The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #2 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

March 07, 2022

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

Google Completes Desktop Page Experience Update

Google has announced that it has completed rolling out the page experience update to desktop search results. Now it's time to evaluate the impact of this on search results.

The update started on February 22 and ended on March 3. So we can say that it took nine days in total. By comparison, the page experience update on mobile took two and a half months.

Now that Google has announced the result of its desktop rollout, you can start assessing its impact on your search results.

How Can We Evaluate the Reflections of This Update on the Ranking Results?

We can attribute positive or negative changes in desktop search rankings that occurred on or after March 3 to Google's page experience update.

You can use Google's tools to analyze your site's page experience score to determine if this is the case.

For example, Google Search Console has a report to evaluate Page Experience criteria on desktop versions of web pages. i.e., The desktop experience of our Stradiji.com website is not satisfactory according to Google:

Desktop Page Experience Update Criteria

Desktop experience ranking factors include:

  • Key Web Metrics (LCP + CLS + FID)

  • HTTPS Security

  • No intrusive interstitials

If your website does not meet any of the above criteria, the desktop page experience update may negatively impact your site. It means that sites that meet Google's criteria may rank higher for you, causing your pages to rank lower. Therefore, improving your page experience score can help you regain these ranking positions and stay competitive.

Of course, many other factors can also cause a drop in rankings. However, if Google is making an update, we need to adapt to it quickly as a general rule.

Other important details about the update can be found in the Search Engine Journal article below:

Google’s page experience update is now fully rolled out to desktop search results, the company confirms.

BERT 101 — NLP Model Explained

I have talked about the differences brought by the Googles BERT algorithm and the revolution it will bring about in SEO many times before. 

Understanding BERT and how it works will enable you to succeed in SEO for years to come.

I wanted to share with you the most comprehensive guide ever written on this subject. The guide includes the following topics:

  • What is BERT used for?

  • How does BERT work?

  • BERT model size and architecture

  • BERT's performance on common language tasks

  • Environmental impact of deep learning

  • The open-source power of BERT

  • How to start using BERT?

  • BERT FAQs

  • Conclusion

You can access the guide via the link below:

We’re on a journey to advance and democratize artificial intelligence through open source and open science.

Google Brand Results: Why You Should Dominate "People Also Asked"?

Jason Barnard has summarized why you should pay attention to the questions asked about and around your brand in Google's SERPs.

The "People Also Ask" section, which appears in Google results when you perform a search, has developed tremendously in the last few years. They were often seen as an opportunity by SEO experts.

Brand SERP (Search Engine Result Page) is what your audience sees when they Google your brand name. These questions that Google suggests are not an opportunity. They are indispensable for you. Because it is essential that you have as much control as possible over your brand's SERP.

Thanks to the People Also Ask section, we can learn the following about our brand:

  • Questions people ask about your brand.

  • Questions people ask about your brand (i.e. your core topics)

According to Jason Barnard, these search queries are made by your target audience and hit the heart of your business. So are you paying enough attention? Are you answering these questions?

You can read Jason Barnard's other suggestions on the subject in the article below:

It's time to optimize for People Also Asked questions asked around and about your brand in Google's SERPs. Here's why.

Free HTML Tutorial from W3Schools.com

If you want to be a good SEO expert, you need a basic knowledge of HTML. This free tutorial from W3Schools.com will help you.

HTML is the standard markup language for Web pages. You can create your Web Site with HTML. Learning HTML is pretty straightforward. This information will be beneficial in your SEO efforts.

W3Schools is known for developing courses that skim all aspects of web development. Moreover, most of these courses are free. For example, to learn HTML, you can enroll in W3Schools' free HTML course:

The course is supported by interactive test environments like the one below. In other words, you are allowed to apply what you have learned practically:

You can click on the link below to join the free course:

Well-organized and easy to understand Web building tutorials with lots of examples of how to use HTML, CSS, JavaScript, SQL, Python, PHP, Bootstrap, Java, XML, and more.

Blog SEO: Tips for Optimizing Your Blog Posts

You can use these methods recommended in the Semrush blog to improve the SEO performance of your blog.

