By now, as a marketing professional, you’re probably familiar with the term search engine optimization (SEO). You’re probably less familiar with the term answer engine optimization (AEO), however it has become even more important than SEO. To understand why, you must know the differences between them and how to modify your SEO strategy.
The primary purpose of SEO is to lead people searching for specific terms online to a business website. With AEO, the purpose shifts to optimizing the website with answers to common and specific questions of online searchers. It also takes the explosive popularity of voice search into consideration. After focusing on SEO strategy for so many years, it can be a challenge to change your marketing mindset to AEO.
It can take some research and practice to understand how people search for items using their voice rather than typing a query into a search engine. For example, someone looking for a carpet cleaner in Toledo might Google “carpet cleaning Toledo” while a person using voice search might say, “Show me the best carpet cleanerr in Toledo.” The information below includes additional considerations for AEO.
Here are some tools that can assist you in locating potential questions your customers might ask.
A featured snippet is content that appears above all other results on the search engine results page. Ranking here increases the likelihood of online searchers reading only your company’s message and going directly to your website for answers.
This coding gives each page of your business website a specific role by dividing it into sections. The purpose is to inform the search engines what to display when selecting information in response to search queries.
Both SEO and AEO share a goal of establishing your brand’s credibility by showing answer engines that your website contains authoritative sources of information. You can do this by building brand authority and including five or more third-party reviews, inbound links, and positive mentions.
Are you ready to shift your marketing focus from SEO to AEO but don’t know what to do next? We’re here to help. Please contact us today to request your initial consultation.
Ready? Let’s get to work. Call (419) 540.4437 or email toledoseoforgrowth@gmail.com to get started today.