In today’s digital marketing landscape, Search Engine Optimization (SEO) remains a factor for boosting online business visibility. While traditional SEO techniques like keyword research and technical optimizations have proven effective, they are no longer enough. The current SEO environment demands a customer approach where the voice of the customer (VoC) takes stage. This article aims to delve into the power of VoC in enhancing your SEO strategies through evidence and practical examples.
Customer surveys are the most effective tools for gathering customer feedback on a website. They are easy to implement and can be triggered at the right moment when customers can provide valuable feedback (e.g., at exit intent, asking about their visit; after completing a purchase; when a user is browsing and searching for information).
Surveys can provide both quantitative and qualitative insights simultaneously by utilizing common metrics such as customer satisfaction scores and/or customer effort scores, as well as text analysis of open feedback. This information can be integrated with other feedback sources, such as customer reviews of purchased products and social media reviews, to gain a comprehensive and complete understanding of the user experience.
Leveraging user feedback for the SEO strategy requires designing and setting up the right system to capture users’ impressions specifically related to the website content quality.
Examples of content-related questions you could ask your customers during a website visit?
Scores will reveal the quality level of your website content and whether your content is displayed in the right place. More importantly, the open comments will inform you about the effectiveness of your SEO methods (the chosen keywords, the terminology).
Now, let’s address a few concrete ideas on how to leverage user/customer feedback to improve your SEO.
Have you ever wondered what your potential customers are thinking when they type into that search bar? A Voice of the Customer (VoC) program is the right tool to provide you with the right answer to this question.
As you delve into Voice of the customer insights, you become a detective, identifying patterns and trends in your customers’ behavior. Armed with these insights, you can craft content that directly addresses their intent and that ensures your site’s visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) when they perform their searches. A users’ comments or survey responses on a website may unveil common goals or frustrations, shedding light on user intent.
Voice of the customer program serves as a tool to validate or verify assumptions about user intent on a website. It offers concrete evidence grounded in customer feedback, often more reliable than internal assumptions. Furthermore, it is a continuous process through the regular collection and analysis of customer feedback, allowing for adaptation to evolving user intent over time.
At the core of any SEO strategy lies the keywords and phrases that your target audience uses to search for what you offer. By actively listening to your customers, you can identify the exact words and phrases they use when searching for products, services, or information related to your business. These golden nuggets are your SEO keywords, guiding your content optimization efforts. It’s a testament to the power of data-driven decision-making in SEO, resulting in content that not only ranks well but also connects deeply with your audience, driving engagement and fostering enduring relationships.
our website’s content isn’t merely information; it’s a conversation with your customers. Voice of the customer data equips you with the knowledge needed to engage deeply with your audience. By monitoring customer feedback, you can identify the terminology and language your actual customers use. This inspires the creation of valuable, relevant, and engaging content that addresses your audience’s needs directly.
User feedback is dynamic and can change over time. Regularly reviewing and incorporating it into your content strategy ensures your website remains relevant and up-to-date. Furthermore, search engines favor websites that consistently provide fresh and valuable content. Regular content updates also signal to search engines that your website is a vibrant and authoritative source of information. When your content aligns not only with current relevance but also with the evolving needs of your audience, it sends a clear signal that your site is a valuable resource. Consequently, search engines are more likely to reward your efforts with improved rankings.
User feedback is a valuable resource for engaging with your audience and uncovering their concerns, desires, and questions. These insights will help you identify recurring questions and prioritize them effectively. You can use Voice of the Customer (VoC) insights to compile a list of common questions and concerns your audience has. Creating an FAQ section on your website to provide concise answers to these queries will enhance the user experience and improve SEO if relevant keywords and phrases are incorporated. Creating such a page will also enhance your search visibility. Every shopper who Googles a question about your product or company will be directed to this dedicated Q&A section.
Analyzing Voice of the Customer data helps uncover the topics and questions that matter most to your audience. Creating blog posts and articles that directly address these topics provides valuable and informative content to your audience and encourages customer engagement.
Often, customers do not specify the content they are looking for when they provide feedback; instead, they share their pain points. By identifying these pain points and addressing them through content, whether it’s a blog post, an e-guide, or a social media post, your audience will be able to relate to and engage more with the content. By consistently doing so, you will showcase your expertise and build trust with your customers.
Another way of using feedback for SEO, is testimonials. Organizations tend today to use testimonials on their landing pages but some miss out on leveraging them for SEO. Choose and use strategically this content to highlight the value and benefits, of your product. Coupled with a call to action (CTA), you can efficiently guide your audience to the next step in your conversion funnel.
Product pages carry a strong transactional intent. Customers are prepared to make a purchase if the product description aligns with their needs. The final part of the product description must be a perfect match, as it plays a crucial role in the purchase decision. SEO experts typically advise composing product descriptions that span from 300 to 500 words. While quantity matters, the emphasis should primarily be on quality. Customers often skim through rather than read the entire description, scanning the text for keywords that resonate with them.
Leveraging user feedback ensures that the descriptions you create cater to actual users. This feedback will help determine whether your descriptions are clear and easily comprehensible, addressing the fundamental question of whether they effectively convey the intended message.
While surveys are important for gathering online feedback, product reviews are more effective as user-generated content holding significant importance in SEO. It serves as a powerful form of social proof, signifying the quality of the product. Shoppers share valuable product insights with their fellow consumers, often details that may not be present in the official product description, but are worth considering for inclusion in your product descriptions. Product reviews serve a dual purpose by contributing to your content’s word count and indicating that your webpage is actively maintained and consistently updated. Search engines favor fresh content, and regularly updated pages are more likely to be indexed and ranked. Valuable user-generated content (UGC) can also attract backlinks from other websites to your landing page, especially if it is widely shared or referenced. These backlinks will enhance your site’s authority and improve SEO.
