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Episode 84 - May 22, 2019 - Light Version

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In this episode, we will cover the new changes to the Quality Raters Guidelines, more Google bugs (this time affecting Google News indexing as well as an update on the cache bug), the latest on the new Googlebot, how to properly use the Inspect URL tool, and much more.

Marie’s Podcast for this episode

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In this episode:

Paid members also get the following:

  • From Google Marketing Live, there were a number of new announcements regarding new ad products
  • Google Express becomes all-new Google Shopping
  • Set your tracking standards to a level that your future self will thank you for
  • A tip on how to use Google Analytics to look into your "dark traffic"
  • The true definition of long-tail keywords
  • Should you use HowTo schema or Recipe schema?
  • Google talks indexing images found on a page using a noindex tag
  • Trying to manage thin or low quality content? Which to choose, noindex or 404?
  • John Mueller discusses content hidden behind tabs on mobile-first sites
  • Bill Slawski spots a new Google Patent
  • Lessons and challenges surrounding Knowledge Graphs of five major tech companies
  • Ad networks causing you to lose your <head>?
  • Dallas SEO specialist sued for installing digital backdoors
  • Local SEO: Joy Hawkins certified Pro-Tip
  • My tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO and Local SEO articles

Algorithm Updates

May 14, 2019

We had several clients that saw slight changes in traffic patterns on or around May 14, 2019. Several of these actually saw small drops, while some saw small increases.

At this point we do not think that May 14 is a significant update. It may have been a slight tweak to how Google assesses quality.

We’ll keep you updated if we see more significant movement around this time with future checks.

Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines have updated

We were excited to see that Google has updated the latest Quality Raters’ Guidelines. We have written a thorough article on all of the changes to the QRG that we felt were significant. Here are the most important points:

  • There is new wording on interstitials. Could this mean a tougher interstitial penalty is coming?
  • A lot of the wording has been changed from E-A-T to “Page Quality”

If you are a podcast listener, Marie will be discussing her thoughts on these in this week’s episode.

Google Announcements

Possible Google indexing bug for news content

A few major news sites have noticed this morning (May 22nd) that content from their sites are not surfacing in Google search. This issue comes up when you filter the results down to the past hour, otherwise the content surfaces just fine. SEL reached out to Google for statement, and Google did indeed confirm there is an issue. Shortly thereafter, Barry Schwartz mentioned that he was beginning to see signs of the problem being fixed. Keep your eyes peeled as we imagine this issue will be fixed before the end of the day.

Google is working on the cache bug

In case you've noticed, Google's cache date for a lot of people is about a month old (you can read more here). Danny Sullivan has said that Google is working on fixing it, and that this doesn't have any impact on indexing.

https://twitter.com/dannysullivan/status/1128354507744739328

Referral source URLs for Google Images are no more

SEO Tips

John Mueller provides clarification on new Googlebot

Although Googlebot will "read" the whole page, it doesn't trigger JavaScript scroll events, meaning that content (events) which only loads (or fires) when a user scrolls, won't be seen by Googlebot. As well, GSC's Fetch & Render Tool is entirely separate from Googlebot, which is why you sometimes don't see the whole page.

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1128375878000443394

The URL Inspection Tool in GSC will show a 410 server status code as a 404

According to John Mueller, it's not a bug, but rather a simplification.

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1130168859917508608

John Mueller reminds us of the proper use of the URL inspection tool

Following up with more image talk, John says the the URL Inspection Tool is only for webpages, not images. If you try to inspect just an image, it will show as "Failed: blocked by robots.txt", even if it's not blocked.

https://twitter.com/JohnMu/status/1129304751160610816

Wondering if a crawler is BingBot? Check it out using Bing's verification tool

https://twitter.com/CoperniX/status/1126857443001036800

If you use Moz Keyword Explorer, you may like this new feature

Other Interesting News

Microsoft allows access to their search algo’s

Microsoft has made one of their search algorithms available to everyone as an open source project on GitHub. This algorithm is called Space Partition Tree And Graph (SPTAG), and uses AI and deep learning models to search through billions of pieces of data to quickly find specific pieces of information. The Bing team is expecting that by opening this algorithm up for the public to use, there will be applications for enterprise businesses, researchers and academics, as well as consumer-facing applications such as better understandings of audio snippets, or faster response times for image-heavy queries. TechCrunch’s article does a nice job of explaining how this algorithm works if you’re eager to learn more.

The latest on the new Googlebot

In case you're not tired of hearing about the new evergreen Googlebot yet, here's a bit more we've learned about it. Someone caught Googlebot testing features that will be part of Chrome 75, but that aren't available right now in the current Chrome 74 version. Martin Splitt commented in response to this find that this should be something we will see a lot of, as it is part of how Googlebot will continue to stay evergreen.

 

Martin Splitt is still collecting topic ideas for his next video series

If you haven’t been following the SEO JavaScript series, we’d recommend that you catch up on his past episodes. Martin does a fantastic job at breaking things down and making these lessons digestible. Otherwise, you can submit your ideas below:

You can catch the first full length video right here:

Autocomplete not working in Chrome?

Local SEO - Google SERP Changes

Looks like Google is testing out changing "Posts" to "Updates" in the GMB Knowledge Panel on mobile

Local SEO - Tips

GMB Insights doesn't include data from voice searches

Local SEO - Other Interesting News

You can now find Joy Hawkins’ Expert Guide to Local SEO online

https://twitter.com/JoyanneHawkins/status/1130815913933058050

SEO Tools

All-in-one GMB management tool

Manage your listing(s) with ease. There are a number of key features here but the ones which caught our eye include the ability to auto-create GMB posts whenever a 5-star review is posted, auto-respond to Google reviews, and track Questions and Answers. You can read more about here it in this post in the Local Search Forums, and it looks like if you have any questions about it, there are people in the thread who can answer. This tool is backed by Sterling Sky who says they’ve been using this tool for a while to schedule Google Posts for their clients, and that this is the only tool, to their recollection, that tracks rankings on Apple Maps.

