Search News You Can Use

Marie Haynes Consulting’s Newsletter

Helpful advice, tips and challenges to help you improve your website.

This newsletter is sent out every week. The goal is not only to inform you of current news in the search industry, but also to give you actionable tips, tutorials, and techniques that you can use to improve your website.

Episode Index

Most recent episode:

Episode 156 – October 28, 2020: In this episode we discuss the suspension of “request indexing”, Google Search Console emails, tips to improve your site’s performance, best practices for Black Friday and more!

See past episodes

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Past Episodes

Episode 155 – October 21, 2020: In this episode we discuss the September indexing issues, Google’s SearchOn event and what we learned, changes to the Quality Raters’ Guidelines, and a compilation of the

Episode 154 – October 14, 2020: In this episode we discuss September and October algorithm fluctuations, Web Stories introduced to Discover, Google announcing a new Google Analytics, incorrect dates in the SERPs, and several more great SEO tips!

Episode 153 – October 7, 2020: In this episode we discuss the two Google indexing problems that occurred last week, optimizing your page title, useful SaaS strategies, how syndicated content could impact you, and so much more!

Episode 152 – September 30, 2020: In this episode we discuss possible significant algorithm update this month, major indexing issues, internal linking tips, a recap of the last SEO Mythbusting episode and more!

Episode 151 – September 23, 2020: In this episode we discuss possible algorithm updates in September, our upcoming webinar on link auditing, Google’s new blog, deduplication and canonicalization, and so much more!

Episode 150 – September 16, 2020: In this episode we discuss how Google has made strides to ensure users are getting trustworthy information in search, Google discover traffic impacts, another delay in Google Search Console Index Coverage reporting and more!

Episode 149 – September 9, 2020: In this episode we discuss Google penalization, repairing mixed content issues, HTTP vs. HTTPS, how core updates and recovery are associated, and a great compilation of local news from SterlingSky!

Episode 148 – September 2, 2020: In this episode we discuss the algorithm changes our team saw on August 24th, looking at SERP features and how to see if you’ve won or lost them, some great info from the latest Search Off the Record podcast, and more!

Episode 147 – August 26, 2020: In this episode we discuss the algorithm turbulence on August 17th, the Google Sandbox, our SEMrush tip of the week, great outreach tips and more!

Episode 146 – August 19, 2020: In this episode we discuss another Google ranking glitch, Google Search Console’s new Insights beta, synonyms in search, advanced SEO tactics and great insight from Google to help you improve your site!

Episode 145 – August 12, 2020: In this episode we discuss the massive Google glitch this week, more on the possible July update, how SEO has changed over the years, see if you’ve lost PAA boxes in SEMrush and more!

Episode 144 – August 5, 2020: In this episode we discuss algorithm changes with Pinterest and government sites, a new SEMrush partnership, some really great SEO tips, and as always a selection of recommended readings to help you optimize your site and expand your learning!

Episode 143 – July 29, 2020: In this episode we discuss what SEOs are getting wrong about Google updates, how to properly implement technical changes, a compilation of busted page speed myths, a handy new WordPress feature, and more!

Episode 142 – July 22, 2020: In this episode we discuss who reviews Google’s algorithms, the pushback of rolling out mobile-first indexing, more documentation on Discover discussing E-A-T, some refreshers on SEO practices, and great articles worth reading.

Episode 141 – July 15, 2020: In this episode we discuss whether or not to disavow scraper links, the issue surrounding not getting indexed, E-A-T now considered in Google Discover, alternatives to the Structured Data Testing tool, and the latest digital marketing tips!

Episode 140 – July 8, 2020: In this episode we discuss the June 22 and 23 algorithm changes and Marie’s insight on what it means, some great tips on building links that aren’t against G’s guidelines, more on the importance of producing great content with users in mind, an update to the Bing webmaster guidelines, and some great tips from Google help hangouts with John Mueller.

Episode 139 – June 30, 2020: In this episode we discuss the chatter surrounding algorithm fluctuations, changes made to Google’s How Search Works documentation, Google’s free product listings, awesome tips from Google help hangouts with John Mueller and some great recommended readings!

Episode 138 – June 24, 2020: In this episode the MHC team dives into discussions on the latest trending topics across the industry including a possible Google update this week, Google indexing Disqus comments, a theory on PageRank and followed links, mobile-first indexing, optimizing your eComm category pages and so many other great SEO tips.

Episode 137 – June 17, 2020: In this episode we discuss algorithm turbulence early June, information on Google’s nofollow changes, what John Mueller says about linking in guest posts, what impact Recipe structured data can have on your site, tips for SaaS sites, what indexed but blocked by robots.txt means, and so much more. It is a packed episode!

Episode 136 – June 10, 2020: In this episode we discuss Google’s webpage to featured snippet feature, advice on combating spam, should we optimize for user intent, content from our podcast Q&A and some great SEO tips!

Episode 135 – June 3, 2020: In this episode we discuss Google’s Web Core Vitals in a full analysis of what you need to know for your site, our podcast episode with Google’s John Mueller, a cloaking conspiracy, what a bad link is, and some great recommended readings you won’t want to miss!

Episode 134 – May 27, 2020: In this episode we discuss what the search results look like since the May 2020 core update, John Mueller joining our podcast next week, tips for Lighthouse’s new metrics, why pages may be dropping out of the index, and some really great insight from SEOs across the globe.

Episode 133 – May 20, 2020: In this episode we discuss all of the theories surrounding the May 2020 core update from SEOs including MHC, upcoming changes to Chrome, new Bing announcements, how to define great content, and hint at an exciting surprise podcast guest.

Episode 132 – May 13, 2020: In this episode we dive into the May 2020 core update including our initial thoughts from analyzing client data. We also included the trending SEO news of the week such as new Google tests, tools and tips from SEO experts across the globe.

