To invest on SEO is both useful and important, Google says
So much for “SEO is dead”, that now trite sentence someone still repeats referencing the work of site optimization! To reiterate the value of the SEO and the importance of improving with consistency and attention your online projects is Google itself, who has launched on its blog the publication of some case studies that demonstrate concretely how the right strategy can give effective results and sometimes almost surprising ones.
Google shows SEO’s positive effects
The first article published on the Official Google Webmaster Central Blog is called “Showcasing the value of SEO” and wishes to exactly “highlight” the value of SEO by introducing real case studies that “help with convincing a boss’ boss that investing in SEO or implementing structured data can be good for the business”.
The example provided in this first post explains the general importance of the investment in search engine optimization and shows how it has helped the South Korean company Saramin, one of the largest work platforms in the Asian country.
The Saramin case study, a job listings platform in Korea
Saramin offers job posting references, information on salaries and companies, interviews and headhunting services based on artificial intelligence. According to SEO company manager Moon Tae Sung, who spoke at a Google Webmaster Conference in Seoul, “people come to the Saramin site not only to look for jobs and submit applications, but to also gain a variety of information related to job searches and receive high-quality AI-based services for interview preparation.”.
The first SEO task: to solve scanning issues
Saramin’s SEO process started with Google Search Console: in 2015 they verified the site and spent a year identifying and solving scanning issues. “The task was simple, but still resulted in a 15% increase in the organic traffic“, said Tae Sung. The ROI has pushed Saramin to invest more in SEO with the aim of a potential even greater success, focusing the work to make the site even more search engine friendly, fully aware that SEO is a process that may take some time to bear any fruit.
Modifications to the site and technical optimization
Specifically, “we studied the guide for Google Search developers and Help Center articles, which continue to provide up-to-date information for the problems we encounter”, explained the Korean professional, and we made “changes to the site so that Google Search would better understand it”. For example, they removed metatags – that have been over-stuffed with useless and unhelpful keywords – used the rel canonicals, deleted duplicated contents and studied the structured data markups that can be applied within the research Gallery, starting from Job Posting, Breadcrumb and salary estimates.
Moreover, the team used several Google tools to improve the site, such as the Search Console itself, or the Mobile Friendly Test, AMP Test and Pagespeed Insight that We get valuable information to make improvements and help us deliver a better experience to our users,” says Tae Sung.
More and more clear results
Over time, Saramin has seen the red-colored errors in the report on the Search Console index coverage gradually reach the green that indicates validity and have therefore understood to have taken the right direction. The incremental changes have reached a turning point and traffic has continued to rise at a more remarkable speed: in the peak period for hiring, in September 2019, traffic has doubled compared to the previous year.
The SEO effects: quantity and quality of traffic improves
“We are very happy about the traffic increase, but what’s more exciting is it also accompanied improvement in the quality of the traffic”, says the company’s SEO manager. “We saw a 93% increase in the number of new sign ups and a 9% increase on the conversion. We believe this means Saramin’s optimization work was found delightful by our users”.