Blog SEO is the process of using technical and on-page SEO techniques to increase your blog's visibility in organic search. You have two main goals when using blog SEO:

  • Make sure that search engines can find and understand your blog posts,

  • Make sure you write blog content that aligns with the needs and interests of your target audience.

The techniques used to do this are not entirely different from the methods you would use to optimize the content on other parts of your site.

You can find blog SEO tips in the following article:

A strong blog SEO strategy will pay dividends for your site. From attracting new potential business to becoming a strong authority in your space, it‘s important to think about your blog SEO success.

A Guide to More Trusted Websites — Bill Slawski

Why should we build more reliable websites? Experienced SEO expert Bill Slawski has clarified this issue.

SEO expert Bill Slawski stated that even though many SEOs often mention Google's Search Quality Raters Guideline document, it is insufficient to explain EAT's concept fully.

Slawski has been sharing the Stanford Credibility Guidelines with customers since the early 2000s, and he believes these guidelines are worthy of careful review. This guideline can help us create more reliable websites.

You can read the guidelines at the link below:

The Stanford Web Credibility Project: Part of the Stanford Persuasive Technology Lab our goal is to understand what leads people to believe what they find on the Web. We hope this knowledge will enhance Web site design and promote future research on Web credibility. This page lists some guidelines for Web Credibility.

How to Improve E-A-T for YMYL Pages

When it comes to YMYL sites, we must take what Marie Haynes says very seriously. Years ago, I purchased her Google Quality Raters Guideline checklist, which was helpful.

Google uses the phrase “Your Money or Your Life” (YMYL) to describe topics or pages that could potentially impact a person’s future happiness, health, financial stability, or safety if presented inaccurately.

The stakes are high for this type of content. That’s why Google’s algorithms hold these pages to a higher standard.

You need to know whether the topics you cover are considered YMYL. When publishing YMYL topics, also pay attention to what Google values in terms of E-A-T (Expertise, Authoritativeness, and Trustworthiness) in your vertical.

This in-depth article by Maries Haynes discusses what type of content Google considers to be YMYL and how you can use this information to determine what you should be focusing on to improve E-A-T for those pages. 

Learn what type of content Google considers to be YMYL and where to focus your SEO efforts to improve E-A-T for those pages.

Knowledge Graphs: What Are They and How Do SEOs Use Them?

Simply put, a knowledge graph is a big mind map of connections. With this guide, you can learn how to use the knowledge panel effectively in your SEO work.

Learn about how semantic SEOs are using knowledge graphs in their content strategies, with an understanding of how entities interconnect.

SEO Community Support For Ukraine & How You Can Help

SEO and other digital marketing companies are providing support to those suffering in Ukraine in all sorts of ways. Here's how you can help.

War is a very bad experience for all humanity. If you want to help Digital Marketing and SEO professionals who are in a difficult situation as a result of the war in Ukraine, you can consider the options in the Search Engine Journal article below.

SEO and other digital marketing companies are providing support to those suffering in Ukraine in all sorts of ways. Here's how you can help.

If you are looking for a book on SEO these days, I recommend this book. As its author, Jason Barnard, very well put it, "Google is your new business card and it is up to you to optimize yours"

Book of The Week: The Fundamentals of Brand SERPs For Business

If you are looking for a book on SEO these days, I recommend this book. As its author, Jason Barnard, very well put it, "Google is your new business card and it is up to you to optimize yours"

I've been trying to get the book since it was in the Kindle version. Unfortunately, it was not possible to purchase Kindle from Turkey. Fortunately, I was soon able to purchase the print version on Amazon.

I read the book insidiously, taking notes and pasting post-its. I found practical information that I can use in my daily SEO work.

Brand SERP subject needs to be explained very well to brands. Because, in general, the expectations of the brands are different. On the other hand, Brand SERP is a gold mine waiting to be processed. Thanks to Jason's book, you may be able to stay one step ahead of other SEO experts in this regard.

The Fundamentals of Brand SERPs for Business [Barnard, Jason] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Fundamentals of Brand SERPs for Business

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

Best,

Mert Erkal