Rand Fishkin published some great new research on how people use Google today. You can read my take on that research in Surprising data: 15% of Google searches are driven by only 148 terms.
I reached out to Fishkin to dig deeper into the implications of his new analysis and some of the insights he shared at BrightonSEO San Diego last month.
Here are highlights from my recent Q&A with Fishkin. Quotes have been lightly edited for brevity.
Most surprising finding. Fishkin’s biggest surprise from the data was the size of the fat head:
“The immense size of the ‘fat head’ of demand blew my mind. Never would I have guessed that 148 keywords would be responsible for almost 15% of all search volume. I wish I could compare that to years past (and that I’d done this research years ago), but my guess is Google’s query demand, like the rest of our economy, is becoming more and more concentrated at the top.”
Get creative. During his BrightonSEO keynote, Fishkin discussed the future of marketing as “zero-sum” — meaning that to win people’s time or attention, you’ll have to steal it from someone else. We’ve just about reached the peak of everything online.
For example, almost everybody in the U.S. has Internet access now and the amount of time they spend online isn’t growing. Here’s what Fishkin thinks this means for us:
“I think it means more creativity will yield better results. Many folks in search marketing have been chasing rankings and traffic from the same keywords for a decade or more. Given peak Internet and the zero-sum nature of search traffic, I’d strongly consider if you can win by making more creative content, doing more creative placements, being in sources of influence your competitors have never even tried (*cough* podcasts, email newsletters, direct ad buys, YouTube channels, organic social *cough*).”
Influence vs. clicks. Search marketers are tasked with getting visibility and clicks. However, search is about more than just clicks. Especially now, when 60% of Google searches end without a click.
“Zero-click organic search is a branding opportunity. If your boss/team/client is pushing you to get traffic, you should push back with data about just how much you can influence an audience on Google results (and how much most companies already pay to get visibility and branding opportunities like that).”
Informational intent. For many years, brands have created informational content with the goal of reaching people at the start of the buying journey. And 52.65% of Google searches are informational, according to Fishkin’s analysis.
Now we’re in the age of AI Overviews, and Google can answer many of those informational queries using generative AI. So, should brands and creators continue creating informational content meant to rank well or is this becoming an outdated tactic? Fishkin’s take: