And in this chapter, I’m going to show you exactly how to get your site ready for this upcoming Google update.
(Including a real-life example of how I dramatically improved Backlinko’s core web vital scores.)
Let’s dive in.
Core Web Vitals: What You Need to Know
Core web vitals are a set of three specific web page experience metrics that Google considers super important:
Largest contentful paint
First input delay
Cumulative layout shift
According to Google, core web vitals will directly impact rankings.
That said, they also point out that core web vitals aren’t a make or break ranking factor. In other words, you can still rank with poor core web vitals scores.
That said, there’s really no reason NOT to optimize your site’s core web vitals.
So it makes sense to set some time aside to work on them.
Here’s how.
How To Improve Your Core Web Vital Scores
To be clear:
The exact steps you take to improve your core web vitals depends on your site.
For example, a site that runs on Shopify will be different compared to one that runs on WordPress.
That said, here’s the process you can use to figure out what you need to fix.
Then, take a look at how the pages on your site stack up.
(I basically ignore the desktop scores. Google’s mobile-first index means that mobile scores are what really matter.)
You want to really zero in on “poor URLs”.
In my opinion, Google is going to punish poor URLs more than boost up good URLs. So you want to prioritize getting your URLs out of the red.
Again, how you tackle this depends a lot on the core web vital that you’re struggling with.
For example, a bunch of my pages had a poor CLS score.
So we worked on improving the stability of pages as they loaded.
How We Improved Backlinko’s Core Web Vitals
When Google announced their upcoming page experience update, I realized that we needed to make a change.
You see, Backlinko’s load times were slow. Very slow.
It wasn’t for lack of trying. We used a lightweight WordPress theme. Compressed our images. And more.
But the fact was: Backlinko’s pages were HUGE. Some of our posts had 40+ high-res screenshots. Plus visuals, embedded videos and animated images.
The thing was, this didn’t seem to hurt our rankings at all. Which makes sense considering that our search engine ranking factors analysis found no correlation between page speed and rankings.
But this update was different. Google wasn’t just looking at page loading speed. They were going to try to directly measure user experience.
In other words: this time they weren’t messing around.
So I got to work.
Specifically, I hired an agency to overhaul Backlinko’s code. It now runs on Next.js.
It wasn’t cheap. Or easy.
But in the end, this significantly improved our core web vital scores.
And our overall load times.
Fortunately, you probably don’t have to completely overhaul your site’s code. Backlinko was kind of in a unique situation. This is why we had to take drastic measures.
But 9 times out of 10, you can improve your core web vital scores using the tips that I outlined above.
And with that, it’s time for chapter 2.
Chapter 2:Google Passage Ranking
In 2020 Google announced a new search technology called “Passages”.
This feature allows Google to rank specific sections of a page (“a passage”) independently.
This feature is going to affect 7% of all searches, which is a massive number.
(To put that into context, Google Penguin only impacted 3.1% of all queries.)
Let’s see how to optimize for this new Google ranking factor.
How Google Passage Ranking Works
Passages allow Google to rank specific, relevant passages from a specific page. Not just the page itself.
(Kind of like a souped-up version of Featured Snippets.)
Here’s an example from Google’s feature announcement:
So instead of Google ONLY taking into account the relevancy of an entire page.
They’ll now also size up the relevancy of a specific section of that page.
That said, Google has made it clear that they will still evaluate entire pages.
So backlinks, on-page SEO, UX signals, and Google’s other page-level ranking factors will still apply.
The only difference is that a single page now has more chances to rank. That is, assuming the page is optimized and organized.
Which is exactly what I’m going to cover right now.
Organize Your Content Into Discrete Sections
Yes, Google will rank passages of your page semi-independently.
But that doesn’t mean they can easily divvy up a disorganized page.
Why?
Google may now look at each section like a mini web page.
This means your content needs to be divided up into dedicated sections.
And each section should cover a specific subtopic.
You may have been doing this already. If not, I recommend going back and organizing your content into VERY clear sections.
This page is organized into 21 different sections.
(Each section has an H3 subheading.)
That way, Google can treat the content underneath each H3 as a mini web page. And rank it accordingly.
Double Down on Long Form Content
The downside of long-form content USED to be that you could sometimes get beat by a more focused page.
For example, let’s say you had a section on your page about writing blog post intros.
And someone else had an entire page dedicated to writing post intros.
Well, in some cases Google would rank the entire page about post intros over you.
That’s because your competitor’s page was 100% about that topic. And to Google, that page could be a better UX for someone looking to write better introductions.
But that’s about to change.
Today, Google can parse a single piece of long-form content into 5, 10, or even 100 unique passages.
And each one has a good shot of ranking in Google.
So yeah, long-form content already had a rankings edge in the SERPs.
In short, more and more people are searching for stuff on YouTube than ever before.
So if you want to get more traffic from SEO in 2023, I recommend creating and optimizing content specifically for YouTube.
It’s a search engine that’s too big to ignore.
The best part? Most marketers are too lazy to make videos. So it’s pretty easy to get your videos seen (assuming you know how to create high-quality videos).
For example, my channel has 45 total videos. And those 45 videos generate over 189k views per month.
