The impact of content for an e-commerce website is massive, enabling online retailers to connect more with their audience while serving search engines with information.
The work carried out by WordLift for Glasses.com moves in an unprecedented direction in digital marketing, ensuring an increase in organic traffic with a set of AI-powered tasks focused on content.
As you may know, everything at WordLift starts with a knowledge graph, in this case, a product knowledge graph that enriched Glasses.com’s structured data already in place. Leveraging the KG, we worked on dynamic internal linking to enhance site navigation and crafted FAQs using AI to address customer inquiries directly. The multi-faceted approach ensured the engagement of high-quality content and its integration with the brand’s product offerings and customer needs.
WordLift’s actions showcase the power of AI in creating content that captures attention and engages users while improving the traffic on the site. Three years after the first implementation of the product knowledge graph, we can still track increased value for product pages that are gaining visibility, with impressions still rising by 9.33%. Read the SEO Case Study to know more 👓🕶️
Glasses.com is an online retailer of eyewear owned by the group EssilorLuxottica. This isn’t just any online eyewear retailer; it’s a journey into the future of shopping. Imagine entering a virtual fitting room, where the world’s most renowned eyewear brands like Ray-Ban, Oakley, Versace, and Coach await your arrival. Here, choosing eyewear transcends the mundane, transforming into an adventure where you can virtually try on an extensive collection of frames from the comfort of your home.
Glasses.com has revolutionized the way we shop for eyewear, blending convenience with a deeply personalized experience. It’s a place where quality meets the pulse of fashion, ensuring every customer finds their perfect pair of glasses and enjoys every moment of discovery.
The Main Goal
At WordLift, we use innovation in SEO and content marketing to attract more users from organic sources.
In the case of Glasses.com, the objective was to increase sales using SEO and bring users value. This meant defining a mix of activities to improve content organization and the site’s accessibility.
The SEO team at EssilorLuxottica presented us with goals and objectives that, together with WordLift’s SEO team expertise and tech stack, became a strategy focusing on the following:
Structuring product information within a Product Knowledge Graph;
Producing content in the form of questions and answers;
Updating existing product descriptions with scalable content generated using artificial intelligence.
AI-powered internal linking to merge information on how users search for glasses with website content.
The actions simultaneously improved search engine crawlers’ understanding of the site’s content and structure. They fostered an intuitive and interconnected web experience, increasing the site’s overall visibility and boosting search engine results.
Challenges
The AI system
This venture’s main challenge was ensuring the absolute reliability of the language model and the AI system used to automate SEO and content activities. In the digital age, releasing anything inaccurate could have profound negative implications.
The AI system used by WordLift was only fed from internal and company-approved sources. The tasks that made the model foolproof emphasized the importance of a solid validation framework that could guarantee the model’s integrity before its distribution.
The synergy with the knowledge graph for fine-tuning, alignment, and guardrailing makes the difference in assuring that extra confidence level. The goal was to create a system that met and exceeded reliability standards, ensuring the final product was functional and flawless.
Measuring the impact
How to measure the impact of a digital strategy – this is always something worth focusing on, as it stirs difficulties related to other changes applied to the website, seasonality, and other external factors.
At WordLift, we use causal inference, a branch of statistics that helps us isolate the impact of the change by comparing the results achieved with the predicted results we would have had without the implementation by the team.
Solutions & Results
Wordlift started working on Glasses.com in 2021, and we have worked iteratively on the website since then. The present business case reports the success that stems from two years of work on the website, as our goal is to bring traffic that lasts over time.
The results of the strategy were remarkable, observing an increase in clicks for every AI-powered implementation we worked on. Read on for the performance of each implementation and how it influenced the ranking of Glasses.com.
Building a Product Knowledge Graph
A Product Knowledge Graph is a transformative tool for e-commerce, acting as a dynamic, interconnected database that maps out products, their attributes, and relationships. This advanced data structure enables search engines to deeply understand and categorize your product offerings in relation to user queries, significantly enhancing SEO performance. Structuring data in a way that mirrors human understanding improves the findability of products across various platforms like Google Shopping and Bing Shopping and enriches the customer journey by instantly providing detailed, relevant information. For e-commerce businesses, investing in a Product Knowledge Graph means getting a new level of visibility and engagement in the digital marketplace, making it an essential strategy for driving organic traffic and staying competitive.
The Product Knowledge Graph
We created the Product Knowledge Graph for Glasses.com in 2021. Between May and September of 2021, compared to the same period in 2020, we observed a 26.3% increase in clicks on product pages. This growth is further highlighted by a 0.5% increase in click-through rate (CTR) when rich snippets are activated, demonstrating the value of rich, structured data in enhancing visibility and engagement.
Our comparative study of product pages, with and without WordLift markup, revealed a clear advantage for the former. Pages enhanced with WordLift experienced a 4.68% net gain in average clicks and a 34.16% increase in year-over-year orders. This trend was even more pronounced in Google Image Search, where enriched product pages saw a 2.5-fold rise in clicks year-over-year. Three years after the first implementation of the product knowledge graph, we can still track increased value for product pages that are gaining visibility, with impressions still growing by 9.33%.
