Good morning search marketers, is keyword research on the outs?
We know the search engines are getting better at understanding intent, thanks to BERT and other deep learning initiatives. So are we ready to abandon keyword research and focus on intent, as Bing's Frรฉdรฉric Dubut suggested would eventually happen? Probably not entirely, said Google's John Mueller — but more so to give users context. "Showing specific words to users can make it a little bit easier for them to understand what your pages are about," Mueller said,"and can sometimes drive a little bit of that conversion process."
That conversation hits close to home for paid search marketers as well, as close variants have made the need for voluminous keyword research obsolete. At the same time, using the right words in ads and landing pages can be critical for click and conversion rates.
Brian Dean, of SEO training company Backlinko, shared some tips for video optimization and growing a subscriber base on YouTube in a, yes, video chat with Barry Schwartz. Contrary to conventional wisdom, Brian says he focuses on content quality over quantity: "The main thing is to have a couple of videos that kill." Those will drive views and subscribers — and your intro is key to getting people to stick around. "It's like the 80/20 principle in extreme." Barry and Brian also talked about the nofollow link attribute change and more. Watch the full interview here.
To give brands, businesses and even individuals more control over how their profiles appear in Bing search and Outlook, Microsoft has launched Bing Pages. It's in beta, but anyone can sign up now. In Bing, the profiles look similar to knowledge panels. You can use Bing Pages to aggregate your brand's social media links, list contact details and even promote social media posts for 24 hours on relevant searches.
Ginny Marvin
Editor-In-Chief