Recommended Reading

You’re Doomed Without Links [2019 Case Study] – David Farkas
https://theupperranks.com/blog/link-case-study
May 14, 2019

In this article, Farkas discusses the correlation between links and ranking throughout Google history.

 

How Google Search Ranking Works – Darwinism in Search – Jason Barnard
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/how-google-search-ranking-works/307591/
May 19, 2019

This was a fascinating article that was sparked after Gary Illyes had a conversation with a room of about 20 SEOs at SMS Sydney. We debated on whether or not to include this in the newsletter as there is a lot of theory and hypothesizing in the article. Still, we think there is a lot to be learned here.


How To Get Your Images in a Featured Snippet – James McNulty
https://www.upbuild.io/blog/featured-snippet-images
May 14, 2019

James McNulty makes an interesting point here tying in the shifts in Google image search — “visit image” has become “visit page”, and more recently, “swipe up to navigate” for AMP stories on mobile has been announced -- with the possibility that featured snippet images are going to similarly lead directly to a web page when clicked, as opposed to the image search result page as they do currently.


SEO Case Study: From 0 to 3 Million Page Views with Minimal Effort – AJ Mens
https://blogpioneer.com/seo-case-study/
May 6, 2019

3 million page views, 129 URLs, 110 blog posts, and less than 4 years to do it. AJ says he’s now generating a “pleasant near-mid 4 figure income each month [in a rather small niche] with minimal ongoing maintenance.”


Exploring Google’s New How-to Snippets In Search And On Smart Displays: SERP Treatment, Fresh GSC Data, Video Templates, Monetization, and more – Glenn Gabe
https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/google-how-to-snippets/
May 14, 2019

One of the newest major SERP features that John Mueller highlighted at Google I/O this year is “how-to” snippets. Glenn Gabe, recently put out a detailed write-up of how he believes this will affect SERPs and click-through traffic, and how we can use this feature to our advantage. 


11 Google Analytics Reports You Might Not Know About – Corey Morris
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-analytics-reports/307257/
May 15, 2019

Providing a ton of great insight into your website(s), Google Analytics is a fan favourite. With that being said are you using GA to its full potential? Corey discusses 11 reports that you may not be utilizing.


Migration, Migrations, Migraine – Site Move Fears are not Well-Founded – Juan Gonzalez
https://www.sistrix.com/blog/migration-migrations-migraine-site-move-fears-are-not-well-founded
May 16, 2019

A website migration is a daunting task to take on. It’s a systematic process and if done incorrectly could lead to major drops in rankings and cause major problems. In this article Juan goes through a step-by-step process to move millions of indexed URLS from a subdomain to a completely new domain without suffering losses.


I Wanted to Convert on Your Landing Page, But I Couldn’t. Here’s Why. – Amy Middleton Hebdon
https://unbounce.com/landing-pages/why-your-landing-page-didnt-convert/
May 15, 2019

You’ve received a click on your ad, the user has a medium-to-high level of buying intent, and you’ve done your best to follow cosmetic ‘best practices’. But, have you also considered the most important factor? Yes, you need to deliver for the user.

Recommended Reading (Local SEO)

Building Trust for Your Service Area Business – Guest Author
https://localu.org/2019/05/17/building-trust-service-area-business/
May 17, 2019

If you want to increase your trustworthiness online, this article discusses the importance of building your brand’s online trust to drive new business.


How to Interpret Google My Business (GMB) Insights – Joy Hawkins
https://www.sterlingsky.ca/interpret-google-business-gmb-insights/
May 15, 2019

GMB has recently reformatted things. Thanks to Joy, she covers everything you need to know! Learn about how customers search for your business, where customers view your business on Google, customer actions that are taken to engage with your business, and more.


How Google Treats ‘See Photos’ in the Local Knowledge Panel – A Story of 2 Parts – Claire Carlile
http://www.clairecarlilemarketing.com/blog/how-google-treats-see-photos-in-the-local-knowledge-panel/
May 14, 2019

Follow the story or share your opinion with Claire. Like many, we’re eager to learn more about this!

Jobs

Want More?

Paid members also get the following:

  • From Google Marketing Live, there were a number of new announcements regarding new ad products
  • Google Express becomes all-new Google Shopping
  • Set your tracking standards to a level that your future self will thank you for
  • A tip on how to use Google Analytics to look into your "dark traffic"
  • The true definition of long-tail keywords
  • Should you use HowTo schema or Recipe schema?
  • Google talks indexing images found on a page using a noindex tag
  • Trying to manage thin or low quality content? Which to choose, noindex or 404?
  • John Mueller discusses content hidden behind tabs on mobile-first sites
  • Bill Slawski spots a new Google Patent
  • Lessons and challenges surrounding Knowledge Graphs of five major tech companies
  • Ad networks causing you to lose your <head>?
  • Dallas SEO specialist sued for installing digital backdoors
  • Local SEO: Joy Hawkins certified Pro-Tip
  • My tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO and Local SEO articles

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Part of the challenge of SEO is staying on top of industry news, trends, and techniques There is so much information out there that it is easy to get bogged down in information overload and trying to disseminate what's truly important from all that noise can be really time-consuming and challenging.

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Paul Macnamara - Offers SEO Consulting at PaulMacnamara.com

That's it for this episode! Stay tuned for our Youtube video (my channel is here). If you want to follow me on Facebook, here is my page.

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