Table of Contents
  1. Intro
  2. SYNCU Podcast
  3. Not a premium subscriber? You're missing out!
  4. Algorithm Updates
  5. MHC Announcements
  6. Ahrefs Tip of the Week
  7. Google Announcements
  8. Other Interesting News
  9. Local SEO
  10. SEO Tools
  11. Recommended Reading
  12. Jobs
  13. Want More?
Login

Ep. 163 - Dec. 16, 2020 - Light Version

Looking for the premium members version? Log in here

In this episode, we discuss Marie’s analysis of the December core update, the future of the Structured Data Testing tool, completing a Core Web Vital analysis, a reminder on page quality and indexation, plus some great recommended readings!

SYNCU Podcast

Marie’s Podcast for this episode

If you would like to subscribe, you can find the podcasts here:
Apple Podcasts | Spotify | Google Play | Soundcloud

Ask Marie an SEO Question

Have a question that you want to ask Marie? You can ask them on our Q&A with Marie Haynes Consulting page and Marie will answer some of the best questions each week in podcast!

Not a premium subscriber? You're missing out!

It’s well worth the $18 per month.

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

  • Full analysis of the December core update
  • More API updates coming your way
  • How to conduct and prioritize actions for a speed and Core Web Vital analysis
  • John Mueller clarifies how Google measures Core Web Vitals
  • Reminder about page quality and indexation
  • 400 unsolicited SEO tips (yes, you read that right!)
  • Is it normal for Google to indicate that they can fetch some sitemaps but not others when you’ve reduced the number of URLs per sitemap?
  • Does ‘Discovered – currently not indexed’ speak more about technical or quality issues?
  • Missed the Chrome Dev Summit? Check out the topics and videos here
  • Writing for a local audience? Check this out!
  • How to tackle SEO for businesses without a physical address
  • BrightLocal’s 2020 local consumer review survey is here
  • Handy Chrome extension to uncover the most important SEO data
  • Useful tool that changes query based on slash directives
  • Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO and Local SEO articles
You’ll also have access to all past episodes, including this one.
I

Algorithm Updates

The latest on the December core update

As of the day we published this article, The December core update has officially finished rolling out. While the update started on December 3, 2020, many sites saw further changes (either increases or decreases) on December 10. 

At MHC we are continuing our analysis of this update. If you become a premium subscriber, in this section of the newsletter, you’ll read the following:

  • What patterns in traffic drops/increases are we seeing at MHC?
  • Which types of sites have been affected, and why this matters.
  • Insight into how this update affected sites vs pages vs keywords as this likely has changed as compared to other significant updates!
  • Some information about new innovations Google is using to better understand language and how this can help us understand why certain pages are being preferred by Google now
  • Very early advice on what will need to be done in order to recover

MHC Announcements

Our office will be closed over the holidays! 

We will be closed as of December 24th and back on January 4th for a short break over the holidays. Please note that we will respond to all queries through email and social once we’re back. Thanks for your understanding. Happy holidays!

Ahrefs Tip of the Week

We’ve been using Ahrefs Organic Keywords tool and it is incredibly helpful (Sponsored, but good for everyone)

In our premium section of our newsletter this week, we dug into our observations on how the December core update appears to have had a different impact on affecting keyword rankings as we have seen with other updates. If you were negatively impacted by the December core update, we would encourage you to determine which keywords declined for each of your important pages. You can then work on improving your content so that it is more relevant to someone searching for that keyword.

We briefly analyzed a site that was discussed on Twitter as one that suffered massive losses with the December core update.

While you can find this information in GSC, if you are an Ahrefs subscriber it is so easy to see which keywords improved or declined after an update.

ahrefs organic keywords tool

The changes in keyword rankings for this particular page demonstrate how frustrating it is to analyze this update. The page improved in rankings for “cheap led strip lights”, but declined for “affordable led lights”.

You can then click on any of the keywords and see which websites held which top positions for the last 6 to 24 months.

keywords holding top positions

What we recommend doing is thoroughly analyzing the pages that Google elevated in rankings at the same time yours dropped. If you can determine why this page does a better job of meeting a searcher’s intent, this can help you understand where your page could be improved upon. 

Google Announcements

Google speaks about the future of the Structured Data Testing Tool

Following a fair amount of blowback from the SEO community following the announcement that the structured data testing tool would be deprecated now that the Rich Results Test is out of beta, Google has announced that it will be retaining the tool on a separate domain in April 2021. 

We are very happy to hear this. While the Rich Results Test is helpful for a few things, including having a slightly better UI, the Structured Data Testing Tool provides a lot more information to SEOs and webmasters. 

