Basic Concepts and Key Points in SEO

SEO optimization has a long history within web marketing. Today, converting SEO efforts into actual conversions demands a more consulting-oriented perspective. We spoke with Tomohide Katsutani and Eiichi Yano of Nextedge Dentsu Inc. about the current state and future of SEO optimization.

*Note: Nextedge Dentsu Inc. became "Dentsu Digital Inc." effective July 1, 2016.

What's easy for users to understand is also easy for Google to understand

　

──Could you briefly explain SEO?

Yano: To put it simply, it involves including keywords in titles, using heading tags, and structuring content so Google's crawlers can easily read and understand it.

Katsutani: The importance of organizing and presenting information clearly to users remains unchanged, both now and in the past. For example, even with just a title, one that succinctly represents the page is more accepted. The idea is that what's easy for users to understand is also easy for Google to understand.

──Have any aspects of SEO changed?

Yano: One example is that in the past, having overly deep directory hierarchies made it harder for Google to understand the information, leading to content being evaluated incorrectly. So, we used to focus on keeping hierarchies as shallow as possible. However, Google's crawling technology has improved significantly recently. While thoughtful navigation is still necessary, Google can now effectively gather information and evaluate content even with moderately deep directory structures.

Katsutani: A major shift from past SEO practices is the end of tactics designed to deceive Google. For instance, methods like artificially inflating backlinks from external sites or adding large volumes of empty content to appear substantial no longer work. Such attempts to trick Google can now result in penalties for "unnatural sites."

Sites that rank highly in search results are inherently those valued by Google. Recently, however, there's a noticeable emphasis on evaluating sites that prioritize usability and user experience, such as implementing SSL and ensuring mobile responsiveness.

──So, does creating a highly usable site directly contribute to SEO?

Yano: In principle, yes. However, it's not necessarily true that only highly usable sites are valued. There are actually technically challenging aspects. While Google's analysis technology has improved, it still can't accurately understand the content of images or videos and relies heavily on text information. Yet, from the user's perspective, sometimes using only images to present information can be clearer or easier to understand.

Katsutani: In that sense, high usability and Google's evaluation might not always be synonymous, but technological advancements will likely bring them closer together in the future. Ultimately, the content itself becomes the key differentiator.

Providing the right answer to a user's question is what makes "good content."

　

──The phrase "create good content" is very easy to use, but it can also lack specificity. What exactly constitutes "good content"?

Katsutani: If I had to define it, I believe "good content" is content that provides the right answer to the user's question. Specifically, content that doesn't comprehensively cover the information needed to answer the user's query when they search for a specific topic, or content that only contains information everyone already knows, wouldn't be considered "good content." At our company, we prioritize whether content comprehensively covers the information, is well-organized, offers originality, and maintains relevance to the topic when creating content.

　

──Is this Dentsu Inc. News considered "good content"?

Yano: Each article is deeply researched and contains specialized information. As content, I believe it provides solid answers to readers' questions, making it "good content."

Katsutani: Indeed, since it incorporates knowledge refined as Dentsu Inc.'s expertise, I believe these articles are valuable, offering learning and insights to diverse readers. Compared to articles simply compiling web-sourced information, they contain raw opinions, perspectives, and case studies, making them high-value information.

──Thank you.

Katsutani: However, no matter how "good" the content is, how it's designed and presented to users and search engines is another matter entirely—it comes down to whether SEO is properly implemented.

Yano: The current structure of the Dentsu Inc. News site makes it difficult for Google to crawl effectively. To use an analogy, it's like Google only understood about half of the 1,000 articles. That's a bit of a waste. I think there's significant room to increase touchpoints with users seeking information through redesign and optimization.

Katsutani: To match users with content through the filter of search engines, you need to build a site that's understandable to both search engines and users. That's what SEO optimization is all about. It's not enough to just create good content; you must structure it—through title tags, internal linking design, and so on—so Google can easily understand it.

──It feels like every company is tackling these things, though...

Yano: Unfortunately, many companies aren't doing it well.

