Key Takeaways
- Embrace Multi-Channel SEO: Prepare for the future by expanding beyond Google Search to include AI-powered platforms and social media for enhanced visibility and engagement.
- Adapt to AI Advances: Expect AI Overviews and similar tools to reduce traditional search traffic, making multi-channel SEO essential for maintaining visibility.
- Shift from Backlinks to Signals: As SEO evolves, focus less on backlinks and more on signals of trust and authority from social media and other digital platforms.
- Benefits of Multi-Channel SEO: Increase branded and product searches, organic backlinks, and social media click-through rates by optimising across diverse platforms.
- Implementation Strategies: Tailor SEO strategies for each platform, from Answer Engine Optimization to Amazon and Instagram, ensuring relevance and engagement.
Thinking beyond Google
“One of the ways to be successful with Google Search is to think beyond it,” advises Danny Sullivan, a search advocate at Google. While this may seem counterintuitive and empty, the guidance is sound. With the rise of AI search engines and the expanding influence of social media, users are increasingly turning to diverse platforms for information.
Therefore, to improve your Google rankings, you should start embracing multi-channel SEO as a key part of your off-page SEO strategy.
Moreover, multichannel SEO will become increasingly important. AI advancements are set to revolutionise SEO, and we can anticipate dramatic changes in the next five years. Google’s AI Overviews will aggregate and answer user queries directly, reducing the need for users to click on website links.
As a result, traditional search traffic may decline by 15% to 30%. Embracing a multichannel SEO approach will be crucial to maintaining visibility and engagement.
However, as Sullivan points out, “a bunch of social mentions” won’t “magically rank you better in Google.” Instead, it is essential to drive awareness of your website and content.
In the past, as evidenced in our Wonderland case study there has been a temptation to focus all energies on backlink building. Yet, while AI will change SEO over the next 10 years, we won’t see SEO being automated or AI automatically generating backlinks,
Tools like ChatGPT can help speed up the backlink-building process but are increasingly the wrong focus for SEOs.
Instead, the importance of backlinks will continue to diminish. In its place, social media and other digital platforms will be used as signals of trust and authority.
Furthermore, while traditional search engines like Google won’t become obsolete, consumers are set to change their search habits by adopting platforms for specific queries.
So, multi-channel SEO isn’t just about your Google rankings today, but also how you future-proof your SEO strategy.
Benefits of multi-channel SEO
Multi-channel SEO can have several benefits. In March 2024 a set of internal Google documents were leaked, indicating successful website clicks were a ranking factor for Google. This comes after the United States of America vs Google proceedings, where it was revealed Navboost is “one of the core systems” which memorises clicks on queries.
However, getting clicks is difficult if you have a new website but multichannel SEO can help because it increases your website’s visibility across multiple platforms, driving organic traffic from various sources besides search engines. This combined traffic can signal to Google that your site is relevant and engaging.
Moreover, optimising other platforms for search can increase:
- Branded searches as people become aware of your offering
- Product searches
- Organic backlinks due to increased awareness
- Improve click-through rate from social media platforms
How do you do multi-channel SEO?
How you do multi-channel SEO will depend on the platform. Each has its unique characteristics. Therefore, before starting your multichannel SEO strategy, review the first step of building a successful social media strategy. This will help you understand which platforms are best for your business needs.
However, here is a breakdown of how to optimise for some of the most popular platforms.
1. Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) should be a key part of your multichannel SEO strategy
AEO includes optimising for AI platforms like ChatGPT, Gemini and Perplexity AI. However, getting a feature on these platforms is difficult, especially for short-tail, high-competition keywords. For instance, if you have a start-up “running shoe” company, getting a mention in ChatGPT for “best-running shoe companies” is unlikely.
Therefore, a good starting point is understanding how to achieve rankings in Google’s AI Overviews. While the platforms differ, many of the principles remain applicable.
One of the best ways to rank is to focus on content structuring. For example, the running shoe start-up could:
- Create topic clusters around specific running shoe-related queries e.g. shoes for running in different types of weather, surfaces etc
- Use natural language and FAQ formats to answer common questions.
- Implement structured data markup for better visibility
- Focus on long-tail keywords and semantic SEO
- Add unique insights and stats
2. If you sell products, optimise your multi-channel SEO strategy for Amazon
In the US, 61% of consumers begin their search for a new product on Amazon. So, if you have products, this is a good option to build your website authority.
While you can expect less web traffic using Amazon, since most searches will start and end on the platform, it’s still useful to grow your reputation and send positive signals to Google and AI search engines.