We did a comprehensive enrichment of the Product Schema markup, adding information about shipping and return policy in the form of metadata.
Using Causal Impact Analysis, we assessed the impact of displaying shipping details on product variant pages, tracking a 36.24% increase in clicks for pages with shipping information, starting from the first implementation. This data highlights the importance of detailed product information and validates our strategic approach to SEO and content enhancement, driving tangible improvements in user engagement and conversion rates.
Experiencing The Power Of Dynamic Internal Links
WordLift employs a sophisticated approach to enhance e-commerce SEO through dynamic internal linking and optimized category pages. By leveraging the power of AI (with fine-tuned embeddings) and knowledge graphs, WordLift automatically generates internal links that are contextually relevant, improving site navigation and distributing page authority across the website efficiently. This method not only boosts the user experience by providing them with more relevant content but also aids search engines in understanding the site structure better, leading to improved crawlability and indexation.
To measure the impact, we collected query-related data from the Google Search Console and analyzed metrics such as clicks, impressions, and average position before and after the implementation.
We observed an increase in clicks of 30% year-over-year (from April to September).
The analysis revealed that, following the addition of targeted links to a group of pages, there was a noticeable reduction in the number of searches conducted per page. This suggests that the pages became more aligned with the interests and needs of the users, effectively concentrating on content deemed more relevant and valuable to them.
Structuring Content with AI-powered Questions & Answers
Structuring content in AI-generated Q&A offers several benefits regarding visibility and SEO. Firstly, it aligns closely with the natural language queries used in voice and mobile searches, making it easier for search engines to understand and match the content with user queries. This format also allows for creating rich snippets and featured snippets in search engine results pages (SERPs), which can significantly increase click-through rates. Additionally, Q&A content is inherently engaging and provides clear, concise answers to specific questions, improving user experience and potentially reducing bounce rates. This format can enhance the content’s relevance and authority by directly addressing user queries, leading to better search rankings. Furthermore, AI-generated Q&A content can be efficiently produced at scale, covering a wide range of topics and keywords, thus expanding the site’s visibility and reach in search results.
WordLift has published at least three questions and answers on category pages (PLPs) since October 2021. The traffic brought on the category pages keeps increasing and generating more clicks from SERP.
Enriching PLPs with question-and-answer blocks & FAQPage markup still provides value and increases organic traffic even after Google stopped fully supporting FAQ-rich results. The organization of content in the form of Q&A helps users retrieve the information they are looking for because they mention the main query from the user, therefore bringing traffic to the pages they are added to.
Generate Content at Scale for Products Leveraging the Knowledge Graph
Glasses.com is revolutionizingcontent creation by combining AI with a unique data preparation and model-building process that reflects its brand identity. This innovative strategy improves the quality of AI-generated content, ensuring it meets high standards.
By focusing on a Knowledge Graph-centric approach and using internal data, Glasses.com promotes sustainable and ethical AI practices. Strict validation ensures the content’s accuracy and precision, blending AI efficiency with human creativity for top-notch results.
We implemented AI-generated descriptions on a set of product pages and conducted the causal impact analysis, comparing the pages with updated content to those without AI improvements.
The results showed an increase in clicks of 27.78% after the implementation for 33 product pages- demonstrating how content optimization at scale benefits SEO outcomes.
Conclusion
The collaboration between Glasses.com and WordLift marked a significant leap forward in e-commerce content creation, setting a new standard for engaging, high-quality content in the online retail industry. By integrating comprehensive AI solutions, including a product knowledge graph, dynamic internal links and AI-generated FAQs, Glasses.com not only improved user engagement, but also refined its overall digital strategy.
This innovative approach resulted in substantial improvements in site metrics and user experience, with more accurate product information and intuitive navigation leading to a more personalized customer journey. Glasses.com, in collaboration with WordLift, has developed a sophisticated method to produce content at scale, ensuring the highest standards of reliability and accuracy. This workflow leverages advanced AI technologies, backed by ethical guidelines and rigorous validation processes.
This strategic partnership with WordLift opens new avenues for growth, emphasizing the creation of content that is not only engaging and informative, but also ethically produced and personalized to enhance the user experience.
“The activities we have undertaken with Wordlift allow us to offer a better service to the end user, at a very low maintenance cost. And with tangible results in terms of visits and conversions.”
Federico Rebeschini – Global Head of SEO and Performance at EssilorLuxottica
The use of schema markup in SEO is a hot topic, with many pondering its direct effect on rankings. WordLift experts, alongside adjunct professor Steve Wiideman, delve into this debate, examining whether Schema markup merely correlates with user signals or actively boosts SEO rankings. Their insights shed light on the intricate relationship between structured data and search engine algorithms, offering a nuanced understanding of Schema’s role in the digital marketing landscape.
Schema markup, a set of HTML tags known as structured data, is crucial for search engines to parse and display web content effectively. It provides explicit details about elements such as authors, product ratings, or event timings, enhancing the way information is presented to users. This enhanced presentation often takes the form of rich snippets, which can significantly improve user engagement with search results.
The inception of Schema.org, a collaborative effort by major search engines, marked a significant step towards a more semantic web, enabling a consistent display of diverse online content. With a vast array of data types available, Schema.org empowers different websites, from local businesses to e-commerce platforms, to structure their content in ways that improve visibility and user experience.