Episode 131 – May 6, 2020: In this episode we discuss all of the changes Google has announced this past week including the rollout of the May 2020 broad core algorithm update and our early analysis. We also include our recent article on determining if your traffic changes are due to an algorithm update or COVID-19. As usual, be sure to read through our compilation of the latest tips and tools to help you improve your site.

Episode 130 – April 29, 2020: In this episode we discuss important information concerning GSC data, new Google features, and how to solve common international SEO concerns. Plus, find advice from Google on redirects and internal linking, and some of the best tips from digital marketers the past week.

Episode 129 – April 22, 2020: In this episode we discuss more on the impact of COVID-19 on the SERPs, Marie’s E-A-T presentation with SEMrush, free services from Google, how to ace pagination, great tips from Google, how to compare your search traffic before the pandemic, and as usual, our best compilation of digital marketing tips and resources for you.

Episode 128 – April 15, 2020: In this episode we discuss search behaviour amid COVID-19, Google’s changes to their documentation on core updates, Bing ranking, Google’s new case studies blog, free resources for webmasters, great Google help hangout tips and more!

Episode 127 – April 8, 2020: In this episode we discuss how Coronavirus is continuing to affect search traffic, possible updates March 10th and 23rd, E-A-T and ranking losses, MHC’s live tweets from Virtuacon, great new documentation to help sites, more on Google’s efforts to help webmasters during COVID-19 and so much more.

Episode 126 – April 1, 2020: In this episode we discuss algorithm fluctuations towards the end of March, this week’s look at traffic effects from Coronavirus, information from Google on how to prepare your site in wake of the pandemic, how Google may be looking at author vectors, and more.

Episode 125 – March 25, 2020: In this episode we dive into how the Coronavirus has continually impacted search. This includes the changes Google has made to search to provide information to users and businesses, as well as regular SEO news such as tests being done in the SERPs, information on manual actions, and more.

Episode 124 – March 18, 2020: In this episode we dive into the global pandemic COVID-19 and how it is affecting the digital marketing sphere. We discuss what Google has done in light of this event, how you can help your site in this time of need, and major changes in the industry.

Episode 123 – March 11, 2020: In this episode, we analyze how the Coronavirus could be affecting your site’s traffic, possible Google updates between March 3-7, mobile-first indexing being rolled out globally as of September 2020, tips for e-comm sites, interesting advice from Google, and more.

Episode 122 – March 4, 2020: In this episode, we dissect the February algorithm turbulence to see what conclusions we can draw about the most recent Google updates. We have information worth checking out about affiliate disclosures as well. We’re also extremely excited to introduce a new feature: Search News You Can Use is teaming up with the experts from Sterling Sky, who will provide great insights each week on the latest developments in Local SEO!

Episode 121 – February 26, 2020: In this episode, we discuss the continuous ranking fluctuations this month, recent insight to how Google may be using E-A-T, how the Coronavirus could be impacting some sites’ traffic, our recent partnership with SterlingSky to improve our local SEO section, the last of our E-A-T webinar series, and more!

Episode 120 – February 19, 2020: In this episode we discuss more on our thoughts of the February update, the upcoming changes to nofollow, a local update Feb 14-18, new changes to the SERPs, important information from John Mueller, and more!

Episode 119 – February 12, 2020: In this episode we discuss a possible Google update on February 7th, the MHC team’s thoughts on the update, more on pages falling out of the index, new Google changes and as usual a compilation of the best SEO tips. Don’t forget, our Trust Webinar is next week!

Episode 118 – February 5, 2020: In this episode we discuss a Google indexing theory, info from G on affiliate links, a recap on the guidelines for using affiliate links, part three of our E-A-T webinar on February 20th, featured snippets, and more!

Episode 117 – January 29, 2020:In this episode we discuss Google’s massive change to the featured snippets, what our clients have seen with the Jan 2020 update, the new Removals report in Search Console, updates to the mobile-first indexing report, and great tips to help your site thrive.

Episode 116 – January 22, 2020: In this episode we cover the latest from the January Core Update, including our observations and the type of sites that were hit. We also look at changes and myths with recipe sites, Google’s secure cookie settings, and so much more!

Episode 115 – January 15, 2020: In this episode we discuss the January 2020 Core Update release and the sites seeing changes thus far, an interesting disavow case study, Google’s new desktop SERP layout, what headlines say about your content, and lots of great industry tips.

Episode 114 – January 8, 2020: In our first episode of 2020 we discuss the volatility in the SERPs from the end of December up until yesterday, our concluding thoughts on winning the Wix SEO Competition, great tips and news from over the holidays, and more.

Episode 113 – December 18, 2019: In our last episode of 2019 we discuss a knowledge graph update, a special newsletter giveaway, our concluding thoughts on the Wix SEO Competition, the best 2019/2020 SEO tips from experts around the world, Google changes and much more.

Episode 112 – December 11, 2019: In this episode, we cover the worldwide rollout of BERT and the languages it now includes, the recent changes to Google’s Quality Rater’s Guidelines, more on the November 8th update, our recent robots.txt experiment, a disavow case study and some neat SEO tools and tips.

Episode 111 – December 4, 2019: In this episode, we discuss the recent tweets regarding the early November algorithm update, our thoughts on neural matching, interesting Google announcements including a new GSC feature and Alphabet CEO and as always great finds to help you optimize your site.

Episode 110 – November 27, 2019: In this episode, we look at the November algorithm turbulence, the Bedlam update, and pore over John Mueller’s thoughts on disavowing. We also cover major Google announcements and briefly mention our favourite SEO tips and tools from the past week.

