Search is evolving.
Should this influence your current and future strategies? And if so, how?
Let’s dig in.
Today’s agenda:
⌨️ Search stats to drive your content
🤖 How AI is changing SEO
🗣️ Tips for giving tough feedback
💼 Briefly — our quick news roundup
⏱️ Up & coming
Social search is growing
While search engines are still used by 88% of consumers, it’s hard to ignore another growing figure: 31% of consumers use social media to find answers online, according to HubSpot.
🔑 Key stats:
29% of Gen Z and Millennials combined prefer social search, compared to 15% of all generations
12% of consumers use AI chatbots to find answers to questions
54% of consumers use their phones to search
What does all of this mean for your strategy?
👀 Maybe not much yet, but keep an eye on the future of search. The number of consumers who prefer social search is expected to keep growing — especially as Gen Z “ages into full buying power.”
Another factor to watch: AI-based search.
For now, keep mobile search habits in mind and consider optimizing these experiences. Traditional search is still considered the most effective way to get answers.
Revising your SEO strategy in an AI world
The Content Marketing Institute team asked the experts presenting in September at Content Marketing World if SEO strategies should be rewritten in the era of AI.
✍️ While they collectively agreed that it should, here are some top tips for executing the revisions:
Copy and paste drafts of your content into a chatbot and ask it what you missed and what else the reader would need to know
Embrace what makes you unique by using tools like Semrush and Moz to look for more focused search terms you are already excelling in — and repurpose it
Use available AI tools via Chrome extensions (ChatGPT for Google, etc.) to “completely optimize” your web content
Keep the focus on producing quality content — consumers are looking for “authoritative voices” and deeper content
Don’t make any drastic changes right now in response to AI — it’s too early to know how rapidly things will evolve in the near future
Be aware of AI’s shortcomings
Focus on your company — your mission, your goals, your voice, your point of view, and what makes you unique
Perhaps the most valuable piece of advice comes from Dennis Shiao, founder of Attention Retention, who urges teams to optimize for humans rather than search engines.
While we can’t control how search will change over time, what we can control is our message and the quality of our content.
🌶️ Another hot tip: Consider tagging your original content with #NoAI to attract those who appreciate knowing how the content they’re consuming was created.
Reframing feedback
Does the idea of giving tough feedback to your team fill you with dread?
Some leaders feel like they can take anything that comes their way — but when it comes to offering constructive feedback to their direct reports, they fear:
Navigating others’ emotions
Harming relationships
Demotivating their team
The problem is, failure to effectively address your concerns with your team can have catastrophic consequences.
😬 Solutions for navigating the discomfort, via executive coach Melody Wilding:
Focus on what you will gain from having the conversation
Understand that your feedback is important and necessary for your team, and is a tool for growth
Consider the worst-case scenario, and have a solution for it
Normalize regular feedback so it becomes more natural
Of course, your feedback shouldn’t be all bad, either. You can begin by focusing on the strengths and positives of the team member and remain respectful and direct throughout.
🤝 Scheduling regular one-on-one meetings with team members also creates an avenue for candid discussion, project updates, and reflection.
Briefly
🤖 AI has the ability to steal passwords with up to 95% accuracy by listening to what you type on your keyboard
👷 Check out where jobs were at in July with this chart
😴 Bill Gates says he used to think less sleep equaled more productivity, but these days he’s preaching the importance of sleep for maximum brain function
🗓️ Thinking of moving to a four-day workweek? Read these considerations from a company that tried it
🧵 How business owners plan to use the new social platform Threads
Up & Coming
Are you tired of being dragged around in the new world of Twitter/X? You’re not alone.
Here is a list of X alternatives that offer a similar vibe as Twitter — without the drama.