This blog aims to equip your personal injury law firm with the knowledge and tools necessary not just to attract, but more importantly, to secure potential clients. Whether you’re looking to improve your current approach or build a new SEO plan from scratch, this blog can be your go-to resource for learning how to gain an online advantage in this demanding market.

Why SEO Matters for Personal Injury Lawyers

For personal injury lawyers, being easily accessible online is vital due to the urgent and sensitive nature of these cases. Did you know that websites appearing on the first page of Google search results garner about 90% of web traffic? This means that if you’re not on the first page, you’re likely invisible to a majority of potential clients.

SEO strategies such as optimizing website content with relevant keywords, ensuring mobile responsiveness, and building a strong backlink profile can significantly enhance a firm’s online presence. And let’s not forget – as a business that typically focuses on a specific geographical location, personal injury law firms can use local SEO tactics to tap into their local market more effectively. These targeted approaches will not only enhance visibility but also increase the likelihood of converting website visitors into actual clients.

Starting with a Strong Foundation

Before diving into SEO techniques, it’s essential for personal injury law firms to evaluate their online presence and truly understand their audience. A thorough evaluation of your website’s design, content quality, user experience, mobile-friendliness, and search ranking is key. This will pave the way for a more effective SEO strategy by enabling you to tailor SEO techniques to your individual goals and the unique needs of your potential clients.

Understanding Your Target Audience

Let’s dive a little deeper into truly understanding your target audience. Knowing who your potential clients are, what they are searching for, and the language they use to search is crucial for a successful SEO strategy. This understanding will shape everything from keyword selection to content creation, ensuring that your online presence resonates with the very people you aim to serve.

To effectively determine your target client base, it’s important to consider factors such as age, gender, location, and the specific circumstances that might lead someone to seek personal injury legal services. Analyzing data from your website and social media platforms or engaging in market research, can also provide valuable information about the interests and behaviors of your audience.

Additionally, staying up to date on trends and the most common types of personal injury cases can significantly refine your target audience. For example, if there’s a surge in workplace-related injuries in your particular region, you can modify your SEO strategy to target individuals searching for attorneys who specialize in workplace injury cases.

Key SEO Strategies for Personal Injury Lawyers

Personal injury lawyers need a comprehensive and multifaceted SEO strategy if they want to effectively navigate this competitive digital landscape. The specific strategies outlined below are designed to help personal injury law firms not only gain visibility online but also connect meaningfully with potential clients.

Keyword Research and Targeting

It all starts with keyword research, a fundamental process that involves identifying words and phrases potential clients tend to use when searching on Google. Traditional keywords are often broad and highly competitive, such as “personal injury lawyer” or “car accident attorney.” These keywords are essential as they align with common search terms, but they also face intense competition. Personal injury lawyers can identify these critical keywords by using tools like Ahrefs and Google’s Keyword Planner, and guide content creation and optimization strategies based on these terms.

Incorporating long-tail keywords — more specific and often longer phrases — can further enhance your SEO. These keywords are less competitive and more targeted towards specific queries and locations, for example “car accident lawyer in [City Name]” or “workplace injury attorney for construction accidents.” While these more specific and localized search terms may have a lower monthly search volume, they can capture a more niche audience, often resulting in higher engagement and conversion rates. We will explore this idea further in the ‘Local SEO for Personal Injury Lawyers’ section.

Here are some potential keyword opportunities for personal injury lawyers:

Content Optimization: Developing Quality Material and Detailed Service Pages

In the competitive field of personal injury law, the more information and qualifying content you have, the better! Content that is both rich and updated regularly not only engages your audience but also signals to search engines that your website is a knowledgeable and authoritative source. This content can be showcased through blog posts about trending legal topics, multimedia elements like videos and white-papers, and specialized service pages for each of the personal injury cases you handle.

Here are some topics your firm could create detailed service pages for:

Link Building Strategies

Link building is another pivotal part of SEO for personal injury lawyers, and its dynamics have significantly evolved over time. The focus has shifted from traditional methods like guest blogging to more contemporary and innovative approaches, known as digital PR.

Digital PR involves creating and promoting newsworthy content that not only captures the attention of journalists and reputable publications but also relates directly to your field or industry. By crafting stories or resources on currently trending topics, your firm can significantly increase its chances of being featured by authoritative media outlets.

When effectively pitched to journalists, these tangential content campaigns can help your law firm secure backlinks that boost your website’s position in search engine results pages (SERPs). Such backlinks not only enhance your website’s visibility but also affirm the credibility, relevance, and reliability of your firm.

To learn more about our digital PR services and the process of link building, feel free to read What Are The Benefits Of Link Building? – Go Fish Digital.

Local SEO for Personal Injury Lawyers

Local SEO is a vital component of any digital marketing strategy, especially for personal injury lawyers. It’s all about enhancing your online presence to effectively reach potential clients in a specific geographical area. By focusing on local search queries like ‘car accident attorney [city name]’ and concentrating your efforts on a more localized approach, you can connect more directly with the people in your close vicinity, increasing the chances that they will reach out seeking your firm’s legal assistance. For example, someone who’s living in Florida and looking for legal advice will most likely turn to a Florida-based firm.

Some tactics that can help you build a strong local SEO strategy for your personal injury law firm include:

• Google Business Profile Optimization: Claiming and optimizing your Google Business Profile (formerly Google My Business) enhances visibility on Google Maps and ensures that potential clients have access to accurate business information, including name, address, phone number, and website.
• Localized Keyword Research: Identify and incorporate keywords related to personal injury law in your specific area. Title tags, meta descriptions, and headers should be optimized with these local keywords to improve local search rankings.
• Content Tailored to Local Interests: Creating localized content such as blog posts, articles, and FAQs that address legal issues in your area can attract local traffic and establish your expertise.
• Managing Online Reviews and Ratings: Positive reviews on platforms like Google, Yelp can boost your local SEO efforts. Responding professionally to all reviews is equally important.
• Local Link Building: Acquiring backlinks from local organizations and relevant businesses enhances your website’s credibility and local search performance.
• Location-Specific Landing Pages: Develop landing pages for each location you serve, with content tailored to the legal needs of clients in those areas.
• Schema Markup: Implementing LocalBusiness structured data can help search engines understand specific details about your firm, such as business hours and location, enhancing visibility in local searches.

By focusing on these tactics and tailoring your SEO efforts to follow a more localized strategy, your services will be visible to those who are most likely to seek them, making local SEO an invaluable tool for personal injury lawyers.

On-Page Optimization Best Practices

On-page SEO involves optimizing the elements of your website that you have direct control over. This includes title tags, meta descriptions, header tags, content structure, image optimization (including alt tags), and URL structure. Each of these elements should be carefully crafted to include relevant keywords (including the location-specific keywords) without sacrificing readability and user experience.

Best practices for on-page optimization also involve ensuring that your website’s structure is logical and easy to navigate. This includes using header tags to structure your content effectively and optimizing images to reduce load times without compromising quality. A well-structured, easily navigable website is more likely to retain visitors, reducing bounce rates, and improving the overall user experience.

Technical SEO: Fine-Tuning User Experience

And finally, technical SEO. Technical SEO is all about enhancing the technical aspects of your website to improve its ranking in search engines – including both desktop and mobile versions. Since a significant portion of web traffic comes from mobile devices, mobile optimization can be just as important as desktop optimization. To be well optimized on mobile, you must ensure that your site is designed to be responsive and easy to navigate on smaller screens.

Here’s a list of Important technical factors to consider:

• Site Speed: Ensuring your website loads quickly to provide a better user experience and improve search engine rankings.
• Mobile Responsiveness: Designing your site to function seamlessly on mobile devices, adapting to different screen sizes and orientations.
• Crawl-ability and Indexing: Ensuring that search engines can easily crawl and index your website’s content.
• Structured Data Markup: Using schema markup to provide search engines with more detailed information about your site’s content. For more information on structured data for SEO, feel free to read our Guide To Structured Data For SEO.
• Image Optimization: Compressing and properly tagging images to reduce load times and improve user experience. Learn more about enhancing your image SEO here: 5 Tips To Improve Your Image SEO | Go Fish Digital.
• Error Handling: Managing 404 errors and redirects effectively to avoid losing traffic and impacting SEO.

Keep in mind, this is just a limited list of technical SEO tactics. There are a multitude of tactics that can enhance your overall web design and functionality of your website. For expert assistance in creating a website that resonates with clients and search engines, consider Go Fish Digital’s Law Firm Web Design Services.

Tracking, Analysis, and Adjustment

At the end of the day, tracking your progress, analyzing the results, and making adjustments accordingly is arguably the most important aspect of crafting a successful SEO strategy. Remember, change is the only constant in the world of SEO, and staying adaptable is the key to success. Keeping a close eye on how your website is doing, being aware of changes in legal trends, and adjusting to Google’s changing algorithms are all critical components of SEO.

Here are some useful tools that can help you navigate the tracking and analyzing process of your SEO strategy:

• Google Analytics: Provides comprehensive data on website traffic, user behavior, and engagement metrics. It is crucial for understanding visitor patterns, the effectiveness of content, and identifying areas for improvement. To learn more about our Google Analytics services, click here or browse our ‘Analytics Articles.’
• Google Search Console: Offers insights into how your website is perceived by Google. It tracks search rankings, identifies indexing issues, and provides data on backlinks, which are essential for evaluating and enhancing SEO performance.
• Google Tag Manager: A tool for managing and deploying marketing tags (snippets of code) on your website without having to modify the code. It’s useful for tracking conversions, site analytics, and managing various marketing activities efficiently.

Upholding Integrity: SEO Ethics and Compliance

Maintaining ethical standards and compliance is another necessity in the realm of SEO for personal injury lawyers. While changing certain aspects and information on your site, you still must adhere to the guidelines set forth by bar associations and search engine policies. Committing to white-hat SEO practices ensures that your online marketing efforts stay within the bounds of ethical standards, building a digital presence that’s not only effective but also trustworthy and credible. Remember, in the world of law, your online reputation is just as important as your courtroom presence.

Case Study: Expanding a Law Firm’s Local SEO Strategy Across Multiple Cities

The Goal

In a recent initiative for a law firm based in Raleigh, NC., we worked to expand their online influence and improve their local SEO strategy. The objective was to extend their online presence beyond Raleigh by targeting additional key cities such as Charlotte, Durham, and Greensboro. This expansion aimed to enhance local visibility, establish the firm as a leading legal authority, and increase our leads from new areas.

The Strategy

To achieve this goal, we employed a multi-tiered approach:

1. Geo-Targeted Area Pages Rollout: We first initiated the strategy with the launch of area-specific pages, beginning with Charlotte on February 28, 2023. These pages (e.g., https://www.clientname.com/areas/charlotte/) served as a foundation for our local SEO efforts in each new city.
2. Focused Service Pages: On March 14, 2023, we started publishing Charlotte-focused service pages, such as https://www.clientname.com/charlotte-car-accidents/. This pattern was replicated for other fruitful services like motorcycle accidents, truck accidents, and workplace accidents.
3. Comprehensive Local SEO Optimization: Each area and city-focused service page was meticulously optimized for local SEO, incorporating city-specific keywords such as charlotte car accident lawyers, and content relevant to the local audience. This included localizing meta tags, headers, and on-page content to reflect the unique aspects of each city.

The Results

The rollout of these localized pages yielded significant positive outcomes. As observed in the image below, we saw a remarkable surge in page one keyword rankings across our site after launching these new city-focused landing pages.

In December 2022, we tracked a total of around 106 keywords on the first page of search results. Once these new pages rolled out, we were tracking roughly 155 first page keyword rankings in April 2022, a 46.2% increase. Moving forward to December 2023, after making a handful of SEO enhancements to these localized pages, we are now tracking a little over 260 first page keyword rankings, an additional 67.7% increase since April.

Personal Injury Law SEO FAQs

What is SEO for personal injury lawyers?

SEO for personal injury lawyers involves optimizing your online presence to enhance visibility on search engines. It’s about strategically using keywords, crafting informative content, and ensuring your website is search-engine friendly to attract potential clients who are actively seeking legal assistance for a personal injury.

Does SEO work for personal injury lawyers?

Absolutely. SEO is highly effective for personal injury lawyers. It’s a form of digital marketing that can help increase online visibility, attract more clients, and compete effectively in a crowded digital marketplace.

How can I find keywords for my personal injury law firm website?

Utilizing tools like Ahrefs, Google Keyword Planner, and Semrush can help when researching and identifying relevant keywords. Including both broad and long-tail phrases that potential clients might use to search for personal injury legal services is crucial.

Why is high-quality content essential for personal injury law firm SEO?

High-quality, informative content is vital for personal injury law firm site’s because it helps establish your firm’s authority and expertise, improves search engine rankings, and engages potential clients by addressing their specific legal concerns and questions.

How can I optimize my personal injury law firm website for local SEO?

Optimizing for local SEO can include a handful of tactics such as discovering location-specific keywords, creating localized content, managing your Google Business Profile, and building local backlinks.

What are some ethical considerations in SEO for personal injury lawyers?

Ethical SEO is crucial in maintaining your personal injury firm’s credibility. It involves adhering to bar association guidelines and search engine policies and focusing on transparent, honest, and white-hat SEO practices to maintain credibility and trust.

How often should I update my SEO strategy for my personal injury law firm?

SEO is an ongoing process. Regularly monitoring performance using tools like Google Analytics and adjusting strategies in response to changes in search algorithms, legal trends, and client behavior is very important.

What role do online reviews play in SEO for personal injury lawyers?

Positive online reviews are crucial for SEO, especially in showcasing EEAT signals. For personal injury lawyers, positive reviews can boost local SEO rankings and bolster the firm’s credibility. They are key in shaping the firm’s online reputation and play a vital role in validating the quality and reliability of your legal services.

How can Google Ads complement my SEO efforts for my personal injury law firm?

