Growth

Marketing
Automation
in a
Zero-Click

World
 1 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Introduction

In 2019, companies dependent on search traffic were COMPARISON: 2004 to 2020

shocked to find out that, for 51% of all searches
performed, Google fails to deliver a click to any external
website. The data behind the growing number of these
“Zero-Click Searches” prompted preeminent search expert
Rand Fishkin to proclaim that Google is now undeniably
“everyone’s competitor” in search.

After all, with 51% less potential traffic, websites receive

51% less revenue and leads. This is a colossal -- yet
under-recognized -- problem for all websites that survive
off their ability to generate measurable value.

Nonetheless, Google can convincingly claim that they are

not cannibalizing this search traffic for selfish reasons --
rather, they are seeking to better serve the person doing
2004
the search. Search queries are becoming increasingly
specific1 -- but for most of these “longtail” searches, no
website has created a landing page providing an answer
that meets Google’s standards. This is the reason Google
places its own elements on its search engine results page
(“SERP”), which reduce clicks to external websites by
displaying their information right in the search results.

For 51% of all searches

performed, Google fails
51% to deliver a click to any
external website.
2020
Changes to Google’s SERP for the search query “flight
berlin new york,” 2004 to 2020. Google’s new BERT
algorithm was designed to handle even more of these
searches, with 10% of longtail searches now affected by it.

1 As of 2018, 70% of all search queries had four words or more--an increase of 40% from just five years before.
 2 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

This white paper will show that the solution to this new
“Zero-Click Google World” is to beat Google to the punch The solution to this new
-- create landing pages that serve longtail search better “Zero-Click Google World”
than Google can.  Proof will be shown that, in cases is to beat Google to the
where the landing page is of high-enough quality, Google punch.
continues to deliver the traffic, revenue, and leads to
websites just as it did in 2004.

Finally, this white paper will share results of cases where

websites have automated this process with a new type of
growth marketing technology. The solution works the same
for both Paid and Organic search, and the strategy used is
supported by Google itself2.

One caveat: this white paper will only appeal to those in

marketing responsible for delivering continued, measurable
growth of web traffic, revenue, or leads. For the moment,
only websites with a sufficient amount of content and paid
search budget are capable of applying the strategy -- those
in charge of growth are encouraged to contact Longtail UX
to find out if they qualify.

2 “Ensure max coverage with a long tail strategy,” ThinkWithGoogle, retrieved on March 9, 2020. https://www.thinkwithgoogle.com/intl/en-gb/playbook/
searchexcellence/efficiency/ensure-max-coverage-with-a-long-tail-strategy
 3 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

The Reason Websites are Losing

Valuable Traffic from Google

As mentioned, on-SERP distractions are the cause of

loss of clicks. An appearance in the SERPs -- both with
paid and organic links -- simply is not worth what it once
was. While google.com has 16 different SERP features3,
this report focuses on the two most problematic ones for
website revenue: Featured Snippets and Answer Boxes.

Text Ads
Featured Snippets
Website analytics company Wordstream estimates that the
appearance of a Featured Snippet on a SERP can reduce
the value of ranking on that page by 39%4.

Featured
Featured Snippets cause fewer clicks off google.com snippet
because they answer the question that led to the search, (no need
to click)
making a click unnecessary. They also physically move the
#1 organic result further down the page, where searchers
are less likely to scroll. In the example above, the key
“travel benefits of a United Airlines credit card” are listed in
the snippet, which robs chase.com of a visit from a curious
credit card consumer.
Answer box
(no need to
Compounding this issue is the recent announcement by visit site)
Google that they will now “deduplicate” links to external
websites from the SERPs, which Tim Soulo, CMO of
search analytics company Ahrefs, estimates may reduce
the CTR of organic links by another 25%5.

The appearance of a
Featured Snippet on a #1 organic
39% SERP can reduce the value result
of ranking on that page by
39%.

3 “What is a SERP feature?” Moz Weblog, retrieved March 8, 2020 https://moz.com/learn/seo/serp-features

4 “Value of a #1 Google Ranking Down 37% in Two Years?” Wordstream Weblog, retrieved March 8, 2020 https://www.wordstream.com/blog/
ws/2017/04/26/google-ranking-click-through-rate
5 From 26.0% to 19.6%. https://twitter.com/timsoulo/status/1220174374944137216
 4 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Answer Boxes
The Answer Box below the Featured Snippet further Answer Boxes hijack traffic from the pages which Google
reduces clicks to websites from google.com. It answers sent visitors, but most marketers are unaware of the
most of the searcher’s more specific remaining questions, impact. That’s because we have been checking the wrong
such as “does United credit card have travel insurance?” metrics -- rankings and visibility.
This again makes a click through to the website
(airfarewatchdog.com) unnecessary.