Episode 109 – November 20, 2019: In this episode, we’ll provide even more insight on the November algo updates. Having gathered URLs from the sites that have seen changes, we’ll discuss the commonalities we found. We also touch on the controversial WSJ article about Google’s handling of their search algorithms and cover more Google changes you should be aware of.

Episode 108 – November 13, 2019: In this episode, we discuss our theory on what has happened with sites seeing drops following an unannounced Google algorithm update last week. We also cover recent Chrome and Google announcements, more information on BERT, and some very useful SEO tips.

Episode 107 – November 6, 2019: In this episode, we look at all of the recently published resources on BERT and pick out the important parts you should know. We also cover tips from the Google Webmaster conference. This is a great episode with a lot of awesome SEO tips, so be sure to read it all!

Episode 106 – October 30, 2019: In this episode, we analyze recent algorithm changes from the past few weeks. We cover everything you need to know about BERT alongside some great coverage on Google’s latest experiments. Don’t forget to read the jobs section for a special posting!

Episode 105 – October 23, 2019: In this episode, we recap some great tips from Pubcon and SearchLove, the indexing issues at Google, and an awesome selection of recommended readings. There is some great advice from Google employees Danny Sullivan and Gary Illyes as well, so be sure not to miss it!

Episode 104 – October 16, 2019: In this episode, we cover all of the major news and announcements since our team has been back from Pubcon. We’ve also worked hard to cover some great resources that we learned while at the conference. As Marie is away this week, there is no podcast episode, but it will resume next week as usual.

Episode 103 – October 2, 2019: In this episode, we dive into our thoughts on the changes seen with the September Core Update in great detail. We also revisit the Daily Mail case, discuss several Google announcements, and provide you with some awesome SEO tips. Please note there will be no newsletter next week as we are away at Pubcon!

Episode 102 – September 25, 2019: In this episode, we discuss the September 2019 Core Update, Google’s major changes such as the new metatags and HTML attribute, updated Search Console, starmageddon as well as a possible algo tweak on September 17th.

Episode 101 – September 18, 2019: In this episode, we discuss a possible algorithm update earlier this month, more on the leased subdomain debate, our thoughts on the review snippet update, and a load of SEO tips and tools shared within the community. We’ve made sure to include some awesome information from BrightonSEO as well.

Episode 100 – September 11, 2019: This episode is a massive one for all of our readers in celebration of our 100th episode. All subscribers are given full access to amazing content including Marie’s analysis of Google’s new link attributes, changes to the Quality Raters Guidelines,  15 of MHC’s favourite newsletter tips from the past, and so much more! This episode is also being live recorded as a webinar.

Episode 99 – September 4, 2019: In this episode, we discuss signs of a possible link-related algorithm update, our 100th episode next week, and more on the Dejan SEO penalty. We’ve also included the latest on SERP feature changes and have a great selection of recommended readings for you.

Episode 98 – August 28, 2019: In this episode, we analyze the rented subdomain debate, Dejan SEO’s manual action penalty, and recent theories on Google’s algorithm changes. We’ll also cover a lot of news, including new SERP features and SEO tools.

Episode 97 – August 21, 2019: In this episode, we have an exciting opportunity for our subscribers to announce, Google’s update on the indexing bug, a ton of new Google announcements, and as always, lots of useful SEO news and tips.

Episode 96 – August 14, 2019: In this episode, we have an exciting opportunity for our subscribers to announce, Google’s update on the indexing bug, a ton of new Google announcements, and as always, lots of useful SEO news and tips.

Episode 95 – August 7, 2019: In this episode, we dive into our thoughts on the July algo tweaks, Google’s blog post that lit up SEO Twitter, some notable Google announcements, and as always, loads of SEO news and tips.

Episode 94 – July 31, 2019: In this episode, we will touch briefly on the algorithm turbulence in late July, news about indexing issues for Google News publishers, and we also have lots of good SEO tips and tools to share this week.

Episode 93 – July 24, 2019: In this episode, we’ll provide our thoughts on the July algo turbulence starting July 13, some awesome tidbits from MozCon speakers, the latest Google announcements, and as always our recommended SEO news and tips.

Episode 92 – July 17, 2019: In this episode, we will provide you with some very preliminary thoughts on what looks to be an unannounced Google algorithm update on July 13, early Mozcon takeaways, and plenty of other SEO news and tips.

Episode 91 – July 10, 2019: In this episode, we will provide our thoughts on the early July 2019 search updates, the role of authority in Google’s algorithms, and tons of other great SEO news and tips, including John Mueller’s response to a question on authorship and E-A-T.

Episode 90 – July 3, 2019: In this episode, we will provide our early thoughts on what appears to have been a tweak to the June 3 Core Update on June 29 as well as further analysis of the diversity update. We will also cover the need-to-know news about Google’s announcement about robots.txt and changes to mobile-first indexing, in addition to loads of other interesting SEO news and tips.​

Episode 89 – June 26, 2019: In this episode, we’ll discuss signs of Google algorithm updates on June 17-18 and June 23-24 and provide our analysis on what might be unfolding. We also have a ton of interesting SEO news and tips for you this week.

Episode 88 – June 19, 2019: In this episode, we’ve linked our article dissecting the June Core Quality update, looked at changes to the SERPs and new Google features, and discussed the latest SEO chatter.

Episode 87 – June 12, 2019: In this episode, we’ll dive more into the June 3 Google Core Update and the Diversity Update and provide our (still-developing) analysis of what’s transpired with all of the recent Google algorithm activity. We also have plenty of other SEO news and tips for you this week.

Episode 86 – June 6, 2019: In this episode, we’ll provide our early analysis of the June 2019 Core Quality Update, what types of sites are showing signs of an impact, and provide some industry-specific (news, health) looks at the early fallout. We’ll also cover a possible algorithm update affecting organic rankings of local businesses as of May 30, 2019

Episode 85 – May 29, 2019: In this episode, we have a possible small algorithm update to discuss. We will also cover updates on mobile-first indexing, the favicon controversy, the latest on the recent Google bugs, and much more!