For instance, imagine you sell weight training equipment. You are getting no organic traffic via Google, so struggle to make sales. So, using a multi-channel SEO strategy you should:
- Find relevant keywords. Make sure you try to think like your customers. Target those terms – e.g. adjustable dumbbells – in your title, descriptions, and bullet points
- Brand yourself – To improve your multi-channel SEO, make sure your logo and brand name are visible on your Amazon listing. This may lead to people searching for your name, thereby increasing branded searches and click-through rates
- Use A+ content – Amazon provides a tool to add videos and enhance images. This can increase sales by up to 8%
- Optimise for mobile – make sure your images and text are easy to read and quick to load on mobile devices. Many people start their search on their phones
- Reviews – when you sell a product be proactive and encourage users to leave reviews. These are positive signals to Amazon, Google and answer engines
- Understand your category – it’s easy to pick the wrong category. For instance, if you sell weightlifting gloves, should they be listed under gym equipment or workout apparel? So, do the research and pick the right category.
3. Instagram is a great platform for branding
Instagram is a great choice for multi-channel optimisation as 70% of shoppers look to Instagram for their next purchase. Moreover, it’s the world’s third-largest platform and unlike some social media platforms, it’s visual and appealing. This makes it a great place to grow your brand.
However, there are two key components to multi-channel optimisation for and effective Instagram strategy. This includes:
- Understanding how to grow your followers
- Improving your Instagram engagement
The best way to achieve both outcomes is to understand how to get more views on Instagram Reels. Instagram Reels are short videos and provide a unique opportunity to engage and delight your target audience.
For instance, imagine you sell a running wearable. Using Reels, you can create content showing the wearable’s benefits and how it helps improve performance. Consequently, you can drive organic traffic searches via Google. Moreover, you can optimise your Instagram bio by including a link to your website. This can be highly beneficial for multi-channel SEO.
However, to ensure you get the best results, you must understand how to create an Instagram niche. This is perhaps the most critical factor in satisfying the Instagram algorithms.
Furthermore, while fake follower demand has surged 300% globally, you should avoid using AI tools to take shortcuts. Like with your website, where AI won’t help you rank automatically, Instagram AI bots will not help you grow your multi-channel SEO in the long run.
4. Facebook is not great for organic multi-channel SEO but can be a great option for Ads
We previously investigated Instagram and Facebook and found Facebook has worse reach and engagement even when the same content was shared on both platforms. Therefore, using Facebook for organic multi-channel SEO is not a great option.
However, it can be a great platform to run ads related to your content. For instance, imagine you have completed some research into the best training techniques for health optimisation. Turning this into an ad, targeted at your ideal customers, can help generate brand awareness, increase web traffic and improve click-through rates. Moreover, people may share your article leading to backlinks.
5. TikTok isn’t just for kids – it can drive new trends and awareness
You might think TikTok is for 13-year-olds who like to do stupid dances. However, it’s much more. With TikTok Shop, users can search for products directly on the platform, leading to significant conversions. Moreover, many TikTok users will directly search for things they have seen on the platform in Google.
Don’t believe us? Well, what if I told you Lidl trainers were selling online for £1000 after they had sold out due to them going viral on the platform? So, if Lidl can increase its web traffic for multi-coloured budget trainers, I believe you can too.
Furthermore, TikTok’s power extends to a variety of different products. We found that Ozempic, the weight loss product, increased 170% in interest in the first six months of 2023, with TikTok playing a significant role.
Therefore, to multi-channel SEO your TikTok presence you should:
- Use keywords across your hashtags, captions and bio. This is super important as Google now features TikTok videos in their search engine meaning you can get further reach and awareness
- Identify trends and align your product or service to it
6. Don’t forget YouTube – A Google social platform that should be a part of your multi-channel SEO strategy
YouTube is a part of the Google family of products. Therefore, it often appears at the top of search results. So, if you can build long-form videos, this is a great option for your multi-channel SEO strategy.
The good news is there are a lot of similarities between Google optimisation and SEO. Therefore, focus on optimising titles, descriptions, and transcripts with relevant keywords, and use video tags and custom thumbnails to improve discoverability.
AI developments will push the multi-channel SEO strategy
How SEO works is changing quickly. AI will impact everything from search traffic to how search engines work. This will see a greater focus on the digital ecosystem, with platforms sending signals to each other. Therefore, optimising SEO for multi-channels is critical.
Moreover, it’s not beyond reason that multi-channel SEO will become a critical component of Entity SEO as you look to increase your topical authority.
While this process is more complex and time-consuming it’s important to future-proof your online strategy and prepare for multi-channel SEO. The companies driving the most online traffic in the next 10 years will be those that embrace multiple platforms. Just make sure you are one of those that do.
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