Welcome to another insightful week with The SEOs Diners Club newsletter. Leveraging over a decade of SEO expertise, I aim to distill the week's most critical developments into a concise read that will take less than seven minutes. Let's dive into the insights that matter.

Google AI Overviews: The Latest Insights You Need To Know

As Google's AI Overviews are used in the American results, some funny results emerge, and the impact of this new feature on search results becomes clear.

This week, I continued reviewing Google's AI Overviews feature. I attended two webinars and saw dozens of funny and dramatic AI Overview posts on social media. I wanted to share with you the most important notes I took.

Mastering Google's New AI Overviews Feature

In this webinar, Tomek Rudzki and Bart Goralewicz shared their views on how Google's AI Briefs impact user experience and offered advice to site owners.

In the 25 thousand e-commerce queries analyzed by Bart Goralewicz, 80% of the resources appearing in AI Overviews were not included in the organic results. The AI ​​Overviews experience is an “accelerator” for product-related queries.

Instead of presenting summaries of organic results, Google shows users directly clickable products and what they will get next. This approach includes direct links to product detail pages from various online stores. It seems like it's time for online stores to optimize their product detail pages (PDP).

Basic Information and Changes

• AI Overviews and Old SGE: Google has renamed AI Overviews, previously known as SGE, to be more understandable.

• Automatic and Mandatory Results: By reducing automatically generated artificial intelligence results, Google has eliminated forced user interaction. This was especially evident with high PPC queries.

• Data Coverage and Coverage Rates: In analyses conducted in various verticals, such as finance, e-commerce, and publishing, Google AI Overviews coverage rates have decreased significantly. For e-commerce queries, AI Overviews can organically present information from sources that do not appear in the top 60 results.

Scope and Optimization of AI Overviews

• Rich Snippets and Content: Unlike rich snippets, Google AI Overviews rewrites pieces of content and presents them to the user. This is especially important for user queries that require short and precise answers.

• E-commerce and Publishing: In the e-commerce vertical, content pieces that provide information about products rank at the top, while in publishing, content structured by user intent is more effective.

Technological and Structural Factors

• Use of Technology: Websites' technological structure, especially the use of JavaScript, plays an important role in their inclusion in AI Overviews. Websites that use heavy technologies reduce their chances of being included in AI Overviews.

• User Experience and Content Structure: Content that prioritizes user experience and complements the user journey has a higher success rate in AI Overviews. Content that answers users' questions with clear and short answers stands out.

Practical Suggestions

Websites must structure their content according to user queries to be included in AI Overviews. Adopt comprehensive and user-focused content strategies.

Google is expected to increase the scope of AI Overviews. Websites should understand the AI ​​Overviews algorithm and optimize their content accordingly. According to Rudzki and Goralewicz, this does not seem so difficult.

Funny Results from AI Overviews

One wonders: Are we throwing away the work we have done so far? "Where is my EEAT?" I feel like asking, and when I see this result, I laugh and watch this funny situation that Google is in. AI Overviews' answer to the query "Smoking while pregnant" is "Doctors recommend 2–3 cigarettes a day":

Misunderstanding user intent this much may have been a mistake made during the training phase of AI Overviews. For example, a search for “smoking during pregnancy” might tend to yield a positive response. This is a trial-and-error process, and it looks like Google will fix such errors as they are noticed.

This technology also appears to be pro-verification; The user tries to satisfy his desire and follow the flow of thought. In short, reading the user's intention is more of a priority for him than the accuracy of the answer. To the extent that he does this, he can sell you something. This is why such funny results emerge. Google, at the risk of sounding ridiculous at first, stands behind this technology and says "the caravan will move on the road".

To gain a better understanding of AI Overviews and LLMs in general, I started the following online course this week:

I will continue to share my views on AI overviews in the coming weeks, and instead of crying and whining, it would be better for us to try to understand how it works.

Google Doesn't Commit to Sharing AI Search Traffic Data in Search Console

Google does not commit to providing Search Console data regarding traffic sent to websites from AI search results.