Answer box provides

full answer
(no need to
click through)

Answer Boxes hijack traffic

from the pages which
Google sent visitors
 5 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Why Marketers Should Not Report

on Rankings and Visibility
Being “visible” on a SERP at such a long distance provides Early results from Google’s new BERT algorithm suggest
little to no value to the business. One example Fishkin that its impact on website profits has gone undetected due
reported was that the world’s #1 dictionary site, m-w.com, to overreliance on rankings and visibility tracking7.
lost between 30-70% of their clicks from 2015 to 2020,
even though the website’s “visibility” (a metric showing how For these reasons, Longtail UX does not highlight rankings
often a link to the website appears in the SERPs) increased or visibility on Google for its users’ pages in its reports. The
by 150%6. In this site’s case, it’s because the answer being primary metrics Longtail UX tracks from Google traffic are
sought -- the definition of a word -- is handled on the revenue and leads. (There is a full explanation here of how
SERP: we do this.)

“Visibility” is now an
unreliable metric to
track. The world’s #1
dictionary site, m-w.com,
Google lost between 30-70% of
definition their clicks--even during
box
a period where their
visibility jumped by 150%.

Google
ANSWER
box

#1 Organic
Result

6 “Google in 2020: From Everyone’s Search Engine to Everyone’s Competitor,” SparkToro Weblog, retrieved March 8, 2020
https://sparktoro.com/blog/google-in-2020-from-everyones-search-engine-to-everyones-competitor/
7 “Why you may not have noticed the Google BERT update,” Barry Schwartz, SearchEngineLand, retrieved on March 8, 2020 https://searchengineland.
com/why-you-may-not-have-noticed-the-google-bert-update-324103
 6 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Achieving Revenue and Leads Growth

by Beating “Competitor Google”

To beat “competitor Google,” marketers must do two

Example: E-commerce Website
things:
(Kogan.com)
1. Create many new pages that handle very specific
In the below search, “28 inch uhd 5k monitor,” the
(“longtail”) demands by searchers
Kogan.com Longtail UX landing page is placed above
2. Provide an excellent experience for the searcher while
the Answer Box in the SERP:
interacting with these pages

Google only puts its own elements -- such as Featured

Snippets and Answer Boxes -- above links to external
websites when they cannot find a landing page that reliably
serves the searcher’s intent.

Some examples from Longtail UX customers illustrate this

well. Kogan.com, which generates revenue from more than
35,000 Longtail UX landing pages, has some winners and
some losers.

Above Answer box

(Kogan.com page
from Longtail UX)
 7 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

According to Google’s algorithm, searchers who demand

this specific type of monitor are generally more satisfied
with the landing page result than any of their own auto-
generated answers.

Looking at the landing page created for Kogan with

Longtail UX, one can see why:

Multiple options ranked by relevance

Prices

Looking for this highly specific type of monitor, the

Kogan’s Longtail UX searcher is also looking for information that is too rich
landing page contains to be contained in just a Featured Snippet or Answer
multiple product options Box. Kogan’s Longtail UX landing page contains multiple
product options ranked by relevance, prices, reviews, and
other information delivered from multiple feeds.
 8 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

The Reason Websites are Losing

Valuable Traffic from Google

However, for another search, “sony uhd tv usb playback,” In this case, the searcher is not looking for multiple
the Kogan.com Longtail UX landing page is placed below products -- they are looking for a tutorial on how to do
the Answer Box: USB playback on the Sony device. For this search, an
Answer Box (or the #1 result, from the Sony website) will
suffice.

As a result, Google determined that these options provided

a superior user experience, and placed the link to Kogan’s
Longtail UX landing page below those options.

However, this “failure” to rank above the Answer Box is

tolerable when the pages are created at scale -- as with
Longtail UX. The dangerous situation for companies comes
when the page is created at significant time and expense
-- only to be outranked by a Google SERP feature.

Marketers can no longer risk devoting great resources to

Below Answer box creating content without first using an automated landing
(Kogan.com page page creation tool like Longtail UX to test the SERP.
from Longtail UX)

Conversely, there is a significant opportunity for marketers

who are able to do such testing at scale. By creating
35,000 Longtail UX landing pages to serve the longtail
of demand, Kogan.com has been able to fill a niche as
a destination for highly educated shoppers -- without
needing to add any new SKUs. In turn, they are able to
generate tens of millions of dollars in additional revenue per
year.
 9 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Example: Lead Generation Website For another search, “send suitcase from australia to uk,”
Google chose PackSend as the #1 result. (In this case,
(PackSend) PackSend have decided to allow themselves to take the
deduplicated Featured Snippet as well.)
Another example from a website with the goal of lead
generation (PackSend) is illustrative. For the search
“cheapest shipping from australia to usa,” Google has
determined that usually the searcher is looking for a quick
answer. They are not necessarily looking for a service right
now to do the shipping -- they just want to know the price.
For this, the Answer Box suffices, and beats the landing
page:

For another search, “send suitcase from australia to uk,”

Google chose PackSend as the #1 result. (In this case,
PackSend have decided to allow themselves to take the
deduplicated Featured Snippet as well.) #1 result as
Featured Snippet
In this case, the intention of the user is to actually “send” (PackSend.com.au
this time -- not just get a price quote. Therefore a quick page from
Longtail UX)
answer scraped from the landing page does not suffice.
Based on searcher post-click behavior, PackSend wins
and holds the top spot, from which they receive hundreds
of leads per month.