(And as you might expect, a good chunk of those viewers turn into website visitors, leads, and customers.)
It gets better: when you publish SEO-optimized YouTube videos, you’ll own more Google real estate.
(And almost all of those videos are from YouTube.)
Here’s an example of what I mean:
And considering that Google owns YouTube, expect even MORE YouTube videos in the search results in 2023.
Embed Video Content Into Text-Based Blog Posts
If people want to see more video content, why not give it to them?
That’s why I recommend embedding video content into your blog posts. And from my own Google Analytics data, I’ve seen that this can significantly improve your bounce rate.
Here’s an example of this in action:
Chapter 7:Master Search Intent
Search Intent has been a massive topic in the SEO world over the last few years.
And for good reason:
Content that doesn’t match search intent simply won’t rank.
And as Google gets better at giving people the exact search results they want, creating content that’s a 1:1 Search Intent match is going to be a must for 2023 SEO.
Identify Each Keyword’s Intent
Every keyword has an intent behind it.
Maybe it’s to look something up.
Or buy something.
Or compare product A with product B.
And the better your content can match that search intent, the better it will rank.
So your first step is to figure out your target keyword’s Search Intent.
Sometimes the intent is right in the keyword.
But it’s not usually that obvious. So for most keywords, the search results will tell you everything you need to know about that keyword’s Search Intent.
For example, take a keyword like: “protein powder”.
Someone searching for that term could want to buy some protein. Or maybe they want to learn more about it.
Well, according to Google’s first page for that keyword, most people searching for “protein powder” are looking for information.
Create Content That’s a 1:1 Search Intent Match
Now that you’ve identified Search Intent, it’s time to publish something that gives searchers EXACTLY what they’re looking for.
For example, when I analyzed the search engine results pages (“the SERPs”) for “how to get YouTube subscribers”, I noticed that they were mostly list posts.
So even though this was a “how-to” keyword, I didn’t publish a step-by-step tutorial.
Instead, I published a list post.
And because my content is what users want, that page ranks in the top 3 for that keyword.
Re-Optimize Old Content for Search Intent
Search Intent optimization isn’t just for new content.
You can tweak your older stuff to make it a better Search Intent fit. To boost your on-page SEO. Or just to improve the page’s overall user experience.
For example, this post used to rank really well for “SEO campaign”.
But as Google got better at figuring out what people that searched for that keyword actually wanted, my post started to drop in the rankings.
Which made sense: someone searching for “SEO campaign” doesn’t want a case study about a random guy. They want a list of steps.
So I transformed that post into a step-by-step guide that was easy to follow.
Today, that page gets 156.46% more organic traffic than the old version.
It’s no secret why: Google is crowding out the organic search results with SERP Features, like Answer Boxes, Ads, Carousels, “People also ask” sections, and more.
And to stand out in the SERPs, your result needs to scream “click on me!”… or else it’ll be ignored.
And one of our most interesting findings was that keyword-rich URLs get 45% more clicks vs. URLs that don’t contain a keyword that matches the person’s search.
Use Emotion (Without Going Overboard)
Our study found that emotional titles had a relatively high CTR.
But we also found that title tags that contained “Power Words” reduced clicks by 14%.
It looks like Google searchers want to click on compelling titles. But if a title veers into clickbait territory, they’re going to click on something else.
Write Meta Descriptions for Every Page
In other words: make sure your website’s description meta tags are 100% original. And would compel someone to click on your site in the search results.
This is a simple 2-minute step that can increase your CTR by approximately 6%.
Bonus Chapter:Quick SEO Tips for 2023
In this chapter, I’ll show you a few quick-win tactics that are working great right now.
And should work even better in 2023.
Publish “Research Content”
Bloggers and journalists LOVE data.
And if you can hook them up with a stat, a survey, or an industry study, they’ll link to you like there’s no tomorrow.
For example, in 2020 we published 5 pieces of Research Content.
And those 5 pieces of content brought in 22,926 backlinks, 23,217 social media shares and 262,983 thousand visitors.
Insane.
The downside of Research Content is that it’s A LOT more work than banging out a list post or case study.
But when done right, the extra effort can totally pay off.
That means that next year there’s probably going to be even MORE opportunities for you to get links from podcasts.
Before signing off with the last bonus point to consider when putting in place an effective SEO strategy this year, here’s a summary of the best and timeless SEO practices:
Optimize your website Page Speed and ensure compliance with all Core Web Vitals requirements.
Apply internal and external links effectively. Backlinks endorse your authority in a specific niche, and this makes Google assign higher rankings. On the other hand, internal links improve UX and enhance website architecture.
Thoroughly conduct keyword analysis to understand user intent, and then develop high-quality content that satisfies it.
Utilize any core Google updates, and always ensure that your website stays on top of things!
Regularly monitor your search rankings performance to sniff out any changes that may require your attention.
And now to the last bonus point …
Publish Content Hubs
Content hubs are essentially a bunch of related content that cover a specific topic.
But instead of linking together random blog posts, you present them as entries in a single “hub”.
And create a hub homepage for the hub.
To date, we’ve published three content hubs here at Backlinko: