Brands Dominating Search and Optimising Conversions
A particularly insightful long read (the result of several week’s researching apparently) into how a handful of behemoths are dominating search… and a look into what several do to improve conversions. As a fun aside, it also gives one answer to the question “if you could rank P1 for anything, what keywords would you target?”
Intermediate Level
No time to read the full article?
Our top takeaways
- 16 giants dominate the SERPs – A handful of companies (think Dotdash Meredith, Hearst, Future) are hoovering up billions of Google clicks each month.
- One page, multiple brands – same owner – They’re stacking the front page with their own sites, often owning several top results for the same search.
- Copy-paste content, different wrappers – Many use identical content across their brands with smart SEO tagging to keep Google happy.
- Bad news for generalist blogs – It’s tough for indie sites to compete in big-topic areas. The SERPs are stitched up by the big boys.
- Niches still have legs – The big players chase volume. There’s still gold in the gaps if you go specific and serve a focused audience well.
- AI and forums are changing the game – Google’s surfacing more Reddit, Quora, and AI content — so the content landscape’s getting even noisier.
