I keep hearing new buzzwords, and I roll my eyes at every one. So when “aggregate visibility” showed up in a recent search visibility audit, I was ready to roll them again. Here’s the short answer what what this is. Aggregate visibility is digital street cred. It’s who is linking to you and mentioning your business around the web. AI search engines look at that to decide who to show. The business I audited was coming up some, but their competitors had a lot more love from trusted sites like Business Insider, PR Newswire and TripAdvisor.
In this episode, I talk about what you can do about it when you’re the whole marketing department, or you have a team of one or two. I’ll warn you, it’s boring work. It’s worth doing, though, and I share an easy way to stick with it so it doesn’t take over your week.
Enjoy the episode!
🧰 I love me a good digital marketing tool. This week’s recommended tool is GoFullPage Chrome Extension
It makes it so simple for me to save images of full pages for befores and afters or sending to people if the page isn’t live yet.
🎧 This week’s recommended podcast episode is Finding Freedom, Forgiveness, and Who You Truly Are with Peter Crone
Did I mention I was binging Peter Crone content? This is another especially good episode that he was on.
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tbdWhat the shit is aggregate visibility? I don’t know about you but every time I hear a new buzzword I roll my eyes. A lot.
This phrase came up in a recent search visibility audit I did. And I have to admit, it’s a funner way to put a new spin on the mundane tasks that need to be done to improve search visibility.
So let’s talk about it.
Aggregate visibility is the new fancy term for what I like to call digital street cred. In other words who and how other websites are linking to our mentioning your business or website.
It’s a lot of work to increase aggregate visibility because it’s sooooo booooooring. But because of the newer search landscape we’re in, we have to start getting serious about it.
AI search engines look around the web and see who and how your website is being referenced.
Take company A, the one I recently did an AI search audit for.
Overall, they were coming up some, but not as much as other competitors. The competitors had a stronger overall presence from trusted third-party websites. Places like Business Insider, PR Newswire and TripAdvisor.
Which is what brings us here today. What ARE some ways to improve your aggregate visibility? What’s realistic for someone running their entire marketing department or having only 1 or 2 people on the team?
I mean it takes like ½ a day to concept, create and edit a social media piece for cryin’ out loud.
Don’t fret, I got you.
The very simplest way to get started is to list your business or website in online directories. Most are free. Some are paid. It’s your call if it’s in your budget to sign up for a paid one. Maybe ideal if the directory is angled at your audience. If not, maybe hold off for the time being.
When you’re doing this, ensure you’re using all the same info… your name in full, phone number with dashes (I added the dashes because I hate phone numbers with periods. That’s just not the proper phone number format), and have a short and longer description. Short being a sentence or two and longer being a paragraph.
If they don’t match, it can look spammy to the AI systems and Google for that matter.
A second tactic is to encourage your audience to mention you on forums like Reddit or Tripadvisor. Being mentioned in “gossip circles” can add a lot of weight to your street cred.
Third tactic, snuggle up to your competitors in those listey blog posts. The best of, the top 25, those types of lists. If you can get listed in those same areas, then your website could be considered where before it might not have.
Fourth tactic, keep on those reviews. Don’t let it be an afterthought. Put a process in place and get them.
Fifth tactic, create something worth linking to. This might be a case study, a report of some sort, a free tool, And you know? These don’t even have to be something 100% directly related to your services, but it does have to appeal to the audience you serve. Or to someone who will pick it up that serves your audience.
Sixth tactic, guest on podcasts. Most podcasts create backlinks from their show and respective blog posts. There’s very little prep work on your part so the return is appealing.
I get I say these things like they’re a simple checklist. And in reality they are not. These take time. My recommendation is pick one, schedule an hour a week and just stick with it for a month. Then move on to the next one.
When you get through them all, loop around. This will also minimize teh boringness of it. A teeny tiny bit. Or hire it out of course. There’s always that option.
The Takeaway
Increasing your AI Aggregate Visibility is a sustainable method of marketing. And it’s one of the most beneficial ways to improve your AI search visibility.
About This Show
The Get More Website Traffic Podcast covers the strategies, tools, and tactics that help small business owners get more people to their website and turn that traffic into leads. Host Barb Davids breaks it down in plain language every week, with bonus episodes featuring other business owners sharing their expertise on topics that matter to running a small business. Produced by Compass Digital Strategies.
