The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #16 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

June 12, 2022

Here are the weekly SEO insights for the SEOs Diners Club members. In addition, you can also join our free SEO Diners Club network to ask questions and share your thoughts on these topics and more.

Google Completes May 2022 Core Algorithm Update

Google's core algorithm update began on May 25 and was officially completed on June 9.

Do you notice any positive changes in your rankings and organic traffic after the algorithm update? Fantastic! You've torn from another update :)

Google's core algorithm update that began rolling out on May 25 has officially completed on June 9.

Are you noticing negative changes in your organic traffic and rankings? If so, you must be wondering what to do next.

Google's advice for ditching core updates is always the same: improve your content.

Each day, Google usually releases one or more changes designed to improve our search results.

Most aren't noticeable but help us incrementally continue to improve.

If you're experiencing declines after such updates, John Mueller recommends seeing the big picture rather than focusing on individual issues. So, for example, instead of seeing your shortcomings on the technical SEO side as the responsible and "scapegoat" for the decline, it would be much more beneficial for your potential visitors to focus on seeing your shortcomings on the site.

To try this in a real case, I followed this method; I scanned competing sites with Semrush and Screaming Frog to inquire about the technical SEO performance of two industry-dominating sites and my client's site.

This analysis allowed me to see that these sites, which are in a much worse condition than my client's site in terms of technical SEO, can achieve a much better position in the rankings, and I had a kind of enlightenment. I will say that overdoing technical SEO regulations and giving all the effort to that side can prevent you from seeing other significant deficiencies in your site.

This Update Appears To Have Impacted Sites That Create Content With Artificial Intelligence

Although it is early to talk about it, it is stated in the article of Search Engine Journal that sites that use artificial intelligence in content production have experienced a remarkable decline.

On this occasion, I would like to share my presentation titled "AI-Powered Content Creation Recommendations Compliant with Google Algorithms," which I frequently update. If you are going to produce content with artificial intelligence, definitely pay attention to these suggestions:

AI-Powered Content Creation Recommendations Compliant with Google Algorithms by Mert Erkal, International SEO Expert, Founder of Stradiji SEO and Conversion Optimization Agency Last Update Date : 31 May 2022

To summarize;

The May 2022 Google algorithm update was one of the most comprehensive we've ever seen. At such times, SEO experts turn into captains trying to keep their ships afloat in a stormy sea where the wind is not apparent. So often, there can be deep divergences between our intuition and reality. "Correlation is not causation." Just because two things are related does not mean that one causes the other.

As an SEO expert, you must constantly question your decisions' accuracy. Therefore, having an SEO buddy comes in handy.

I want to thank Emre Ercan, my fellow traveler at Stradiji, who always helps me make better decisions by challenging my thoughts.

If you want to make better decisions in times of crisis, I recommend reading Daniel Kahneman's book, Thinking Fast and Slow, which I am currently reading.

Buy Thinking, Fast and Slow on Amazon.com â FREE SHIPPING on qualified orders

Fixing Google Search Console’s Coverage Report ‘Excluded Pages’

Here's the solution if you've experienced a drop in rankings and organic traffic since the last Google update.

Google Search Console allows you to see your website through Google's eyes.

The Exclusions section of the Google Search Console Index Coverage report provides information on the indexing status of your website's pages. In most cases, this section allows you to find the poor-quality content you need to rework on your site as if you had put it by hand.

The following article summarizes very well how you can make improvements to this section. I recommend using it as a kind of checklist. So you don't have to experience heart palpitations with every significant Google update.

Don't let your content go unnoticed. Learn about the excluded part of the Google Search Console Index Coverage report and fix your status.

How To Find Quick Win Keywords Using Semrush?

With the Semrush tool, you can identify keywords that you can develop quickly in a few steps.

We have been using Semrush for the last four years at Stradiji, where I am the founder. We are also Semrush partners. We have special discounts and training support for those who will buy Semrush from us for the first time.

50+ tools on SEO, content marketing, competitor research, PPC and social media marketing to help you attract and grow your audience online faster.

Some SEO experts find Semrush a bit expensive. I am also aware that it is costly compared to similar SEO tools. But in the age of big data, the price you charge parallels the data you offer. In other words, Semrush kind of deserves this fee by providing more data.

The tool does not have a single standard method of use, and it is entirely up to your creativity. Here is the video below as an example. It has summarized very well how you can find keywords that you can make rapid progress using in a short time using Semrush.

In this video, we're going to be using one of our favorite SEO tools, Semrush. We're going to show you how you can use this tool in order to find quick wins ...

If you are a Semrush user and want to improve yourself, be sure to check out our Semrush Beginners Guide:

SEMRUSH is one of the online tools that you can regularly monitor your website’s performance and competitors from SEO to PPC when it comes to digital marketing.

SEO Searches At All-Time High According to Google Trends

Thanks to SEO expert Brodie Clark's post, I noticed that SEO searches are at their historical highs.