Demystifying Schema Markup and SEO
The true value of Schema markup in SEO is often obscured by myths, such as the belief that it directly influences search rankings. In reality, while Schema is not a ranking factor, it plays a vital role in helping search engines understand web page content, which can indirectly affect SEO performance.
Rich snippets, generated from detailed metadata provided by Schema, can make search results more compelling and lead to higher click-through rates. Positive user behavior, driven by these enhanced results, can contribute to a website’s authority and potentially improve its rankings over time. Thus, Schema markup is not a shortcut to the top of SERPs but a strategic practice that can enhance a site’s online presence and user engagement.
The Role of Structured Data in Modern SEO
Structured data transcends traditional SEO by catering to the needs of voice search and the Knowledge Graph. It ensures that content is not only visible but also well-represented in Google’s interconnected database, which is increasingly accessed by voice-activated devices.
As the digital landscape evolves, the clarity and accessibility provided by structured data becomes more critical, enabling content to be leveraged by new technologies and search methodologies. By adopting structured data, websites can optimize their content for a future where voice search and intelligent assistants play a dominant role in how users interact with online information.
Google Schemas and SEO Scores
Google’s adoption of Schema markup is a testament to its commitment to delivering precise and relevant search results. By integrating Schema, website owners can delineate their content with greater specificity, allowing Google to index and showcase their pages more effectively. This level of detail is essential for the search engine’s algorithms to provide users with the most pertinent information for their searches.
Although Schema does not directly impact rankings, it refines the representation of data within analytics platforms. SEO scores, which are influenced by these analytics, consider the implementation of structured data as a sign of a site’s optimization. The resulting rich snippets and enhanced search features contribute to user engagement, which in turn can elevate the site’s perceived value. These user interactions are captured in SEO scores, offering insights into a site’s potential reach and efficacy. In summary, while Google’s Schema markup may not be a direct lever for improving SEO scores, its indirect influence through user experience and engagement is a critical factor in the optimization equation.
SEO Fundamentals Before Implementing Schema Markup
Before diving into the implementation of Schema markup, it’s essential to have a solid grasp of SEO fundamentals. The four basic SEO factors to consider are quality content, keyword optimization, site architecture, and backlinks. These elements form the bedrock of any successful SEO strategy, ensuring that your website is valuable to users, easy to navigate, and recognized as an authority by search engines.
The importance of establishing this solid SEO foundation cannot be overstated; without it, even the most meticulously structured data may not perform to its full potential. When integrating Schema with existing SEO strategies, best practices include conducting a thorough audit of your current SEO performance, identifying the most relevant Schema types for your content, and ensuring that the markup is implemented correctly without errors. By doing so, Schema markup becomes a powerful addition to your SEO arsenal, complementing and enhancing the visibility and user experience of your already optimized content.
While structured data has never been and likely never will be a direct ranking factor, its role in SEO cannot be dismissed. Proponents argue that Schema helps search engines like Google understand content more effectively, aligning it with user intent and improving match accuracy in search results. Critics, however, caution against viewing Schema as a shortcut to higher rankings. Case studies and expert insights, such as those from John Mueller, suggest that while Schema’s technical correctness doesn’t elevate page quality by itself, it can lead to more relevant search placements and improved click-through rates (CTR), especially in the context of Search Generative Experience (SGE).
Insights on Structured Data from SEO Expert Steve Wiideman
Our partner, Steve Wiideman, brings to light compelling case studies that delve into the practical applications and outcomes of structured markup in SEO. His experiences with an e-commerce client reveal the transformative power of rich results in search engine visibility and user engagement. By experimenting with various Schema itemtypes, Steve’s team was able to elevate the client’s search result appearance, leading to a notable increase in click-through rates and, eventually, an improvement in search rankings.
The meticulous approach to testing and measuring the impact of structured data provides invaluable insights into how subtle changes in search result presentation can significantly influence user behavior and, by extension, SEO performance. Steve’s findings underscore the importance of structured markup not as a direct ranking booster but as a catalyst for enhancing user experience and relevance, which are key to long-term SEO success.
We have a few interesting stories to share with structured markup. The first involves an e-commerce client who had standard blue links, black text within the search results, while many competitors had image carousels, ratings, inventory quantities, and other rich results.
We tested adding different itemtypes to different product categories to see if we could improve our search appearance. It took about a week before we started seeing listing appearance improve, 3 weeks for some itemtypes. We measured CTR on purchase-intent search terms via Google Search Console and saw significant improvements across the board By 90 days, we began to see rankings improve.
The second test we ran was entity-based, with emphasis on the Thing itemtype, using About and Mentions sub-itemtypes referencing wikipedia.org pages to help Google better understand the meaning of important words used in the copy. We ended up actually swapping out some of the copy to incorporate the terms from wikipedia.org versus our semantic variation.
Within approximately 6 weeks we began to see a lift in impressions in Google Search Console for several of the competitive terms we were targeting. Once again, rankings did not immediately change. It wasn’t until around the 120 day mark that we could see an obvious upward trend line of ranking improvements.
