Table of Contents
  1. Intro
  2. SNYCU Podcast
  3. Not a premium subscriber? You're missing out!
  4. Algorithm Update News
  5. Google Announcements
  6. Google SERP Changes
  7. SEO Tips
  8. Other Interesting News
  9. Local SEO - Google Announcements
  10. Recommended Reading
  11. Jobs
  12. Want More?
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Ep. 235 - May 19, 2022 - Light Version

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In this episode, we discuss search-related events from Google I/O, optimizing your meta descriptions, an interesting tool you can use to check for lost impressions, and the latest in SEO news!

SNYCU Podcast

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The following topics are covered in the premium version of this episode:

  • Don’t blame it on your MUM!
  • What’s new with Core Web Vitals?
  • New image ranking signal from Google
  • Does Google Analytics 4 have a landing page report?
  • Is cross-linking language/country versions okay?
  • New Google Search Console search appearance filter
  • Lost impressions in Google Search Console?
  • Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO articles
You’ll also have access to all past episodes, including this one.
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Algorithm Update News

Possible SERP turbulence around May 16, 2022?

Barry Schwartz reported on a possible mild Google update on May 16, 2022. Most of the algorithm weather tools are showing some kind of an increase around this day as well. Barry mentioned that it has been a full six months now since our last core update…

Looking at our data, we do have a couple of clients seeing changes out of the ordinary, but given we are writing this on May 17, there is not much we can report. 

We think this is likely another one of those blips we have been seeing regularly and not indicative of a significant Google update, but we will see!

 

A reminder for those waiting to recover from a Google core update hit

It has now been six months since the last core update. As we mentioned in tip #96 in our post about Google core updates, Google has said that content affected by a core update often will not recover until another core update happens.

If you’ve been working on improving your E-A-T and content quality, hang in there!

Google Announcements

Missed the search-related excitement from Google I/O?

Well, Barry has us covered with his article on Search Engine Roundtable!

Fortunately, Barry outlined all the search-related topics that we need to know in the SEO community. We include information about many of these things in our newsletter this week but, to highlight:

  1. Multisearch near me: Allows users to search with images and text simultaneously and focus on a localized “near me” search.
  2. Scene exploration: Allows users to scan an area and see relevant information overlaid in the context.
  3. Immersive view: A new view in Google Maps gives users a more detailed view of neighbourhoods, landmarks, restaurants, etc.
  4. Skin tone image search: A very helpful (and long overdue) way for users to filter based on skin tone. 
  5. My Ad Center: Puts more control in the hands of the user by allowing them to manage their ad privacy. 
  6. New language additions: Provides users with 24 more languages in Google Translate.
  7. Growth of Google Lens: Grow over 3x since last year and used over 8 billion times per month. 
  8. Changes to Google Assistant: Enhancements to the virtual assistant which provide more natural conversations.
  9. Personal information removal tool: Launch of a new tool where users can request the omission of their contact details from the search results.
  10. About This Result in the Google App: An overlay on websites that allows users to click to find more information about the source/website. This is similar to what we see in the SERPs on the desktop view except this is an on-page overlay on your own site.

Want to see a recap of the events? Check out this video which highlights the entire event in under 12 minutes.

 

New to Google Search Console: Video page indexing report!

Google has announced a new report called “the video page indexing report” that shows you all the video pages found while crawling your site. It can be found in the “index” section of Google Search Console. Video content has skyrocketed in popularity in the past few years and it facilitates the absorption of information for many people. With it being so common for sites nowadays, we’re excited to see if site owners find this useful for identifying and troubleshooting video issues they may have moving forward.

Google SERP Changes

Education Q&A structured data now supported by Google

Google has updated the search developer documents by including Education Q&A schema. This markup can be used on Flashcard and Single Q&A pages. On these pages, you can include Quiz structured data which then makes your content eligible to appear in Education Q&A Carousels. There are some fairly strict technical requirements for this type of markup including how Flashcard and Q&A pages are answered. A list of the technical guidelines can be found here.

SEO Tips

Don’t blame it on your MUM!

Cindy Krum recently did a presentation about Google’s MUM multi-modal search and understanding model at SEMrush Summer Jam. In case you missed the presentation, we recommend showing Cindy some love and watching the presentation!

Is Google rewriting your meta descriptions?

The odds are better than not that Google will rewrite your meta description no matter how perfectly you optimize them!

Sometimes this can be for the best, but as Kristina points out, there are also many examples where it’s not — cases where legal information is present in the SERP, or copy that doesn’t suit the page quite right, or perhaps the meta description is rewritten to something that directly answers the query in a way that is actually killing your click-through rate! 

The data-nosnippet HTML tag can come in really handy here — wrap it around the copy you don’t want to appear, and this text will not be eligible to appear in the meta description beneath your page title in the SERP.

 

Use your tools to see the evolution of SERP features!

Great thread from Aleyda!

