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In this episode, we discuss actionable advice from Google on improving your site, how to fix broken links, great SEO resources and tools, a decline in featured snippets in the SERPs, and a ton more!

There is no podcast episode this week

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It’s well worth the $18 per month.

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

• Featured snippets appear to have declined in SERP presence
• An analysis of keyword-based SEO vs. entity-based SEO (thread)
• Improving your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) score with one simple style change
• Google’s guidance on providing users with better product information
• Will a mixed content warning cause your site to be dropped from Search?
• Internal linking gives Google a sense of page level importance
• It’s okay to have pages returning 404 errors (plus, when it becomes problematic)
• The latest Google Analytics has swapped out Bounce Rate for this
• GMB has added this as a category
• Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO articles

⎋ SUBSCRIBE NOW

This week, Search Engine Roundtable reported on a possible ranking update. Seems like there was some chatter on forums around a possible update, as well as minor fluctuations in the various tracking tools, but overall, it doesn’t seem like anything significant occurred. Here at MHC, we haven’t seen much change amongst our clients. 

Marie is taking some well earned time off this week, but next week you can expect to hear more from her on any potential algorithm updates that occurred while she was away — so be on the lookout for that.

Reminder that there is no podcast episode this week

Quick reminder that Marie is on vacation this week so there will be no podcast episode. Catch you up on all things SEO (and Fortnite) next week! If you’re behind on the episodes, listen to them all here.

Following scroll-to-text, soon we’ll be seeing scroll-to-image and scroll-to-video

Chrome Developers has announced that the text fragments team has a new project in the works that allows users to navigate to images, videos, and perhaps other elements with ease. For anyone who has been enjoying the scroll-to-text fragments in recent months, this’ll be a welcomed addition.

📢 The team that brought you text fragments 📄 links [`#:~:text=cool` → https://t.co/45sxrOuzpg] is working on extending the format to images 🖼 and videos 🎬 [`#:~:selector(type=CssSelector,value=img[src="cool.png"])` → https://t.co/tR7l62Djvu]. Feedback via Issue or @tomayac. pic.twitter.com/ivNxItztRB

— Chrome Developers (@ChromiumDev) March 1, 2021

Longer title tags have some benefit says Gary Illyes

This shouldn’t be a shock as Google has mentioned before that site owners should write for precise targeting rather than length. 

Google: Having title tags that are longer than what is visible in the search results do have an SEO benefit https://t.co/LMtoulQ34E pic.twitter.com/yGMH3lzhCz

— Barry Schwartz (@rustybrick) February 24, 2021

A series of resources for learning SEO

If you are new to SEO, or if you are just looking for ways to extend your SEO knowledge, this thread by Reji Yates has plenty of good resources!

A lot of people have reached out to me via DM, asking how to get involved in SEO as they want to know more and what resources I used to learn.

Disclaimer: I don’t consider myself an expert in SEO, I’ve been in the industry for almost 3 years and still learning.

THREAD 🚨

— #SummerSalt #Confusement #Windfree (@RejiYates) March 2, 2021

When the page experience update rolls out, it won’t be a massive change overnight

Danny Sullivan says it’s not like Google is flipping a switch. It’s a rollout and should be similar to when other items like mobile friendliness began rolling out. 

I said it shouldn't be the case that overnight, we flip some type of switch and there's a massive change. That's not typically how rollouts of this nature (such as speed, mobile-friendly) have worked. And also that things tend to be relative…

— Danny Sullivan (@dannysullivan) February 24, 2021

Finally we have something to report for the local algo! BrightLocal’s RankFlux tool has indicated an increase in the average on the 24th and 25th of February. 

Joy reported on the changes here, but got no confirmation from Google’s Danny Sullivan on if this was a local algorithm update. This was not industry specific and appears to be back to normal now. 

Seeing some pretty large shifts in local rankings in the last 48 hours. Add to the discussion here: https://t.co/zzLzkiTZzI pic.twitter.com/RsGb50zpaQ

— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) February 26, 2021

Aleyda’s SEO resource guide has been updated to include free SEO tools

Last week we shared Aleyda’s awesome SEO resource that includes learning on all of the major topics of SEO. Well, she has now included some tools to it! There are 83 free tools included that cover topics such as keyword research, link building, mobile SEO, structured data, web speed and more! 

..the Free SEO Tools have been added both to the Website within a new tab as well as in the Google Sheets in case you want to copy/paste.

