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1. The Helpful content and Link Spam Update impact is complicated

This week I spent time discussing the most recent Google updates with some of my paid newsletter subscribers. In the paid version I’ve shared my thoughts on what I’ve seen so far. To summarize:

• We will need to be doing a lot of analysis before we can confidently talk about how these updates have behaved.
• Many who think they are hit actually have seasonal changes.
• We looked at different SERP features like Explore and new image carousels and talked about how they could be stealing clicks.

The updates finished rolling out January 12, but given the timing determining whether you were impacted is difficult.

So far I have seen several sites that have content that was hit that fail in several ways according to Google’s documentation on creating helpful content but can’t specifically say that the site was hit on a certain date. I have not yet investigated a case I think was hit by the link spam update. However, I am still working through the sites sent to me and expect to have more information on the link spam update’s impact soon.

2. If you’re having trouble getting content indexed, it could be related to content quality

It’s worth reading this Mastodon post in which John Mueller is asked about pages stuck in Discovered or Crawled not indexed. Discussed more below.

3. Google may be giving us more info in GSC to assess traffic drops and more

When I went to GSC I got a popup where Google asked me if I could spend 12 minutes doing a survey. It looks like they’re working on improving GSC. It sounds like Google is considering adding in some more tools for assessing traffic drops and also for helping with content creation. This is exciting!

Covered in the paid version of newsletter

Oh boy I wrote a lot of thoughts this week:

• Screenshots of analytics and my thoughts on assessing potential HCU and LSU hits
• Some thoughts on how Google determines relevancy
• Are we due for a core update?
• Olaf did some tests – Can you rank with AI  content?
• Danny Sullivan answers a question about paid links
• Tips for improving E-E-A-T, Merchant Listings, 404 pages, Core Web Vitals
• John Mueller says links are mostly for discovering new websites
• GA4 tips
• New interesting SERP features spotted
• The latest AI news – Google’s Sparrow (a ChatGPT competitor) is coming soon
• How I got good use from ChatGPT recently in brainstorming and ideation
• A Google news manual action case
• More on those AI written articles on BankRate and CNET

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Google is asking for more information when you leave a review

pic.twitter.com/qLuic4w1W9

— Shameem Adhikarath (@shemiadhikarath) November 15, 2022

I personally think Google wants to know as much as they can about a business so as to prepare for when people search with AI chat. I picture searches looking like this:

Show me restaurants near me where I can get a healthy vegetarian meal for under $15.

Sure, here are 5 restaurants near you that look good…

Are any known for spicy food?

Oh yeah, The Spicy Goat has a bunch of reviews where people are commenting on how spicy the food is. 

What do you recommend?

Given you have enjoyed cauliflower wings in the past, you could try theirs…they are on the menu at $14. Or, others have recommended the spicy veggie chili. Want to hear more about that?

The wings sound good. Order me those.

OK great! I’ve put in your order for spicy cauliflower and deducted it from your Google Pay account. You should have your delicious food delivered within the hour. Enjoy!

Here is an interesting and related thread. Dixon Jones asks whether AI chat like this is the future of SEO. I feel like most people have a hard time grasping what Dixon and I are seeing.

The future of SEO? pic.twitter.com/O7eoQNAFJk

— Dixon Jones (@Dixon_Jones) January 12, 2023

In the future…and likely not too distant future, like this year I’d say, the key to being found via AI search will be to solidify your presence in the knowledge graph and have loads of good reputation information online. This really isn’t that different than what I’ve preached for years – it’s all about E-E-A-T. The businesses that will be shown as answers in AI chat are the ones who are known for being the best at what they do.

There is a bug causing problems with uploading images to GBP

If you're finding an error when uploading images to your GBP, you're not alone—it's a bug! 🐛 https://t.co/EkqoKFSoGd

— BrightLocal 🇺🇦 (@brightlocal) January 17, 2023

More on Darren Shaw’s freshness calculator

Since my Freshness Distance Calculator was received so well last week, I decided to make a short video about it, too.

In it, I explain freshness distance in more detail, provide examples and demonstrate how the spreadsheet works in action. Take a look ⬇️#localseo #seo pic.twitter.com/JrUZhHtt9x

— Darren Shaw (@DarrenShaw_) January 17, 2023

"Freshness distance" tells you how often to update your content. It's the distance between the newest & oldest pages ranking in the search results.

I made a Google Sheet to calculate this automatically.

Like and reply and I'll send it over.

h/t @RossHudgens #localseo #seo pic.twitter.com/JwBgk7GoUx

— Darren Shaw (@DarrenShaw_) January 12, 2023

Google may ask you to verify a business via video

That's a point that makes it (almost) impossible for anyone but clients to verify a listing. But it also dissuades spammers to set up new listings. While frustrating, there is a valid reason for it to be done that way.

— Amy Toman ❄️🎄❄️ (@BubblesUp) January 16, 2023

No more post insights

PSA: Post insights are history

GBP api deprecation schedule should be all the proof you need to realize that Post Insights are gone. As api goes so goes SMB interface. First photos, now Posts. https://t.co/J78YuznJ3o

— Mike Blumenthal (@mblumenthal) January 14, 2023

Tips for improving local service pages

How To Make Local Service Pages More Helpful (and less mundane) via @ownyourserp https://t.co/tqMD4kCN9Y

— Joy Hawkins (@JoyanneHawkins) January 16, 2023

How to get a place label on Google Maps

🏷 How to get a Place Label on Google Maps

🗺 Google only populates place labels for some businesses because there simply isn’t room for them all. Joy explains how you can increase your chances of getting a Place Label on Google Maps.https://t.co/Oo8A1RpqyM pic.twitter.com/5zN5XZUDAc

— Sterling Sky Inc (@SterlingSkyInc) January 13, 2023

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.

• SEO & Content Strategist ~ Stratabeat ~ $65k-$85k ~ Remote
• SEO Lead ~ Shopify ~ Remote (USA/Canada)
• Senior SEO Manager ~ Elastic ~ $128k-$176k ~ Remote
• Head of SEO ~ Policygenius ~ $160K-$240K ~ Remote
• SEO Manager ~ Blue Apron ~ $100-135K ~ New York

Do you do YouTube audits?

I had someone reach out to me asking for someone who was familiar with YouTube’s algorithm and could do a YT audit. If this is something that you offer, please do reach out to me. 

Covered in the paid version of newsletter

Oh boy I wrote a lot of thoughts this week:

• Screenshots of analytics and my thoughts on assessing potential HCU and LSU hits
• Some thoughts on how Google determines relevancy
• Are we due for a core update?
• Olaf did some tests – Can you rank with AI  content?
• Danny Sullivan answers a question about paid links
• Tips for improving E-E-A-T, Merchant Listings, 404 pages, Core Web Vitals
• John Mueller says links are mostly for discovering new websites
• GA4 tips
• New interesting SERP features spotted
• The latest AI news – Google’s Sparrow (a ChatGPT competitor) is coming soon
• How I got good use from ChatGPT recently in brainstorming and ideation
• A Google news manual action case
• More on those sAI written articles on BankRate and CNET

Become a paid member for $18 per month

Wowzers this was another big issue! It’s so exciting seeing all that is happening in our field. Hope you have a great week!

Marie