Dear SEO Enthusiasts

Welcome to the latest edition of our expert newsletter, where we bring you the most important news, trends, and updates in the world of SEO. As the CEO of Eminent SEO, I strive to keep you informed, equipped, and ahead of the curve in the ever-changing landscape of digital marketing.

Good to Know in SEO

As you can see, Google attempts to answer the query and then provides a few relevant websites, maybe a video and relevant follow up questions.

Initially it seems like this may mean less clicks. However, if you have the best content or video, you might also get a lot more clicks. It’ll be interesting to see how this impacts search volume and click through rate as a whole.

Latest Google Algorithm Updates

The August Google Update was launched on the 22nd according to the official Google Search Central X page (I still can’t believe we have to call Twitter X) and we are now in week two of the expected two week update.

Today we released the August 2023 core update. We’ll update our ranking release history page when the rollout is complete: https://t.co/sQ5COfdNcb

— Google Search Central (@googlesearchc) August 22, 2023

Barry Schartz is saying Google August 2023 core update seemed to have touched down on Friday August 25th after being announced on August 22nd. Sites impacted can see gains or losses of 20-80% or so, but this update, so far, doesn’t seem as widespread as other core updates: Google August 2023 Core Update Hit Hard Around August 25th For Some Sites

How are your sites holding up?

Insights on Recent Ranking and Traffic Changes

Even before this update we observed significant shifts in search rankings and traffic patterns across various industries. These changes can be attributed to several factors, beyond what we know to be core algorithm updates. For example, the AI results shown in my example above. But, generally how user behavior is changing as a whole.

In case you missed it, on August 8th Google announced that they’d be showing FAQ’s in the search results only for “well known, authoritative government and health websites.” Some think that these changes also have something to do with it.

John Mueller, a prominent figure from Google, recently reaffirmed that relying solely on good technical SEO is not enough to achieve high rankings. Mueller emphasized that factors such as content quality, user experience, and reputation also play significant roles in determining rankings.

Actionable Tips for Boosting SEO Ranking

To help you navigate these changes and improve your website’s SEO ranking, in addition to the fundamentals (content, optimization and links) here are a few more specific actionable tips:

1. User Experience Optimization: Enhance your website’s user experience by improving site speed, mobile responsiveness, and intuitive navigation. User-friendly websites tend to rank higher in search results.
2. Technical SEO Best Practices: Regularly audit your website for technical issues such as broken links, duplicate content, and crawlability errors. Optimize your meta tags, headings, and URLs to ensure they are keyword-rich and concise.
3. Internal Linking: Boost your page authority by strategically incorporating internal links within your content. This helps search engines understand the hierarchy and relevance of your web pages.
4. Long-Tail Keywords and FAQ Sections: Expand your keyword strategy beyond broad terms. Incorporate long-tail keywords and create a dedicated FAQ section on your website to target specific user queries and increase visibility.
5. Authoritativeness: Demonstrate expertise in your niche by creating valuable, accurate, and well-researched content. Present your credentials and showcase your knowledge and experience to establish yourself as an authority figure in your field.
6. Experience, Expertise, Authority, and Trustworthiness (E-E-A-T): Google evaluates the E-E-A-T of websites, particularly for YMYL content. Highlight the qualifications and expertise of your authors or contributors. Ensure their credentials and affiliations are transparently displayed on your site.
7. Authorship Markup: Consider implementing authorship markup on your website. This schema markup helps Google understand who the authors are and provides additional signals of credibility.
8. Backlinks from Reputable Sources: Earn backlinks from authoritative websites within your industry. When reputable sites link to your content, it signals to Google that your content is trustworthy and valuable.
9. User Reviews and Testimonials: Encourage satisfied customers to leave positive reviews and testimonials. Display these prominently on your website to build social proof and trust among visitors.
10. Secure Website: Implement HTTPS encryption to secure user data and demonstrate a commitment to data privacy and security. A secure website is more likely to be trusted by both users and search engines.
11. Transparency and Accuracy: Be transparent about your sources of information and cite credible references where necessary. Ensure that your content is accurate, up-to-date, and free from misleading or false information.
12. Optimize for Local SEO: If your business operates within a specific geographic area, optimize your website for local search results. Ensure your business information is consistently listed and accurate across online directories and leverage location-based keywords.