Episode 84 – May 22, 2019: In this episode, we will cover the new changes to the Quality Raters Guidelines, more Google bugs (this time affecting Google News indexing as well as an update on the cache bug), the latest on the new Googlebot, how to properly use the Inspect URL tool, and much more.​

Episode 83 – May 15, 2019: In this episode, we’ll cover the possibility of a big update looming from Google, a roundup of the noteworthy news from Google I/O, the big changes coming to Chrome, what’s in store for image search, and much more.

Episode 82 – May 8, 2019 – In this jam-packed episode, we will cover signs of algorithm activity between April 27 and May 1, the news that Googlebot now uses the latest version of Chromium, the new structured data reports in GSC, the news that Google is going to start indexing podcasts and returning audio results, the importance of sitemaps, and much more.

Episode 81 – May 1, 2019 – In this episode, we will cover signs of a possible small quality update, more Google bugs affecting indexing and (disappearing) manual actions, whether Google is cracking down on footer links, the news that Google will not migrate the disavow tool to the new GSC, and much more.

Episode 80 – April 24, 2019 – In this episode, we’ll cover the rolling out of AMP Real URL, the Google News indexing issue (now resolved), more images appearing in the Google SERPs, whether a no-index in your robots.txt file is recognized by Google, how to handle disavowing a redirected URL, tips from John Mueller on recovering from quality updates, and much more.

Episode 79 – April 17, 2019 – In this episode, we will discuss some indications of “algorithm” turbulence between April 2-9 and the possible explanation. We will also cover the fallout of Google’s de-indexing issue, performance report changes in GSC along with an interesting discussion on whether to no-index or 301 thin/low-value content.

Episode 78 – April 10, 2019 – In this episode, we have a number of Google announcements to cover, including the technical issue that caused widespread de-indexing issues this past week, a new date command feature, and the new performance reports added to Google Search Console. We also have tons more SEO and local SEO news and tips for you this week.

Episode 77 – April 3, 2019 – In this episode, we will cover how to find the Google-selected canonical URL with the URL Inspection Tool in Google Search Console, the latest changes to GSC, and the news that the old search console will be retired eventually. We will also have tips from John Mueller on cleaning up thin content, what it means if a link doesn’t show in GSC, and whether folders or parameters are best for paginated URLs.

Episode 76 – March 27, 2019 – In this episode, we’ll take a closer look at the fallout of the March 12 core quality update. We’ll also discuss the surprising news from Google that it is retiring rel=next and rel=prev as an indexing signal and hasn’t used it that way for years. As usual, we’ll have plenty of interesting Local SEO news and tips as well.

Episode 75 – March 20, 2019 – As most of you likely already know, we had a large algorithm update last week. While Google tends to update their algorithms several times a day, every now and then we get a big change. This was one of those big changes! In this episode, we’ll look at information on Google on where to use subdomains vs subfolders, what happens when you use an iframe in the head of a document, and also a lot of great local SEO tips.

Episode 74 – March 13, 2019 –  It looks like we have a moderate algorithm update to report on March 6, with possible subsequent activity on March 11. Also, Google has just confirmed (minutes before publishing) that a big update has just been pushed out. In this episode, we have great tips on JavaScript SEO, how Google determines dates on pages and the best practices to follow, Google’s advice on video pages, image search, multilingual sites and canonical use on AMP sites, takeaways from Pubcon, and much more.

Episode 73 – March 6, 2019 –  In this episode, we’ll discuss the most recent algorithmic turbulence with moderately significant updates that happened between February 27 and March 1, 2019. There are a lot of great tips in this episode for paid readers including information on whether CTR is a ranking factor, what happens when you redirect unnatural links to a site, tips for handling paginated content, and also John Mueller’s favourite SEO success story.

Episode 72 – February 27, 2019 – There has been some algorithmic turbulence again. We think there was a moderately significant update on February 23-24, although it was not huge. In this episode, we’ll discuss the new domain-wide data in GSC, an interesting new Chrome feature, whether or not we should use UTM tracking on internal links, and much more. We’re also happy to announce that Marie Haynes Consulting Inc is now taking on clients for link audits. (You’ll find information in this episode on why we’re putting more emphasis on disavow work now.)

Episode 71 – February 20, 2019 – Google’s algorithms have been a little on the turbulent side this month. There was likely a quality update this week, but it was fairly mild in our opinion. What was big news, however, was the fact that Google released a white paper that supports a lot about what we have been saying on the importance of E-A-T. We’ll also discuss a Bing update, some changes to the Google SERPS, and a bunch of local SEO tips.

Episode 70 – February 13, 2019 – We have a bit of an algorithm update to report. However, this seems to be a fairly minor ranking adjustment for just a few sites…nothing too big. In this episode, we have a lot to cover including Google’s new guide to rendering, GSC consolidating metrics, info on utm tracking, adding development sites to GSC, and much more!

Episode 69 – February 6, 2019 –  We’ve got no major algorithm changes to discuss this week, but we have information about finding and fixing hacking/malware, an issue with the PageSpeed Tool that was causing it to give out inaccurately low scores, whether or not HTTPs is indeed a ranking factor, whether Google passes PageRank through links that require a click to see, and much more.

Episode 68 – January 30, 2019 – We’ve got more information in this issue on use of the disavow tool. We’ll discuss the widespread messaging from Google re AMP errors, some interesting info on why Google may ignore the canonical tag, and we’ll look into the issue where many local websites are seeing a massive drop in impressions in GSC.

