Welcome to episode #64 of the SEO Newsletter by #SEOSLY!
Here is the latest SEO news, tips, and the best SEO resources I have curated for you.
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P.S. As you have probably noticed, I have changed my surname (fortunately to a lot easier one to spell and pronounce) and am now Olga Zarr.
Join me LIVE on Monday (December 19) at 5 PM CET with David Kaufmann from SEOcrawl
Join us for a live YouTube event where we’ll be discussing the latest SEO news, sharing some of the latest SEO tips and tricks, and answering your questions.
Top SEO & local SEO news from last week
Here is the most important news from the world of SEO from last week:
The December 2022 Helpful Content Update
The December 2022 helpful content update was released on Dec. 5 & will take about two weeks to fully roll out.
Continuous scroll on desktop
ChatGPT has been launched and this is huge…
ChatGPT is a conversational language model developed by OpenAI. It is based on the GPT-3 model, which has been trained on a large amount of text data to generate human-like responses. ChatGPT is designed to be able to generate more natural and appropriate responses in chat-based scenarios. It is stunningly good!
Google — Year in Search 2022
This year, the world searched “can i change” more than ever before. From changing careers to seeking new outlooks on life, people are finding ways to reimagine themselves and reshape the world around them.
Special SEOcrawl Deal For You
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SEOcrawl now offers a lifetime license valued at 990-1,9k€/year for only 269€. This is a unique opportunity that will not last long.
New content for you from me
I’ve been busy producing new content for you. Here is what I have for you today.
What An SEO Audit Is & Why Your Site Needs One NOW
In this article, we’ll take a closer look at what an SEO audit is, why it’s important, and how it can help improve your website’s search engine rankings. I’ve written this article with help of ChatGPT. I am curious to learn your thoughts on that.
SEO Content Optimization, No E-A-T & More With Dan Shure From Evolving SEO
Episode #13 of the SEO Podcast by #SEOSLY features a special guest – Dan Shure from Evolving SEO. Dan shared a ton of super useful tips on optimizing content for SEO and why he DOES NOT obsess about E-A-T.
Niche Websites, Affiliate Marketing, YouTube & More W/ Doug Cunnington From Niche Site Project
Episode #12 of the SEO Podcast by #SEOSLY features a special guest – Doug Cunnington from Niche Site Project. Not only Doug shares his history and experience, but he also gives a ton of useful tips about affiliate marketing, e-mail marketing, YouTube, and more!
SEO Podcasting Dos & Don’ts, Tips, Mistakes & SEO in 2023 With David Bain
Episode #11 of the SEO Podcast by #SEOSLY features a special guest – David Bain from Casting Cred. David was so kind and shares a ton of tips on doing and having your own podcast. I (a total newbie when it comes to podcasts) learned a ton. Thank you, David!
Ahrefs [Sponsor]
The SEOSLY newsletter is proudly sponsored by Ahrefs, my favorite SEO tool.
Have you already set up Ahrefs Webmaster Tools for your website? AWT lets you improve your website’s SEO and monitor how your site is doing, including how many backlinks it has, for how many keywords it is visible, how its visibility grows, and more!
What’s new at Ahrefs? Ahrefs has introduced the new side-by-side SERP comparison feature, News mode in Content Explorer, and more. Check this out.
Top SEO Tips
And here are the SEO tips for you.
#1: Google Says Only Update The Date When Significantly Updating The Content
It is that time of year when content creators take their content that has been performing well and updates it from the 2022 edition to the 2023 edition. But updating the references of 2022 to 2023 is not enough, and Google says only do that when you make a significant update to that content. Learn more from Barry Schwartz.
#2: When Using A CDN Or Cloud Hosting, Set Up Routine Tests To Ensure Googlebot Is Not Blocked
Gary Illyes from Google shares that if you are using a CDN or cloud hosting service, then make sure to test up a routine test to ensure that the service is not blocking Googlebot or other search engine crawlers that you want to crawl and index your site. Learn more from Barry Schwartz.
#3: Google’s John Mueller Says HTML Sitemaps Should Never Be Needed
“I changed my mind on HTML sitemaps over the years, they should never be needed. Sites small & large should always have a clear navigational structure. If you feel the need for an HTML sitemap, spend the time improving your site’s architecture instead. HTML sitemaps fit into the same bin with HTML loading spinners.” Learn more from Barry Schwartz.
JetOctopus [Sponsor]
This issue of the newsletter is kindly sponsored by JetOctopus. JetOctopus is the fastest and most affordable enterprise SEO platform that has top crawling speed, real-time log analysis, and detailed 3D SEO reports on a site’s health.
If you are not familiar with JetOctopus, make sure to check my guide on how to audit a site with JetOctopus and how to do a log file analysis.
I strongly recommend you give JetOctopus a try. Get an extended 30-day trial of JetOctopus.
Don’t miss my interview with Julia Nesterets from JetOctopus. We talked a ton about SEO auditing, technical SEO, and JetOctopus, the fastest SEO crawler on earth.
Don’t Miss These Resources
Here are the resources that will help you stay updated with the world of SEO.
SEO news recap by Barry Schwartz
SEO news recap by Garrett Sussman
Local Search roundup – December 2022
Check this recap of Local Search news by Bright Local. Read more.
Don’t Miss These Articles
Here are the best articles about SEO I’ve selected for you this week.
How Google’s Helpful Content Update Affected News SEO In 12 Different Countries
Learn exactly how Google’s Helpful Content Update impacted news SEO and news publishers in 12 different countries around the world. Read more at Search Engine Journal.
Google’s Top Global & Local Search Trends Of 2022
Google publishes its yearly report of top search trends with new categories for local searches. Read more at Search Engine Journal.
How to get Google featured snippets: 9 optimization guidelines
Here’s a set of guidelines to follow when optimizing for the featured snippet – like using an “is” statement and defining the topic concisely. Read more at Search Engine Land.
JavaScript rendering and indexing: Cautionary tales and how to avoid them
The results of a JavaScript rendering and indexing experiment highlight some challenges of running JS-dependent content. Read more at Search Engine Land.
FAQPage, QAPage, AskAction, ReplyAction Schema Markups: Which One Should I Use And When?
Learn how to use schema markup based on questions and answers and how to combine them with Ask and ReplyAction annotations. Read more at WordLift.
Google’s December Helpful Content Update
This is a must-read article by Marie Haynes who explains Google’s December Helpful Content Update. I think everyone will agree that Marie is the best person to talk about Google updates! Read more.
Link Building for SEO: The Beginner’s Guide
This guide will teach you how to get quality links that move the needle without risking a Google penalty. We created it with absolute beginners in mind and made sure to pack it with plenty of actionable advice that you can start implementing right away. Read more at Ahrefs Blog.
Google Index: How to Get Your Website Indexed by Google
Here is the guide by Semrush all about getting your website indexed by Google. Make sure to read it! Read more.
Location pages in Google’s crosshairs after October spam update
Ranking drops and deindexed pages are plaguing service area business sites. Let’s explore the potential cause and what local SEOs can do. Read more at Search Engine Land.
2022 YouTube and Video SERP Result Changes
In mid-October, we noticed a drop in this type of video result, and that drop became dramatic by late-October. Did Google remove these video results or was our system broken? As it turns out, neither — video results have split into at least three distinct types (depending on how you count). Read more at Moz.
SEO Twitter nuggets
And before we end, here are a few Twitter nuggets for you. We don’t know if Twitter is going to be here in the future, so let’s use it while it still is here.
See you next week!
