Hey, Nick Ponte here. I own and operate a top SEO company in Maui, Hawaii. My team loves building expert strategies for businesses to up their digital marketing game and increase traffic and revenue. Last week, I shared how businesses can unlock success through web design by collaborating with a top Hawaii marketing firm.
Today, I want to introduce a topic that businesses will find a fast-growing challenge in the near future. As technology transforms through the use of artificial intelligence (AI), you can correctly imagine how it will begin integrating into user experiences with search engines and businesses online. While it may seem like a complex topic to dive into, AI technology develops at an extremely rapid pace, and businesses should research how it will affect their digital strategies starting today.
You may be asking: What on earth do I need to know about AI SEO for Hawaii businesses? Let’s start with how it will impact your business’s AI SEO (search engine optimization).
Also Read: 4 Crucial Components of Search Engine Optimization in Hawaii
Why Should I Care about AI SEO as a Business Owner in Hawaii?
Google has officially started shifting toward an integration of AI into their search results, called SGE (Search Generative Experience). It offers a Conversational Mode, similar to ChatGPT, that offers detailed search results by providing sourced data and “snapshots” of information from relevant websites. While the changes haven’t gone live for all users, Google currently has a beta mode in progress for users who sign up.
Google’s SGE impacts SEO because it changes the format of search queries and results, whether informational, local, or transactional. While SGE doesn’t replace traditional results, it answers new types of queries with more complexity, providing sources of information, suggested followup questions, and suggested further information, so users can keep exploring. It’s almost like a detailed conversation with Google. Users can ask follow-up questions, and SGE takes their original query into account as it builds an intricate answer catered to that user’s quest for information.
SGE could potentially affect website traffic, because Conversational Mode gives answers in the “snapshots” without users always needing to click the link. However, you may get more qualified traffic through to your website IF you end up in the top results… which isn’t a guarantee just because you already place in the top organic results.
SGE currently remains in testing mode until the end of the year, so Google can incorporate research based on user experience and feedback. However, the official changes could roll out as early as the end of 2023. Your business should prepare now. Want to know how you can get ready for the use of AI technology in search engines? Let me share four ways.
Also Read: Direct Your Market with Pay-Per-Click Advertising
4 Ways to Prepare Your Business for the Google’s Shift to SGE
Get ready now so your business doesn’t have to catch up when AI technology comes to Google’s search engines:
1. Optimize Your Website for AI SEO
Just because you’ve been in the top three organic results on Google’s SERPs (search engine results pages) in the past doesn’t mean you’ll get into the “snapshot” that Conversation Mode offers to users. With the shift to more complex questions and answers, Google uses different criteria to filter websites and content.
If you want to put your business in the best position to show up in those “snapshots,” make sure your website is fully optimized with SGE in mind. You’ll need quality content, keywords, backlinks, metadata and descriptions, coding, adaptive pages, and fast loading speeds. Google still determines your website’s authority for its search results, and you want to make sure yours is primed for SGE.
The new experience allows users to see the “Cliff’s Notes” version of a website’s articles and info. It could affect the amount of users clicking your links, but local businesses with quality websites could get more traffic because more resources get shown in results. Your website needs quality, optimized features to get the best chances of becoming visible and enticing users.
2. Emphasize Reviews
You already know that user reviews are important to build your business. With SGE, they’ll become even more crucial. In the beta mode, Google SGE pulls information straight from reviewers’ comments and ratings. This can improve local results—great news! But if you don’t have many reviews, your website’s visibility could suffer. Remind clients and customers to leave third-party reviews for your business.
3. Take Advantage of Paid Ads and Sponsored Content
Ads bring Google tons of revenue. That won’t stop. But with SGE, they may have even more opportunities for ads and sponsored content. These paid search results will continue, and your business should jump on that cost-effective opportunity to attract customers. However, don’t neglect the optimization here, because you want them to show up to the right users at the right time. Popular options for ads could change, since SGE answers highly specific questions. Business owners will need to find ways to stay up-to-date.
4. Hire a Professional SEO Agency in Hawaii
Before you consider AI’s effect on your business, professional Hawaii SEO agencies have already been thoroughly researching the data for AI and the changes it brings to digital marketing. They have the resources lined up to help your website and marketing strategy adjust to changing criteria.
Our team of experts stands ready to help your business adapt to the changes artificial intelligence brings to the way users find solutions. We can adapt quickly and implement innovative strategies for our clients, giving you an incredible edge over your competition.
We’d love to help you explore fresh solutions to these upcoming changes. If you want to learn more about how AI changes the landscape of digital marketing, reach out to us today!
Further Reading: Elevate Your Online Presence with a Website Design Company in Hawaii
Photos Courtesy of Nathana Rebouças & Campaign Creators