Our takeaways that these changes impact user search behavior due to the higher engagement (click and stay) from the richer results, along with improving relevancy factors that signal search engines to display the listing for additional search queries to see how users interact with those listings. Over time, search engines may infer that the increase in user signals indicates that a listing is more helpful, resulting in higher rankings.
In other words, it’s not the structured markup that produced the higher rankings, it’s the higher user engagement and keyword relevance indicators that signaled the search engines to boost the rankings after several months.
Leveraging Schema Markup for SEO Advantages
To harness the full potential of Schema markup for SEO advantages, it’s crucial to implement strategies that go beyond mere inclusion. Thoughtful integration of Schema can lead to improved rankings by enhancing the way content is understood and displayed in search results. Successful case examples, such as those shared by SEO experts like Steve Wiideman, demonstrate that when Schema is tailored to highlight key product features or entity relationships, it can result in richer search results and higher user engagement. For instance, e-commerce sites that have added detailed product information through Schema have seen a marked increase in click-through rates and, over time, improved rankings due to the positive user behavior signals sent to search engines.
To optimize Schema effectively, it’s essential to focus on the most relevant types for your content, ensure the accuracy and completeness of the data provided, and regularly monitor the performance impact through analytics tools. By aligning Schema implementation with broader SEO goals, webmasters can create a synergistic effect that improves search visibility and enhances the overall user experience, contributing to long-term SEO success.
Measuring the Effectiveness of Schema Markup
To accurately gauge the effectiveness of Schema markup, it’s essential to employ a variety of tools and methods that can track and analyze its performance. Utilizing platforms like Google Search Console can provide insights into how structured data affects search result features and user interactions. Additionally, advanced analytics tools, such as the WordLift Looker Studio Connector, offer a deeper dive into the data. These tools can help webmasters understand the direct correlation between Schema implementation and key metrics like website traffic, engagement rates, and conversion. By analyzing this data, you can observe trends and patterns that indicate the success of Schema in enhancing search visibility and user experience. Based on these insights, it’s possible to make informed adjustments and refinements to Schema strategies, ensuring that they remain aligned with SEO objectives and continue to drive measurable improvements. Constant monitoring and optimization of Schema markup are crucial for maintaining its efficacy in a dynamic search landscape.
Unlock Your SEO Potential: Measure the Benefits of Schema Markup on SEO Performance
In today’s digital age, online visibility and reputation are paramount. Whether you’re an individual building your personal brand or a business seeking growth, capturing the attention of your target audience is essential.
What Is a Google Knowledge Panel?
A Knowledge Panel, commonly seen on Google’s search results page, is an informative and visually appealing box that provides users with concise details about a specific person, place, organization, or topic. It serves as a quick-reference hub that offers essential information, images, links, and key facts, often making it unnecessary for users to click through multiple search results to gather relevant details. These panels are generated by Google’s Knowledge Graph, an extensive database that helps Google understand the relationships between various entities on the web.
Why Knowledge Panels are Important?
So far, we have seen what the Knowledge Panel is, but why is it so important? Here are 12 good (if not very good) reasons why the Knowledge Panel is essential for your visibility or your company or brand.
Enhances Online Presence and Reputation: Knowledge Panels boost online visibility and reputation, making it easier for people to find and learn about the entity.
Conveys Credibility and Trustworthiness: A Knowledge Panel suggests credibility and trust, encouraging users to engage with and trust the entity.
Offers Control Over Information: Entities can manage and verify the information presented, ensuring accuracy and relevance.
Facilitates Efficient Self-Presentation: Knowledge Panels provide a streamlined platform for presenting key information, saving time and effort.
Encourages Engagement and Connection: With links to official websites and social media profiles, Knowledge Panels facilitate direct engagement and connections with the audience.
Enhances Brand Recognition (for companies): For businesses, Knowledge Panels prominently display logos and key information, boosting brand recognition.
Provides Direct Access to Resources (for companies): Companies can use their panels to direct users to official websites, increasing website traffic and engagement.
Supports Local Businesses (for companies): For local businesses, Knowledge Panels include location details, aiding physical visits.
Offers a Competitive Advantage (for companies): A well-maintained Knowledge Panel can provide a competitive edge by driving more traffic and conversions.
Gains Customer Insights (for companies): Entities can gain insights into what users are looking for through their Knowledge Panel and adjust their strategies accordingly.
Aids in Crisis Management (for companies): In times of crises or controversies, companies can use their Knowledge Panel to share official statements and control the narrative.
Ensures Consistency and Accuracy (for companies): Companies can ensure that the information presented is accurate and consistent across online platforms.
How Do I Get A Google Knowledge Panel? A Case Study
In this case study, I’ll delve into how I secured my existing Google Knowledge Panel, highlighting my mistakes and strategies that proved successful.
I want to thank Jason Bernad (The Brand SERP Guy) for generously sharing invaluable insights and valuable tips that have been instrumental in my journey.
What I Did Wrong on My Journey to a Knowledge Panel?
Let’s begin with what I did wrong and the pitfalls to avoid, which can significantly prolong the process of acquiring your Knowledge Panel.
