{"id":645851,"date":"2024-12-03T20:22:33","date_gmt":"2024-12-03T17:22:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/rand-fishkin-on-the-seo-opportunity-pie-shrinking-and-more-insights\/"},"modified":"2024-12-03T20:22:33","modified_gmt":"2024-12-03T17:22:33","slug":"rand-fishkin-on-the-seo-opportunity-pie-shrinking-and-more-insights","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/rand-fishkin-on-the-seo-opportunity-pie-shrinking-and-more-insights\/","title":{"rendered":"#Rand Fishkin on the SEO opportunity pie shrinking and more insights"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_85 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be74523517\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a3be74523517\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-2'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/rand-fishkin-on-the-seo-opportunity-pie-shrinking-and-more-insights\/#Rand_Fishkin_shares_his_thoughts_on_the_importance_of_creativity_chasing_traffic_branded_search_social_search_and_more\" >Rand Fishkin shares his thoughts on the importance of creativity, chasing traffic, branded search, social search, and more.<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h2 class=\"subhead\" itemprop=\"alternativeHeadline\"><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"Rand_Fishkin_shares_his_thoughts_on_the_importance_of_creativity_chasing_traffic_branded_search_social_search_and_more\"><\/span>Rand Fishkin shares his thoughts on the importance of creativity, chasing traffic, branded search, social search, and more.<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h2>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"bialty-container\">\n<p>Rand Fishkin published some great new <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/new-research-we-analyzed-332-million-queries-over-21-months-to-uncover-never-before-published-data-on-how-people-use-google\/#demand\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">research on how people use Google<\/a> today. You can read my take on that research in Surprising data: 15% of Google searches are driven by only 148 terms.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>Here are highlights from my recent Q&amp;A with Fishkin. Quotes have been lightly edited for brevity.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Most surprising finding.<\/strong> Fishkin\u2019s biggest surprise from the data was the size of the fat head:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cThe immense size of the \u2018fat head\u2019 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\u2019d done this research years ago), but my guess is Google\u2019s query demand, like the rest of our economy, is becoming more and more concentrated at the top.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Get creative.<\/strong> During his BrightonSEO keynote, Fishkin discussed the future of marketing as \u201czero-sum\u201d \u2014 meaning that to win people\u2019s time or attention, you\u2019ll have to steal it from someone else. We\u2019ve just about reached the peak of everything online.<\/p>\n<p>For example, almost everybody in the U.S. has Internet access now and the amount of time they spend online isn\u2019t growing. Here\u2019s what Fishkin thinks this means for us:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI 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\u2019d 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 <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">news<\/a>letters, direct ad buys, <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">YouTube<\/a> channels, organic social *cough*).\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Influence vs. clicks.<\/strong> 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.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cZero-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).\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Informational intent.<\/strong> 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\u2019s analysis. <\/p>\n<p>Now we\u2019re 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\u2019s take:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI\u2019m guessing a lot of folks are throwing away time, money, and SEO expertise chasing traffic for terms that are never coming back. But, as marketers always say, \u2018it depends!\u2019 Check <strong>your<\/strong> results. Don\u2019t just rely on broad studies of hundreds of millions of searches that may not <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>ly to you.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Peak SEO.<\/strong> Andrew Holland recently wrote about the coming SEO career crisis. And SEO jobs listings were down earlier this year, though anecdotally, that seems to have turned around somewhat in recent weeks.<\/p>\n<p>What does this mean for SEOs? Is it time to reskill or rethink your day-to-day activities (i.e., get away from the SEO checklist mentality)? Here\u2019s what Fishkin had to say: <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cI absolutely agree with you here. The SEO opportunity pie is shrinking, and that likely means we\u2019ve hit peak employment in the sector. If you can expand your skillset to other forms of digital marketing, especially those on the rise (content distribution and creative brand building via other people\u2019s channels are both huge, IMO), I\u2019d lean into that. <\/li>\n<li>\u201cThere will always be a need for talented search marketers, but unless current trends reverse, the number of people needed to run classic, checklist-style SEO for content and technical functions is going to decline, possibly by double-digit percentages.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Organic traffic vs. revenue. <\/strong>Wil Reynolds wrote about how his <a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.seerinteractive.com\/insights\/why-2020s-seo-kpis-wont-work-in-2024-in-a-genai-data-scarce-world\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">organic traffic declined but revenue remained flat<\/a>. SEO, undoubtedly, still has value for brands of all sizes. But has the value of organic traffic perhaps been \u201coverestimated\u201d or \u201covervalued\u201d? Fishkin\u2019s thoughts:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cThere\u2019s almost certainly a conflation of organic traffic and revenue, ever since Google took away keyword data on referrals in 2013. My guess is that for many, branded search traffic is sending you <strong>way<\/strong> more value than you\u2019re counting and unbranded way less. <\/li>\n<li>\u201cAlso, if you\u2019re treating branded search as something the search marketing team is doing, rather than something your other investments (brand, PR, content, events, social, etc.) are driving to search\u2026 you\u2019re likely misallocating a lot of budget.\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Social search.<\/strong> I\u2019ve seen many arguments on LinkedIn about how social search isn\u2019t search (e.g., is TikTok a search engine?). Because when we talk about search, for 20+ years, search has meant Google Search. I was curious for Fishkin\u2019s take on whether the \u201cGoogle only\u201d focus will need to change:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cPart of me agrees that a search on TikTok is not the same as a search on Google. But, what about a Pinterest search? How about a SearchGPT query? What about Perplexity or Reddit? It gets muddled.