Why adding free SEO Tools? When you start learning SEO and developing your first processes you have little/no budget, I hope this helps 🙌..

— Aleyda Solis 👩🏻‍💻 (@aleyda) February 27, 2021

The Ultimate Guide to Broken Links – Wayne Barker
https://sitebulb.com/resources/guides/the-ultimate-guide-to-broken-links/
February 17, 2021

This is a comprehensive guide on why fixing broken links — internal & external — is important, and how to go about broken link repair using all of the most popular industry tools.

The Strategic Value of Structured Data Implementation on SME Websites – Crystal Carter
https://moz.com/blog/strategic-structured-data-sme-websites
February 23, 2021

A lot of the SERP changes made by Google in the past few years have been driven by structured data. At MHC, we have long advocated for clients small and large to include as much structured data as appropriate for their sites. This is a great guide from Crystal Carter covering specifically what opportunities there are for SMEs in this area.

Making Cold Emails HOT Again: Segmenting & Theming in Link-Building Outreach – Bibi Raven
https://www.searchenginejournal.com/segmenting-theming-in-link-building-outreach/396968/
February 26, 2021

Bibi Raven discusses how to separate your pitch from the flood of link building and outreach emails that bloat people’s inboxes. Great tips inside! 

5 Things You Might Want to Know About Google My Business Cover Photos – Claire Carlile
http://localu.org/5-things-you-might-want-to-know-about-google-my-business-cover-photos/
February 23, 2021

Google My Business cover photos say more than you may think! This is a great resource from Claire Carlile on what you may want to note when looking at your cover photos.  Stay on top of your cover photos to avoid photos that are user generated or selected by Google.

Google Posts: Conversion Factor — Not Ranking Factor – Greg Gifford
https://moz.com/blog/google-posts
February 26, 2021

This is an excellent read by Greg Gifford on how to use Google Posts to increase local business conversions. Greg refers to Google posts as “free advertising” and if used correctly, they are incredibly effective. Google Posts are still largely ignored by businesses to date so if you’re not creating them yet, start!

Job Opportunity! 🔥 I'm looking for a PM to join the @Bing search ranking team, arguably the leading applied ML team @Microsoft (says me 😄). It's a nice mid-level, hybrid Product/TPM position, perfect for someone with a couple of years of experience and lots of headroom to grow.

— Frédéric Dubut (@CoperniX) February 23, 2021

We are looking for 2 Digital Marketing Apprentices to join the Superdry team 🎉 you will study towards a digital marketing qualification and work in a range of teams from SEO to email marketing. Please share with anyone who might be interested! 🖤🧡 https://t.co/GJCD5YP2yx

— Faye Watt (@FayeWatt) February 24, 2021

Okay @digitalquokka and I are just swamped. We're looking for an SEO Account Manager to help us manage our workload and dive into the nitty-gritty with us (@snippet_digital). Fully remote, 37k/year + Macbook pro ++ Full details here. https://t.co/RcUVydG7ur pic.twitter.com/VlcpM6k51G

— Suganthan Mohanadasan (@Suganthanmn) February 24, 2021

Come work with me at @wearefine! Superb #SEOJob opportunity: inclusive culture, nice people, stimulating client projects, healthy work-life balance, and generous pay / benefits: https://t.co/VnPG260H6B

— Sarah L Mackenzie (@mirabilemac) March 1, 2021

#seojob Associate Technical SEO (UK Based) https://t.co/PXXkVmH762 a través de @remotersnet

— Rafa Labrador (@RafaelCLabrador) March 1, 2021

Come work with me at @AgentSync_io! I'm hiring for a Content Specialist with knowledge of the #insurance space (specifically licensing/compliance). Feel fee to DM me with questions! #SEO #SEOJOB #ContentMarketing

Apply here: https://t.co/aqlLrg5Yi2

— Niki Mosier (@nikers85) February 20, 2021

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:

• Featured snippets appear to have declined in SERP presence
• An analysis of keyword-based SEO vs. entity-based SEO (thread)
• Improving your Cumulative Layout Shift (CLS) score with one simple style change
• Google’s guidance on providing users with better product information
• Will a mixed content warning cause your site to be dropped from Search?
• Internal linking gives Google a sense of page level importance
• It’s okay to have pages returning 404 errors (plus, when it becomes problematic)
• The latest Google Analytics has swapped out Bounce Rate for this
• GMB has added this as a category
• Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO articles

⎋ SUBSCRIBE NOW

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