Zero-Click Discovery: How Traffic Declines May Not Harm Your Business?
Everyone is losing traffic - what can we do to remain profitable?
Are you seeing less and less traffic coming to your site?
You are not alone.
Every business - big or small - is experiencing the same: There is a noticeable decline in clicks coming to their site.
It has been a trend for about a decade now but it is much more noticeable now.
Breathe.
We are in the middle of a very important trend right now: No-click discovery.
What is no-click discovery?
No-click discovery happens when your brand or product is mentioned in a relevant context or discussion but there’s no click for people to get directly to your site.
Again, it’s not exactly new.
People have been discussing brands on social media without sharing links. In fact, a well-known fact is that social media platforms hate external links. Whenever you include a link in your post, it will be buried and very few of your friends will be able to see it.
Platforms hate sending traffic anywhere unless it’s a paid ad.
Generative AI platforms accelerated this trend a lot. Lots of prompts give no references or link to any official sites. People get used to no-click conversations more and more.
There is an increasing number of very popular platforms that give no external links to send clicks:
Just about any AI platform (which are many)
Reddit (which is one of the most popular sites out there)
Youtube
TikTok and Instagram, etc.
And yes, even organic search - which is a traditional transitional destination between a person with a problem and a site with a solution - even search sends fewer and fewer clicks over the years.
0-click SERPs are something everyone has to deal with these days (source: SparkToro).
So what should we do?
Here I am not going to talk about being mentioned in these conversations. This is a huge topic we will discuss even more in the future. I have also talked about this: Your best bet is becoming a discussable brand:
Fundamentals haven’t changed much. You need to be known in your niche to be surfaced by organic search as well as AI platforms.
But what should we do differently?
Priorities shift
A few years ago you could afford not to invest in branding. These days, without becoming a brand you risk never being found online.
Paying attention to what and how people discuss products is key because that’s where AI is pulling information from. The future is in being a brand or being unfindable.
Organic search rankings are as important (both Google and Bing) because AI platforms use search index to build their knowledge bases
Being known enough for people to mention, cite and discuss your brand is fundamental to being found
0-click platforms train consumers to research instead of clicking, so your business’s findability is crucial for buying decisions.
So what should every SEO / Findability strategy include from now on?
Beyond traditional keyword research, technical SEO and link building, now any SEO strategy should include:
Brand building initiatives. Based on your business and niche, these could be viral marketing (which we can help with), expert authorship, influencer marketing, social media marketing, local partnerships, etc. In essence, anything that can encourage people to start talking about your business and remind them of your brand, over and over again.
Social media listening to your and competitors’ brands. That’s how you know where and how your businesses are being discussed, what needs to be fixed and which platforms are working. Buzzsumo is a great tool for that but there are are many others.
Branded search optimization. Remember most 0-click discoveries result in search. It’s up to your branded SERPs to determine if these searches will result in a sale.
The game is changing but the fundamentals remain the same. You need to be a brand and you need to be everywhere. You need to be relevant, recognizable and authoritative. Let me know if you need help.
