What are the first steps to get started with Answer Engine Optimization (AEO)?

To get started with Answer Engine Optimization (AEO), focus on these clear steps to improve your content's visibility:

1. Set Specific Goals (KPIs): Don't just aim for "more traffic." Define exactly what you want to achieve and how you'll measure it. For example, instead of "increase traffic," aim for "Increase featured snippet appearances for 'best coffee maker' by 15% in the next 3 months." This makes your goal clear, measurable, and achievable. Examples of good KPIs include:

   • Increase featured snippet appearances by X% within Y months.
   • Grow organic traffic from question-based searches by Z% this quarter.
   • Improve click-through rate (CTR) on search results for specific keywords by A%.
   • Reduce bounce rate on AEO-targeted pages by B%.

   Make sure these goals help your overall business goals (like getting more customers or building brand awareness).

2. Understand What People Are Asking: Go beyond just finding keywords. Figure out why people are searching for specific things. Use these tools:

   • AnswerThePublic: See questions and phrases people are using around a topic.
   • Google Search Console: Find the actual questions people use to find your site. Identify content that isn't performing well and find new opportunities to rank for questions.
   • Google Trends: See trending topics and how search interest changes over time.
   • Keyword Research Tools (SEMrush, Ahrefs, Moz): Find popular, less competitive keywords and questions related to your topic. Look for "People Also Ask" data.
   • Competitor Analysis: See what questions your competitors answer and how they structure their content.

   Group searches by intent: Are people looking for information, trying to find a specific website, wanting to buy something, or researching a product? Then, create content that matches each intent.

3. Make Sure Your Website is Technically Sound: A strong technical base is essential.

   • Easy to Find (Crawlability and Indexability): Make sure search engines can easily access and understand your site. Check your robots.txt file to be sure you're not blocking important pages. Submit your sitemap.xml to Google Search Console and Bing Webmaster Tools.
   • Mobile-Friendly: Google focuses on mobile-friendly sites. Make sure your website works well on phones and tablets. Use Google's Mobile-Friendly Test to find and fix any issues.
   • Fast Loading: Page speed is crucial. Optimize images, use browser caching, reduce the size of your CSS and JavaScript files, and consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Use Google's PageSpeed Insights to find ways to improve your site's speed.
   • Secure (HTTPS): Ensure your website uses HTTPS encryption.

4. Use Schema Markup to Help Search Engines Understand Your Content: Add special code (schema markup) to your pages to tell search engines exactly what your content is about. Use these types of schema:

   • FAQPage Schema: For FAQ pages. Clearly mark questions and answers using question and acceptedAnswer properties.
   • HowTo Schema: For step-by-step guides. Include steps, tools, and materials.
   • Article Schema: For news articles and blog posts.
   • Product Schema: For product pages. Include product name, description, price, and availability.

   Test your schema using Google's Rich Results Test to make sure it's working correctly.

5. Make Your Site Fast and Mobile-Friendly: User experience matters!

   • Mobile Optimization: Ensure your website looks and works great on phones and tablets. Pay attention to font sizes and button sizes.
   • Page Speed: Optimize images, use browser caching, reduce the size of your CSS and JavaScript files, and consider using a Content Delivery Network (CDN). Aim for a page load time of under 3 seconds. Use Google's PageSpeed Insights to find areas for improvement.
   • Core Web Vitals: Focus on improving these key metrics: Largest Contentful Paint (LCP), First Input Delay (FID), and Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS). These measure user experience and affect your search ranking.

   Check your website's performance regularly and make changes as needed.