Table of Contents
  1. Intro
  2. SNYCU Podcast
  3. Not a premium subscriber? You're missing out!
  4. News about Google’s Algorithms
  5. MHC Announcements
  6. Google Announcements
  7. SEO Tips
  8. Local SEO
  9. Recommended Reading
  10. Jobs
  11. Want More?
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Ep. 252 - September 15, 2022 - Light Version

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We have a new core update! The September core update is live, right on the heels of the helpful content update. We’ll share what we know so far. Also, there’s a new exciting report in GSC for people selling products and great tips on getting content indexed, crawling problems, and creating great content.

SNYCU Podcast

This week I shared a bunch of things that are important to know about core updates. I’ll share how to look at analytics data to see the early impact of the September core, and much more:

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

  • We should be getting a new product reviews update soon
  • Reminder about bot traffic causing spikes in GA
  • New structured data for products
  • Fewer featured snippets in the SERPS?
  • New image rich SERP feature
  • New refinement chips for people, films, etc.
  • If SF only crawls the homepage, it could be this
  • Great keyword research tips
  • How to track AMP pages in GA4
  • Do links in profiles work?
  • Do bit.ly and other shortened links pass PageRank?
  • How well known is your brand?
  • A look at how a big brand creates excellent product review content
  • Create expert content even if you’re not an expert
  • A plan for improving content
  • Example of content written for search engines, not people
  • Thoughts on YT’s algorithm – what’s working now
  • Barry Adams rants about links
  • Should you pause advertising during the Queen’s funeral?
  • Example of SERPS adapting to freshness
  • Does a visit from the quality raters mean something?
  • You can’t pay people to remove a bad review
  • Our tl;dr summary of some awesome recent SEO articles
You’ll also have access to all past episodes, including this one.
I

News about Google’s Algorithms

The September Core update is live!

Four months after the last core update, we have a new one. I’ve seen a little bit of chatter about this update in the SEO community, but it does not seem massive to me at this point. Still, it can take a while before the full effects are seen and it is still rolling out.

The Semrush sensor spiked on September 13, the day following the rollout, but now seems down to normal levels.

The update is global:

Olaf Kopp pointed out that while the update was global, it had varying impact in different countries.

If you are impacted by this update and make improvements, you will likely need to wait until the next core update to see significant changes in rankings.

We’ve seen some nice tweets of people sharing data showing possible increases related to this update:

The latest on the helpful content update

We’re seeing more reports of sites being hit by the helpful content update.

Is the helpful content update related to ad experience?

(None of the helpful content update questions have to do with ads.)

How are the helpful content update and core update connected?

In the midst of the helpful content update rollout, Danny Sullivan told us that future updates (core and product review) might make the HCU look more impactful.

Glenn Gabe asked whether the September core update is using the HCU classifier as a signal. It sounds like it’s not exactly working like that, but rather, the weight of the HCU signal plus the weight of signals analyzed for the core update may add up to cause further damage to sites affected.

MHC Announcements

I want to thank all of you who booked a Zoom call with me to discuss your sites in the last few weeks. I thoroughly enjoyed these conversations! I’ve closed my bookings for now as I’ve booked client work that will be keeping me busy for a while. Eventually though, I’d like to do more of these. I’m considering doing some group calls where we brainstorm on improving content together. If you’re interested, please do let me know.

Recently articles I’ve written:

We updated our article on the Helpful Content update with everything we know so far. I also wrote my thoughts on why this update will cause confusion for months or years to come.

I’m currently working on a new book/course to help site owners improve content. Thank you to everyone who has purchased my QRG book!

Google Announcements

New Https report in GSC 

With this report, when Google finds a url on our site that is not able to be served over https, they’ll tell you which one it is, and why.

Big news for people selling products!

This gives us even more reason to use structured data. Doing so can get you merchant listings in the SERPS even without a Merchant Center account. Structured data can now make you eligible to appear in new SERP features such as “Popular products”.

What’s even more exciting is that there is new reporting in GSC – a Merchant listings report and a Product snippets report.

SEO Tips

Mordy made changes to content and got it indexed

Great tips here!

Word count is not what makes a page thin

Local SEO

Possible significant local update September 7, 2022

The Local Search Forum has a good discussion on this possible update. Business owners are reporting dropping out of local maps listings while organic rankings remain the same.

By the way, it’s been a while since we mentioned how awesome the Local Search Forum is. We don’t do much in terms of local SEO at MHC, so if you have questions, this is definitely the place to get them answered!

Recommended Reading

The origins of E-A-T: Page content, hyperlink analysis and usage data
https://searchengineland.com/eat-page-content-hyperlink-analysis-usage-data-387822
Mike Grehan – September 13, 2022

Mike tells us how expertise connects with page content, authority is related to hyperlink analysis and trust can come from a combination of page content and hyperlink analysis plus end-user access data.

11 Ways to Improve E-commerce Category Pages for SEO
https://ahrefs.com/blog/seo-ecommerce-category-pages/
Sam Underwood – September 5, 2022

Category pages are important for E-commerce sites! Sam recommends each category page has an H1, a section beneath with some copy, a list of products and also faceted navigation to help users filter those products.

Jobs

Looking for a new SEO job? SEOjobs.com is a job board curated by real SEOs for SEOs. Take a look at five of the hottest SEO job listing this week (below) and sign up for the weekly job listing email only available at SEOjobs.com.

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:

  • We should be getting a new product reviews update soon
  • Reminder about bot traffic causing spikes in GA
  • New structured data for products
  • Fewer featured snippets in the SERPS?
  • New image rich SERP feature
  • New refinement chips for people, films, etc.
  • If SF only crawls the homepage, it could be this
  • Great keyword research tips
  • How to track AMP pages in GA4
  • Do links in profiles work?
  • Do bit.ly and other shortened links pass PageRank?
  • How well known is your brand?
  • A look at how a big brand creates excellent product review content
  • Create expert content even if you’re not an expert
  • A plan for improving content
  • Example of content written for search engines, not people
  • Thoughts on YT’s algorithm – what’s working now
  • Barry Adams rants about links
  • Should you pause advertising during the Queen’s funeral?
  • Example of SERPS adapting to freshness
  • Does a visit from the quality raters mean something?
  • You can’t pay people to remove a bad review
  • 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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