Episode 67 – January 23, 2019 –   In this episode, we’ll talk about some greater clarity on using the disavow tool. It turns out that unnatural links do have the potential to algorithmically hurt a site’s rankings. We also will look at tips to succeed in Google News (although these really apply to any website, not just news sites), how long you should keep 301 redirects in place, great tips on use of pagination, and a whole bunch more.

Episode 66 – January 16, 2019 –  There has been some chatter of updates happening. We are seeing a bit of an increase in some sites, but this doesn’t seem like a significant update so far. In this episode we’ll talk about Google removing comments from blog posts, some new SERP features and an interesting bug that allowed people to make it look like they were ranking for any query. Paid members get a good discussion on what is happening right now with sites that are competing for addiction related queries.

Episode 65 – January 10, 2019 – Now that the major holiday season is over, many sites are seeing nice improvements. While an algorithm update was suspected in early January, we’re not seeing obvious evidence of this in the sites that we track. In this episode we’ve got some great tips. We’ll talk about why Google’s acquisition of Superpod is a little scary, some advice on handling AMP only sites, comments on featured snippets, internal link data in Ahrefs and much more!

Episode 64 – January 4, 2019 – In this episode, we see how Google handles hard-to-understand URL structures, Bing’s reminder regarding robots.txt, advancements to GMB, and of course with the new year, SEOs weigh in on 2019 SEO predictions as well as some great resources to start your year off right!

Episode 63 – December 28, 2018 – Merry Christmas to everyone who celebrates it! We’ve got a smaller newsletter this week as Google has been relatively quiet. Still, in this episode there is a lot to learn. We’ll talk about an interesting line in Google’s documentation on link schemes, whether or not you should disavow foreign spam links, an interesting use of schema and more.

Episode 62 – December 20, 2018 – Once again it looks like we have had a significant update. We are seeing nice, albeit small, upticks on several of our client sites. In this episode we have some comments from John Mueller on Medic, interesting info on Mobile First Indexing and a bunch of other SEO related news.

Episode 61 – December 13, 2018 – Once again, a lot has happened in the world of search this week! We have a lot of recommended reading in this episode. There was a bit of a quality update in early December. We’ll talk about the big important change in Chrome 71, an interesting discussion on whether Google ranks authors according to E-A-T and we’ll show a good example of how to use Google Posts.

Episode 60 – December 5, 2018 – In this episode, we’ll go over a possible algorithm update (although I am not seeing much), a bug in Google images, Search Engine Land’s deindexing, and much more!

Episode 59 – November 28, 2018 –  It is always tough to determine whether there was an update when a potential update coincides with a holiday weekend. Many of our clients had gains seen in Google Analytics. However, most of these could be attributed to seasonal increases at this time. In this episode, we’ll cover our thoughts on this update along with information on SERPS with zero search results, featured snippet carousels, the local search ranking factors survey, and much more.

Episode 58 – November 21, 2018 –   Once again we have another algorithm update. While several sites that we monitor were affected, this doesn’t appear to be a massive update. We’ll talk more on E-A-T in this episode. You’ll likely be interesting in reading my thoughts on AJ Kohn’s article in the recommended reading section. There have been some minor changes to Google My Business as well.

Episode 57 – November 16, 2018 – There has been some interesting controversy this week over whether Google uses information from the BBB in ranking decisions. We’ll talk about that in this newsletter along with information on what appears to be a significant quality update in mid November. This episode has some good information on using Chrome’s new audit feature and tips on things like resizing images, improving rankings for product pages and much more.

Episode 56 – November 9, 2018 – This is a really packed newsletter. There was a significant algorithm update on October 31, 2018 and we are seeing some nice recoveries. We’ll share a story with you in this episode of how we believe one site recovered. We’ll also talk about some Google announcements, some new Bing features, big news for service area businesses in GMB and much more.

Episode 55 – October 31, 2018 – This is a massive edition of the newsletter with a LOT of interesting SEO tips. We’ll talk about the most recent algorithmic turbulence and whether it is likely to be connected to link quality. We also have a lot of tips from help hangout information including a great tip on improving E-A-T of authors. We’ll also talk about whether it helps your E-A-T if you have a physical address.

Episode 54 – October 24, 2018 – How ironic is it that every time I travel, there is some type of significant algorithm update? I traveled to Pubcon Vegas  last week (which was amazing) and on the first day I was there I began to receive emails and tweets asking about an algorithm update. Sure enough, it looks like October 15, 2018 was a significant update. In this episode we will talk about my thoughts on this update along with my takeaways from some of my favourite presentations at Pubcon.

Episode 53 – October 12, 2018 – The algorithmic flux that we are seeing these days is incredible. Google has confirmed that they are rolling out something significant. In this episode, I’ll share my thoughts on that.

Episode 52 – October 4, 2018 – It looks like we have had a significant algorithm update once again. While I was away at Brighton SEO, Google appears to have run a tweak to the August 1 update. I’ll share my thoughts on that in this newsletter. We will also talk about a Google bug affecting urls with a plus sign, whether or not Google has algorithms for specific industries, whether or not bad links can hurt you, and many more tips. In local SEO, we’ll talk about the “family led business” attribute and a change to Google Posts.

Episode 51 – September 26, 2018 – Google announced some upcoming changes to search which sound exciting. In this episode, we’ll talk about a possible bug in GSC indexing numbers, we’ll look at some log file examples to determine when mobile first indexing happened, and also, we’ll cover some excellent tips for you to use to help with your SEO efforts.

Episode 50 – September 19, 2018 – It looks like we had a big algorithm update this week. September 17, 2018 has not been talked about widely as a big algorithm change, but we saw a LOT of sites with nice positive changes on this day. In this episode we’ll talk about how many sites were moved to mobile first indexing this week. We’ll go over new information on how Google’s Quality Raters’ Guidelines reflect what the algorithms do. We’ll also talk about content pruning, and much more.

