Meet Gif Engine Optimization, SEO’s Little Sister

Pop quiz: If Google is the largest search engine in the world by search volume, what’s the second largest? The answer might surprise you: Giphy, at least according to its founder.

As marketers, we’re always encouraged to have some SEO knowledge in our back pockets, even if we aren’t SEO specialists by trade. So why not spend some time learning about GEO (gif engine optimization) too?

The case for GEO

Brad Michelson, U.S. senior marketing manager at social investment network eToro, told Marketing Brew what learning GEO did for his company’s brand reach.

Step one: In February, eToro launched its eToro U.S. Giphy account and Michelson learned how to optimize keywords for higher Giphy rankings. Every gif he uploads is eToro branded.

Step two: In April, eToro uploaded this Bitcoin gif to Giphy and played the waiting game.

Step three: By the beginning of November, Michelson noticed the gif had moved to Giphy’s first search result for the “Bitcoin” search query. And by the end of November? The Bitcoin gif went from views in the low tens of thousands to more than 15 million.

Step four: Michelson now “constantly” sees people using the gif on Twitter in crypto conversations, “all organically. The power for first position for popular keywords is absolutely under-appreciated,” he told Marketing Brew.

Overall stats: Michelson said eToro has gained more than 65 million views over 133 gifs uploaded since February, “all virtually for free.”

Zoom out

In a recession era when many marketing budgets are far from extravagant, organic strategies like GEO feel more essential than ever. That feels especially true for marketers focused on niche subjects, where Michelson finds GEO particularly effective.

• “There are very specific intentions connected to using gifs as a communication tool, which makes it an ideal channel to build a strategy around,” said Michelson.

Resources: If you’re convinced your marketing toolbox needs a sprinkle of GEO, this SEJ article and this MarketingHub guide seem like great places to start.