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cTo me, it seems obvious that one way to future-proof your career and limit your brand\u2019s risk of overinvestment in a single channel is to find your customers\u2019 sources of influence and be present in those places in ways that resonate.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cStop thinking of SEO as your only hammer and Google rankings your only nail. The world is bigger, and your tactics are eminently portable!\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Build on rented land.<\/strong> You may have heard Fishkin discuss the importance of focusing your efforts on your website and email list for about two decades. Now, he\u2019s convinced he was wrong \u2013 that you should build on rented land. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cWhen I say \u2018build on rented land,\u2019 I\u2019m suggesting that marketers stop thinking about every channel as driving traffic. You\u2019re fighting the platforms every step of the way if you try that approach. <\/li>\n<li>\u201cThink of digital channels, especially emerging search and social networks (ChatGPT, Perplexity, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube, et al.) like billboards or television. Your job is to capture attention, engage, and do something memorable that will help potential customers think of your brand the next time they have the problem you solve.<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAnd that will absolutely help SEO, too (since all that latent awareness and engagement leads to branded Google searches).\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>SEO in 2025.<\/strong> I was curious how Fishkin will approach SEO in 2025. Especially in light of his latest research.<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cFunny enough, I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll be changing anything we do at either of my companies around SEO. <\/li>\n<li>\u201cWith SparkToro, we\u2019ve long been of the mind that growing awareness of the product, showing off what it can do, and building a brand with highly shareable content is a better path for us than trying to compete for unbranded keywords that are mostly orthogonal to the business (sadly, almost no one searches for the things we do).<\/li>\n<li>\u201cWith Snackbar Studio it\u2019s the same story. People might search for [indie video <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a>s] or [best new games] or even  but we\u2019re far better off getting onto the lists the big publications create (e.g. Kotaku\u2019s Best Games of 2026, or similar) than trying to get our own site into those rankings (no player would trust us over an impartial third party anyway, and most video game discovery happens on Steam and YouTube).\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Fishkin also shared one SEO \u201ctip\u201d for 2025 (which he said to take with a grain of salt because he hasn\u2019t been in the SEO field for seven years):<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>\u201cLeverage other people\u2019s publications, especially the influential and well-subscribed-to ones. Not only can you piggyback off sites that are likely to already rank well, you get the authority of a third-party saying positive things about you, and, likely, a boost in LLM discoverability (because LLMs often use medium and large publications as the source of their training data).\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<p><\/p>\n<div class=\"about-author\">\n<p>About the author<\/p>\n<div class=\"information\">\n<div class=\"author-module\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-3 text-center\">\n<div class=\"avatar\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" alt=\"Danny Goodwin\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Danny-Goodwin-scaled.jpeg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"img-fluid rounded-circle avatar-border\" src=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/07\/Danny-Goodwin-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"Danny Goodwin\" width=\"140\" height=\"140\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-lg-9\">\n<div class=\"about\">\n<div class=\"name\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<strong>Danny Goodwin<\/strong>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"row g-2 pt-2\">\n<div class=\"col-auto twitter\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/follow?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fsearchengineland.com%2F&amp;region=follow_link&amp;screen_name=MrDannyGoodwin&amp;tw_p=followbutton&amp;variant=2.0\" rel=\"me\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-x-twitter\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<div class=\"col-auto\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.linkedin.com\/in\/dannygoodwin\/\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"opens in a new tab\"><i class=\"fab fa-linkedin\"><\/i><\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>\t\t\t\t\t\tDanny Goodwin is Editorial Director of Search Engine Land &amp; Search Marketing Expo &#8211; SMX. He joined Search Engine Land in 2022 as Senior Editor. In addition to reporting on the latest search marketing news, he manages Search Engine Land\u2019s SME (Subject Matter Expert) program. He also helps program U.S. SMX events. <\/p>\n<p>Goodwin has been editing and writing about the latest developments and trends in search and digital marketing since 2007. He previously was Executive Editor of Search Engine Journal (from 2017 to 2022), managing editor of Momentology (from 2014-2016) and editor of Search Engine Watch (from 2007 to 2014). He has spoken at many major search conferences and virtual events, and has been sourced for his expertise by a wide range of publications and podcasts.\t\t\t\t\t<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMN63nwsw68G3Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more like this article, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/category\/technology\/\" target=\"_blank\" >Technology<\/a><\/span> category.<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/seo-opportunity-shrinking-rand-fishkin-448876\" target=\"_blank\" >Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Rand Fishkin shares his thoughts on the importance of creativity, chasing traffic, branded search, social search, and more. 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&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":645852,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/searchengineland.com\/wp-content\/seloads\/2024\/12\/rand-fishkin.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[78070],"class_list":["post-645851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-technology","tag-seo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=645851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/645851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/645852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=645851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=645851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=645851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}