Google organic traffic loss is not always the result of an organic ranking decline. It could be that a SERP feature change has shaken up the landscape for the query or queries in question, affecting click-through by pushing organic results further down the SERP.  It’s also possible you’re actually appearing in the SERP feature but the click-through is significantly impacted. The picture becomes even more dynamic when you consider that features may vary depending on device type.

Aleyda points out that filtering GSC data by device type, and using tools such as Semrush to monitor changes in SERP features over time, are your best bets for making heads or tails of a situation where you notice a loss in clicks and click-through rate but no drop in ranking position. We would also recommend referencing Brodie Clark’s archive of SERP feature changes to pinpoint specific dates of known updates by Google.

 

Tips on how to earn links!

We all know that links are super important when it comes to SEO. The real question is how do you keep earning these high-quality links? There isn’t just one approach. In fact, according to this article by Amanda Millligan on Moz, you may want to consider employing or “stacking” several.

  • Passive link earning: These are links that your content naturally picks up over time without the need for heavy promotion. Essentially, they carry their own weight. 
  • Targeted link earning: These are links that are acquired by doing tailored outreach to other publications in order to get a link back to your own content. For instance, if you created a great piece of content and wanted to elevate it by having others link to it. 
  • Site authority link earning: These are links which you can achieve by being perceived as an authoritative source. The more authoritative you are, the more people will link to you which in turn can elevate your content.
  • Niche link earning: These links are similar to the above but earn links within a specific niche with greater relevance. After all, earning a link is great but, earning a link relevant to your niche is much more valuable.

According to Amanda, these are all viable strategies but, if you want a well-rounded program, you may consider all of them. Read the article on Moz for more insights!

 

Tips on responding to HARO requests

We often recommend HARO as a means for clients to acquire natural links. If you’re unfamiliar with HARO, it’s a free service (although there is a paid-for version available as well) that you can use where journalists seek out a source (i.e. you) and you could get a link back for your expertise.

Be sure to check out the thread by Daniel first before taking the plunge. We agree with every one of these points!

Other Interesting News

Bing getting rid of anonymous sitemaps submission

Some spring cleaning has recently happened for Microsoft’s Bing as the search engine removed the option of anonymously submitting sitemaps on May 13th. According to Bing, the cause for this comes after finding that the feature has been severely abused by spammers. 

For more information, check out Bing’s announcement. 

 

Structured data now on all public Vimeo videos

One might say Vimeo is the Bing of streaming platforms, but that doesn’t mean they should be forgotten about! They’re stepping up their game by adding structured data to all public videos to improve search visibility. Apparently, there’s nothing specific you need to reap the benefits from this change but they gave tips nonetheless to help:

  • Add chapters to your videos
  • Choose your titles wisely 
  • Research the best keywords

Local SEO - Google Announcements

Google multi-search to gain near me support

We mentioned it in our Google Announcements section but we’re giving it its own summary given it has local intent. Google multi-search, which allows users to search by image and text at the same time, is currently live as a beta in the US (English only at the moment). Later this year though, Google says that they will expand this feature and allow search by image for matches of places, stores or restaurants near you. 

For anyone keen on what this will look like, Barry’s post (linked above) has some excellent visuals. And for anyone thinking about the relationship with AI, Google has said that multi-search does not currently use MUM, but is hopeful in thinking that it could be enhanced by it at some point in the future. 

Recommended Reading

Can you have links in FAQ Page schema? – Daniel K Chung
https://www.danielkcheung.com.au/links-in-faq-schema/
April 18, 2022

It is no secret that FAQ-rich results can, potentially, give your pages more value on SERPs and increase CTRs. In order to even better leverage your odds, Daniel Chung recommends adding links to your FAQ schema. 

 

Entity-Oriented SEO: How Entity Linking Can Boost Your Performance – Emilia Gjorgjevska
https://wordlift.io/blog/en/entity-based-seo/
May 6, 2022

A recent blog post from Wordlift.io covers how entity linking can help with site performance. We suggest giving the entire piece a read.

 

Entities and E-A-T: The role of entities in authority and trust – Olaf Kopp
https://searchengineland.com/entities-eat-authority-trust-385156
May 13, 2022

In case you missed it last week, we had Olaf on #LearnSEO and podcast as our special guest. As promised, here is the wonderful article he wrote for Search Engine Land, all about entities and E-A-T.

Jobs

https://twitter.com/YorkshireBorn/status/1526286083595673605

 

Want More?

Premium members also get the following:

It’s well worth the $18 per month!

The following topics are covered in the premium version of this episode:

  • Don’t blame it on your MUM!
  • What’s new with Core Web Vitals?
  • New image ranking signal from Google
  • Does Google Analytics 4 have a landing page report?
  • Is cross-linking language/country versions okay?
  • New Google Search Console search appearance filter
  • Lost impressions in Google Search Console?
  • Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO articles
You’ll also have access to all past episodes, including this one.
I

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