While SEO is key for organic search visibility, integrating Google Ads can significantly amplify your online reach. For insights on using Google Ads effectively for law firms, check out Go Fish Digital’s comprehensive guide to Google Ads for lawyers. Additionally, specialized Lawyer PPC Services offered by Go Fish Digital can further enhance your firm’s paid search strategies, working hand in hand with your SEO efforts.

Upgrade Your Personal Injury Lawyer SEO with Go Fish Digital

As we’ve explored, SEO is an indispensable tool for personal injury lawyers looking to stand out in a crowded digital landscape. Implementing the strategies discussed here can significantly enhance your online visibility, attract more clients, and establish your firm as an authority in personal injury law. If you’re ready to take your SEO to the next level, Go Fish Digital is here to help. With comprehensive SEO solutions tailored to the unique needs of legal professionals, Go Fish Digital can elevate your online presence. Discover what we can do for your firm by visiting Go Fish Digital’s Lawyer SEO Services.

Understanding the SEO Landscape for Personal Injury Lawyers is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

As prospective clients increasingly turn to the internet for legal services, effective SEO becomes vital to a law firm’s marketing strategy. Join us as we explore the nuances, insights, and success stories that will empower your law firm’s SEO and overall digital presence.

What is Law Firm SEO?

Law firm SEO involves optimizing your law practice’s website to appear higher in search engine results, making it more visible to potential clients. Think of SEO as fine-tuning your online presence to ensure that when people search for legal services, your firm is one of the first results, making it easier for them to find and choose you.

Successful attorney or lawyer SEO requires you to produce valuable and top-notch content. When your law firm’s content can genuinely assist your audience, addressing their legal concerns and delivering it in a way that captivates and informs while incorporating an SEO strategy, Google will likely reward your site.

Mastery of these elements enhances the user experience on your website and positions your firm favorably in Google’s ranking algorithm. Some of the leading players in lawyer SEO have honed this art of providing meaningful, high-quality content, reaping the rewards of heightened online visibility and trustworthiness.

Why is SEO for Law Firms Important?

Law firm SEO, and specifically, local SEO for lawyers is incredibly important for reaching the right clients and earning top positions in Google’s search results pages. Research has proven that local SEO for lawyers, attorneys, and law firms is significantly critical and necessary for organic visibility and growth.

Take a look at how the interest in “law firm near me” has trended in Google search over the past decade:

This upward trend in interest means that most consumers looked for a lawyer on Google. When a law firm’s website appears at the top of Google’s results pages, consumers are more likely to trust those pages and click on them. Research also shows that .63% of consumers visit Google’s second page, meaning that your law firm’s website must rank on Google’s first page to earn clicks and leads from potential clients.

Furthermore, earning the #1 ranking position in Google is obviously significantly more valuable than any other position, but did you know that earning the #1 position in Google makes your law firm’s website 10x more likely to receive clicks than ranking in position #10?

6 Benefits of SEO for Law Firms

Here are 6 compelling benefits of law firm SEO and reasons why local SEO for lawyers is incredibly important:

1. Law Firm SEO Provides Targeted Visibility

Law firms primarily serve a local clientele. Local SEO ensures that your firm appears prominently in local search results when potential clients seek legal services in your geographic area. This targeted visibility increases the likelihood of attracting clients relevant to your practice.

2. SEO Enhances Trust and Credibility for Lawyers

Local searchers often prioritize businesses with a physical presence in their vicinity. Optimizing for local SEO builds trust and credibility, as your law firm is perceived as accessible and connected to the community. This local relevance contributes to a positive perception among potential clients.

3. Dominate Mobile Search and Google My Business (GMB)

With the rise of mobile devices, local searches seeking legal services have become prevalent. SEO ensures that your law firm is visible to users conducting searches on mobile devices, capitalizing on the mobile-dominant landscape for local legal services.

Additionally, it involves optimizing your Google My Business listing, a crucial component for law firms. A well-optimized GMB profile enhances your firm’s visibility in local packs, map searches, and voice searches, providing valuable information to potential clients.

4. Gain a Local Competitive Advantage

SEO efforts for attorneys and lawyers provide a competitive edge in your immediate business environment. By appearing prominently in local search results, your law firm can outshine competitors, capturing the attention of clients seeking legal services within the same locality.

5. Improve Your Law Firms Reviews and Reputation Management

Online reviews and reputation management often work in tandem with SEO services for lawyers. A local SEO strategy for law firms typically includes managing online reviews, which play a pivotal role in a law firm’s reputation. Positive reviews and actively addressing any negative feedback demonstrate a commitment to client satisfaction, further bolstering your firm’s local standing. Learn more about managing your online reputation and start generating more five-star reviews for your law firm practice.

6. SEO for Lawyers is Cost-Effective Marketing

SEO is a cost-effective marketing strategy, especially for smaller law firms. It allows you to target a specific audience without the expansive costs associated with broader marketing campaigns, ensuring efficient allocation of resources for optimal results.

The benefits of SEO for law firms are endless, and are essential for targeted visibility, building trust, and gaining a competitive advantage in the local legal landscape. Connecting with an SEO agency for law firms can help align your online presence with the specific needs of local clients, making it a strategic investment for sustained growth and client acquisition.

How to Implement a Successful Law Firm SEO Strategy

When it comes to devising a successful SEO strategy as an attorney or lawyer, there are some key elements to prioritize and keep in mind. Here are some factors to consider as a law firm implementing an SEO digital strategy:

Importance of Backlinks

In the legal world, building trust is essential, and that’s where backlink building comes into play. Think of them as recommendations from respected voices in the legal community, vouching for the credibility and expertise of your law firm. Each link is like a vote of confidence, telling search engines that your insights are worth noticing. Plus, in the legal sphere, social interactions—likes, comments, and shares on your legal content—don’t just boost online visibility; they spark genuine conversations and connections within the legal community.

But how can law firms earn high-quality, relevant backlinks? Here are some examples and ideas to get your law firm started:

Guest Contributions to Legal Publications

Offer to write insightful guest posts for reputable legal publications or industry blogs. This not only positions your firm as an authority but also provides opportunities for backlinks within the content.

Collaborate with Legal Associations

Engage with legal associations and organizations relevant to your practice areas. Participate in events, contribute to newsletters, or offer to write articles for their websites, gaining exposure and potential backlinks.

Create Comprehensive Legal Resources

Develop in-depth legal resources, such as guides, whitepapers, or case studies. Outreach to legal influencers or organizations, offering them as valuable references. When others find your content helpful, they are more likely to link back to it.

Legal Directories and Listings

Ensure your law firm is listed in authoritative legal directories and listings. Many of these platforms allow you to include a link to your website, providing valuable backlinks and reinforcing your firm’s legitimacy.

Participate in Webinars or Podcasts

Collaborate with legal webinars or podcasts as a guest speaker. This not only expands your reach but also often results in backlinks from the event’s website or promotional materials.

Collaborate with Clients and Partners

Foster collaborations with satisfied clients, legal partners, or industry professionals. Jointly publish content, co-author articles, or engage in mutual promotional activities, leading to reciprocal backlinks.

Engage in Local Community Initiatives

Actively participate in local events, sponsorships, or community initiatives. Local news outlets or community websites may mention your involvement, providing opportunities for backlinks.

Offer Legal Insights on Social Media

Share valuable legal insights on social media platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and more. When your content is shared or discussed within the legal community, it can attract backlinks from those who find your expertise noteworthy.

Create Shareable Legal Infographics

Design informative legal infographics that simplify complex legal concepts. Share these on your website and social media, making them easily shareable and likely to attract backlinks.

Want to know how we helped a client earn 50 new backlinks and 120 new keyword rankings? Click here to learn how we used creative content to earn high-quality backlinks and drive the client’s organic traffic to new heights.

Monitor and Outreach to Mentions

Use tools to monitor online mentions of your law firm. When your firm is referenced but not linked, reach out to the author or website, politely asking for a backlink to your site.

Remember, the key is to focus on creating valuable, shareable content and building genuine relationships within the legal community. High-quality backlinks often result from providing valuable resources and fostering connections.

Technical SEO Factors

Technical SEO is the backbone of your law firm’s website. This type of SEO ensures your law firm’s website is finely tuned for search engines. Addressing crucial factors like website speed, mobile-friendliness, site structure, and schema markup is foundational to enhancing your online presence and delivering an optimal user experience.

Optimizing Website Speed and Mobile-Friendliness

The speed and mobile-friendliness of your law firm’s website are crucial. A sluggish site can discourage users and adversely affect your search engine rankings. Prioritize the optimization of your website for mobile devices and efficient loading times to keep users engaged and satisfied.

Crafting a Well-Structured Site

A meticulously organized site structure is key for effective content indexing by search engines. Ensure that legal articles, services, and resources are intuitively navigable and logically categorized. This not only benefits your SEO efforts but also elevates the overall user experience.

URL Structure

Ensure that your URLs are concise and logically structured, integrating keywords whenever possible. For instance, a clean URL for a legal article could appear as follows: “www.yourlawfirm.com/blog/legal-advice-for-businesses.”

Leveraging Schema Markup for Legal Offerings

Schema markup, a code strategically added to your website, provides search engines with additional context about your law firm’s services. This implementation can result in rich search results, commonly known as “rich snippets,” capturing more attention and clicks from users seeking legal information.

Embarking on a Technical SEO journey empowers your law firm’s website to be both user-friendly and search-engine-friendly. This dual optimization not only improves search engine rankings but also amplifies your visibility within the competitive legal landscape. Incorporate these technical facets into your SEO strategy, and you’ll pave the way for success in the legal industry.

Check out these case studies where Go Fish Digital’s technical SEO approach contributed to our client’s outstanding results:

• BroBible: Technical SEO Results In Millions Of Clicks From Discover & Top Stories
• Online Trading Academy: Skyrocketing Organic Traffic with Technical SEO
• B.F. Saul: Technical SEO Boosts Resident Occupancy 96% in One Year

Content

Content stands as the linchpin that connects potential clients to your expertise. Crafting a content strategy that resonates with users’ keyword searches and queries is not just a best practice; it’s a game-changer for driving organic traffic and converting visitors into valuable leads to your law firm.

Here are some ways to unlock law firm success with SEO-optimized content:

Keyword Optimization for Precision

Incorporate carefully researched keywords seamlessly into your content, ensuring it aligns with users’ language when seeking legal services.

Relevance and Helpfulness to Users

Prioritize content that directly addresses the needs and questions of your audience, offering valuable insights that resonate with real-life legal concerns.

Accessibility to Both Users and Search Engines

Strike a balance between user-friendly content and search engine optimization, using clear writing while structuring information for easy comprehension by both humans and search engine crawlers.

Capturing Organic Demand

Proactively address popular legal queries, making your website a go-to resource for individuals seeking legal assistance and thereby attracting organic search traffic.

Converting Visitors into Leads

Encourage engagement through compelling calls-to-action, user-friendly contact forms, and downloadable resources, guiding visitors seamlessly from informative content to taking desired actions and turning organic traffic into potential clients.

Here are some SEO-optimized content types to elevate your law firm’s online presence:

• Step-by-Step How-to Guides: Break down complex legal processes into user-friendly step-by-step guides, offering practical insights and actionable advice that resonate with your audience’s legal queries.
• Comprehensive Legal Topic Guides: Create in-depth guides that serve as authoritative resources on specific legal topics. Cover nuances, precedents, and relevant case studies to establish your firm’s expertise and provide valuable information for your audience.
• Localized Practice Area Pages with SEO Emphasis: Develop practice area pages that not only outline your legal services but also incorporate localized keywords. Tailor the content to address regional legal needs, optimizing it for local search visibility.
• FAQ Pages Geared for Featured Snippets: Craft FAQ pages strategically designed for featured snippets. Anticipate common legal questions your audience might ask and provide concise, informative answers to secure a spot in Google’s coveted featured snippets.
• Checklists: Simplify legal processes for your audience by creating practical checklists. Whether it’s a pre-court checklist or steps for legal document preparation, these resources add tangible value and enhance user engagement.
• Ebooks: Offer comprehensive ebooks on intricate legal subjects, showcasing your firm’s authority in the field. Encourage downloads by requiring simple registration, turning readers into potential leads.
• Engaging Video Content: Leverage the power of video to convey legal insights, share client testimonials, or discuss complex legal topics. Video content not only enhances user engagement but also caters to the growing preference for visual content online. Discover how our client, Brilliant Earth, reached millions through a viral video, earning high-quality links and national press — a testament to the impactful synergy of video strategies, as detailed in our article on how we leveraged YouTube for Brilliant Earth’s success.
• Insightful Interviews with Industry Professionals: Feature interviews with legal experts, industry professionals, or even satisfied clients. Leverage these insights to humanize your firm, demonstrate thought leadership, and foster trust among your audience.
• Local Event Guides: Create guides for local legal events, conferences, or seminars. Optimize the content for local search terms to not only inform your audience but also boost your firm’s visibility in regional searches.

Having a well-rounded content strategy for law firm SEO is a strategic investment that pays dividends in visibility, credibility, and lead generation. By understanding the nuances of keyword optimization, delivering relevant and helpful content, and seamlessly guiding users through their journey, your law firm can position itself as a trusted authority in the legal landscape. Additionally, having a diverse array of content not only caters to varied user preferences but also amplifies your law firm’s SEO impact.

User Experience (UX)

The experience your law firm provides to potential clients matters immensely. A user-friendly website not only guides visitors seamlessly through your legal offerings but also aligns with search engine preferences. When your site is easy to navigate, loads quickly, and offers valuable information, it keeps visitors engaged and signals to search engines that your firm is a trusted resource. A positive user experience not only fosters client satisfaction but also boosts your law firm’s visibility in search engine rankings, ensuring that those seeking legal expertise find your services with ease.

Want to ensure that your law firm’s website is providing the best user experience? Here are key SEO strategies for improving experience:

Intuitive Navigation

Be sure to design a clear and intuitive navigation menu that allows visitors to easily find information about your legal services, practice areas, and contact details.

Optimize Your Site for Mobile Devices

Optimize your website for mobile devices to accommodate users who access your site from smartphones or tablets. Mobile-friendly design is crucial for a positive user experience and can impact search rankings.