In my quest for a Knowledge Panel, I navigated the complexities of sourcing information from platforms like Wikipedia and Wikidata. While it’s generally advised against attempting a Wikipedia page about oneself due to Wikipedia’s stringent guidelines, I chose a different path and created a Wikidata page.
At first, this seemed like a straightforward path to acquiring my Knowledge Panel. It was a seemingly simple process. However, my journey took an unexpected turn. After a few months, my Wikidata page was removed,and with it, I lost my hard-earned Knowledge Panel.
It’s clear that restoring a Knowledge Panel can be much tougher than starting from scratch. In this case, Google saw the removal of my Wikidata page as a credibility and reliability concern.
What I Got Right?
Now, let’s delve into the correct steps I followed during my journey to acquire my Knowledge Panel.
Google Yourself
In this initial step, take the time to search for your name on Google. It’s essential to understand what information Google has compiled about you. Pay close attention to how your Search Engine Results Page (SERP) appears. Identify what information is accurate and relevant, and equally important, pinpoint any inaccuracies or discrepancies that may be present.
Segment Your SERP Page into Pages You Control and Pages You Don’t Control
When referring to ‘Pages You Control,’ it encompasses all pages where you have the authority to modify content directly.
This includes:
your LinkedIn Page,
all your Social Profiles
any websites you manage
When referring to ‘Pages You Don’t Control,’ this refers to other websites where your name has been mentioned but over which you have limited or no direct influence.
Ensuring Data Consistency: The Vital Step to Your Knowledge Pane
Now, we arrive at a pivotal step in the process. To secure your Knowledge Panel, data consistency is the key. The concept is straightforward: Google must encounter consistent information about you across various sources to build trust. You take a significant stride toward your goal by diligently maintaining this consistency in your personal data across multiple sites.
In order to achieve data consistency, I took the following steps:
I crafted a concise self-introduction.
I added this introduction to the following platforms:
My LinkedIn profile, Twitter, and Facebook.
My page on the Wordlift site.
My personal website.
Several other platforms where I have access and can modify data, such as Zoominfo and Crunchbase.”
These actions ensure consistent data across various online sources, which is crucial for gaining Google’s trust. Also, consider using PR efforts to achieve similar results on external websites you can’t manage directly.
Building Authority: Demonstrating Your Credibility
In this step, it’s crucial to back up the claims made in the previous actions. Google needs to be convinced of your expertise and professionalism before granting you a Knowledge Panel.
Achieving authority can be accomplished through various means, and here are some valuable suggestions:
Publishing relevant and valuable content: Share insightful content within your niche. This not only showcases your specialization but also helps Google understand your expertise. When shared through your social channels, it amplifies your reach and impact. Crafting genuinely helpful content often piques people’s curiosity, prompting them to search for more information about you on Google. This heightened interest can significantly contribute to your journey towards obtaining a Knowledge Panel.
Hosting Webinars: Like creating valuable content, conducting webinars can enhance search engines’ understanding of your expertise. They generate curiosity among your audience, prompting them to seek more information about you. Additionally, webinars diversify your Knowledge Panel by incorporating multimedia elements, offering a broader perspective that may include content from platforms like YouTube.
The Role of Structured Data in Obtaining a Knowledge Panel
In addition to the previously mentioned strategies, let’s delve into the crucial role of structured data in harnessing the power of the Knowledge Graph.
Where Should I Implement Structured Data and What Type of Markup is Required?
In my case, I’ve applied structured data to two key pages:
On both of these pages, I’ve incorporated essential structured data, including:
Utilizing the ‘Person‘ Entity Type: This classification is used to define the type of entity you are, which, in this case, is a person.
Crafting a Description for the ‘Person’ Entity: I’ve ensured that the description aligns with the one used across multiple platforms, creating consistency.
Employing the ‘sameAs’ Property: Within the ‘Person’ Entity, I’ve used the ‘sameAs’ property to list all the previous websites mentioned, such as social media platforms and related sites.
Leveraging the ‘knows’ Property: This is a crucial element that connects the ‘Person’ Entity type with a community of experts in the same industry. This is particularly valuable when Google can corroborate the same information about you on other websites. For instance, if you’ve conducted a webinar with another SEO expert in your industry and utilize the ‘knows’ property, you benefit from the authority of that individual, as Google can retrieve this data from other websites as well. Naturally, this approach will encourage you to create entities for other experts within your industry.
Continuous Optimization of Your Entity Page
Furthermore, it’s crucial to continue curating the information on your pages. This involves adding additional ‘sameAs’ on the structured data level when you have new websites to reference and expanding your ‘knows’ properties as you broaden your network of industry experts.
FAQs
What is a Google Knowledge Panel?
A Google Knowledge Panel is a concise information box that appears in search results, offering essential details about a person, place, organization, or topic. It’s generated by Google’s Knowledge Graph, simplifying information access.
Why are Knowledge Panels important?
Knowledge Panels boost online presence and trust, convey credibility, offer information control, and enhance brand recognition. They facilitate engagement, provide direct access to resources, and grant a competitive edge.
How can I get a Google Knowledge Panel?
To secure a Knowledge Panel:
Google Yourself to understand your current online presence.