Episode 49 – September 13, 2018 – It looks like there has been a little bit of algorithmic turbulence lately. I’m not seeing a whole lot of movement, but others are. We’ve got some good information from recent Google help hangouts in this issue and also some nice local SEO tips for you.

Episode 48 – September 6, 2018 – This is a really long newsletter! There were a good number of excellent articles written on SEO this week and we have done our best to summarize them for you. We’ll talk more about the local aspect of the July 31/August 1 update. We’ll also talk extensively about whether author E-A-T is something you should pay attention to. There are lots of great tips for paid subscribers in this episode as well.

Episode 47 – August 29, 2018 – In this episode, I’ll share my latest thoughts on the massive August 1 update. Now that we’ve analyzed a few sites, we are seeing some important patterns. We’ll also talk about some changes to how GSC reports data, and answer some interesting questions such as, “Is it ok to redirect a large number of urls to your home page” and “Can low quality forum content hurt your site.”

Episode 46 – August 22, 2018 – Were you affected by the August 1 update? In this issue we have a few more insights on this algorithm update. It looks like Google tweaked the algo a bit last week. We’ll talk about some new additions to Google Search Console. There is also interesting information from Google on what kind of content they like to see “above the fold”. This episode has loads of recommended reading as well.

Episode 45 – August 15, 2018 – In this episode, we’ll look at a few more details of the massive August 1 Google update. While the majority of sites that we monitor were not affected by this change, the ones that were were strongly affected. There is a lot of news in terms of local SEO discussed here. We also have a lot of summaries of some really good SEO articles this week.

Episode 44 – August 8, 2018 – What a crazy week this has been! I was doing some client training when there were rumblings of an algorithm update happening. My client was up dramatically on almost all of their search terms, so it really was a fun day! In this episode, we’ll talk about this big update and several other Google announcements.

Episode 43 – July 31, 2018 – We’ve got some good information in this episode from John Mueller as he had a very insightful help hangout this week. There were no obvious algorithm updates this week. In fact, thing were relatively quiet in terms of Google changes. In this episode, paid subscribers will get great info on whether DMCA requests hurt your rankings, whether you should have multiple location pages, and also whether the location of your server matters for SEO.

Episode 42 – July 24, 2018 – A lot has happened in the world of search in the last week. There was at least one major algorithm update, and possibly two. Google updated their Quality Raters’ Guidelines and there are a LOT of changes to discuss. We’ll talk about how the Trump Googlebomb likely worked as well as more discussion on mobile first indexing, content pruning and much more.

Episode 41 – July 17, 2018 – Did you survive Google’s Page Speed update? In this episode, we’ll look at what kind of an impact it has had so far. We’ve got lots of great local info in this episode including information on adding a call to action on Google Posts and an interesting study that looks at whether reviews can help with rankings.

Episode 40 – July 10, 2018 – For the first time in a while, we have a pre-announced update from Google as the Speed update has now gone live. In this episode we’ll talk about a site that appears to have been hurt by mobile first indexing and we’ll discuss several good tips to help you improve the quality of your site.

Episode 39 – July 4, 2018 – There is a lot of great information in this episode. Although we haven’t had any major algorithm updates, there is a lot of interesting news in the SEO industry. We’ll talk about a wave of mobile first indexing emails going out and why it seems to be less sophisticated sites that are being moved. There was confusion about the soon to be released page speed update, so we’ll cover that. Other interesting topics in this episode include an issue with Forbes contributors and paid links, a fascinating disavow experiment and a case in which a site received a large number of natural links without seeing any improvement in rankings.

Episode 38 – June 25, 2018 – It looks like we have had a significant Google update this week. I suspect that this was a link related update. In this episode, I’ll share examples of sites that were hit or saw improvements. We’ll also give several content creation tips, a discussion on using the internal links report in GSC, more info on the March 9 update and how it has been affecting news sites and we’ll talk about Google’s removal of anonymous reviews.

Episode 37 – June 18, 2018 – This is a big newsletter with many Google related changes discussed. We had a couple of possible small algorithm updates, and what appears to be a big wave of manual actions. There is some discussion on “Web Light”, on what to do if you get a big influx of adult links, on whether social signals can affect your SEO, and also a great tip to help you build not only links, but brand E-A-T.

Episode 36 – June 11, 2018 – It is still quite quiet in terms of algorithmic updates from Google. There are two dates in the last week on which we may have had a mild update, but neither of these seem terribly significant right now. In this episode, we will talk about when to use noindex and robots.txt blocks, new info from Google on webspam, a bug affecting GSC crawl stats, interesting patent info from Bill Slawski (along with my tips on how we can take advantage of this information) and finally, we’ll talk about some new aspects to Google Posts.

Episode 35 – June 4, 2018 – This has actually been a relatively slow news week for SEO, which is something that doesn’t happen often! In this episode we have summarized some incredible SEO articles. We also have info on how the structured data testing tool is not working, whether Moz is actually shutting down their rank tracker, whether PDFs are considered mobile friendly and also a very interesting disavow case.

Episode 34 – May 28, 2018  – At the risk of sounding like a broken record, we have had yet another significant algorithm update. I am a bit suspicious that this update could have a link component to it, but it is tough to say at this point. In this episode, we’ll talk more about GDPR and mobile first indexing. It looks like Google has run yet another wave of moving sites to mobile first indexing. But, MOST sites are not there yet. Paid members have some really good tips this week including information on what kind of contact information Google wants to see on your site (and how that information can be a ranking factor), a very good tip on creating content that is better than your competitors, a way to help win more featured snippets for product pages, and also a reason why your local clients may be losing their reviews.