In an interview with The Verge, Google CEO Sundar Pichai sidestepped questions about providing publishers with detailed AI traffic data.

Google's lack of transparency on this issue disappoints publishers who rely on search traffic for revenue. As AI becomes an integral part of search, I think Google should collaborate with publishers to find solutions.

By the way, I would like to point out that Bing Webmaster Tools, formerly known as Bing Chat and currently known as CoPilot, shares the traffic sent to sites from artificial intelligence-supported results in its "Search Performance" reports. I think Google has to share a performance report similar to this.

Below, I am sharing the screenshot I took from the Bing Webmaster Tools performance section of a customer's website targeting America. If you select “Web and Chat” from the “Filter by” section, you can see the traffic directed to the site from artificial intelligence chats, albeit superficially.

On this occasion, I recommend that you follow Bing and Google regularly. When your organic traffic from Google decreases, you must create traffic from many sources to balance it. It would be beneficial for you to make this preparation now.

SEO Job Postings Decreased by 37% YoY

SEO job postings decreased by 37% in the first quarter of 2024. Economic conditions and the increase in the use of artificial intelligence affect this decline. Mid-level positions are among those most affected.

In the first quarter of 2024, SEO job postings decreased by 37% compared to last year. SEOJobs.com's report, which analyzed more than 80,000 job postings published by 4,700 employers in 2023 and early 2024, cited the increasing use of artificial intelligence in searches as one reason for this decline.

Here are 6 salvation formulas that I recommend to SEO experts to help eliminate this bottleneck:

1. Develop AI Expertise: It is essential to understand and use AI technologies.

2. Focus on Strategic SEO: As AI handles technical tasks, strategic capabilities will gain importance.

3. Improve Your Analytical Skills: Data analysis and visualization abilities will emerge. (You can start by reading the book I recommended in the newsletter this week)

4. Specialization: Specializing in local search, e-commerce, or specific industries can be advantageous.

5. Pay attention to social skills: Skills such as communication, problem-solving, working together, and creativity will gain importance.

6. Build a Personal Brand: Blogging, giving speeches, and being active on social media increases visibility.

Content Strategy for Startups: 8-Stage Roadmap —Moz Whiteboard Friday

At Moz Whiteboard Friday, an eight-stage content strategy creation guide for entrepreneurs was presented with the contributions of Yagmur Simsek.

Dear Yagmur Şimşek, who continues her SEO work in the UK, continues to make us proud with her successes. This time, Yagmur was the guest of Moz's video series "WhiteBoard Friday", which has been going on for years, and shared his suggestions for creating a content strategy for Startups.

Yagmur believes that content strategy is crucial for a startup's success. He emphasizes the importance of taking the time to understand your target audience and creating content that provides value to them.

Here are Yağmur's suggestions:

1. Understanding the Customer Journey: Identify your target audience's needs and wants.

2. Goal Setting: Define what you want to achieve with your content strategy.

3. Content Audit: Evaluate the performance of your existing content.

4. Content Gap Analysis: Identify what content your competitors have and what you don't.

5. Creating Buyer Personas: Create profiles of your ideal customers.

6. Creating Topic Clusters: Bring related keywords together.

7. Keyword Research: Determine the keywords your target audience is searching for.

8. Content Creation: Create informative and engaging content for your target audience.

WordPress 6.5 Improves SEO with Lastmod Support

WordPress 6.5 significantly improves SEO by adding support for last modification timestamp (lastmod) with its latest update. This will help search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently.

WordPress 6.5 significantly improves SEO by adding last modification timestamp (lastmod) support with its latest update.

Lastmod is an HTTP header that tells search engines when a page or post was last updated. This information helps search engines crawl and index your site more efficiently.

Before WordPress 6.5, you had to use a plugin to add lastmod support. But with this update, lastmod support now comes built-in. This is a huge advantage for all WordPress users because it means you have to do less to improve your SEO.

Comments of Gary Illyes:

Google's Gary Illyes praised the WordPress developer community's efforts to add Lastmod support and encouraged website owners to upgrade their WordPress installations.