Segment Your SERP Page into controlled (e.g., LinkedIn) and uncontrolled pages (external mentions).
Ensure Data Consistency by maintaining accurate information across platforms.
Build Authority through valuable content and webinars.
Implement Structured Data on your Entity Page and website.
Continuously Optimize your information by updating ‘sameAs’ references and ‘knows’ properties.
What should I avoid in my journey to obtain a Knowledge Panel?
Avoid creating a Wikipedia page about yourself and creating a Wikidata page, as it may lead to complications.
How can I build authority for a Knowledge Panel?
Build authority by sharing valuable content, hosting webinars, maintaining data consistency, and using PR efforts.
What is the role of structured data in obtaining a Knowledge Panel?
Structured data, including ‘Person’ Entity type, ‘sameAs,’ and ‘knows’ properties, ensures organized and consistent information, helping search engines understand your expertise.
Why is continuous optimization important in the Knowledge Panel journey?
Continuous optimization involves updating your information, adding references, and expanding ‘knows’ properties to maintain a relevant online presence and improve Knowledge Panel chances.
Ready to take your website to the next level? Watch this exclusive video tutorial where Jason Barnard guides you through setting up WordLift to unlock the potential of Knowledge Panels!
As you know, it is crucial for companies to build a brand reputation and reinforce their authority. And having an effective SEO and content marketing strategy means gaining greater visibility on Google and other search engines, which translates into more leads and new customers.
You can have a visually pleasing website and offer the best legal, financing and other services, but if the customers looking for them cannot find you, all your efforts are in vain. That is why you must have a state-of-the-art SEO strategy, because only then can you improve your ranking in search results and attract people interested in your services. How can you do this?
In this SEO case study, I show you how Express Legal Funding, a Texas-based pre-settlement funding company, achieved a positive impact on website traffic. As the image below shows, looking at the period from November 2022 to June 2023, there was an exponential growth in its organic visibility.
Introducing the company
Express Legal Funding is a reliable pre-settlement funding company with a strong commitment to financially assist injured and damaged plaintiffs throughout their legal claim journey. Based in Plano, Texas, it is dedicated to providing essential financial support to those seeking compensation from the party responsible for their loss. The process involves the company making a non-recourse advance to purchase a stake in the potential case proceeds from a personal injury claim and various types of civil lawsuits.
When I met Aaron Winston – Strategy Director at Express Legal Funding – he told me that before meeting the WordLift team, he had created quality site content, and he is well versed in SEO, achieving good results. However, he realized that in order to further optimize and make the most of what he was doing, there was still a piece missing. He knew it was important to educate Google and give it the information it needed to understand who you are and what you do to get more visitors and better rank website content in search results and become an authoritative voice in the industry. He was looking for a sustainable, future-proof, and easy-to-implement solution that would give him an immediate competitive advantage that, once in place, could not be undone.And that’s where the WordLift team came in to help Aaron make a difference with his SEO strategy.
The request
Aaron Winston, as Strategy Director and a legal funding expert, had a clear vision for his online presence. He aimed to improve his website’s E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, Trustworthiness) to establish himself as the go-to authority in the field.
The website was already thriving with well-implemented structured data, providing a sturdy groundwork for his digital journey. It’s essential to give a shoutout to Aaron’s exceptional content, which is undoubtedly top-notch, contributing significantly to the overall outstanding performance of the website.
To achieve his goal, Aaron knew he needed to take things to the next level and do what others weren’t. One of his key aspirations was to obtain a knowledge panel—an impressive feature displayed on Google’s search results, showcasing essential information about a recognized entity or individual.
Obtaining a knowledge panel would not only enhance his online credibility but also boost his website’s visibility and attract a wider audience. Aaron realized that this would be a pivotal step in cementing his reputation as “The Legal Funding Expert.”
What has been done
We have implemented several SEO measures to enhance the online presence and authority of Aaron Wiston and Express Legal Funding.
First, we implemented Author markup for all writers on the website. This step makes sure that each author’s credentials and expertise are very visible, which makes them more credible to visitors and search engines. We developedPerson Entities for the entire team to reinforce the website’s Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness (E-A-T). By linking these entities to their respective user pages on WordPress, we enabled search engines to collect comprehensive information about each author. This data is integrated into the structured data of their articles, adding another layer of authority to their content.
To further optimize and create a stronger entity presence, we created a Kalicube account for Express Legal Funding and Aaron in particular. This helped us to create uniform information across all of Aaron’s websites and entities, and give the boost needed to get a Knowledge Panel. This can help AI ecosystems and search engines to better understand Aaron’s entity. This ensures that search engines can accurately associate all relevant information with Aaron, improving his individual and overall online presence. As a result, Knowledge Panels appeared in Google search results, providing concise and informative snapshots of each author’s background and contributions. Together with Aaron, we had many exciting learnings on this journey. It was evident how important it was for search engines such as Google to extract information to create a KP from a page that can be controlled & managed by Aaron. By this, what we mean is how all relevant info tied to Aaron must be present on a dedicated page, such as an About Page, and how using structured data and consistent data across social profiles helps to disambiguate Aaron from others, make his entity stand out, and ultimately bag him a KP. Aaron’s book also helped to disambiguate his entity from many others and make it truly unique. We utilized book schema markup to achieve the same.