Page Speed Optimization

Ensure that your website loads quickly. Compress images, leverage browser caching, and optimize code to reduce page load times. Fast-loading pages contribute to a positive user experience and improved SEO.

Provide Relevant and Engaging Content

Provide informative and engaging content that answers common legal questions, explains legal processes, and showcases your expertise. High-quality, relevant content not only helps users but also contributes to SEO.

Implement Clear Calls-to-Action (CTAs)

Incorporate clear and strategically placed calls-to-action throughout your site. Whether it’s encouraging users to contact your firm, schedule a consultation, or download informative resources, well-designed CTAs guide visitors in taking the next step.

Accessible Design

Ensure your website is accessible to individuals with disabilities. This includes providing alternative text for images, using legible fonts, and ensuring that navigation is possible for those using screen readers. Be sure that your website is compliant with the Web Content and Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) 2.1 level AA to ensure your site is accessible and adhering with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA).

Security Measures

Implement robust security measures to protect user data. A secure website not only builds trust but also contributes to a positive user experience.

Regular and Consistent Website Maintenance

Conduct regular audits and maintenance to address broken links, update content, and ensure that all features and functionalities work smoothly. A well-maintained website contributes to user satisfaction.

Feedback Mechanisms

Incorporate feedback mechanisms such as contact forms or surveys to gather insights from users. Understanding their needs and preferences helps in continuous improvement.

Analytics and Monitoring

Utilize analytics tools to monitor user behavior on your site. Analyzing data helps you understand user preferences, popular content, and areas for improvement.

By consistently focusing on these aspects, law firms can create a website that not only provides an excellent user experience but also aligns with SEO best practices, contributing to improved online visibility and client engagement.

Keywords for Law Firm SEO

Keyword utilization and keyword research serve as the foundation of successful law firm SEO. These are the terms and phrases potential clients use when searching for legal services online. Strategically integrating these keywords into your website content helps search engines like Google understand your legal practice, subsequently boosting your website’s ranking in search results. The potency of keywords lies in their ability to bridge the gap between your law firm and your target audience.

To kickstart your SEO endeavors in the legal realm, consider incorporating keywords such as:

• Legal consultation services
• Criminal defense attorney
• Family law advice
• Estate planning lawyer
• Immigration law services
• Personal injury representation
• Corporate legal assistance
• Employment law guidance
• Intellectual property lawyer
• Legal counsel for startups

For specialized law practices, long-tail keywords play a crucial role. These are specific and extended phrases tailored to a distinct audience. For instance, if your firm specializes in immigration law, a pertinent long-tail keyword might be “immigration law services for businesses.” While these keywords may have lower search volumes, they often boast higher conversion rates by attracting users actively seeking precisely what your firm offers. Long-tail keywords enable you to carve out a niche and connect with a highly targeted audience.

Image Optimization

Images play a crucial role in the legal sector, but improper optimization can affect your website’s loading speed. Compress and resize legal images to enhance load times, and use descriptive file names and alt text that incorporate legal-related keywords. Optimizing your images not only enhances user experience but also renders your site more search-engine-friendly.

Internal Linking

Leverage internal links to connect related legal content within your website. This not only guides users to explore more of your content but also aids search engines in indexing your pages more effectively.

Types of Law Businesses We Help

• Law Firms (General Practice): Provide comprehensive digital marketing strategies to law firms offering general legal services.
• Personal Injury Law Firms: Assist in attracting clients seeking legal representation for personal injury cases.
• Criminal Defense Attorneys: Implement marketing strategies to reach individuals in need of criminal defense services.
• Family Law Practices: Target individuals seeking legal assistance for family-related matters such as divorce, child custody, and adoption.
• Estate Planning Lawyers: Help law firms specializing in estate planning attract clients looking for wills, trusts, and probate services.
• Immigration Law Firms: Assist in marketing to individuals seeking immigration-related legal services.
• Corporate Law Firms: Target businesses in need of corporate legal services, including contract law and business litigation.
• Employment Law Attorneys: Attract businesses and individuals seeking legal advice on employment-related matters.
• Intellectual Property Lawyers: Assist law firms specializing in protecting intellectual property rights, including trademarks and patents.
• Bankruptcy Attorneys: Implement strategies to reach individuals and businesses facing financial challenges seeking bankruptcy assistance.
• Real Estate Law Firms: Target clients involved in real estate transactions, including buyers, sellers, and property developers.
• Environmental Law Practices: Assist firms dealing with legal issues related to environmental regulations and compliance.
• Healthcare Law Firms: Target healthcare providers and organizations seeking legal counsel on regulatory matters.
• International Law Practices: Help firms specializing in international law to attract clients with global legal needs.
• Tax Law Attorneys: Assist in marketing to individuals and businesses seeking tax-related legal advice and representation.
• Social Justice Law Firms: Support firms dedicated to social justice causes and community advocacy through targeted marketing.
• Human Rights Lawyers: Assist legal professionals focused on human rights issues with strategic marketing.
• Entertainment Law Firms: Target clients in the entertainment industry, including musicians, actors, and producers.
• Technology and Cybersecurity Law: Assist firms dealing with legal aspects of technology, data protection, and cybersecurity.
• Labor Law Attorneys: Target businesses and employees in need of legal counsel on labor and employment law matters.
• Whistleblower Protection Lawyers: Help legal professionals focused on whistleblower protection laws and representing whistleblowers.

Case Studies

A Law Firm’s SEO Triumph, Dominating the Legal Landscape

The Goal

A law firm sought to establish itself as a prominent player in qui tam cases. Despite already enjoying a strong online presence, the firm aimed to further enhance its visibility and authority in search engine results. The primary objective was to consistently secure the coveted featured snippet for the term “qui tam” and outrank authoritative entities like the Department of Justice (DOJ), Wikipedia, and various .gov sites.

The Strategy

Go Fish Digital devised a tailored strategy to elevate the law firm’s online standing in the realm of qui tam cases:

• SEO Mastery: Through a meticulous SEO audit and optimization process, the firm’s website structure, content, and technical SEO elements were fine-tuned to perfection, ensuring maximum visibility for the target keywords.
• Content Excellence: Strategic content creation focused on providing valuable and informative resources related to qui tam cases. This approach not only showcased the firm’s expertise but also aimed to secure the Featured Snippet position.
• Competitive Link Building: A robust link-building strategy targeted authoritative domains, aiming to surpass competitors like the DOJ and Wikipedia. High-quality backlinks were acquired to strengthen the firm’s online authority.

The Results

The outcomes of the SEO campaign were nothing short of exceptional:

Our law firm client consistently occupies the featured snippet for “qui tam,” surpassing even government entities like the Department of Justice and Wikipedia.

• Search Engine Dominance: The firm regularly fluctuates between positions 1-3 in organic search results, showcasing its supremacy in the highly competitive legal landscape.
• Outranking Government Giants: Our law firm’s triumph over .gov sites in the search results reaffirms its position as a leader in qui tam cases.

This SEO success story highlights our client’s journey from being a contender to a frontrunner in the online visibility race, showcasing the effectiveness of a strategic and targeted SEO approach.

A Law Firm’s Geo-Targeted Lawsuit Strategy

The Goal

Stepping into the legal arena, our client aimed to leverage an innovative approach to SEO by anchoring their strategy in geo-targeted lawsuits. With a focus on establishing prominence in specific geographic locations, the objective was to solidify the firm’s position as a go-to legal authority for key lawsuits in those regions.

The Strategy

Based on the law firm’s goals, our SEO strategy was meticulously crafted to align with the firm’s focus on geo-targeted lawsuits:

• Geo-Targeted SEO Expertise: A comprehensive understanding of local search dynamics was employed to optimize the firm’s online presence for specific geographic areas. This involved refining website content, local listings, and other SEO elements like optimizing the site for localized keywords to resonate with the target audience.
• Content Tailored to Geo-Specific Lawsuits: Their website underwent strategic content enhancements, featuring detailed information on key lawsuits relevant to the targeted regions. This not only positioned the firm as an expert in these matters but also appealed to the local audience seeking legal representation.
• Local Keyword Strategy: Our team implemented a localized keyword strategy, ensuring that the content on their website was optimized for specific legal terms and phrases relevant to the targeted geographic areas. This strategic use of keywords contributed to improved visibility in local search results.

The Results

The outcomes of the law firm’s geo-targeted lawsuit strategy were impactful:

• The law firm achieved a notable increase in visibility for targeted lawsuits within specific geographic regions, solidifying its position as a regional legal authority.
• Improved Local Rankings: We witnessed a substantial rise in local search rankings, attaining prominent positions for key lawsuit-related terms in the target areas.

You can see below how the law firm’s priority keyword rankings improved in Google’s search results pages. Keywords ranking in positions 1-3 experienced a more than +300% increase in rankings. Keywords ranking in positions 4-10 also increased +150%.



• Client Engagement and Conversion: The strategy not only increased visibility but also attracted a higher volume of qualified leads. The law firm successfully converted these leads into clients, showcasing the effectiveness of the geo-targeted approach.

This SEO success story underscores our client’s strategic foray into geo-targeted lawsuits, demonstrating how a tailored SEO strategy, including a local keyword approach, can elevate a law firm’s presence and impact within specific regions.

SEO for Lawyers FAQs

What is SEO, and why is it important for my law firm?

Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is crucial for law firms as it improves online visibility, ensuring that your legal services are easily discoverable by those searching online. With the majority of clients turning to search engines for legal representation, a robust SEO strategy helps law firms stand out, attract potential clients, and establish authority in the legal domain.

Should law firms use SEO?

Yes, law firms should definitely consider implementing an SEO strategy. Potential clients often turn to search engines when seeking legal services. SEO helps law firms improve their online visibility, making it easier for individuals in need of legal assistance to find them. By investing in SEO, law firms can enhance their digital presence, attract targeted traffic, and stay competitive in the increasingly digital legal landscape.

How can SEO help my law firm?

SEO is instrumental in boosting the visibility of law firms, attracting potential clients actively searching for legal services. It contributes to building credibility and trust among online users, offering a competitive advantage in a crowded legal market. By aligning with user behavior and search patterns, SEO provides a cost-effective and sustainable marketing strategy for long-term growth.

How can I find the right keywords for my law firm website?

Identifying relevant keywords for your law firm can be done using tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, or Ahrefs. Additionally, studying the content of competitor websites, identifying potential content gaps, and leveraging your legal industry knowledge can help uncover the most impactful keywords for your SEO strategy.

Why is content important for law firm SEO?

High-quality, informative content is critical for law firm SEO. It not only attracts and engages your target audience but also helps establish your law firm as an authority in legal matters. Content plays a key role in improving search engine rankings and ensuring that your law firm is prominently featured when potential clients search for legal services.

Are backlinks important for law firm SEO?

Absolutely. Backlinks, or links from other reputable websites to your law firm’s site, act as a vote of confidence in your legal content. They signal to search engines the credibility and authority of your law firm, positively impacting your SEO and online reputation.

How can I optimize my law firm website for local SEO?

Optimizing your law firm website for local SEO is crucial for attracting clients in your local area. Ensure your business is listed on Google My Business, incorporates localized keywords, and encourages client reviews. These strategies enhance your law firm’s local search visibility, making it more accessible to potential clients nearby.

Are long-tail keywords important for niche law practices?

Yes, long-tail keywords are particularly important for niche law practices. These specific and longer phrases cater to a specialized audience, ensuring that your law firm attracts highly targeted traffic looking for specialized legal services. Utilizing long-tail keywords can enhance the visibility of niche law practices in search engine results.

How long does it take to see results from SEO efforts for a law firm?

The timeline for seeing results from SEO efforts for a law firm can vary based on factors such as competition in your legal niche and the strategies implemented. Typically, it takes several months to see significant improvements in search engine rankings. Patience and consistent efforts are key to realizing the long-term benefits of SEO for law firms.

Can law firms handle SEO in-house, or is it advisable to hire professionals?

While some law firms may choose to handle SEO in-house, many find value in hiring professional SEO agencies. SEO experts bring specialized knowledge, experience, and tools to navigate the intricacies of the legal industry’s online competition, ensuring a more effective and strategic approach to digital marketing.

How can law firms measure the success of their SEO efforts?

Measuring the success of SEO efforts involves tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) such as website traffic, keyword rankings, conversion rates, and online visibility. Analytics tools like Google Analytics and Search Console provide valuable insights into the performance of your law firm’s SEO strategies.

What role does social media play in law firm SEO?

While social media itself doesn’t directly impact traditional SEO rankings, it can contribute to your law firm’s online presence. Sharing legal insights, engaging with clients, and promoting your content on social platforms can enhance brand visibility, drive traffic, and indirectly support SEO efforts. Learn more about how Go Fish Digital can help boost your law firm marketing strategy through social media management.

Can law firms benefit from paid advertising alongside SEO efforts?

Yes, law firms can complement their SEO efforts with paid advertising, such as Google Ads. While SEO provides long-term organic growth, paid advertising can offer immediate visibility. Integrating both strategies creates a well-rounded digital marketing approach for law firms aiming to maximize online reach. Interested in PPC (pay per click) for Law Firms? Learn more about how you can leverage Google Ads and expedite the number of leads you receive.

Unleash the Power of SEO for Your Law Firm

Take your law firm to new heights by leveraging the full potential of SEO. In the highly competitive legal landscape, where online visibility is key, embracing SEO is a strategic imperative. Our comprehensive guide dives deep into proven strategies, best practices, and expert insights tailored for law firms. Whether you specialize in personal injury law, corporate litigation, or family law, SEO is your indispensable ally. Embark on this transformative journey with us, and let’s elevate your law firm’s digital presence together.

Ready to take the first step? Reach out to Go Fish Digital for customized SEO solutions or request a proposal to unlock the full potential of your law firm today!

An Ultimate Guide to Mastering SEO for Law Firms is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

Join us on a journey where we’ll explore the strategies, techniques, and insider tips that will not only elevate your online presence but also drive your brand’s success to new heights. Get ready to discover how SEO can be your beauty business’s secret weapon! 