Simply changing "KIDS" to "Children's Clothing" increased site traffic from keyword searches by 20 times.

──Let me ask bluntly: why aren't they succeeding?

Yano: Surprisingly common is prioritizing design when building the site and completely ignoring SEO. Then there are sites using technologies search engine crawlers can't follow. Reasons vary—like ease of management—but this approach fails to match users with the site.

──So, what kind of measures would Nextedge Dentsu Inc. implement if you were to engage them?

Yano: First, we analyze the site's current state. Simultaneously, we research what kind of users are searching for what keywords. For example, let's say the keyword is "baby food." The client's site has baby food recipes. Yet, it doesn't rank highly in search results. Why? Because people want to know much more about baby food than just recipes. Q&A sites reveal various insights: things to watch out for when making baby food, how seasoning changes by age, how often to feed it, and so on.

Yet, clients often tend to focus on publishing the information they want to share. That's why we emphasize that there are various insights, or keywords, out there. Earlier, I mentioned that simply having a website constitutes SEO. However, identifying these keywords and analyzing the site is difficult without specialized knowledge. This is one of our strengths.

──So there's a disconnect between user search behavior and site construction. Do you have any actual examples?

Yano: A major fashion e-commerce site offers a good example. They categorized children's clothing as "KIDS." However, mothers tend to search for "children's clothing" rather than "KIDS, clothing." The site likely adopted "KIDS" without much thought, perhaps because it looked better visually. The content the company was providing didn't effectively match what people were searching for. In fact, when they changed "KIDS" to "子供服," traffic from keyword searches jumped 20 times.

Katsuya: Site traffic is certainly important, but it's not the only goal. When users arrive via keyword search, the site should ideally capture them. The goal is to convert those captured users. However, if the desired information isn't on the site, users can't be captured, resulting in lost opportunities. This necessitates aligning the client's desired information with market needs. Accurately grasping market needs is difficult, so we often research and analyze them early on, strategically incorporating them.

Yano: Let's consider the case of a house builder selling multi-generational homes. They want to improve their search ranking for the keyword "multi-generational homes" to attract users to their site. The site meticulously highlights the benefits of multi-generational homes. However, users aren't just looking for advantages; they also want to know the drawbacks, construction timelines, budgets, and real-life experiences.

In reality, many users search using keywords like "two-generation home, disadvantages." Therefore, we must create content that thoroughly addresses the disadvantages and then build a system to guide users toward the client's desired content showcasing the wonderful aspects of two-generation homes. Our job is to make them realize this.

──So you're saying we need to consult on the actual content being produced?

Katsutani: Exactly. Keywords and content go hand in hand. The keywords people search for are the very essence of their feelings. We believe it's necessary to create content that fully embraces those feelings.

We must carefully interpret the emotions of users entering search keywords.

　

──To do that, you need to accurately understand the user's feelings. What methods do you use?

Katsutani: We use tools that analyze keywords frequently associated with specific search terms. But here's our unique approach: we also focus on the emotional state of the user entering that search term. For example, if "car insurance" is the search keyword, we analyze sites where raw voices gather, like Yahoo! Chiebukuro or 2channel, as well as social media like Facebook and Twitter. We look at the context in which "car insurance" is discussed, the words it's paired with, and what concerns people have.

Yano: We also utilize a DMP (Data Management Platform). While DMPs contain various databases, let me share one way we extract data. For instance, we gather a sample of 1,000 people who searched for the keyword "hair removal" and analyze what other keywords they searched for in the past. This revealed the keyword "overseas travel." This indicates that many people think, "I should get hair removal done before some kind of event." We conduct thorough verification like this and only propose keywords to clients that are backed by solid evidence.

Due to diversifying values and the rise of smartphones, the variety of user search queries has significantly expanded in recent years. This means capturing all the diverse user insights is difficult using just one specific tool. We must leverage all the latest tools and sometimes utilize analog elements like large-scale survey data. In any case, we are meticulous about the analysis providing the basis for deciding which keywords to target and what content to create.

< Continued in Part 2 >