Other Interesting News

Early issues related to the WordPress 5.6 release

Some people have reported various issues with the 5.6 release. So far this thread includes problems with Gravity Form and the classic editor. This Reddit thread has some advice from users experiencing issues if you have updated and are encountering problems. 

 

You have to hear this amazing story from a freelancer

This is a great thread if you are a freelancer and in need of some inspiration. Don’t doubt yourself, you’ve got this! 

Local SEO

It’s all green this week on BrightLocal’s flux tool! It appears that any fluctuations that were brought on by seasonality have now died down and there is very little turbulence.

local flux dec. 16

SEO Tools

A sponsored message from Sitebulb

Sitebulb isn’t just a web crawler – it’s a website auditing tool that carries out comprehensive SEO analysis, giving you the tools to understand the most significant issues and communicate prioritized recommendations to your clients.

You get all this with no credits to worry about or limits on crawls, websites or projects. Audit any website you want, whenever you want, however you want.

If you’d like to give Sitebulb a try for free, you can get a special, extended trial licence with ‘Search News You Can Use’. Just go to: Sitebulb.com/SearchNews

 

Track down SEO references (good for agencies and consultants)

Cool resource here if you’re looking for something SEO related! It’s a site that hosts SEO-related tweets with the goal of finding information that Googlers and SEOs have said. It appears to still be in its early stages, but if this builds out, it could be great. 

Recommended Reading

The Correlation Between Authoritative Links and Ranking [SEO Study] – Eric Enge
https://moz.com/blog/authoritative-links-and-ranking
December 9, 2020

Moz’s new study done by Eric Enge confirms a theory that the SEO community has believed for a long time. By using data from Moz’s Link Explorer, this study was able to not only show that links matter as a ranking factor, but that Google is getting much better at paying attention to the source of these links. For a breakdown of their methodology, check Eric’s article!

 

The 2020 Web Almanac – HTTP Archive
https://almanac.httparchive.org/en/2020/
December 9, 2020

This annual state of the web from HTTP Archive is a massive chunk of reading, but if you have time for it, there are some really interesting tidbits.

 

11-20 Principle to Boost Your Rankings – Trevor Stolber
https://stolber.com/11-20-principle
February 25, 2020

This is a really helpful article from Trevor Stolber in which he discusses tactics for getting pages that are already ranking on page 2 over that last hurdle to rank on the first page of the SERPs. 

 

10 Important 2021 SEO Trends You Need to Know – Danny Goodwin
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/10-important-2021-seo-trends-you-need-to-know/389395/
December 8, 2020

Danny Goodwin has compiled a list of 2021 SEO trends to keep an eye out for as the new year rolls around. Be sure to check them out as the new year is quickly approaching! 

 

The expansion of People Also Ask in the search results – Jason Barnard
https://searchengineland.com/the-expansion-of-people-also-ask-in-the-search-results-344644
December 14, 2020

With a recent increase of PAA boxes appearing in the SERPs as well as in knowledge panels, it’s never been more important to make PAAs a high-focused area within your digital strategy. This article will teach you how to regain control over your PAAs. Why pass up the opportunity?

Jobs

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:

  • Full analysis of the December core update
  • More API updates coming your way
  • How to conduct and prioritize actions for a speed and Core Web Vital analysis
  • John Mueller clarifies how Google measures Core Web Vitals
  • Reminder about page quality and indexation
  • 400 unsolicited SEO tips (yes, you read that right!)
  • Is it normal for Google to indicate that they can fetch some sitemaps but not others when you’ve reduced the number of URLs per sitemap?
  • Does ‘Discovered – currently not indexed’ speak more about technical or quality issues?
  • Missed the Chrome Dev Summit? Check out the topics and videos here
  • Writing for a local audience? Check this out!
  • How to tackle SEO for businesses without a physical address
  • BrightLocal’s 2020 local consumer review survey is here
  • Handy Chrome extension to uncover the most important SEO data
  • Useful tool that changes query based on slash directives
  • Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO and Local SEO articles
You’ll also have access to all past episodes, including this one.
I

Note: If you are seeing the light version and you are a premium member, be sure to log in (in the sidebar on desktop or below the post on mobile) and read the full article here.

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.

Marie’s newsletter is a game changer because it manages to cut through the fluff and deliver high-quality information that is not only really important for those that do SEO, but it is presented in a format that is really easy to absorb.

If you are looking for a trusted information related to search that is highly actionable I would strongly recommend Marie’s newsletter.

– Paul Macnamara – Offers SEO Consulting at PaulMacnamara.com

Premium Members Login

Lost your Password?

Register for Search News You Can Use

Personal Information

Invalid Coupon Code

Card Details

USD 18.00 Every Month

Register for Search News You Can Use

Personal Information

Invalid Coupon Code

Card Details

USD 18.00 Every Month