This has been a big week for Google news along with an interesting roundup of SEO podcasts to help you keep up with this ever-changing industry, a major algorithm update rolling out, tips from Google on what type of content ranks and a whole lot more.
Join Beanstalk’s CEO at Rocks Digital Marketing Conference
Beanstalk CEO Dave Davies will be presenting on machine learning in this post-RankBrain era at Rocks Digital Marketing Conference 2018. Tickets to this June 29 and 30 event in Richardson, Texas, are now available.
The Importance of Google’s New Patent to SEO
Google was awarded US patent 20180046717A1 covering its process of choosing what it shows to viewers when they enter a search term. While link building techniques should definitely not be abandoned, this patent suggests that marketers may be able to push rankings forward through entity associations, according to Dave Davies in-depth article on the subject.
Google: Not All Content is Relevant to All Locations
In what may seem like an obvious statement, Google’s Senior Webmaster Senior Trend Analyst John Mueller tweeted that not all content is relevant to all locations around the globe. He points out that just because your website ranks well in one location, but not another, does not mean that there is anything wrong with your website.
Google Loses ‘Right to be Forgotten’ Case in UK High Court
Part of the European’s push for privacy, the United Kingdom’s High Court lost a right-to-be-forgotten case against a business executive with a decade-old conviction on his record. Another court ruled the opposite way on a different case, so look for this debate to continue in Europe and around the globe.
PSA: Add Google Search Console To Your Google Shortcut Menu
While it is not a new feature, many webmasters miss the ability to add a search engine counsel right to their web pages. Depending on where you live in the world, it may be called search counsel or search engine counsel, but you can find it under webmaster tools after you click on the nine circles at the top of Google’s home screen.
Google Generally Prefers One Stronger Page Versus Many Smaller Pages
In the Google Webmaster Hangout on April 13, 2018, John Mueller reiterated that Google generally prefers one strong page that is longer than several shorter pages. Mueller explained that the longer page can be targeted at many different people while the smaller page tends to get watered down where people have trouble finding content that applies to them.
Google Offers Advice on Recovering From a Penalty
Marketers who have been hit by a Google penalty will want to follow the advice of John Mueller before filing a reconsideration request. He points out that most requests fail because not all issues are fixed, so he recommends marketers discreetly ask for help in a group like WebmasterWorld.
Google Algorithm & Ranking Update Kicking Off?
Many webmasters who participate in WebmasterWorld suggesting that Google may be updating their algorithm. Some sites love the new update while others are dismayed at the results.
Google Exploit: Canonical Negative SEO
Bill Hartzer discovered a new type of negative SEO attack that works by copying the entire head section including the canonical tag into a spam website causing Google to believe that the bad website belongs to the original company who may have no idea they are under attack. Google, Bing and other search engines may have to start ignoring the canonical tag if this threat is real.
Google Local Algorithms Uses a 2:1 Clustering Algorithm For Maps
RankRanger’s Mordy Oberstein has identified a pattern in Google’s Local Pack that may be great if you are a local resident searching for a place to eat or other local services. Oberstein argues that Local Pack may not be the best choice for visitors wanting to get an overview of an entire area.
Google Maps is Now Using Fast Food Locations as Reference Points
Google has confirmed to Engadget that they have updated Google Maps to give directions using fast-food restaurants as landmarks. Some theorize that it is easier to spot a fast-food sign when driving in a city while others think there may be an advertising attempt in the upcoming months.
Google Tests Showing From The Businesses Section Higher
Google may be running tests to see if users engage more with pages where the business description section is listed higher in the Google local panel. For now, some users may see these descriptions moved up, moved down or absent altogether.
5 Bing Ads Releases You Don’t Want to Miss
Campaigns on BingAds can now be up and running smoothly thanks to some great releases. Learn the details in this informative post including why marketers need to be using dynamic search ads, performing in-audience tracking and utilizing local inventory ads along with learning why you need to be a fan of Bing Ads Fans and changes to this platform’s conversion tracking.
Google Chrome to Prevent Videos With Sound From Autoplaying
Users of Chrome will now have to start most videos with sound before they will play. There are exceptions, however, including sites listed on the user’s homepage and videos the user has played before.
Keep Up With SEO With These 15 Search Podcasts
If you love to listen to podcasts, then you are in luck as Erin Roberts who goes by the Twitter handle texasgirlerin has put together a list of 15 do-not-miss podcasts. Beanstalk IM is proud to have made the list along with Rich Brooks, Andy White, Gale Breton and a host of others.
4 Underutilized Schema Markup Opportunities That Impact SEO
You may already be familiar with the benefits of schema markup, such as better crawlability, having your rich snippets show up at the top of search engine pages and moving you ahead on some social media platforms. Tony Roberts provides an excellent tutorial on four schema markup opportunities that may put you ahead of your competitors.
Anchor Text Best Practices for Google
While Google looks at more than 200 different things to decide how to rank a website, there is no doubt that anchor texts are one of them. This excellent article by Roger Montti offers advice from industry leaders like Julie Joyce, Bill Slawski, Matt Diggity and others.
Sustainable Link Building: Increasing Your Chances of Getting Links
Building sustainable links can be difficult unless you remember the great advice in this Whiteboard Friday from Moz. While writing link-worthy content is always a great place to start, you will also want to look for datasets that are easy to update, target your demographics and follow the other memorable tips in this informative presentation by Paddy Moogan.