In this case, the intention of the user is to actually “send”

“#1” result ranks below
Featured Snippet and this time -- not just get a price quote. Therefore a quick
Answer Box (PackSend answer scraped from the landing page does not suffice.
page from
Using Paid Search to Further Increase Longtail
Longtail UX)
Revenue
Based on searcher post-click behavior, PackSend wins
and Leads Growth
and holds the top spot, from which they receive hundreds
of leads per month.
As we can see from the two cases above, Google’s
competition with websites is truly aimed at giving searchers
As we can see from the two cases above, Google’s
the best possible user experience. Where the website
competition with websites is truly aimed at giving searchers
provides a great landing page that serves the longtail of
the best possible user experience. Where the website
demand, Google rewards the website with revenue and
provides a great landing page that serves the longtail of
leads just the same as ever.
demand, Google rewards the website with revenue and
leads just the same as ever.

The same applies to paid search -- at an even greater scale

for marketers in need of significant growth. This is because
paid search marketing is not limited by crawl budget or
duplicate content concerns.
10 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Using Paid Search to Further Increase

Longtail Revenue and Leads Growth

Example: Lead Generation Website

(ClueyLearning)
For example, one Longtail UX customer, ClueyLearning, The personalization of the user experience in response
was able to roll out more than 70,000 landing pages for the to the user’s longtail search was the key to this result.
longtail of demand for online tutoring. This approach rapidly Parents who search for “year 9 math tutoring melbourne”
doubled their inbound lead volume at a 40% reduction in expect to find just that -- a page full of options and content
CPA. personalized to their specific needs.

Every grade,
Every Subject,
70K longtail
landing pages
11 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

Example: E-commerce Website

(AdoreBeauty)
This personalization is a key disruptor for e-commerce as Adding this experience for the longtail of demand across
well. For the 110 people that search for the very specific more than 2,500 paid search landing pages increased
term “frizzy hair shampoo” per month, being presented their return on advertising spending (ROAS) by 50%. More
with a direct link to a landing page with 18 products importantly, it claimed them new, loyal, repeat buyers who
matching that exact demand is a superior user experience appreciate the ease of finding items that match their highly
for AdoreBeauty, a Longtail UX customer in the beauty personalized needs.
niche.

Personalised results for longtail demand

12 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

This increase in ROAS is standard for websites that Google is withholding traffic to external websites because
implement a longtail strategy at scale. Most retail sites have we as marketers have failed to keep pace with increasingly
resigned themselves to using Google Shopping to handle specific consumer demand. However, Google continues
longtail demand, but this is a mistake. Shopping Ads, to provide traffic to websites that cater to the longtail of
like the one in the example from Bondi Boost, are often demand. Marketers who offer consumers rich, highly
misaligned to the search (this one promises “hair growth”-- personalized pages meeting highly exact needs will win
not an answer to the frizzy hair problem.) They also lead to in Google’s “Zero-Click World,” and the above examples
a page with a single product, which, according to a study prove that the results are typically a 50-100% increase in
by CrazyEgg, are half as likely to get a sale. conversion rates and ROAS.
Single-product landing pages convert at half the rate of
multi-product landing pages because they offer the user no
choice. When going for a longtail strategy, marketers must
offer consumers multiple options.
13 Growth Marketing Automation in a Zero-Click Google World

In Summary

How to Get Started Adding an About Longtail UX

Automated Longtail Experience for
Founded in 2013 by an ex-Googler and a successful
Your Customers
Internet entrepreneur, Longtail UX is transforming how
businesses approach website optimization and search
Marketers who oversee a website with more than 1,000
marketing. Our patented landing page automation
pages and spend $20k per month or more on paid
technology gives businesses the unique ability to connect
search can get their personalized Longtail UX strategy
users to products in one click for any number of search
by scheduling a strategy session with an optimization
term variations across SEM and SEO. Our technology
specialist.
integrates into client websites effortlessly so businesses
Schedule a Strategy Session can concentrate on what they do best. We have clients
across Australia, the U.S. and Latin America including
Kogan, Adore Beauty, Graysonline, Car Next Door and
Those who prefer to first see the opportunity for revenue or LatAm Autos.
leads growth by implementing a longtail strategy can first
run the Longtail UX Search Scorecard. It will also show you
which 100 longtail landing pages should be your highest
priority to build.

Run the Longtail UX Search Scorecard