According to Google Trends, SEO-related searches break records. Namely, there is an increase of 58% compared to the previous year.

I see this as an extension of the digital transformation that started with the pandemic. Increasing competition and rising advertising costs also increase the demand for SEO. Although there is a difference between what we understand about SEO and what businesses understand, companies have started to see the difference more clearly created by working with an SEO consulting firm—turned into SEO PR work without the extra effort of SEO agencies and experts.

Google Image Thumbnails for Organic Results: What They Are, How They Work & Will SEO Help?

Thumbnails may appear in Google's organic search results, but there's a lot of confusion about this. Read this guide for more information.

Regarding SEO, we'd love to ensure that our clients have any competitive advantage available to them. For example, one of the more compelling elements of Google's search results is the ability of organic listings to stand out with thumbnails.

Brodie Clark's purpose for creating this guide is to troubleshoot thumbnail problems and provide more clarity on the situation by giving actionable tips. I highly recommend you read it and apply it in your SEO efforts.

Image thumbnails can appear in Google's organic search results, but have a lot of confusion around them. Read this guide for more information.

Let me also place Brodie Clark's post here as a note:

Below is a summary of Go Fish Digital's Chris Long excerpted from Brodie Clark's guide:

Discover Cannibalization Issues on Your Site with Semrush Keyword Gap

Here is another unusual and creative use of Semrush that I became aware of with Aleyda Solis's post.

I knew we could explore cannibalization issues using Semrush's Position Tracking module. But for forty years, I wouldn't have thought that a tool such as Semrush keyword gap, which compares the rankings of two domains by keyword, could also be used to discover cannibalization problems.

Yes, a creative approach that makes you wonder why not. Instead of comparing two sites, it is possible to find the keywords/pages they cannibalize by comparing two pages/categories of a site.

SEO Playbook by Tomek Rudzki

I wanted to introduce this e-book, which is expected to be released tomorrow, to you closely.

In my 13 years of SEO life, I had the opportunity to read many SEO books, most of which consisted of sharing standard practices, as we know them, in a different language. 

I can recognize such books as soon as I see them; they are based on personal and non-objective experiences, where essential SEO practices are left to the understanding and initiative of the user.

Tomek Rudzki's book is nothing like theirs; I haven't had a chance to read it yet, but I'll probably be one of the first ones tomorrow, as it can lead me to discover some applications we hadn't noticed before. Even the following got me excited:

The book will probably be out tomorrow; if you want to be informed about the developments, you can sign up for the waiting list:

I love sharing my knowledge & experience about SEO. I was a speaker at various international conferences, including BrightonSEO and SMX.

Internal Link Structure Best Practices to Boost Your SEO

One of the conditions for good SEO performance is to build a good internal link structure.

The internal link structure on most websites is not entirely under the control of us SEO experts. Content, user experience, IT, and other factors come into play.

The challenge for us is to convince the stakeholders of the enormous impact of internal link structure on SEO. But unfortunately, an approach like SEO mandates doing this can backfire in most cases.

In the following article, you can learn about five methods you can use to create a good internal link structure.

Internal link structure boosts for SEO include indexing, link flow, and more. Learn 5 best practices to implement for great user experience.

Free People Also Ask Tool by Frase

With this tool, you can quickly compile the questions in the section where users asked them in any search query.

Neil Patel recently acquired the Answer The Public tool. In addition, Alsoasked.com offers a daily — limited option in the free version. Here you have the opportunity to analyze as many search queries as you want with this free tool from Frase. However, from time to time, I recommend that you question the reliability of the data that Alsoasked.com offers by using its free limit.

Use our Free People Also Ask Tool to identify questions your audience is asking and help answer their questions.

Book of The Week: Humans at Work: The Art and Practice of Creating the Hybrid Workplace

Is your organization strategically prepared for the digital and distributed workplace?

Technology, data analytics, and artificial intelligence already impact how people work and engage with organizations. In addition, a dispersed workforce, greater transparency, social change, generational shift, and value chain disruptions are driving new behaviors and expectations from the workplace. Together, these trends are shaping a new era of distributed and digitally enabled networks of workers where the work comes to workers instead of the workers going to work.

In Humans at Work, employee and workplace experience experts Anna Tavis and Stela Lupushor advocate for adopting human-centric practices as a critical and necessary part of adapting work and workplaces to the future of work. Outlining the four factors (digitization of work, distributed workplaces, organizational redesign, and changing workforce) driving the dramatic changes in the workplace, each chapter provides examples of how innovative companies are building workplace infrastructure and reshaping norms, serving new markets, and adopting new technologies.

Filled with examples from start-ups and established companies, Humans at Work is the workplace leader's guide to building a workplace that creates market value by making work more human.

Humans at Work: The Art and Practice of Creating the Hybrid Workplace: 9781398604230: Human Resources Books @ Amazon.com

I hope you enjoyed my weekly SEO insights. Hope to see you the following Monday in the new episode. I wish you all a great week.