What Is Beauty SEO?

Beauty SEO is optimizing your online presence to make your beauty business more visible to those seeking beauty products, services, and expertise. SEO for the beauty industry is about strategically aligning your website, content, and digital marketing efforts with search engine algorithms to connect with your target audience effectively. By selecting the right beauty keywords and crafting compelling content, beauty SEO not only enhances your online ranking but also elevates your brand’s digital allure, ultimately leading more potential clients to your beauty business.

How Competitive Is the Beauty Industry?

The beauty industry is a dynamic and highly competitive market, consistently generating over $100 billion in annual revenue globally. Its ever-evolving nature is driven by rapidly changing consumer preferences, emerging trends, and innovative products.

Interest in beauty marketing has also recently taken off, climbing the charts of Google Trends over the years, and skyrocketing to an all-time high in interest around October 2023.

In such a fiercely competitive landscape, businesses must adapt to stay ahead. One crucial strategy for gaining a competitive edge is the effective use of SEO. With an increasing number of consumers turning to online platforms to research and purchase beauty products, having robust SEO strategies in place can significantly enhance a beauty company’s visibility, attracting more potential customers and improving its overall market position. In a world where trends and preferences shift quickly, SEO offers beauty businesses a powerful tool to maintain their relevance and thrive in this competitive environment.

What Are the Benefits of Using SEO in the Beauty Industry?

In the beauty industry, your digital presence is your gateway to success. Beauty industry SEO holds the key to unlocking the remarkable advantages that can transform your beauty business. From heightened visibility to cost-effective strategies, and from establishing brand authority to expanding your reach, here are some of the remarkable benefits of having a beauty industry SEO strategy for your beauty business.

Increased Online Visibility

Increased online visibility is one of the primary benefits of implementing beauty industry SEO. When your beauty business appears on the first page of search engine results like Google, potential customers are more likely to discover your products or services. This enhanced visibility can significantly boost your brand’s reach and influence.

Targeted Audience Engagement

SEO allows you to engage with a highly targeted audience interested in beauty-related topics. By optimizing your content for relevant beauty keywords, you can attract visitors who are more likely to convert into customers, creating a loyal following for your beauty business.

Cost-Effective Marketing

Having a beauty SEO strategy in place is a cost-effective alternative to traditional advertising. It offers a high return on investment (ROI) as it brings organic traffic to your website, reducing the need for potentially expensive paid ads. This cost-efficiency is especially valuable for beauty businesses operating on a budget.

Building Brand Authority

SEO can help your beauty business build brand authority within its industry. A strong online presence establishes your beauty brand as a trusted authority. When potential customers see your brand as a credible source of beauty information, they’re more likely to choose your products or services over competitors.

Local SEO for Beauty Salons and Studios

Local SEO is crucial for beauty salons and studios with physical locations. It ensures your business appears in local search results, driving foot traffic through your doors. By optimizing for location-specific beauty keywords and maintaining accurate business listings, you can attract nearby clients effectively.

Expanding Your Online Store Presence

For e-commerce beauty businesses, SEO is a key driver of growth. It helps you reach a broader customer base, increase online sales, and extend your beauty products to a wider market. Effective SEO strategies are essential for the success of online beauty retailers.

Measurable Results and Analytics

Having an SEO strategy for your beauty business offers the advantage of measurable results. With tools like Google Analytics, you can track the performance of your SEO efforts. This data-driven approach allows you to make informed decisions, refine your strategies, and continuously improve your online presence.

Staying Competitive in the Beauty Industry

In the competitive beauty industry, staying visible and relevant is crucial. SEO for the beauty industry ensures that your business remains competitive by keeping up with industry trends, adapting to algorithm changes, and consistently reaching your target audience.

Establishing Long-Term Success

SEO for beauty brands isn’t just about short-term gains. A well-executed SEO strategy can lead to long-term success. By consistently implementing SEO best practices, your beauty business can enjoy sustainable growth and maintain its position in the industry.

SEO Fundamentals for Beauty Businesses

In the fiercely competitive beauty industry, staying at the forefront of your customers’ minds and search engine results is essential for success. Implementing the following SEO fundamentals can be the key to unlocking your beauty brand’s full potential. An effective SEO strategy for beauty brands typically consists of keyword optimization, content creation, backlink building, and local SEO techniques. These elements work in synergy to improve your website’s visibility, drive more organic traffic, and ultimately, lead to higher conversion rates. By delving into these SEO fundamentals, you’ll be better equipped to outshine your competitors and make your beauty brand stand out in the digital beauty landscape.

The Power of Keywords

Keywords are the cornerstone of SEO. They are the words and phrases that potential customers use to search for beauty products and services online. By strategically incorporating these keywords into your website content, you can make it easier for search engines like Google to understand what your business is about and rank your website higher in search results. The power of keywords lies in their ability to connect your business with your target audience.

Here are some popular beauty industry keywords that can help you get started with your SEO efforts:

• Skin care products
• Haircare tips
• Makeup tutorials
• Anti-aging skincare
• Natural beauty products
• Best hair salons
• Nail art ideas
• Lipstick shades
• Eyebrow shaping
• Beauty influencers

For niche beauty businesses, long-tail keywords are particularly valuable. These are more specific and longer phrases that cater to a specialized audience. For example, if your business specializes in organic skincare for sensitive skin, a long-tail keyword could be “organic skincare for sensitive skin.” These keywords may have lower search volume, but they often have higher conversion rates as they attract users looking for precisely what you offer. In a competitive industry like beauty, long-tail keywords can help you carve out a niche and connect with a highly targeted audience.

Understanding the nuances of keyword research and effectively implementing them on your website is a fundamental aspect of SEO success in the beauty industry. It’s the first step towards gaining a competitive edge and ensuring that your beauty business gets noticed in the digital landscape.

On-Page SEO for Beauty Brands

On-page SEO is a critical aspect of any beauty brand’s digital marketing strategy. It involves optimizing various elements of your website to improve its search engine rankings and enhance the user experience.

Here are some essential on-page SEO techniques that will help you excel in the beauty industry:

Meta Tags

Meta tags, including the title tag and meta description, play a crucial role in attracting visitors to your beauty website. Be sure to craft compelling titles and descriptions that incorporate relevant keywords. These tags provide a sneak peek into what your content offers and can significantly impact click-through rates.

Content Optimization

High-quality, informative content is the lifeblood of your beauty brand’s online presence. Ensure your beauty articles, tutorials, and product descriptions are not only engaging but also optimized with beauty-related keywords. This helps search engines understand the relevance of your content to user queries. For example, if you’re writing about “skincare routines,” use this keyword strategically throughout the content.

Image Optimization

Images are essential in the beauty industry, but they can also affect your website’s loading speed if not optimized correctly. Compress and resize beauty images to reduce load times, and don’t forget to use descriptive file names and alt text that contain beauty-related keywords. Optimizing your images for SEO not only improves the user experience but also makes your site more search-engine-friendly.

URL Structure

Ensure that your URLs are clean and structured logically, incorporating keywords when possible. For example, a clean URL for a beauty article could look like this: “www.yourbeautybrand.com/skincare-tips-for-glowing-skin.”

Internal Linking

Utilize internal links to connect related beauty content within your website. This not only guides users to explore more of your content but also helps search engines index your pages more effectively.

By implementing these on-page SEO techniques, your beauty brand can improve its visibility in search results, attract more beauty enthusiasts, and ultimately excel in the highly competitive beauty industry.

Off-Page SEO Strategies for Beauty Brands

Off-page SEO is an essential facet of enhancing your beauty brand’s online presence and authority beyond the elements on your website. This approach focuses on activities and strategies conducted outside your website to build credibility and recognition. By emphasizing backlinks, social signals, influencer marketing, and local SEO, you can make a significant impact on your brand’s success in the beauty industry. These off-page SEO techniques not only increase your brand’s visibility but also boost your reputation in the highly competitive world of beauty.

Backlinks and Social Signals

Backlinks, or external links from other reputable websites to your beauty brand’s site, are essential for search engine credibility. They act as a vote of confidence in your content. In addition, social signals, such as likes, shares, and comments on your beauty-related posts, help boost your brand’s online visibility and engagement.

Influencer Marketing

Collaborating with beauty influencers can be a game-changer for your brand. Influencers have the power to reach and influence a large and dedicated audience in the beauty industry. Leveraging their popularity and credibility can lead to more backlinks, increased social signals, and heightened brand recognition.

Local SEO

For beauty salons, barber shops, tattoo studios, etc., local SEO is crucial. Optimize your Google My Business profile, include local keywords, and encourage customer reviews. This will help your physical business rank higher in local search results and attract potential clients looking for beauty services in your area.

By incorporating these off-page SEO strategies, your beauty brand can build a strong online presence, gain credibility, and establish itself as a reputable source in the beauty industry.

Technical SEO for Beauty Websites

Technical SEO is the foundation that ensures your beauty website is well-optimized for search engines and addresses factors like website speed, mobile-friendliness, site structure, and schema markup. You can enhance your brand’s online visibility and user experience with a fleshed-out technical SEO strategy.

Website Speed and Mobile-Friendliness

In the fast-paced digital world, website speed and mobile-friendliness are paramount. A slow-loading site can deter users and negatively impact your search engine rankings. Ensure your beauty website is optimized for mobile devices and runs efficiently to keep users engaged and satisfied.

Site Structure

A well-organized site structure helps search engines index your content effectively. Ensure that your beauty articles, products, and services are easily navigable and logically categorized. This not only benefits SEO but also enhances the user experience.

Schema Markup for Products and Services

Schema markup is a code that you can add to your website to provide search engines with more context about your brand’s products and services. This can result in rich search results, also known as “rich snippets,” which can attract more attention and clicks from users searching for beauty-related information.

By focusing on technical SEO, your beauty brand can ensure that your website is user-friendly and search-engine-friendly, ultimately leading to better search engine rankings and increased visibility. Incorporate these technical aspects into your SEO strategy, and you’ll be well on your way to excelling in the competitive beauty industry.

Types of Beauty Businesses We Help

• • Salons and Spas: We can help hair salons, beauty salons, day spas, and wellness centers attract and retain clients through digital marketing, social media, and local advertising.
  • Skincare Brands: Skincare companies often need assistance with product launches, branding, influencer partnerships, and e-commerce strategies.
  • Cosmetics and Makeup Brands: Makeup brands can benefit from marketing to promote their products through influencer marketing, content creation, and e-commerce optimization.
  • Haircare Brands: We can assist haircare brands in promoting products, running advertising campaigns, and improving their online presence.
  • Nail Salons and Nail Care Brands: Nail salons and nail care brands can utilize our marketing solutions for branding, social media marketing, and local SEO.
  • Barber Shops: Barber shops can improve their local visibility and customer retention through marketing strategies like Google My Business optimization and social media.
  • Wellness and Fitness Centers: Businesses offering fitness and wellness services often require marketing assistance to attract clients, promote classes, and enhance their online presence.
  • Medical Spas and Aesthetic Clinics: Medical spas and aesthetic clinics can utilize marketing services for branding, reputation management, and SEO to attract clients seeking cosmetic treatments.
  • Beauty Schools and Training Centers: We can help beauty schools attract students and promote their courses and programs.
  • Beauty E-commerce Retailers: Online retailers selling beauty products may need help with e-commerce optimization, content marketing, and advertising.
  • Beauty Influencers and Bloggers: Individual beauty influencers and bloggers often collaborate with marketing agencies to manage partnerships, brand deals, and content creation.
  • Tattoo Studios and Artists: Tattoo studios can benefit from marketing solutions for local SEO, social media marketing, and reputation management.
  • Permanent Makeup Artists: Permanent makeup artists may require assistance with branding, online booking systems, and local advertising.
  • Spa and Beauty Equipment Manufacturers: Companies that produce beauty equipment may need marketing support for product launches, B2B marketing, and brand awareness.
  • Fragrance and Perfume Brands: Perfume and fragrance brands can utilize marketing agencies for product launches, e-commerce optimization, and influencer collaborations.
  • Beauty Event Organizers: We can help promote beauty events, trade shows, and expos to attract attendees, exhibitors, and sponsors.
  • Beauty Subscription Box Services: Subscription box services can benefit from marketing agencies like Go Fish Digital to attract subscribers and promote their unique offerings.
  • Beauty and Cosmetology Associations: Associations within the beauty industry may need marketing support to engage members, promote events, and advocate for the industry.
  • Beauty Product Packaging and Design Companies: Companies involved in packaging and design for beauty products can use marketing solutions for branding and B2B marketing.
  • Beauty and Wellness App Developers: Developers of beauty and wellness apps may require marketing assistance to acquire users and promote their mobile applications.

• Case Studies

  Award-Winning, International Beauty Brand’s Remarkable Organic Traffic Growth

  The Goal

  In 2019, an internationally renowned beauty brand, primarily reliant on influencer marketing for growth, approached Go Fish Digital with ambitious objectives. They aimed to diversify their growth strategies, focusing on SEO and brand building through quality backlinks. Their overarching goal was to harness organic traffic growth and, ultimately, drive substantial increases in product sales.

  The Strategy

  Go Fish Digital devised a comprehensive strategy to transform the beauty brand’s online presence. The key elements of the strategy included:

  • SEO Optimization: An in-depth SEO audit and optimization process was implemented to enhance the brand’s website structure, content quality, and technical SEO aspects.
  • Content Creation: Engaging and informative content creation, catering to the beauty industry, was prioritized. This aimed to appeal to a broader audience while improving the brand’s relevance in search engine results.
  • Link Building: A robust link-building strategy was designed to improve the brand’s backlink profile, ensuring high-quality and authoritative links from reputable sources.

  The Results

  The outcomes of the collaborative efforts were nothing short of extraordinary:

  The beauty brand witnessed a meteoric rise in organic traffic, catapulting from around 20,000 organic sessions per month in 2019 to an astounding average of 120,000 organic sessions each month in 2023, reflecting an impressive +500% increase. This remarkable growth highlighted the effectiveness of the SEO and content strategies.