To further optimize the website’s visibility, we built a comprehensive knowledge graph (KG) and established strong interlinks between the main website and the blog content. This strategic approach enhances the website’s overall authority and facilitates the discovery and indexing of valuable information by search engines.
In addition to the above efforts, we integrated Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) based on the “People Also Ask” feature. By addressing common queries related to our client’s domain, we enhance the website’s relevance and cater to the needs of users and search engines alike.
When we analyzed the results consistently, we were able to find out using analysis that the pages where WordLift was implemented saw ~53% increase than the ones without it. This helped us to navigate our efforts in the right direction, and also measure the impact of our efforts.
Overall, our combined efforts have significantly improved our client’s Google E-A-T standing, increased the visibility of their website, and provided a more informative and engaging experience for their audience.
Challenges & Opportunities
In the journey we made together with Aaron, there were two major challenges we encountered that made our work harder but also more exciting. I will tell you about them below.
As we saw before, to get Aaron’s Knowledge Panel, we started with Kalicube account and created consistent information about him across different profiles. We also created a Wikidata page with all the necessary info. We saw a basic Knowledge Panel appear for Aaron in no time, and everything worked great. Unfortunately, the page got deleted within a few weeks, and we lost the Knowledge Panel too.
We gathered all the information about the client in the structured data. We turned the “AboutPage” into an entity collector and went about building a coherent digital identity. Even then, since many people had the same name, search engines needed help to disambiguate Aaron’s entity and identify him as a Legal Funding Expert.
When Aaron published his book a few months later, we utilized this to distinguish his entity and establish him as an author. All his personal entities were updated to match this, and we got the Knowledge Panel back.
Aaron continuously posts top-notch, original content that is helpful for readers and those seeking legal funding help. The growing traffic proves this. Another challenge to overcome was other websites plagiarizing the content on Express Legal Funding and ranking.
These sites took a significant percentage of traffic until legal action was taken, and the infringing pages were taken down. The original content within the site is created after extensive research and efforts and is protected fiercely against copyright infringement.
Results
In June 2023, our efforts yielded remarkable results across different aspects of the business.
Regarding traffic, there has been an important 48.8% increase in impressions and a 46.13% increase in clicks compared to the previous three months.
The rise in traffic has been complemented by a substantial boost in editorial work.
One notable achievement is the successful completion of the “doxxing article.” In this endeavor, we have found ourselves competing with major players like Avast and Kaspersky, targeting a highly competitive, short-tail term. Remarkably, our page’s performance has been nothing short of outstanding, especially when compared to its published time. These results speak to the impressive E-A-T that Express Legal Funding has gained, as it was able to hop into another industry’s topic, which it had never written about, and quickly rise to the top search engine rank positions.
This article is now ranking not just for long-tail terms but also for the high search volume term ‘doxxing’ in the 5th position, also getting FAQ rich results. The traffic is also growing well when we compare over a 28-day period.
Overall, these outcomes demonstrate the efficacy of our initiatives in driving traffic and optimizing content for improved search rankings and user engagement.
“Working with WordLift has been great for us at Express Legal Funding. It was the last missing key needed to get a Google knowledge panel for myself. The AI software has built upon the success I already had as an author establishing myself as a topical authority about pre-settlement funding. Since working with WordLift, the daily website traffic and quality of the leads we have received from Google have increased, enabling us to be more effective in our underwriting process, which is a top goal of a legal finance company.”
Aaron R. Winston – Strategy Director & “The Legal Funding Expert”
SEO Hacker is an SEO services company in the Philippines. They cater to local and international clients who aim to rank higher in Google’s organic search results, and most of them aim for the coveted top 10 spots on the first page of Google. To achieve this goal, Hacker SEO Agency provides high-quality services that seamlessly integrate with the client’s website, branding, and goals, boosting rankings, traffic, leads, and conversions.
They chose to use WordLift for Hanabishi, a client who has an e-commerce website, which is well known locally and is currently part of a very competitive online industry.
In this SEO case study, Sean Si – CEO at SEO Hacker Agency – tell us how the team increased the organic traffic to the e-commerce by using WordLift and which results they achieved.
WordLift has exceeded our expectations, and we’re thrilled to both continue exploring its many functions for ecommerce, and to recommend it to fellow businesses and SEOs in search of a means to improve content, user experience, and ultimately, your website’s performance.
Sean Si – CEO at SEO Hacker Agency
Which client did you choose for Wordlift and why?
We chose our client Hanabishi, as it is an ecommerce website, well-known locally, and is currently part of a very competitive online industry.
Hanabishi is one of the leading home appliances brands in the Philippines, and are considered a staple for their affordable yet reliable and durable quality. Originally known for their small appliances, they have expanded their line to include a wide variety of home, kitchen, and office appliances.
Despite their popularity offline, their online presence needed work. This company, as our client, sought to establish themselves just as firmly online, cater to an increasingly digital generation of buyers, and, of course, stay ahead of the competition.
