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Are you new to the concept of chatbots? Would you like to find out how chatbots can help your online business flourish? What is SEO and how can chatbots and SEO be connected?
These must be few of the many questions that’s residing in your head. With this article, we’re hoping we could answer a few, if not all of them.
Technology seems to be changing at an unprecedented pace. It appears that there is always new technology being introduced that promises to make our businesses more profitable, and our hectic lives more manageable. In comes the chatbot, adding a new dynamic to online customer service.
The ultimate goal of most businesses online is to drive traffic to their websites. The primary way that prospects find websites online is by using search engines. Search engine optimization (SEO) is the process that increases the chance that users will find their website via search engine results.
This guide will explain the SEO process and how chatbots can have a positive impact on how search engines rank your website.
What is SEO?
Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is a process that relies on a variety of factors in order to build the confidence of a search engine in a website’s ability to offer worthwhile content for visitors. SEO employs numerous algorithms to evaluate keyword placement, authoritative linking, mobile capabilities, and the user interface of a website. The websites are then ranked from the most effective to the least effective.
Topics on SEO are usually framed around the content that a website features – since this is the best way to determine how informative a website is. We are going to look at how a feature like chatbots can indirectly impact a website’s search engine ranking.
Together, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) create an environment that allows a machine to exhibit qualities that greatly resemble that of an actual human. The objective is to make the user comfortable with the interaction by imparting expressions that are perceived as personality traits.
Artificial Intelligence
Long ago, the concept of AI was a mere plot in a science-fiction movie. Today, AI has begun influencing nearly every aspect of business. Often behind the scenes, AI is the driving force behind many of the applications that make our lives simpler and even more entertaining.
There are various tools in the AI toolkit; in regards to chatbots, there are two prevalent features that power this technology:
1. Natural Language Processing: This technology processes human language to ascertain what is important in a natural human statement or question and supplies a natural-looking response.
2. Machine Learning: Machine learning uses one of three models to “learn” in a way that was previously thought to be only possible by humans. This allows a software application to appear to grow smarter over time.
Together, natural language processing (NLP) and machine learning (ML) create an environment that allows a machine to exhibit qualities that greatly resemble that of an actual human. The objective is to make the user comfortable with the interaction by imparting expressions that are perceived as personality traits.
What is Chatbot?
A chatbot is an application that holds a natural-seeming chat dialogue with a website visitor. The exchanges with these bots and humans are very realistic and save companies time, provides a better user experience, and uses an improved user interface. To get a better idea of the capabilities of this technology, see some chatbot examples for different B2B sales.
Giving your chatbot a personality helps capture and hold the visitor’s attention. The personality of the chatbot is a direct representation of the company’s brand and ideology. During the initial setup process, venture to recreate the energy and flow of a natural one-on-one interaction between a customer and a customer service representative.
There are four ways that a chatbot communicates with clients.
The various stages of the chatbot conversation include:
- The salutation
- Explaining services
- Answering and asking questions
- Providing services and information
With the increased dominance of mobile device web surfing, chatting has become the new email. With web-based chats, the customer is able to get real-time assistance with issues that they are facing. The conversational style that chatbots use allows for the automation of the resolution of the most common customer service issues.
Increased Dwell Time
One major factor that search engines take into consideration is how long a visitor stays on a website. The name given for this is dwell time. The longer a visitor stays on a website, the more relevant the search engines determine the website is. By enhancing the user experience and user interface, visitors are likely to stay on websites with chatbots longer.
This ranking is also known as a website's bounce rate.
Of course, a lot goes into measuring and reducing bounce rates. From ensuring you have alluring content, to actually capturing your readers attention, and answering the questions they have.
Chatbots can help a ton when it comes to keeping new visitors interested. If they can’t seem to find what they are looking for, before they have a chance to click on that back button, Hey, presto! Your bot is asking them if they need any help.
Studies show that this utilization significantly helps reduce bounce rates, and keep new visitors engaged helping boost your trust, and overall rankings in the long-run.
Lead Generation
Chatbots can also be programmed to gather personal data from a visitor. The lead generation aspect of chatbots has to be approached with caution. If the first thing a chatbot does is request personal information about a visitor, it will turn many prospects off.
Once there has been an engaging exchange and assistance, the request for information to keep the guest informed will be welcomed in many cases. Generating leads with a chatbot means the automated expansion of a company’s prospect database.
Customer Service Goes Further Than You Could Imagine
Back before the technological boom, and search engines - the best, and most efficient sales method was word of mouth. Are your customers spreading word of your business, what are they saying? This form of marketing literally either made or broke businesses.
Think about it, if your mom, dad, or best friend told you something was awesome, and you should try it -- wouldn’t you? Studies done on this very topic showed that there was 92-percent more trust in brands affiliated with positive mentions even from strangers.
What you may not know is that modern word of mouth comes in the form of reviews. And believe it or not, Google Reviews can actually impact your SEO ranking over time. Through the implementation of chatbots, you can ensure your customers feel important, leaving them satisfied with the service you provided. Which translates to a higher probability of getting a positive review.
Personalization Of Content
This particular form of Digital SEO improvement is a bit trickier to pull off. But, if you can manage it - you can understand exactly what frustrations your customers are facing, and give them actionable advice to combat their frustrations.
Why should you bother with this?
Through solving problems new visitors are struggling with, not only do you strengthen your brand authority and trust, but you have a higher chance of being able to convert this lead into a paying customer.
So how exactly can chatbots help get you from a random website visitor to understanding what frustration they are facing?
A popular technique is to add a questioning phase. After they have been on your website for a certain period of time, you can prompt them with a “Hey, need help?”. For customers that are struggling with something in particular, you can store that information.
Using this aggregated information, you can determine the most common problems your website visitors face, and solve them through either website re-design or article creation (depending on the problem). Not only helping you improve your website, but also provide stable content to keep visitors on the page for longer, and talking nothing but good about the care you put into your website and customer experience.
Indirect Time Efficiency Investments
Pretty much since the fruition of the world wide web as we know it, there has always been a rather absurd fear that technology would take over the world, our jobs - even our homes. While it’s true, there are ways we can utilize technology to greatly improve our processes and streamline projects, it’s never going to be able to completely replace the human touch.
What does this have to do with SEO and improving your overall ROI?
Well, at the end of the day, customer interaction - albeit important, takes up a fair amount of resources. Through the implementation of chatbots to make it easier to deal with customers, your staff can focus on tasks that help grow your website, boosting your client retention, and even working on SEO strategies to bring in new customers and grow your brand name. Although, this is indirectly helping with SEO growth, it is still worth mentioning.
How to use Chatbots to improve your SEO Ranking
Embracing the emerging technologies created to make our businesses function at higher levels is the way companies can see growth. Chatbot technology is being used by many brands—large and small—to help maintain their customer service efforts and increase customer engagement. These bots are also keen on building a company’s SEO efforts.
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