  Organic ranking keywords surged from around 17,510 in 2019 to a staggering 124,000 ranking organic keywords in 2023, demonstrating a substantial +610% increase. This underscored the brand’s remarkable increase in visibility and relevance in search engine results.

  Total referring domains also increased significantly, rising from 238 in 2019 to an impressive 671 in October of 2023, marking a remarkable +181% increase. This substantial growth in backlinks further solidified the brand’s online authority and reach.
  

  These exceptional results underscored the successful transformation of the beauty brand’s growth strategy. By diversifying into SEO, brand building through backlinks, and organic traffic expansion, the brand not only met but exceeded its goals. Moreover, this remarkable growth translated into significant increases in product sales, showcasing the immense potential of a holistic digital marketing approach.

  Cosmetic Dental Practice Achieves Impressive Growth in Paid Conversions & Organic Traffic

  The Goal

  A family dentistry clinic, based in Westminster, MD, had a clear vision to enhance its online visibility and expand its reach within the local community. This included promoting specialized services like Dental Implants and Sedation Dentistry. Despite being geographically located away from their primary target area, they were determined to improve their digital presence. To achieve these objectives, the dental practice partnered with Go Fish Digital, aiming to strengthen its SEO foundation and initiate effective paid advertising campaigns.

  The Strategy

  Go Fish Digital designed a comprehensive strategy to boost new patient sign-ups. The objectives encompassed creating and managing Google Ads campaigns to target specific practice areas, executing localized paid advertising, optimizing on-page content for service landing pages, addressing technical SEO issues, and more.

  The Results

  The meticulous execution of the digital marketing strategy resulted in remarkable improvements for the dental practice. These included a substantial +172% increase in phone call conversions, a 72% reduction in the cost per conversion through refinements in search ad campaigns, and an astonishing +314% surge in organic traffic. This multi-pronged approach, combining SEO and paid advertising, effectively elevated the dental practice’s online presence, leading to increased conversions and heightened site traffic from multiple channels. This case study exemplifies the tangible benefits of a well-executed online marketing strategy for businesses aiming to excel in the digital landscape.

  To explore and read more about this success story, click here.

  Beauty Business SEO FAQs

  Should beauty business owners use SEO?

  Yes, beauty business owners should consider implementing an SEO strategy for their business. It’s important for beauty business owners to approach SEO as part of their overall marketing strategy. Whether you’re a spa, salon, skincare brand, or other beauty-related business, investing in SEO can contribute to the success and growth of your business in the digital landscape.

  Can SEO help my beauty brand?

  Yes! SEO boosts beauty brand visibility, attracts targeted traffic, and builds credibility, providing a competitive advantage and ensuring discovery by consumers actively searching for beauty products or services. It offers long-term growth and cost-effective marketing aligned with user behavior.

  What is SEO, and why is it important for my beauty business?

  Search Engine Optimization is essential for your beauty business because it helps improve your online visibility, making it easier for potential customers to find your products or services when they search online. Learn more about why SEO is important and how you can use it to drive your beauty brand further.

  How can I find the right keywords for my beauty website?

  Keyword research tools like Google Keyword Planner, SEMrush, and Ahrefs can help you identify relevant keywords. You can also look at competitor websites and use your industry knowledge.

  Why is content important for beauty SEO?

  High-quality, informative content is crucial for SEO, especially for beauty brands. It helps you attract and engage your target audience, establish authority in the beauty industry, and improve your search engine rankings.

  Are backlinks important for beauty SEO?

  Yes, backlinks are important for SEO in the beauty industry, as they are in many other industries. Backlinks are links from other websites to your website. They serve as a signal to search engines about the credibility and authority of your site.

  How can I optimize my beauty website for local SEO?

  Optimizing your beauty website for local SEO is crucial for attracting customers in your local area. Ensure your business is listed on Google My Business, use localized keywords, and encourage customer reviews. These strategies can enhance your local search visibility.

  Are long-tail keywords important for niche beauty businesses?

  Yes, long-tail keywords can be particularly important for niche beauty businesses. Long-tail keywords are specific and longer phrases that cater to a specialized audience. They are essential for niche beauty businesses because they attract highly targeted traffic looking for specific products or services.

  How long does it take to see results from SEO efforts for a beauty business?

  The timeline for seeing results from SEO efforts for a beauty business can vary based on several factors. Typically it takes several months to see significant improvements. The timeline depends on the competitiveness of your niche and the strategies implemented.

  Unlock the Potential of Your Beauty Business with SEO

  Elevate your beauty brand to new heights by harnessing the power of SEO. In the dynamic world of the beauty industry, where competition is fierce, and trends evolve rapidly, staying ahead is paramount. Our comprehensive guide delves into the strategies, techniques, and insider tips that will not only enhance your online presence but also drive your brand’s success. Whether you’re running a salon, selling skincare products, or offering makeup tutorials, SEO is your secret weapon. Join us on this journey, and let’s transform your beauty business together. Ready to get started? Contact Go Fish Digital for tailored SEO services or request a proposal to unlock the full potential of your beauty brand today!

Grow Your Beauty Business with SEO is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

It looks like when Google Gets into Brands; It does it in a big way – trying to identify all the Brands it can

This patent relates to determining measures of brand penetration over geographic regions. The patent is about a brand penetration determination system and methods to generate indices based on many brand detections from many geo-located images and corresponding locations within various partitioned sub-regions.

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Image content analysis engines were developing and deployed to detect many objects and entities. Data obtained from these engines can get processed for later retrieval and analysis, spanning many applications and carrying a heavy computational load. As such, more technology gets needed to provide valuable data associated with analyzed images and related content while minimizing costs of storing such data, including, for example, the amount of computer memory required to keep such data.

The Advantages of The Brand Penetration Patent

This brand Penetration patent:

1. Determines brand penetration across a geographic area. It includes splitting, by computers, a geographic area into two or more sub-regions
2. Decides from images captured at sites within each sub-region, many detections of a brand within each respective sub-region
3. Generates a brand penetration index for each sub-region by the computers. The brand penetration index is based on the number of detections in the respective sub-region
4. Stores the brand penetration index for each sub-region in memory in association with an indicator of the respective sub-region
5. Includes a geographic sub-region determination system configured to partition a geographic area into two or more sub-regions
6. It contains an image content analysis engine configured to determine, from images captured at sites within each sub-region, many detections of a brand within each respective sub-region

The Brand Penetration Index

The brand penetration index is based on the number of detections in the respective sub-region weighted by a population factor based on a population within the sub-region or a category factor based on a category of goods associated with the brand.

The geographic sub-region determination system can tell, in splitting the geographic area into two or more sub-regions, the number of sub-regions and boundaries of each sub-region to ensure that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold.

The computer also includes tangible, computer-readable media configured to store the brand penetration index for each sub-region associated with an indicator of the respective sub-region.

The operations also include:

• Splitting a geographic area into two or more sub-regions
• Determining from images captured at sites within each sub-region, many detections of a brand within each respective sub-region
• Generating a brand penetration index for each sub-region – based on the number of detections of the brand in the respective sub-region
• Storing the brand penetration index for each sub-region in memory that is associated with an indicator of the respective sub-region
• Deciding on an electronic content item associated with the brand based at least in part on the brand penetration index for a given sub-region of the two or more sub-regions. That electronic content item gets configured for delivery to and displays on an electric device associated with the given sub-region

The Brand Penetration patent is at:

Brand penetration determination system using image semantic content
Inventors: Yan Mayster, Brian Edmond Brewington, and Rick Inoue
Assignee: Google LLC (Mountain View, CA)
US Patent: 11,107,099
Granted: August 31, 2021
ed: July 12, 2019

Abstract

Example embodiments of the disclosed technology install a brand penetration determination system using image semantic content. A geographic sub-region determination system gets configured to partition a geographic area into two or more sub-regions.

An image content analysis engine gets configured to determine, from images captured at sites within each sub-region, many detections of a brand within each respective sub-region.

A brand penetration index generation system becomes configured to generate a brand penetration index for each sub-region based on the number of detections of the brand in the respective sub-region weighted by factors (e.g., population factor, category factor, etc.), which becomes stored in memory with an indicator of each respective sub-region.

In splitting the geographic area into two or more sub-regions, the number and boundaries of sub-regions get determined to ensure that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold.

Google May Use An Image Content Analysis Model to Detect a Brand

How might Google decide whether there is a brand associated with a geographic region?

1. It can use an image content analysis model to determine brand detections from many geo-located images
2. Brand penetration indices and related measures can then become generated based on brand detections and corresponding partitioned locations.
3. A brand penetration determination system can get configured to determine a distribution of two or more discretized sub-regions within a geographic region.
4. An associated measure of brand penetration can get determined. Sub-region numbers and boundaries can become committed to ensure that a population within each sub-region is above a threshold.

Why Population is above Thresholds for Sub-Regions

By ensuring that the population of each sub-region is above that threshold, a computational burden imposed in storing statistically relevant brand indices for each sub-region gets reduced. Besides, by ensuring that only brand indices for sub-regions having a statistically significant number of inhabitants get stored, the disclosed systems and method can provide valuable data associated with an imagery corpus while simultaneously minimizing the costs of holding that data in memory.

This technology can allow a user to make an election when systems, programs, or features described herein may enable the collection of user information. That is specific information about a user’s current location, social network, social actions or activities, profession, a user’s preferences, or other user-specific features. It also covers images from computers associated with a user and controls data indicating whether a user gets sent the content or communications from a server.

Personally Identifiable Information

Besides, specific data may become treated in ways before it becomes stored or used to remove personally identifiable information. For example, a user’s identity may get treated so that no personally identifiable information can get determined for the user, or a user’s geographic location may become generalized where location information gets obtained (such as a city, ZIP code, or state level) so that a particular area of a user cannot get determined.

Thus, the user may control what information gets collected, how that information is used, and what information is provided. In other examples, images and content determined from such photos under the disclosed techniques can become treated to ensure that personally identifiable information such as images of people, street names and numbers of residences, and other personal information gets removed.

Determining A Measure Of Brand Penetration Across A Geographic Region

A computer comprising processors can help install aspects of the technology, including a brand penetration determination system. In general, the brand penetration determination system can get configured to determine a measure of brand penetration across a geographic region. The brand penetration determination system can include:

• • A geographic sub-region determination system
  • An image content analysis engine
  • A brand penetration index generation system

How A Geographic Sub-Region Determination System Works

A geographic sub-region determination system can split a geographic area into sub-regions.

Sub-regions can correspond, for example, to discretized cells within the geographic region that can have predetermined or dynamically determined sizes and boundaries based on desired measures of brand penetration.

The brand penetration determination system can become configured to divide the geographic area into two or more sub-regions, each sub-region boundaries according to particular cell size and a particular geographic partitioning.

For example, partitioning a geographic area into sub-regions could correspond to implementing a grid imposed over the geographic area.

Each cell in the grid can become characterized by a given shape, and these can include a square, rectangle, circle, pentagon, hexagon, or another polygon.

The Dimensions can characterize each grid cell. They can look at a width, length, height, and diameter dimension. They can also have a predetermined or dynamically determined distance. That can become a value measured in meters, kilometers, miles, or another suitable variable. Or it can become a grid of cells corresponding to respective sub-regions that can become uniform in size, while the cells can vary in size in other embodiments.

Configuring the Geographic Sub-Region Determination System

The geographic sub-region determination system can get configured to determine, in splitting the geographic area into two or more sub-regions, the number of sub-regions and the boundaries of each sub-region to ensure that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold.

When sub-region boundaries are uniform in size (e.g., as in the form of a uniform grid of cells) or when they become predetermined in size (e.g., corresponding to predetermined geographic partitions such as those corresponding to zip codes, neighborhood boundaries, town/district boundaries, state boundaries, country boundaries, etc.), the number of sub-regions can get reduced by excluding sub-regions whose population does not exceed the threshold.

The population here can correspond to many people within a given geographic area, such as census data or other predefined databases associated with a geographic area.

In this example, when ensuring that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold, the geographic sub-region determination system can determine the number and boundaries of each sub-region.

Each sub-region has a population defined by a threshold corresponding to a number (x) of people in each sub-region.

Why Have A Geographic Sub-Region Determination System?

Referring to the geographic sub-region determination system, the population described can correspond to a determined number of goods associated with people in a given geographic area, such as many homes, vehicles, businesses, electronic devices, or particular categories or subsets such goods.

When ensuring that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold, the geographic sub-region determination system can determine the number and boundaries of each sub-region such that each sub-region has a people defined by a threshold corresponding to a number (y) of goods (e.g., homes, vehicles, businesses, electronic devices, etc.) in each sub-region.

The population as described here can correspond to a determined number of images obtained for sites within a particular geographic area and many detections of goods, entities, or the like within such images. In this example, when ensuring that the population within each sub-region is above a threshold, the geographic sub-region determination system can determine the number and boundaries of each sub-region such that each sub-region has a people defined by a threshold corresponding to a number (z) of images and detected objects within the photos in each sub-region.

By partitioning a geographic area into sub-regions, the size of sub-regions is dynamically determined based on population density (or corresponding density of brand detections), the likelihood of including cells corresponding to sub-regions having little to no population brand detections gets reduced.

This gets accomplished at least in part by avoiding a scenario in which many sub-regions have associated brand indices but where each sub-region has such a small number of inhabitants that the data from those sub-regions are not statistically relevant.

Similarly, the size of cells within sub-regions with a more significant number of brand detections can become determined to help ensure an appropriate size to maintain distinctions within a distribution level of brand detections.

This can help ensure that meaningful brand penetration measures can get determined for a geographic area. As such, cell size can vary based on different regions. For example, cell size can get smaller in urban locations and progressively larger when transitioning from urban areas into suburban areas and rural areas.

An image content analysis engine can become configured to determine from images captured at sites within each sub-regions and many detections of a brand within each respective sub-region. The images captured at sites can include a substantially extensive collection of photos. The collection of images can have gotten captured at locations within each sub-region by a camera operating at street level.