We have worked with them for some time with a holistic approach to their e-commerce SEO, and have successfully drawn in more traffic and improved their position within the search engine results pages (SERPs). The dilemma, however, was this: Hanabishi still needed more to rank for more competitive keywords, and improve their position–especially given recent Google algorithm updates.
Using WordLift to help our client
As an affiliate partner, we have previously used Wordlift for our own website in the past, and have seen how the plugin–with its ability to seamlessly apply an additional layer of metadata to content–can vastly improve visibility on Google’s search results pages.
Given that, we decided to apply Wordlift to our client’s website, in hopes that applying the same Schema markups could produce similar results and help with the client’s dilemma.
In addition, we knew that Wordlift had come up with new functionalities geared towards ecommerce sites–and the opportunity seemed perfect for us. With the plugin and the Product Knowledge Graph, we could easily provide the digital infrastructure needed to help Google truly understand the client’s products and content.
You can list your products in Google Shopping for free. Find out how in our web story about Google Shopping Graph.
Results
By applying the appropriate markups, identifying content gaps, and connecting commercial and editorial content, we could increase visibility, and ergo draw in the traffic the client wanted.
And applying it to Hanabishi’s websites garnered almost instant results. We saw an immediate increase in traffic the day it was installed on their website. Though the biggest increase was within the first week (which had double our usual traffic for the day), we did observe a consistent improvement throughout the last few weeks–resulting in a 26.8% increase in organic traffic overall.
E-commerce organic traffic grows after experiencing a decrease in visits.
Similarly, we saw the metrics for the website’s impressions increase by 29.5%.
The growth of e-commerce impressions after starting to use WordLift.
Other metrics–particularly engaged sessions–also saw improvement, increasing by 28.4%.
Engagement is increasing.
It also helped our keywords regain their position in the top 10 results. Furthermore, these keywords are more stable in their rankings now, compared to before using Wordlift, as you can see the differences below in the month of March 2023, versus June 2022 to February 2022.
On our team’s end, we found the tool incredibly convenient and time-saving, as we did not need to do most of the legwork when it came to constructing and applying the structured data we needed–Wordlift simply applied it for us.
We are also glad that we didn’t face any challenges. After the installation of Wordlift, we’ve seen spikes and consistent results in our traffic for this client. Aside from that, this tool also helped us overcome the URL cannibalization we were facing since late 2022.
Do you want to know how to get your products to rank at the top of the SERP and on Google Shopping? Discover our E-commerce SEO Service.
SMA Marketing is a search marketing agency based in Central Florida. It helps technology companies, startups and local businesses increase their visibility in search engines and connect with their audience online.
Ryan Shelley – Chief Growth Officer & Founder at SMA Marketing – will show you how he used structured data to boost the SEO.
In particular, in this SEO case study he explains how he improved the ranking of a client’s website in Google search by getting more qualified traffic.
When competing in a crowded and highly-competitive space, getting even the slightest advance can mean the difference between winning and losing. As an agency, we are always looking for ways to work smarter and gain an edge to help our clients thrive, no matter who they are competing against. When one of our clients wanted to establish themselves as a leader in the IT Coaching industry (in search results), we knew we had to leverage the power of structured data and semantic SEO to make them stand out from the crowd.
To help them establish a solid site structure, we began targeting core topics that needed to be covered. We leveraged search console, SEO research tools, and WordLift SEO Add-on for Google Sheets to help uncover ideas. From there, we grouped the concepts into semantically related clusters and began working on creating the content needed. This gave us the foundation to help establish the client as an authority in the space.
Content alone would not give the client or us the results we were looking for. If we wanted to maximize the results of our work, we needed to leverage structured data and linked open data. This is really where WordLift helped us scale our process.
Starting with the core concepts that our client was trying to rank for, we began to build out a knowledge base that was connected to the linked open web. In doing this, we helped Google better understand the context of our content. Doing this process manually is extremely time-consuming and requires some technical know-how. Thanks to the power of WordLift, this process can now be scaled with just a little bit of training.
Having a solid knowledge graph that supports the content of the site is extremely powerful. Not only does it help with context, as I mentioned earlier, but it also helps with the site’s structure and indexing.
The next step was to target rich feature opportunities with schema markup. There is no shortage of SEO plugins and tools today that can help with markup. Unfortunately, many of them send up, creating more of a mess than actually helping.
For this client, we wanted to target products, reviews, FAQs and videos. WordLift’s built in sync with schema allowed us to easily add the correct markup to the necessary pages. I don’t have to worry about someone messing up the JSON or forgetting to add in elements that are critical to proper optimization.
To recap, the goal was to improve the organic visibility of a client in the IT Coaching industry. We leverage topic clustering and semantic SEO. We used WordLift for research as well as the implementation of the knowledge graph and schema makeup. So you’re probably wondering what has resulted from all this work.
Over the course of the year, we saw a 289.65% increase in the number of clicks to the site. We also saw a 256.76% increase in impressions. This work also translated into our client earning multiple SERP features and 211.17% increase in the total number of keywords the site ranks for.
While this work took time to implement, WordLift helped to save us hours of additional work. As a result, we have a happy client and a process that is streamlined and very effective.
Add structured data to your content without needing technical expertise and without much effort. Try WordLift and start boosting your SEO today! Book a demo!