AI-Driven Analytics Transforming Keyword Research from Semrush

Semrush developed its keyword research tool using artificial intelligence. New features, such as PKD%, Topical Authority, and Improved Keyword Strategy Builder, have been added.

In the SEO world, keyword research is one of the cornerstones of strategy. Semrush takes this process even further by using artificial intelligence (AI). Semrush's new AI-powered features help you personalize your SEO strategies and gain a competitive advantage.

Here are these new features and the advantages they provide:

Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%)

One of Semrush's most notable new features, Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%), allows users to measure their competitiveness on specific keywords. This feature performs domain-based analysis and shows how competitive each keyword is and how successful your site can be in these keywords. In this way, you can see not only the general difficulty level but also the difficulty level specifically determined for your site.

Topical Authority

Topical Authority is another innovative feature that measures how competent your site is on a particular topic. This feature evaluates your potential in certain keywords by analyzing your site's content quality and authority on relevant topics. In this way, you can determine which areas your site can be more successful in and which areas you should focus on.

Keyword Strategy Builder

The redesigned Keyword Strategy Builder (formerly Keyword Manager) helps you create your content planning quickly and efficiently. This tool allows you to organize your site's content hierarchy by creating base pages and subpages. This AI-supported innovation helps you automatically plan your content strategy, saving you time.

Keyword Magic Tool

Keyword Wizard is one of the most preferred tools by users when it comes to discovering keyword opportunities. This tool now includes the Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%) metric. This metric is evaluated together with the overall keyword difficulty, making it easier for you to choose the most appropriate keywords for your site. Thus, you can determine your strategy more intelligently by seeing both general and specific difficulty levels.

Personal Keyword Research Example

For example, let's say you, as a digital marketing agency, want to promote Wix.com's online store creation platform. By entering a keyword like “how to build an online store,” you can see how competitive it is for Wix.com using Semrush's AI-powered tools. Thanks to the Personal Keyword Difficulty (PKD%) metric, you can determine how reachable this keyword is for you.

Semrush's new AI-powered features make keyword research more personalized and strategic with domain-based analysis. These tools help you make your SEO strategies more efficient, allowing you to rise in search engine rankings.

Recommended Tools & Services

• WhitePress: WhitePress is a content marketing platform that enables accessible article publishing across 90,571 websites in 30 languages, offering native copywriting and automated global publication services.

• Cannibalization Explorer Looker Studio Report is a tool for identifying keyword cannibalization and providing insights into how keywords perform across different pages.

• SurferSEO is a tool that helps you create and optimize content for SEO. It analyzes the top-ranking pages for your target keywords and gives you suggestions on how to improve your content. Surfer AI also has a feature that can generate ready-to-rank articles in minutes.

• Copilot Pro: Copilot Pro is available for $20/month for cloud-based GenAI models and $27/month with Microsoft 365. It is integrated with Microsoft 365 applications and provides access to GPT-4 Turbo and advanced AI rendering tools.

• AlsoAsked is a helpful tool that can boost your visibility in the “People Also Ask” section of Google's search engine results pages.

• Semrush Map Rank Tracker is a game-changing tool for local businesses looking to dominate their niche and attract more customers. I've been using the free version for a while now, and I'm impressed with its ease and effectiveness.

• ContentShake AI is an intelligent writing tool that combines AI with real-life competitor insights. It guides you from ideation to publishing directly to the blog, generates SEO-friendly articles, and helps you optimize them for organic traffic and engagement.

• Microsoft Clarity has recently introduced a feature called Copilot, which incorporates Generative AI through Large Language Models (LLMs) into the analytics tool. This integration aims to make data more accessible and understandable for users by leveraging the same technology created by OpenAI, which powers the new Bing or ChatGPT.

• InLinks is an SEO tool that uses a knowledge graph to optimize content for search engines. It automates internal linking and schema markup, simplifying SEO processes and content strategies.

Subscribe to my newsletter to stay informed about the latest in SEO and digital marketing. Next week, I'll continue to share the newest insights, tactics, and strategies for navigating the ever-evolving digital marketing landscape.

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Best,

Mert