For example, the camera operating at street level can become mounted on a vehicle and configured to collect images while the car is traversing street locations within a geographic region.

The collection of images can include, for example, many different photographic images and sequence(s) of images from a video. Such photos get geotagged with geographic identifiers descriptive of a geographic location associated with the camera when it captured each image.

The image content analysis engine can store, include or access machine-learned image content analysis models. For example, the image content analysis models can otherwise include various machine-learned models such as neural networks (e.g., feed-forward, recurrent, and convolutional, neural, etc.) or other multi-layer non-linear models regression-based models, or the like.

The Machine-Learned Image Content Analysis Model(s) Can Detect Text and Logos Associated With A Brand

The machine-learned image content analysis model(s) can:

• • • Detect text and logos associated with a brand within each image of a collection of images related to the geographic area
    • Install a text transcription identification and a logo matching title. For example, text transcription and symbols can get compared to text and logo options identified in a predetermined dataset of text transcription and logo options (e.g., names of text and symbols associated with a particular type of label (e.g., terms of vehicle makes))
    • The brand can get associated with a particular category of goods (e.g., vehicles, business entity types, vendor payment types, apparel, shoes, etc.). More particularly, in some examples, the image content analysis engine can get configured to determine each brand detection from the images captured at the one site from an entity storefront appearing within the images.

Brand Detection In Entity Storefront Examples

This section reminded me of storefront Images from Streetview Cameras.

The patent tells us that Brand detection in entity storefront examples can include but are not limited to a brand name associated with the entity itself. It then provides examples such as:

• • • Types of fast food stores
    • Convenience stores
    • Gas stations
    • Grocery stores
    • Pharmacies
    • Other types of business entities.

It can also look for vendor payment types associated with the entity (e.g., detecting names and logos indicating that the entity will accept payment from respective credit card companies or the like).

Other Sources of Brand Detection

Vehicles – the image content analysis engine can determine the brand from the images captured at the sites from a car in the pictures.
BillBoards – the image content analysis engine can determine the brand from the images captured at sites from billboard(s) in the pictures.

Appreciate that the subject systems and methods applied to many other examples of images and brands while remaining within the spirit and scope of the disclosed technology.

Referring to example aspects of an image content analysis engine, the machine-learned image content analysis model can get configured to receive each image in the collection of images as input to the machine-learned image content analysis model. The machine-learned image content analysis model can get configured to generate output data associated with detections of brands appearing within the images in response to the collection of pictures. For example, the machine-learned content analysis model can get configured to generate a bounding box associated with each detected brand. Output data can also include labels associated with each detected brand. Each title provides a semantic tag associated with some aspect of the brand. These can be the brand name and goods associated with a brand.

A vehicle within an image, labels associated with the vehicle could include a vehicle model label (e.g., Camry), a car make the label (e.g., Toyota), a vehicle class label (e.g., sedan), a vehicle color label (e.g., white), or other identifiers.

The output data can also include a confidence score descriptive of a probability that the detected brand is correctly detected within that bounding box. Such output data can become aggregated over the collection of images to determine a count descriptive of the number of detections of the brand within the geographic region or within specific sub-regions.

Detections of Brands in Different Sub-Regions

Advertisements appear in many places, and products often have logos identifying them. This patent tells us that it is actively looking for those.

A brand penetration index generation system can become configured to generate a brand penetration index for each sub-region. The brand penetration index gets based on the number of detections of the brand in the respective sub-region. A count descriptive of the number of detections of the brand can be weighted by factors including but not limited to: a population factor based on a population within the sub-region; a category factor based on a category of goods associated with the brand; a source factor based on several source locations for a brand within a sub-region, such as dealerships or stores, etc.

Brand Capacity and Brand Saturation

Brand capacity is the total number of all brands detected in an area or an unlimited number of possible detections based on population within an area).

Brand saturation is an amount or index of detections of similar brands in the area).

This brand penetration index can become determined as representing brand prominence in a particular category. This means, for example, the number of detections of the vehicle make/model in a category such as sedans, luxury cars, all cars.

Refining Detections in the Brand Penetration Index

The brand penetration index generation system can become configured to refine detections by de-duplicating multiple detections associated with a distinct geographic location.

That refining process can help increase accuracy and usefulness within the disclosed techniques while making the disclosed systems and methods more immune to potential disparities and differences associated with a large imagery corpus for determining brand detections.

For example, refining can help reduce potential bias in some portions of a geographic area being more prominent than others.

Potential Disparities of Brand Detections

Potential disparities of brand detections can arise because of:

• • • Differences in the total number of images available at different locations. Such as images affected by the speed of the operator, vehicle or human, that took the photos
    • Inconsistencies in the times, circumstances, and weather patterns existing when images become taken
    • The visibility viewshed of each brand object

The patent tells us that these problems can become consistently solved by:

• • • Refining brand detection data using knowledge of the operator/vehicle routes
    • When the images got taken
    • Geolocation and pose information from each image
    • The detection box within an image for each detection

Then, it becomes possible to de-duplicate the obtained detections. Each detection box can become associated with a well-defined real-world location, and the number of distinct locations associated with detections within a sub-region can get counted.

Problems with Some Brand Occurrences

Another possible concern about some brand occurrences, especially for vehicles, is that they may not necessarily get associated with the people living in a given geographic area.

This is not expected to become a significant source of error as most travel is local and should dominate the corpus of obtained imagery detections.

But, in some scenarios, it may become desirable to include all detections, whether based on people/homes/vehicles/etc. that are local to the area or simply traveling through it.

Storing The Brand Penetration Index And Tracking Changes Over Time

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, the computer can become configured to store the brand penetration index generated for each sub-region in a regional brand penetration database. The regional brand penetration database can correspond, for example, to a memory including tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable media, or other suitable computer program product(s). The brand penetration index for each sub-region can get stored in the regional brand penetration database associated with an indicator of the respective sub-region. The brand penetration indices for a plurality of sub-regions can become ordered within the brand penetration database. The sub-regions or corresponding indices get stored in a manner indicating the most dominated to least dominated sub-regions (or vice versa) to measures of brand penetration.

The brand penetration index generation system can track how index values stored within the regional brand penetration system database change over time. For example, the brand penetration index generation system can get configured to determine a shift factor indicative of dynamic shifts in each sub-regions brand penetration index over time periods.

The system can get configured to generate flags, notifications, and automated system adjustments when a determined shift factor exceeds predetermined threshold levels. These shift factors and associated notifications can become used to help identify successful brand penetration or areas in which more targeted brand penetration gets desired.

A Targeted Advertisement System Coupled With the Regional Brand Penetration Database

The computer can also include a targeted advertisement system coupled with the regional brand penetration database and an electronic content database.

This targeted advertisement system can become configured to determine an electronic content item from the electronic content database.

This electronic content item can get associated with the brand based at least in part on the brand penetration index for a given sub-region of the two or more sub-regions.

The electronic content item can become configured for delivery to and display on an electric device associated with the given sub-region. For example, an electronic device associated with a sub-region could correspond to an electronic device operating with an IP address or other identifier associated with a physical address located within the sub-region.

In other examples, an electronic device associated with a sub-region could correspond to an electronic device owned by a user living in the sub-region or currently operating in the sub-region. This may become the case with mobile computers or the like.

Serving Brand Content To Users In A Physical Manner

The computer can also include reversing geocoding features that can help determine physical addresses for serving brand content to users in a physical manner instead of an electronic manner.

The brand penetration determination system and targeted advertisement system can more particularly include a reverse geocoding system configured to map cells corresponding to sub-regions within a geographic area to physical addresses within those cells/sub-regions.

The reverse geocoding system can leverage databases and systems that map various geographic coordinates (e.g., latitude and longitude values) associated with cells/sub-regions to physical addresses within or otherwise associated with those areas.

These physical addresses can be stored in memory (e.g., in the regional brand penetration database) and other respective cells/sub-regions indicators and corresponding brand penetration indices.

Measures of brand penetration determined for particular cells/sub-regions can then get used to determine content items. Such as targeted advertisement mailings. These can work for selected delivery to physical addresses within those cells/sub-regions.

By utilizing the disclosed brand penetration index in dynamically determining or adjusting electronic content delivered to users, advertisers can more accurately target products to the most suitable audience.

More particularly, electronic content can become strategically determined for delivery to users within geographic areas having a below-average penetration of a particular brand and above-average penetration of competing brands.

The further analytics implemented by a targeted advertisement system can determine penetration measures of variables, including various threshold levels of brand penetration.

Brand Penetration Tracking

The systems and methods described here may provide many technical effects and benefits. For instance, a computer can include a brand penetration determination system that generates meaningful object detection data associated with a large corpus of collected imagery. More particularly, the detection of brands associated with goods, services, and the like within images can become correlated to statistically relevant measures of brand indices representative of brand capacity, prominence, brand saturation, etc., in a computationally workable manner.

Besides, these measures of brand penetration can become advantageously tracked and aggregated over space. Such as various geographic regions. It can also be tracked over time. These can be various windows–times of day, days of the week, months of the year, etc. They can determine alternative data measures.

A further technical benefit of the disclosed technology concerns integrating a geographic sub-region determination system, which can get configured to determine sub-regions numbers and boundaries within a geographic area to ensure that a population within each sub-region is above a threshold. By ensuring that the population of each sub-region is above that threshold, a computational burden gets imposed in storing statistically relevant brand indices for each sub-region gets reduced.

In addition, by ensuring that only brand indices for sub-regions having a statistically meaningful number of inhabitants get stored. The disclosed systems and methods can provide useful data associated with an imagery corpus while simultaneously minimizing the costs of storing that data in memory as the disclosed technology can achieve such, specific improvements in computing technology.

Integration Within A Targeted Advertisement System

A further technical effect and benefit of the disclosed technology can get realized when the disclosed technology becomes integrated within the application of a targeted advertisement system. Advertisers are commonly faced with determining how to accurately target product(s) and services to the most suitable audience.

This problem can involve many variables, where various demographics, cultural differences, infrastructure, and other considerations come into play. Such technology is used by providing systems and methods for generating computationally efficient and meaningful measures of geographic partitioning and corresponding brand penetration. In combination with other demographic indicators, this can be possible to dynamically develop advertising strategies for targeted delivery of electronic content to consumers.

With reference now to the Figures, example embodiments of the present disclosure will become discussed in further detail.

Brand Penetration Conclusion

The patent provides more details about this tracking of Brands in different geographic areas. It potentially can mean a lot of counting a tracking in the physical world. A log of this can be done through image analysis using programs such as streetview. It’s interesting knowing that Google might have a good idea of where all of the brands might be in the future and know things such as brand capacity and brand saturation in different geographic areas. Will Google know brands this well at some point in the future?

In 2020, I wrote about how Google might track product lines more closely on the Web in the post: Google Product Search and Learning about New Product Lines. There was a point in the past where Google did not seem to pay much attention to brands. With that earlier patent on product lines and this one on brand penetration, that has the potential to change in a big way really fast.

Google is showing us that they are using technologies such as image recognition and streetview cameras to learn more about the world around us. This is also seen in a recent post:

An Image Content Analysis And A Geo-Semantic Index For Recommendations

Detecting Brand Penetration Over Geographic Locations is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

What is Voice SEO?

Voice SEO is voice-based search engine optimization designed to answer questions in natural human speech, instead of manually-typed queries. Voice search is typically powered by virtual assistants. There are four main voice assistants currently on the market:

1. Google Assistant from Google
2. Alexa from Amazon
3. Siri from Apple
4. Cortana from Microsoft

Apple’s Siri previously used Microsoft’s Bing for voice searches but it recently switched to being powered by Google. However, the popular voice assistant Alexa from Amazon still uses Bing to answer users’ questions.

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How Many Searches Are From Voice?

According to Statista, 31% of US households own smart speakers with virtual assistants. Furthermore, a recent study from Adobe estimates that 48% of users use voice for “general web searches.” This makes sense considering that virtual assistants are now natively integrated with nearly all personal devices, such as smartphones, computers, and tablets.

Currently, about 44% of users use voice search technology every day. These numbers are expected to grow as natural language processing (NLP) technology continues to improve and users become more comfortable interacting with artificial intelligence (AI).

Source: Adobe Voice Technology Study, July 2019 (n=1,000)

Strategies for Optimizing Content for Voice Search

1. Write the Way You Speak

That’s right. Think about answering your question from a user experience (UX) perspective and try to write your content as you would if you were speaking to the user face-to-face. This helps make your content flow as though you were having a meaningful dialogue or conversation with your users in response to their questions.

Furthermore, readability makes your content easier to understand, especially when read out loud by a virtual assistant. A good rule of thumb for readability is to write at a high school or middle school reading level. These parameters translate to the lowest estimated level of standard education needed to understand your writing; they don’t necessarily mean that this demographic is your target audience. A handy tool to help make sure you’re on the right track is the Hemingway App, which can help make your content more accessible to your readers.

2. Answer Questions Succinctly

Short and to the point is the key here. Try answering questions in about 40-50 words maximum.

Formatting your content to answer questions quickly and efficiently also optimizes it for Featured Snippets. Virtual assistants frequently read answers from rich search results like Featured Snippets and Knowledge Panels, since they tend to answer questions briefly.

Optimizing content for informational search intent by using “definitive” phrasing and keywords (for example, using defining “to be” statements, like “Siri is a virtual assistant from Apple Inc.” instead of “‘Virtual Assistants’ can also refer to remotely employed administrative aides”) can help position your content to more directly answer users’ questions. Also, make sure your content is well-structured with semantic HTML and Schema mark-up (JSON-LD) to help search engines understand your page better. This can help reinforce the core content of the target page by providing search engines with supporting contextual signals.

3. Target Long-Tail Queries

We can get a good idea of how users might phrase their voice searches by looking at longer-tailed queries. These typically include inquisitive phrases like “what”, “why”, “which”, and “how” for introducing questions. AnswerThePublic is a great tool for brainstorming questions to answer in your content.