A Note About Systems Versus Algorithm Updates

I discovered this podcast today and I think it’s worth a listen. Google doesn’t operate with just one giant algorithm, but instead a set of individual systems that work together to give users the best results. They explain how updates really became systems they use and these individual systems are getting updated as they go. I think this is key moving forward in how we think about and speak about the Google algorithm.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

Closing Thought

Remember, SEO is an ongoing journey that requires adaptability and continuous learning. By focusing on building trust and authority through these strategies, you can strengthen your website’s reputation with Google and improve your chances of ranking higher in search results.

The team at Eminent SEO is always here to support you on your quest to better search engine visibility!

Wishing you success in your SEO endeavors!

Jenny Weatherall
CEO, Eminent SEO

Social Media News Roundup

LinkedIn’s Feed Is Getting Smarter Thanks To AI

Read More at SEJ

Elon Musk Confirms Removal Of Context For Links In X Posts

Read More at SEJ

Threads is widely rolling out on the web

Read More at SEL

TikTok Shares the Top Tracks of the Summer, Based on In-App Trends

Read More at SMT

SEO Term of the Day

“Deep Linking”

Definition: Definition: A hyperlink that directs to an internal web page other than the home page of a website, generally “deeper” in the site, meaning, on a web page that is 2, 3 or more levels deep from the home page. The purpose is to help the search engines still find and index the page even though it may not be part of the primary navigation of the site.

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Your brand is so much more than your logo and company name. Your brand is your visual identification with the world. It’s your opportunity to emotionally connect with your audience. Your brand represents your personality and vision. Therefore, before you can even begin designing a logo you must first develop your brand strategy.
To Learn more about our expert brand strategy devleopment, click below.

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From Our Blog

The Importance of Online Reputation Management: Maintaining a Positive Image in the Digital Age

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Essential Elements of a Well-Designed Website

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Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

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Eminent SEO is Celebrating 13 Years in Business

Business Lessons Learned:

Always try to learn and improve, both in business and in life.

“Never stop learning or improving.”

This is the motto I live by in both my professional and personal life. There is always more to learn, and there’s never a reason to stop growing as a person. The world around us changes so quickly that if we don’t stay current with it, we can easily get left behind.

Trying to keep up with the latest trends can be difficult, though. With so much information out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed and want to give up before you even begin.

The best way to learn something new is to start small. Don’t try to tackle everything at once—that will only lead you down a path of frustration and overwhelm. Instead, focus on one small thing that interests you and build from there.

To all of our clients, we thank you for being with us through these 13 years! We hope that we can continue to serve your needs and exceed your expectations.

GOOD TO KNOW IN SEO

On October 19th Google released the October 2022 spam update. This update is global and affects all languages. The rollout was complete as of October 21, 2022. While Google has automated systems to detect search spam, they occasionally make notable improvements to how they work. And, when they do, they refer to this as a spam update and share when they happen on their list of Google Search ranking updates.

Google said “sites that violate our policies may rank lower in results or not appear in results at all.” The impact seems pretty big for the sites hit by this update, but the net was not widespread.

How are your rankings holding up? Not sure?
Request a rankings report and book a free consultation with an SEO from our team!

Ready for a Custom Marketing Strategy?
Call us for a free initial consultation
1.800.871.4130

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

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The Latest Google News

Hi There Readers!

It’s been a heck of a last month as Google rolled out several algorithm updates. Combine that with news from the Google’s Search On conference held last week and there is a lot to fill you in on from the world of SEO.

The Latest from Google? Quality Content Continues to Reign Supreme

Google’s latest updates make it harder for low-quality content to rank well in search results across many verticals.