Episode 33 – May 22, 2018  – There is still a crazy amount of fluctuation in rankings. It looks like we have had a couple of big updates in the last week. In this episode, paid members have access to some interesting thoughts on Google’s attempts at spinning articles, how GDPR is going to affect Whois data and also, pretty interesting data on what happened when one of our clients started putting “near me” in their title tags.

Episode 32 – May 14, 2018  – Once again we have another week with a significant algorithm update. In this episode, we’ll look at what I believe to be a scary advance in Google’s ability to answer questions. We’ll get a little bit technical in talking about canonical tags and rendering. We’ll also discuss more on meta descriptions, GDPR, structured data and more.

Episode 31 – May 7, 2018  – Once again we have what looks like another significant algorithm update to talk about. It seems that Google is continually doing significant refinements to how they assess quality. In this episode we talk about some significant upcoming changes to Google news, info on Moz’s new and improved link explorer and much more. Paid subscribers get loads of practical tips in this episode. We’ll talk about my thoughts on a new Google algorithm framework and how it will affect SEO, a fantastic eCommerce link building tip and the most common reason to see rank decreases on a newly produced page.

Episode 30 – April 30, 2018  –  In this episode we’ll talk about a recent algorithm update, some news on mobile first indexing and much more. Paid users get the answer to the ranking mystery for ‘batali cinnamon buns’, posted on Twitter by Rand Fishkin, a summary of John Mueller’s Brighton SEO live chat, my most up to date thoughts on whether or not you should be disavowing (the answer may surprise you!) and also my thoughts on a very interesting patent by Google that likely explains how Google chooses which links to count and which to ignore.

Episode 29 – April 23, 2018  – Google has been going a little crazy in terms of updates again! We have a confirmed broad core algorithm update on April 16 that seems quite significant. We also have more information on the changes that happened March 7-9. In this episode we discuss a number of issues that came up during Google help hangouts and talk about several recent SEO experiments.

Episode 28 – April 12, 2018  –  It looks like the crazy algorithmic turbulence that we saw in March of 2018 has slowed down a little. We did see some significant changes on March 23, but so far I haven’t noticed any big obvious updatres in April. In this episode we talk about some great content creation tips, tips on internal linking and much more. We have also given some of our best tips we learned from John Mueller’s Reddit AMA.

Episode 27 – March 22, 2018 – This is our biggest newsletter yet. I recently spoke at Engage Portland and SMX San Jose. Paid subscribers will get loads of really practical tips that I learned at these conferences. In this episode we’ll cover the latest algorithm turbulence and go over quite a few important changes in the search industry.

Episode 26 – March 7, 2018  – In this episode, we’ll take a look at the latest Google algorithm updates as well as my most interesting takeaways from my time at Pubcon Austin. Although this was a small conference, I learned a LOT of new things! There is also news on featured snippets, ad filtering, Local SEO news and tips, and much more.

Episode 25 – February 19, 2018  – In this episode, we’ll go over some of the relatively big announcements Google has made in the last couple of weeks. There are changes to image search, there is news on http sites being marked as non-secure, and some news about AMP as well. We’ll talk about the new Lighthouse site audit feature by Google, and much more.

Episode 24 – February 5, 2018  – In this episode, I’ve summarized some really helpful SEO articles that give us a lot of tips on optimizing our sites. There is good discussion on GSC beta and a number of content tips.

Episode 23 – January 19, 2018  – In this episode we go over December’s algorithm updates in greater detail as there really were some significant changes. Google is continually improving on their ability to surface the highest quality sites. We have news on the Page Speed Update that will be coming in July as well as insight into the new Google Search Console. Paid subscribers get several link building tips as well as a LOT of extra content that is not in the free (light) version.

Episode 22 – January 5, 2018  – Welcome to another exciting couple of weeks in the world of search! Years ago, Google’s Matt Cutts said that Google tries to minimize algorithm updates near the holidays, but this doesn’t appear to be the case this year. There were possibly two significant updates in December.  Google made an official post to help us know what to expect with the mobile first index. They also announced the date on which sites with bad ads will start to have those ads blocked by Chrome. Paid members this month get a lot of goodies including a tip that every eCommerce site should be using to increase conversions and really good link building tips that work for most businesses.

Episode 21 – December 15, 2017  – Usually things slow down during the holiday season, but not this year! Google has made several announcements and changes in the last couple of months. In this episode we’ll discuss those changes plus talk about the new longer snippets in search, some things that can get you penalized, some tips (including link building) and more!

Episode 20 – November 23, 2017  – This episode has lots of tips that I picked up while attending and speaking at Pubcon Vegas. I learned a lot at this conference and I’m passing that information on to you. In this episode we’ll go over the latest algorithm updates, talk about some very important news for AMP publishers and have a thorough discussion on the latest news about disavowing. I also have a special gift for those of you who are paid subscribers.

Episode 19 – November 6, 2017  – This is one of the biggest newsletters I’ve published so far! There is an incredible amount of news from the local SEO industry. We also cover some recent quality updates. We’ll talk about the big geolocation change that Google made. I’ll share with you my strategy for finding internal link opportunities.

Episode 18 – October 20, 2017  – Once again we have had a super busy couple of weeks with a lot of search news. Google has been going crazy with algorithm changes. In this episode I’ll give some examples of sites that are being affected by the latest changes. We’ll also talk about Panda, and some good tips on broken link building.

Episode 17 – October 4, 2017  – Once again we have had a super busy couple of weeks with a lot of search news. Google has been going crazy with algorithm changes. In this episode I’ll give some examples of sites that are being affected by the latest changes. We’ll also talk about Panda, and some good link building tips.