AlsoAsked.com is another free tool you can use to “reverse-engineer” user search intent by visually graphing Google’s “People Also Asked” questions into a hierarchy of related searches from other users. This helps us make sure that we are answering real questions that users are actually searching for.

4. Optimize for Local SEO

Voice search is frequently geographically targeted. For example, users commonly use voice search on their smart devices to ask for local directions or recommendations. Try using phrases like “near” or “in” when optimizing your content for local search.

Source: Adobe Voice Technology Study, July 2019 (n=1,000)

5. Improve Page Speed

Page load times are officially a ranking factor for Google’s mobile-first index. This means that it’s important for pages to load quickly in order for voice search engines to parse the information on-page more efficiently, so they can answer users’ questions faster.

For example, defer pesky render-blocking resources by inlining critical JS and CSS, and then minifying and loading the rest after the core HTML content is rendered in the DOM. Also, try compressing, lazy-loading, and serving images in next-gen formats (like WebP) with descriptive alt texts that are easy for search engines to understand and read to users.

Key Takeaways

Voice search is the future and continues to grow in popularity. This means that digital marketers and content creators need to adapt to the changing search landscape in order to stay ahead of the curve. By following these five simple steps, you’ll already be well on your way to staying top-of-mind and on the tip of the tongue (pun intended) of your target audience.

How to Optimize for Voice Search is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

Human Friendly Driving Directions with Personalized Landmarks

Back in 2005, I wrote a post about Human Friendly Driving Directions From Google?

A new patent that has come out this spring presents a different approach based upon an awareness of places that you have traveled to in the past, which it could use as personalized landmarks.

Giving Directions and Problems with Directions

Usually, when someone searches using Google Maps, they specify a starting point and a destination, and the mapping program will display directions immediately and/or as the user travels from the starting point and the destination.

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The program indicates such things such as distance, street names, and building numbers, to generate navigation directions based on the route.

Some issues with Driving Directions can include problems such as:

• Drivers may not accurately judge distances
• Seeing street signs and building numbers can be difficult
• There are areas where street and road signage is poor

This patent suggests that to improve driving directions, navigation directions can be augmented with references to points of interest (also referred to herein as “landmarks”) along the route, such as buildings that standout visually or billboards.

And these landmarks can be presented to orient a user within a digital map.

But, the number of landmarks that are well-known to the general public is limited, and software applications may not always be able to present a landmark when orienting or navigating the user. That may mean that Google may instead decide to use personalized landmarks.

Personalized Landmarks

The solution that this patent provides is to include in navigation directions or when orienting a user, personalized map data showing places they know when the user permits the system to use such location data.

That location history can include information about landmarks previously visited by the user, such as:

• The location of the POI or landmark
• The date and time in which the user visited the landmark
• The amount of time spent at the landmark
• A label for the landmark provided by the user such as “Home,” “Work,” “John’s House,” “Favorite Restaurant,”
• Etc.

A personalized landmark may be selected from the user’s location history that is:

• Near the selected location
• Based on the frequency and/or recency with which the user visited the landmark

Google may keep track of how often you visit places, and how much time you spend at them, as seen in this chart from the patent drawings:

Then the mapping application will present a selected landmark on a map display, to give a user a frame of reference for the chosen location, and a final destination in comparison to it.

In addition to seeing a personalized landmark in a set of directions, someone using this navigation system may see it in directions from a starting location such as where they are at present.

And they might see in their directions one that could be something like, “Turn right at the intersection after passing Bob’s House”

Boosting Rankings of POIs Used as Personalized Landmarks?

The place that Google might choose as a landmark for you may be boosted in the rankings you see based on how often and how recently you have visited it.

Google may also include in the display map, information such as “This is a place you visit frequently” or show information about the last time you visited, as an annotation, like in this patent drawing:

In addition to seeing places annotated in a map display, you may also see annotations in SERPs for those maps results

Personalized Landmarks Shown as Intermediate Destinations

Google may show a familiar location as an intermediate destination on your way to a final destination, like this place listed with an annotation as a place you visit frequently (“You come here often.”) on a map:

That location may not be in a direct route to a final destination but would be a landmark which the user is very familiar with or may have traveled to many times in the past.

The patent says that doing this can significantly reduce the number of navigation instructions in might need to provide (and may only provide sparse navigation directions until a user gets to that intermediate destination.) They may give more detailed directions after you pass your personal landmark, and noted in this drawing from the patent:

This personalized landmarks patent can be found at:

Displaying Personalized Landmarks in a Mapping Application
Inventors: Haroon Baig, Ankit Gupta
Applicants: GOOGLE LLC
Publication Number WO/2020/050842
Publication Date March 12, 2020
International Filing Date June 9, 2018

Abstract

To provide personalized data for display on a map, a server device obtains location data for a user and identifies locations that are familiar to the user based on the frequency and recency in which the user visits the locations. The server device then provides the familiar locations in search results/suggestions and annotates the familiar locations with a description of a relationship between the familiar location and the user. The server device also includes the familiar locations as landmarks for performing maneuvers in a set of navigation instructions. Furthermore, the server device provides a familiar location as a frame of reference on a map display when a user selects another location near the familiar location. Moreover, the server device includes a familiar location as an intermediate destination when the user request navigation directions to a final destination.

Human-Friendly Driving Directions Based Upon Personalized Landmarks is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

Google made an announcement recently about changes to local search. Those are detailed in: Google Changes How Local Search Results Are Generated. It tells us that they are “applying neural matching to local search results.”

A new patent has also come out from Google about changes to Google’s navigation system. It looks like it will provide better results by adding intermediate destinations to journeys and better searching on those trips.

Together, these changes to local search and Google’s navigation system could have an impact on local businesses. We have seen technology make changes to yellow pages, paper roadmaps, and transportation services. Changing local search and navigation can have a tremendous impact. I’ve detailed a lot of the changes that the new navigation patent hints at. There is no timeline on when these things might go into effect.

The patent that Google was granted is about navigation systems and better search results while searchers operate a navigation system, such as Google Maps. This post ends with three detailed examples that show off how much different the navigation system described within this patent might be.

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An inventor from this patent has a background that feels appropriate. The LinkedIn profile for Mark Hanson, and the types of jobs he worked on while at Google make him feel like an ideal fit for this patent:

• Senior Software Engineer
• Company Name: Google
• Dates Employed: Dec 2011 – Present
• Employment Duration: 8 yrs 2 mos
• Location: Sydney, Australia
• Currently Tech Lead / Engineering Manager on Google Maps for Android Automotive

• Previously:
• Google Maps APIs (Tech Lead / Manager)
• Google Maps for the Mobile Web
• Google Maps Coordinatev
• Google Maps Business Database

This patent feels like it was created by someone concerned about making navigation from within a car feel like a good user experience.

It starts by telling us this about navigation systems:

Navigation systems are known for identifying and displaying a desired geographic location, as illustrated on a map, as well as computing a route from a current location to the desired location. These systems are commonly found on automotive vehicles as well as encompassed within hand-held devices.

The Navigation System Problem this patent tries to solve

The focus here is on better search results that are more efficient, and easier to refine.

These need improvement according to the patent, which tells us about it like this:

It is often the case that navigation systems provide information relating to points of interest (POI), such as shopping, food, and business-related locations. However, voluminous search query results are typically generated, which is inefficient and often ineffective for providing information relating to POIs.

It would be advantageous for a navigation system to efficiently provide enhanced search query results for more effective searching. It would be further advantageous for a navigation system to provide sub-searching capabilities for refining search results and therefore providing more effective searching.

Better Car Navigation

What is being invented is a navigation system that includes a graphical user interface capable of receiving input, and displaying content, with a database that contains travel-related data, and includes a processor that can execute searches to respond to search queries.

The input that this navigation system receives is a destination location. With that information, it can perform a search based on that location. It can identify with the travel-related data in the database, search results based on the query, and categories associated with the results.

In addition to a location, this system can receive a keyword, and associate the keyword with one of the search categories, and provide a refined list of results according to the search categories. Those results can be displayed on the graphical user interface.

A search with this navigation system can perform can use several keywords, without first receiving final location destination information. In response to that query, using the categories, the system can display intermediate destinations that can be selected from.

This patent can be found at:

Navigation system and methods for generating enhanced search results
Inventors: Francis Bourque, Sanjay Gupta, and Mark Hansen
Assignee: GOOGLE TECHNOLOGY HOLDINGS LLC
US Patent: 10,527,442
Granted: January 7, 2020
Filed: May 22, 2015

Abstract

A navigation system and various methods of using the system are described herein. Search query results are refined by the system and are prioritized based at least in part upon sub-search categories selected during the searching process. Sub-searches can be represented by graphical icons displayed on the user interface.

The Geographic Database Behind the Navigation System

The database is one with information about geographical roadways and routes.

The patent tells us that there are “a variety of commercially available databases containing map and atlas related information” which are suitable to use with this process.

That database would also contain information that:

• • Is relevant to the user
  • Has previously performed search queries

The patent also tells us that it can use other information like sociological data such as:

• • • Neighborhood crime rates
    • Ethnicity demographics
    • Average household incomes

And industrial data such as:

• • • Type of businesses
    • Shopping related data
    • Potentially hazardous industrial locations

It may also contain sociological and industrial profiles for neighborhoods or geographic regions.

The search engine can perform reverse address searches to identify businesses and other points of interest (POI) within proximity of the current location.

It can also identify a current location by the POI visited.

If a searcher adds information about a point of interest location, that information in the database is updated

The database can also include information relating to previous travel and other behavior selections and circumstances encountered by one or more users in the past.

These can include:

• • • Geographic travel related historical data
    • Contextual travel related historical data

The contextual travel related data includes:

• • • Frequency of destination visits
    • Search query time
    • Time-of-day associated with previous search queries
    • Current directional travel
    • Weather conditions
    • Traffic conditions
    • Current time of day
    • Frequency of current route

The historical database can include information about:

• • • Previous search queries
    • Prior travel routes
    • Prior locations visited
    • Type of prior location visited
    • Deviation distance from route for previously chosen locations

Other kinds of information can include things such as:

• • • Operating hours of a previously visited business is stored in the database
    • Proximnity to locations may play a role in how they may be ranked

The patent tells us about the ability to plan for intermediate destinations on a trip to a final destination. It references being about to identify parking locations near other destinations, which would be helpful in a car navigation system. It also refers to an ability to search for restaurants within a ten-mile radius.

Better Searches in this Navigation System

I was looking forward to seeing what this patent meant by discussing more refined search queries. Here is an example of what the search described in the patent tells us it might look at:

The final destination route can be analyzed based upon contextual information, such as the approximate distance or estimated length of time and type of driving (By example, Interstate, County Highway, or City Roadway). Query results are prioritized based at least in part upon the routing context and sub-search categories selected. For example, a longer route on the Interstate can prioritize fast-food restaurants located proximal to the Interstate higher than a five-star restaurant located distal to the Interstate. If a lodging sub-search category was selected, then the results would be further prioritized based upon lodging proximity and predetermined lodging specifics.

Including Intermediary Destinations in Navigation

An intermediary destination is one that is on the way to a final destination. It can be added to a final destination, such as a gas station, a restaurant, or some other place that might be stopped at on the way to a place. The route in the navigatin system might be updated to include intermediate destinations. Additional information may also be looked at such as:

• • • • • Traffic information
        • Road construction
        • Preferred routes
        • Alternative roadway information
        • Alternative methods of transportation, such as walking or bicycle travel

Having Intermediary Destinations Being Found and Offered Along a Journey

A search to a final destination may be requested, and that may result in a display of intermediate destinations along the journey to that final destination

A list of Places of Interest may be provided based in part upon:

• • • • • Keywords selected
        • Proximity metrics to a final destination
        • Structure associated with the databases

This patent offers three examples of how search queries can influence navigation routes (I am going to quote them directly.) These illustrate how much is being added by this patent to the experience that you may have today using Google Maps.

Search Query Example 1

At approximately 6:00 A.M. on a Wednesday during the winter a user enters a vehicle in downtown Chicago, Ill. and enters a search query including the keyword “Fast food” and selects an option for proximity to a final destination, which is identified as “work”.

The search engine identifies the search query and compares the query to historical query information contained within one or more databases. After the comparison is complete the search engine generates a prioritized list of fast-food destinations within proximity to the user’s preferred route to work.

“Dunkin Donuts” is at the top of the list, followed by several other fast-food restaurants, as well as additional Dunkin Donuts locations.

The user presses the sub-searching icon that represents available parking near the query results. A new list is generated that refines the list based upon available parking.

The search engine also identified the user’s contextual information, including location upon query initiation, time of day, day of the week, and season.

After comparing the database with the user’s query and contextual information, it was identified that the user had traveled to Dunkin Donuts 12 previous times during the workweek, at approximately 6:00 A.M., during the winter while on his way to work after initiating the same or similar query. The user had previously traveled to “Starbucks” only 3 times, and therefore this location had been assigned a lower priority value.

In the immediate case, a Dunkin Donut location without available parking was placed towards the bottom of the list, even though it was closer to the desired route. The user selects a Dunkin Donut location that is closest to the desired route and that has convenient available parking in close proximity.

Search Query Example 2

A search is initiated containing the keywords “Restaurants in Chicago.”

After initiating the query a database is accessed and a comparison of the keywords is performed concerning information contained within a database having historical travel data. A list of restaurants in Chicago is provided ranked by the frequency of visits to a particular restaurant, the day of week and time of day associated with the current query, and prior visits to the results.

Traffic Data can be collected based upon the time of day and day of the week to minimize the travel time to a location, and the list can be prioritized based upon the estimated travel time. A combination of historical, contextual, and traffic information relating to a particular search query can provide a list of enhanced search results.

The search results represent a list of potential intermediary destinations. The user selects an arts and entertainment icon to further refine the list.

In the present case, performing arts and entertainment venues near the restaurants in the search list are provided. A user is then able to select a performing arts venue that is conveniently located close to the Chicago restaurant they desire. It is conceived that an initial and final destination is the same, while the intermediary destination is a target destination within a round-trip travel sequence.