10 Announcements From Google Search On 22

On September 28th Google held their annual Search On event, here’s a recap:

FROM OUR BLOG

Want to take a deeper dive and improve your website content and rankings? Check out:

How to Localize Hispanic Content

Conventional wisdom in business and media has long been to approach the United States as an English-speaking market.

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Evaluating and Improving Your Website With Core Web Vitals

No one ever says, “I wish my website would run slower and register lower in search engine rankings.”

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Ready for a Custom Marketing Strategy?
Call us for a free initial consultation
1.800.871.4130

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

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Understanding the Google “Helpful Content Update”

Hi Readers!

GOOD TO KNOW IN SEO

On August 19th Google announced a new big search ranking algorithm update named the “Helpful Content Update” (yes, Google named it that) and on the 25th they officially started rolling it out. A big algorithm update like this will likely take 2 weeks to fully roll out. Their goal is to remove content from the search results that was written for the purpose of ranking in search engines but that does not actually help or inform people. The update will “help make sure that unoriginal, low-quality content doesn’t rank highly in Search,” Google added. Um, shouldn’t they have already been focused on ranking helpful, useful and authentic content?

Luckily, we already understand the value in creating content for humans, not engines, and therefore our strategies and websites will likely not be impacted. Also, a lot of people are calling this a core update, it is not. It is an update to a previous core algorithm update, Google Panda, according to Barry Schwartz of SEO Roundtable.

If you are hit, you will need to look at your content and address any outdated, duplicate, spammy or otherwise low quality content. Which, ahem, you should be doing anyways!

Developing a Ranking Content Strategy

So, what defines quality content anyways? Seems easy enough to understand, right? Quality is unique, helpful, maybe even notable? But, what you see when you currently Google most broad topics is a smattering of the same media companies, am I right? It’s as though Google decided that it was fine for the companies with the most money to invest into content development to win every time, despite the fact that most of the articles are written by marketers and are literally just regurgitated versions of the other top ranking articles on the subject.

Sigh.

If this “Helpful Content Update” intends to address that, I am here for it. Yes, we write articles for our clients. However, we work hard to aim for a unique point of view, offer something new to the web and not just rehash information you can find on Wikipedia. However, it can be hard to come up with fresh ideas and still keep up with the volume Google requires to become and remain a ranking authority site.

That said, there are some cool things you can do to stand out.

Here are a few ideas to try:

Look, no one (including now too Google, apparently) cares if you’re an expert at creating another version of what already exists on the internet.

What web users demand is interesting and helpful content from brands they trust. It is not enough to “be good” you have to offer something totally unique, AND, look cool while doing it.

How Eminent SEO Helps the Helpers

Most of our clients are in the service space in some way. We feel privileged to help behavioral health experts, doctors, therapists, lawyers, consultants and other experts share their work online. This algorithm update offers an exciting opportunity to focus on YOUR unique perspective. It’s time to not only highlight your expertise in your industry, but share your personal point of view – the heart of who you are and what your brand stands for.

The team over here at Eminent SEO can work with you to transform your unique thoughts and educational content into the format that is right for your audience… and Google too, of course.

via GIPHY

FROM OUR BLOG

Want to take a deeper dive and improve your website content and rankings? Check out:

I started doing SEO back in 2005 when people were still trying to figure out how to define what search engine optimization means. Of course, most people today still don’t really understand the Google algorithm.

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People don’t like being advertised to, and most can sniff out a promotional article from infinite (cyber) miles away. How is it possible, then, to write a blog post or article that ranks well, but does not come off as salesy?

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No one ever says, “I wish my website would run slower and register lower in search engine rankings.” If you aren’t keeping up with the latest trends and changes in search engine optimization, those negative outcomes will follow.

Read More

Ready for a Custom Marketing Strategy?
Call us for a free initial consultation
1.800.871.4130

Team Eminent SEO

Eminent SEO provides strategic SEO campaigns with measurable results along with expert website design, development, pay per click, content and social media and organic website marketing. 800.871.4130.

More Posts - Website

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