Episode 16 – September 14, 2017  – Once again we have another huge episode as a lot has happened in the search world. There were several algorithm changes that seemed to be significant. One of these is a big local algo change. We’ll talk more about user engagement as a ranking signal and we’ll look at a few interesting developments that may make you want to consider implementing AMP. There are also a few link building tips in this episode.

Episode 15 – August 22, 2017 – In this episode we’ll go over some recent algorithm changes. One appears to be link related and one is quality related. We’ll discuss the latest http warnings from Google as well as several important changes in the local SEO field.

Paid subscribers get some neat things in this episode including a tip to help you find thin content on your site, information on making sure that your search pages are not being indexed, important info on above the fold content and a very cool thing that I discovered that allowed me to make a change and in two minutes see pages jump up to top ranking positions.

Episode 14 – August 9, 2017 – This is the largest newsletter update I have written so far! There have been a lot of significant changes in the Search Industry recently. In this episode, we discuss some significant algorithm changes and Google announcements. Paid subscribers get some thorough insight into a recent Panda patent and how we could take advantage of this information to help improve our rankings.

Episode 13 – July 24, 2017 – This episode has loads of Google Announcements. Google has made significant changes to Google Search Console, has announced Google Hire and is soon about to make a home page change that could change how we do SEO for many websites. In this episode I’ll also share quite a few actionable tips that I learned at Mozcon last week.

Also, wait until you see how much I improved my Google Page Speed Insights score in our ongoing series on improving page speed.

Episode 12 – July 5, 2017 – In this episode we’ll unpack the latest algorithm updates. We’ll talk about Google Posts (which are different than Google Plus Posts and are a feature that every local business should be using.) We have a bunch of stuff on Panda. And, I’ll show you how to use some new features in Chrome 59 which are really useful for site audits.

I’ll also be sharing the second instalment on our Page Speed Improvement Guide. You’ll be amazed to see how well I did at improving my page speed with a tactic that took me less than a minute to implement!

Episode 11 – June 19, 2017 – In this episode we have a lot of things to cover. Many of them were topics that came up at SMX Advanced. For paid subscribers, we’re starting off on a series of super easy to implement tips to help you improve your page load time. At SMX Advanced, Gary Illyes commented that when we move to a mobile first index, your page speed on mobile is going to be super important. I have found that every tutorial that I read on making page speed improvements is extremely technical and complicated. I don’t claim to be an expert on page load time, but I am learning. I’ll walk you through the changes that I make to my own website so that you can implement similar ones on your site as well.

Episode 10 – June 5, 2017 – In this episode we’ll unpack several Google announcements. I’ll also share with you a great way to find and fix broken links using Google Analytics. This method is even better than finding broken links in Google Search Console. We’ll talk about the difference between noindex and a robots.txt block, a way to see what your competitors are working on and a lot more.

There are a lot of articles in the recommended reading section as there have been some really good studies and reports published recently.

Episode 9 – May 22, 2017 – There have been a number of big algorithm changes in the last few weeks. In this episode we’ll look at those dates. We’ll also look at all of the latest news in the SEO industry. This episode includes a few tips to help you improve your site. It also goes over a great way to use your social profiles in order to get links.

Episode 8 – May 5, 2017 – In this episode we’ll talk about my thoughts on how so many sites that were affected by Fred had issues with Expertise-Authority-Trust (E-A-T). We’ll also cover a bug affecting Amp pages. There are several tips for local SEOS and also some link building advice and much more.

Episode 7 – April 20, 2017 – This is a massive episode of my newsletter. A lot of interesting things have happened recently. We had a couple of significant algorithm changes in April. I have written my thoughts on those. There is some new information on reavowing links that I found quite interesting as it contradicts something that Matt Cutts said two years ago. This episode has a couple of great tips for local SEOs and also for eCommerce stores.

My favorite part of this episode is the challenge in which I’m going to walk you through some steps that I took to try and increase conversions for one page of one of my sites. I’m going to challenge you to do the same! Note: This challenge is available to paid subscribers only.

Episode 6, April 7, 2017 – This is another packed episode. We’ll talk about some possible algorithm updates over the last two weeks as well as the latest on the “Fred” Algorithm update. I’ll share with you two things that you may be doing that could cause you problems with Google’s mobile interstitial algorithm as well as some cool keyword research tips. There are also really good things in here for people with small businesses.

Episode 5, March 23, 2017 – The Fred Edition. This is a HUGE episode in which I talk all about my findings on the Fred algorithm change. You’ll also find tips on how to find and deal with 404 pages, stuff about a potential adult update, a great way to get links to eCommerce sites and much much more.

Episode 4, March 9, 2017 – There are loads of tips in this episode including information on finding internal link opportunities, information about reviews that are a game changer for local SEO, step by step tips on how to find internal link opportunities, and so much more!

Episode 3, February 23, 2017 – This episode is packed with some great tips to help improve your on-page content. Have you notice the “People Also Ask” boxes in the SERPS? In this episode I’ll share with you an awesome way you can use these to your advantage. We talk about the recent February 7 algo update. Also, I give some really good tips on how to improve your above-the-fold content.

Many other topics are discussed in this episode as well.

Episode 2. February 9, 2017 – Information on Google algorithm changes, important news for WordPress site owners, and great tips for migrating to https. If you have a local business, you’ll want to know more about something discovered about review stars. This episode includes several tips on looking for things that can cause your site to accidentally be removed from Google’s index and much more.

Episode 1. January 26, 2017 – Information on crawl budgets, interstitial penalties, and the mobile first index. Tips include a simple way to improve WordPress security, tips for getting a new page indexed, advice for eCommerce stores and affiliates and much more. In this weeks’ challenge there is a tutorial on how to discover featured snippet opportunities and win them.

This first episode is free for everyone. Future episodes will be for paid subscribers only.