Search Query Example 3

A search query is initiated for a brand of navigation systems, such as “Motorola.”

The search is performed and a generated list of possible businesses offering Motorola.RTM. navigation systems for sale are provided. The businesses can include electronic stores, department stores, travel-specific businesses, and alternative locations that carry Motorola.RTM. products.

Businesses are prioritized based upon the frequency of visit, location proximity, and other contextual and historical information.

Searching for a preferred brand, such as Motorola.RTM. navigation systems will return businesses that are associated with selling and servicing the preferred product brand.

A user can further refine the search results based upon the need to obtain fuel for their vehicle. A fuel source icon is selected, which focuses the results list based upon fuel sources that are near the user’s current location and that provide the most efficient route to the search results on the list.

A New Navigation System Hinted at Google Maps is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

Local directories can provide very detailed information about businesses too, such as the address, operating hours, history, related businesses, and more.

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But not every business at every location has detailed information about it online, or could be biased, or outdated, or missing information that you would like to know more about.

Mobile Location History and Quality Visit Scores

A newly granted Google patent tells us about how the search engine might respond to “a query associated with a physical location using a quality visit measure. That quality visit measure may be based in part on “the number and/or frequency of repeat visits by one or more individuals to that physical location.”

We know that Google is tracking mobile location history for people using Google Maps to navigate to places, and who have location tracking enabled on their smartphones.

There have been a number of other patents from Google that use information from such actual visits to places to impact search recommendations and results:

• Google to Use Distance from Mobile Location History for Ranking in Local Search
• Google Knows How Busy a Place is by Looking at Location History
• Future Directions for Google Maps?
• Ranking Local Businesses Based Upon Quality Measures including Travel Time
• Google May Check to See if People Go to Geographic Locations Google May Recommend
• Google May Diminish Reviews of Places You Stop Visiting

I have seen Google refer to quality scores for sponsored search results and Google patents that refer to quality scores for organic search results, but I haven’t seen Google refer to quality visit scores until now about Google’s local search results.

The summary for this new patent tells us more about these quality visit scores:

In this manner, data related to visits by one or more individuals to a physical location may be used as an indication of the popularity of that location, with the incidences of repeat visits used to effectively incorporate the “quality” of visits into the popularity indication.

So Google is tracking quality visits to physical locations of stores, to capture the popularity of those locations, based upon repeat visits to them. They are claiming that the benefits of them using the process described in this patent result in:

For example, in some implementations the determination of such data and/or a quality visit measure may improve the accuracy of the information that is identified as relevant to the query and/or provide information with an appropriate prominence to increase the likelihood that the information will be consumed in response to the query. Doing so may also decrease the likelihood that further searches will be needed to identify information, thereby preventing consumption of network and computer resources in response to such subsequent, and otherwise unnecessary, queries.

This Quality Visit Scores Patent can be found at:

Quality visit measure for controlling computer response to query associated with physical location
Inventors: Krzysztof Duleba
Assignee: Google LLC
US Patent: 10,366,422
Granted: July 30, 2019
Filed: September 9, 2015

Abstract

The response of a computer to a query associated with a physical location may be controlled using a quality visit measure that is based at least in part on the number and/or frequency of repeat visits by one or more individuals to that physical location.

Quality Visit Scores Takeaways

A quality visit might be seen as a ranking signal because actual visits to a place can show that people felt that a place was worth returning to.

The length of a visit would be appropriate for the type of physical location visited. For example, a visit to a full-service restaurant for a period of fewer than 5 minutes, or not enough time to order and consume a meal, might not be sufficient to be seen as a quality visit. Five minutes for a dry cleaner or a takeout restaurant would be sufficient to indicate an actual visit to a place.

Other information than just a visit might be considered, such as:

• Check-ins on a social media service
• Geotagged pictures or videos
• Navigation requests
• Etc.

Quality Visit Scores could be used to “rank a physical location higher in a list of search results.”

So, for someone searching for a restaurant in a certain area, a restaurant with a relatively high-quality visit measure may be promoted over other restaurants in the same area due to the frequency of revisits by other individuals.

The patent includes the possibility of a process that may involve structured queries, such as “a user could search only for restaurants with many ‘regulars’ or repeat customers determined to have visited N or more times.”

Quality Visit Scores Information could be potentially provided to the proprietor of a physical location, such as “36% customers have visited 5+ times, 24% of customers have visited 2-4 times.”

There are higher-quality visits, such as someone returning to a place, and bringing a friend, and even that friend returning for a visit, too.

Also “recommended visit measures” where someone receives a recommendation from a friend for a place that they visit on social media, with a certain timeframe.

Location information could be from a navigation app, but could also be based upon GPS, or a geotag in a photo or video, or a wifi connection or cell tower triangulation., or a phone call from a location or an email from a location, or check-in on a social application. These are indications of the physical presence of a person at a physical location associated with a business.

These quality visit scores could have confidence measures attached to them that indicate the likelihood that a person was at the physical location of a business.

In 2011 I wrote about a patent from Apple which used location information from Mobile devices to help rank places in an apple local search. The post I wrote about that is was Crowdsourcing Behind New Apple Local Search Patent.

Basing rankings of businesses in local search on quality visit scores of customers of a business could be part of the future of local search at Google. Google has likely used location information to provide traffic information for Google Maps information since at least 2006, which I wrote about in Ending Gridlock with Google Driving Assistance (Zipdash Re-Emerges). They’ve been working on location history information for a while now. Will they use it to influence rankings?

Added: August 2, 2019, I was pointed to a beta feature at GA360 on Twitter today:

Presently in GA360 there is a beta feature to enable store visit tracking and relate it with channel data. Google can easily use this as a signal for ranking.

— Christy Kunjumon (@christykunjumon) August 2, 2019

Mentioned August of last year: Introducing new local marketing innovations for advertisers, where we are told:

Store visits in Google Ads and Google Analytics are estimates based on data from users that have turned on Location History. Only aggregated and anonymized data is reported to advertisers, and they aren’t able to see any store visits from individual website visits, ad clicks, viewable impressions, or people. Google uses industry best practices to ensure the privacy of individual users.

Added August 3, 2019. I was also asked about a new local Favorite feature, which will highlight the top 5% of businesses in categories at a location, which could tie into this approach as well:

I feel like this may tie into the “Local Favorite” designation coming in GMB, which will highlight the top 5% of businesses in a category. Curious if you think there might be a connection there @bill_slawski

— Etela Ivkovic (@Etela) August 3, 2019

The Google Blog post is from June 30, 2019, titled Helping businesses capture their identity with Google My Business. It tells us:

Finally, we want to recognize those businesses that consistently deliver a great experience for people. We’ll be highlighting the top five percent of businesses in a particular category with the “Local Favorite” designation. To help people easily find and engage with these businesses, we’re also creating digital and physical badges of honors. Stay tuned for more details on these recognition categories coming later this summer.

Since this is towards the end of the summer, we should be hearing more about local favorites at Google soon.

Quality Visit Scores to Businesses May Influence Rankings in Google Local Search is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.

A newly granted Google patent starts by telling us that some searchers have problems creating helpful search queries, and looking through search results generated by queries.

In response to those problems, this patent works to suggest questions to initiate a search. It can use contextual questions based on information about a searcher such as their location or their interests. A searcher can select a question that is provided and the search engine will show answers in response to that question. The selection of answers may be used to identify additional questions related to the selected answers. This can seem like a seemingly infinite series of questions and answers if you continue to look at the answers for questions provided. The questions that are being asked allow for people to make selections, and even submit their questions.

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We’ve been seeing related questions at Google which are inserted into search results, and I’ve written about those. These contextual questions seem to be a little different – and we will explore how. This patent was just granted, and I haven’t seen any questions quite like the ones described in this patent yet, but we could – they aren’t that different from the related questions that we see in many Google SERPs.

The patent provides some examples of such questions and answers based upon location

…the application can initially display an interface including relevant questions to the user based on the location of the user. For example, the user is located in downtown New York City, and the interface can display popular questions for New York City, such as “What are the best sites for New York City” and “What are the best shows to see in New York City.” The user can select the question “What are the best sites for New York City,” and in turn, the interface is updated to display relevant answers to the question, such as “Empire State Building” and “Times Square.” The user can subsequently select “Empire State Building” and the interface is further updated to include additional questions based on the answer “Empire State Building” such as “How tall is the Empire State Building” and “How old is the Empire State Building.” The user can select the question “How old is the Empire State Building” and the interface is further updated to include an answer “84 years.” Upon selection of the answer “84 years” by the user, it is determined that there are no further questions associated with the answer “84 years.” However, the interface can be updated for the input of an additional question provided by the user for association with the answer “84 years.”

The last time I wrote about questions asked and answered by Google, was in the post: Related Questions now use a Question Graph and are Joined by ‘People Also Search For’ Refinements

The point of this patent is that people don’t always quite know the right things to ask for when they might want information about a topic – so Google may show questions that may match what they might want to know more about.

The patent, like many, shows off the benefits of the process behind asking these related questions:

• Receiving data identifying one or more contexts
• Selecting an initial set of one or more questions based at least on one or more of the contexts
• Providing a respective representation of one or more of the questions of the initial set, for output
• Receiving data indicating a selection of a particular representation associated with a particular question of the initial set of questions
• Selecting a set of one or more answers associated with the particular question
• Providing a respective representation of one or more of the answers of the set that are associated with the particular question, for output
• Receiving data indicating a selection of a particular representation associated with a particular answer of the set that is associated with the particular question
• Determining that an additional set of one or more other questions is associated with the particular answer
• And in response to determining that the additional set of one or more other questions is associated with the particular answer, providing a respective representation of one or more of the other questions of the additional set, for output

A New Direction for Contextual Questions?

This patent isn’t referring to these questions as related questions, and the team of inventors that worked on the earlier versions of patents involving related questions has no overlap with this one – there are none of the same inventors listed in those patents and this one. It’s as if two different teams both took attempts at addressing asking and answering questions in search results. So What differences are there between those patents and this one?

1. The patent granted this week on Contextual Questions was the latest filed patent on questions appearing in SERPs.
2. This patent uses contextual questions, asking about things related to a searcher’s location or a searcher’s interests.

The earlier versions of patents involving questions (and there were two of them) focus upon the topics in those questions, and how they might be related to each other, but did not look at contextual information (such as location and interests), like this new patent on contextual questions – that seems to be the difference between them. I started looking through the new patent for information about Contexts, and found this in the summary section:

The one or more contexts include a location-based context of a mobile computing device providing the data identifying the one or more contexts. One or more contexts include an interest-based context of a user associated with a mobile computing device providing the data identifying the one or more contexts. The one or more of the questions of the initial set are ranked based on a popularity of each of the questions. The one or more of the answers of the set are ranked based on a popularity of each of the answers. Providing the respective representation of one or more of the answers of the set that are associated with the particular question, for output, further includes: providing, for output, a control for submission of a new answer, receiving the new answer entered through the control, and storing data associating the new answer with the particular question.

This screenshot image of a map and contextual questions from the patent show us how different it might be from the related questions that we know about:

This new Contextual Question patent can be found at:

Question and answer interface based on contextual information
Inventors: Weizhao Wang, Monica Priya Garde, Justin Min, Jiarui Li, Eyal Segalis, Daniel Walevski, Yaniv Leviathan, and Matthew Streit Coursen
US Patent: 10,289,729
Granted: May 14, 2019
Filed: March 17, 2016

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on a computer storage medium, for receiving data identifying contexts; selecting an initial set of questions based at least on the contexts; providing a respective representation of the questions of the initial set, for output; receiving data indicating a selection of a particular representation associated with a particular question of the initial set of questions; selecting a set of answers associated with the particular question; providing a respective representation of the answers of the set that are associated with the particular question, for output; receiving data indicating a selection of a particular representation associated with a particular answer of the set that are associated with the particular question; determining that an additional set of other questions is associated with the particular answer; and in response to the determining, providing a respective representation of the other questions of the additional set, for output.

The detailed description of the patent starts by telling us about a typical presentation page for questions, as seen in this post above. It tells us that the presentation page includes a map region and a question region. The map region may be associated with the location of a mobile device where a question may be asked. The questions may contain information associated with the current location as well.

Where do Contextual Questions Come From?

They are likely associated with “a location-based context of the user.”

They may be previously provided queries from the current location of the user by other users.

Questions can also be associated with “an interest-based context of the user.”

Those interests can be determined by “explicit interests indicated by the user” or from sources such as social networking profiles and might include such things as eating preferences, price preferences, and so on.

Examples of Contextual Questions

In addition to answering questions such as “Are there any good restaurants around here?”. Followup questions may show menu items from specific restaurants that may be selected, and ask for opinions on specific dishes from those restaurants.

This seems to be a way to help a searcher become familiar with information about the area they may find themselves in. It looks like it could be something that I would find useful if I was visiting someplace that I hadn’t been to before, and wanted to find out about nearby hotels, restaurants, stores, and clubs.

The patent allows searchers to vote on questions and answers such as “What are the best Fast Food places nearby?” So these contextual queries enable Google to crowdsource information about locations from searchers. Being shown as a potential choice for a question such as “What is the best place to get food around here?” could lead to more business for restaurants listed, and nothing in the patent suggests how to be selected as a potential answer to a question like that. But it’s possible that as Google learns about an area they may use information from sources such as submissions to Google My Business, from listings in local directories and data aggregators and enterprise websites, and from questions to local guides who answer questions about places for Google.

Different from Google Local Guide Questions

These aren’t today’s related questions, but this kind of contextual question seems to be the kind of thing I could see Google offering. As a Google Local Guide, Google asks a lot of questions about places that I may have visited in the past. These contextual questions would be a good addition to those. The local guide questions are a little different, such as whether there are ATMs at certain locations, and if handicap parking spaces are available, or parking overall. Or if certain items are available at stores or restaurants. Or if children are welcome at certain locations.

A New Type of Google Contextual Questions is an original blog post first published on Go Fish Digital.