Takeaway
Google hasn’t changed the goal posts on us with the new March update – this helpful content approach has been something we have recommended and implemented for SEo clients for the last decade.
Things in SEO may have changed since then – but the goal remains the same: Show your expertise, experience, authoritativeness, and trustworthiness in a way that Google can understand.
Over the years that we have been doing SEO, we know what works and what doesn’t, and can create a content strategy unique to your business. Save time on your SEO content strategy by speaking with our team.
