Since there are more and more capable SEOs and digital marketers out there, it is becoming progressively harder to stand out within the Google SERP. Because of this, I thought that I’d share three alternative ways that help you beat your competition and increase your presence on Google!
1. Optimize your images for visual search
Visual search is nothing new for 2024. However, it is something that has become increasingly popular during the past few years. A trend that will probably continue throughout the following years. In order to beat your competition and gain an important advantage within search engines, I would recommend you start optimizing your images for visual search.
Not familiar with visual search? Well, visual search is a technology that lets people do searches with images instead of words. For example, a user could upload an image of something he or she would want to buy to a visual search engine and then be presented with similar products available to purchase.
A few years ago, in 2017 to be exact, things got even more interesting since Google released Google Lens. An innovative technology that lets people “search what they see” with the help of their camera.
Personally, I think that new and improved visual search technologies like Google Lens will drastically change users’ search behavior over the coming years. Which, in turn, will create new opportunities for companies to increase both traffic and sales from search engines.
Start optimizing your images for visual search by:
- Using images with high resolution
- Offer several product images from different angles (e-commerce businesses)
- Adding descriptive alternative texts to your images
- Compressing your images to make sure that they’re not slowing down your site
- Adding an image sitemap to your website
2. List your products on Google Shopping
Visual search is not the only thing that will change the game within search engines. In April this year, Google announced that “It’s now free to sell on Google”. From now on, the Google Shopping tab (in the U.S) will primarily consist of free listings, which helps merchants to connect with consumers, drive more traffic and increase sales.
In order to start listing your products on Google Shopping, you will have to register or sign in to Merchant Center and set up a product feed.
When setting up your product feed it is important to think about the following:
- Use high-quality images that captures the interest of consumers
- Use a descriptive title that captures the interest of consumers and includes your keyword
- Use an informative description that focuses on your product(s) attributes and advantages
- Use competitive pricing since consumers will be able to compare your prices with other merchants
- Make sure that your product feed is on-point and includes all of the necessary elements
3. Upload video to YouTube
YouTube is not only the most popular video platform in the world but also one of the world’s largest search engines. It is furthermore owned by Google. Because of this, Google is constantly featuring videos from YouTube within the SERP.
As a result of this, you as a digital marketer/business owner gets an opportunity to reach new consumers on YouTube whilst also improving your visibility within Google Search. Great, huh?!
Use statistics from Google Trends, Google Keyword Planner, and other keyword research tools in order to find out what people are searching for within your niche. Then create and upload videos surrounding those topics.
When creating and uploading videos it is important to think about the following:
- Use a custom thumbnail that describes your video and captures people’s interest
- Use a descriptive title that includes your keyword (consider using how-to keywords, reviews, tutorials etc.)
- Use tags that help YouTube and Google to understand what your video is all about
- Use an informative description for the above reason
There you have it – three alternative ways that help you to increase your presence on Google. Hopefully, you can use those to increase both your traffic and sales!
