The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #26 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

August 21, 2022

Here are the weekly SEO insights for the SEOs Diners Club members. You may also join our free SEO Diners Club network to ask questions and share your thoughts on these topics.

Google 'Useful Content' Algorithm Update Launches Soon

Google is preparing to release a site-wide algorithm update called "useful content" that devalues ​​content written only for search engines.

A statement from Google on August 18 created a bombshell effect in the SEO industry:

Google Search is always working to better connect people to helpful information. To this end, we're launching what

we're calling the “helpful content update” that's part of a broader effort to ensure

people see more original, helpful content written by people, for people, in search results. Below is more about the

update and things creators should consider.

In this announcement, Google states that this update may adversely affect the SEO performance of sites that produce content created solely for SEO concerns and that does not benefit users. At the moment, this update will only be available for English content.

Google is rolling out a sitewide algorithm update, called the helpful content update, which devalues content written for search engines.

It is worth noting Dr. Marie Haynes' thoughts on the possible effects of this update;

This update may possibly cause a significant shakeup in the search results. Designed to promote people-first content, it will demote content created primarily to rank on search engines.

Haynes summarized the possible effects of this update as follows;

  • AI-generated content

  • “Niche sites” unless they indeed do a good job of demonstrating expertise and fully satisfying the searcher’s needs

  • Sites that do little more than aggregate information from other sites

  • Affiliate heavy sites (although many of these were already strongly impacted by the July 2022 product reviews update.)

SEO expert Aleyda Solis prepared a checklist based on the questions on the Google description page. You can view it via this link and share it with your content-producing team:

In English

Google's Content Quality and Helpfulness Questions,Question Type,Answer,Add example of how this is better done by outranking competitor ,Comments and Recommendations

Is the content primarily made for humans rather than to attract people from search engines?,Helpfulness and People Sati...

Screaming Frog SEO Spider 17.0 Update Has Been Released

The Screaming Frog 17.0 update was released this week. Let's take a look at what's new with this update.

One of my favorite SEO tools, Screaming Frog, continues to amaze me with every new update.

The 17.0 update stands out with its new user-friendly features. For example, a new tab called "Issues" has been added to the menu on the right. In this way, we have the chance to see the problems on the site we crawled at once.

Another important innovation that caught my eye is the new tab, "Links," added to the menu. In this way, it seems that internal link control has become much more manageable.

You can find the other new features in the blog post below:

We’re pleased to announce Screaming Frog SEO Spider version 17.0, codenamed internally as ‘Lionesses’.

Google Is Preparing A Product Review Algorithm Update For August

Another Google product review algorithm update is scheduled to roll out this month.

With the upcoming update, Google continues its efforts to show more helpful, in-depth reviews based on first-hand expertise in search results.

Google's timing for the following product review update aligns with the outcome of the just-announced "helpful content" update.

Google seems to be trying to purge low-value content from search results, with a sharp focus on the content people use to determine their purchasing decisions. I think that these decisions should not be evaluated independently of the "Useful Content" update.

Another Google product review algorithm updates is scheduled to roll out in August 2022.

Google Search Console Displays Indexed Pages Incorrectly

Google said it fixed an issue that caused an incorrect number of indexed pages to be reported in the Search Console.

Google has announced that an issue with Search Console is causing them to report an incorrect number of indexed pages. The problem seems to be resolved for now.

Because of this error, Google warns that you will likely decrease the number of pages indexed in the Index Coverage report.

Pages are not excluded from Google's index. It's a Google Search Console reporting the problem. However, you should not ignore this issue if you are compiling reports specifically for customers and have submitted an incorrect number of indexed pages.

Google fixes an issue that was causing an incorrect number of indexed pages to be reported in Search Console.

How Can We Improve Rankings of Older Content? An SEO Issue

In many cases, updating existing content rather than producing new content allows us to achieve faster organic traffic growth. But, how do update old content?

An interview with Adam Riemer on Search Engine Journal may give you an idea of ​​the method you should follow. I recommend you watch the video recording of this interview.

Faith has content sitting stagnant on pages four and five of Google. How can she improve rankings now? Ask An SEO's Adam Riemer responds.

TikTok Is The Most Popular Search Engine For Gen Z

Is TikTok a threat to Google?

40% of Gen Z say they use apps like TikTok and Instagram for search. So, could TikTok be the next big search engine from books to recipes?

These and similar questions have been put on the table by Seer Interactive. So it's worth reading and understanding why Tik Tok is growing so fast.

However, I must also point out that, For example, trying to persuade your B2B customer to consider TikTok just because it's used a lot by Gen Z can be an unnecessary effort.

Is TikTok a threat to Google? 40% of Gen Z say they use apps like TikTok & Instagram for search. From books to recipes, TikTok is the next big search engine.

What is Data Visualization and How to Use it for SEO?

Learn why data visualization is important and how you can use it for SEO.

Planning and executing an excellent SEO strategy is critical to any digital marketing campaign.

However, this effort needs data to tell the story in a way that impacts our customers. This is where data visualization comes into play.

Data visualization takes your data (numbers) and places it in a visual context, such as a chart, graph, or map. It also helps create data stories that clearly communicate insights.

Without visualizing data to extract insights, trends, and patterns, the chances of getting support from other departments are reduced. The best data visualizations make complex data sets meaningful to deliver a concise and clear message.

For more information on data visualization, why it's important, and how to use it for your SEO campaign, I recommend reading the post below.

Learn about data visualization, why it's important, and how to use it for SEO.

Shopify SEO: A Simple Guide for Beginners

While Shopify includes some basic SEO best practices, they may not be enough to get your store to the top of Google.

While Shopify fulfills some basic SEO requirements as a content management system, some of your critical choices can negatively impact the SEO performance of your Shopify-based site.

Let me give an example from my own experience; Categories on a regular e-commerce site are called "collections" in Shopify jargon.

Empty collection pages were created on the website of one of our customers, considering the future products, and the number of these has exceeded thousands.

When we started working, we noticed that these pages were causing a Soft 404 error in Google Search Console because they didn't contain any products. In addition, they were so numerous that they most likely negatively impacted Google's perception of the site's quality.

No matter how SEO-friendly Shopify is, it cannot tolerate the poor SEO performance of these and similar wrong choices. However, by being aware of this, you can abandon this erroneous practice.

You need to optimize your Shopify site for all aspects of SEO. In this guide from Ahrefs, you'll learn how to do this to drive more traffic and sales to your store.

Learn how to drive more traffic and sales to your Shopify store from Google and other search engines.

Tips for Improving the SEO and CFO Relationship

Improving the relationship between the SEO team and the CFO can increase business growth. Here are some strategies to get better alignment.

CFO, often pronounced in business life, is known as "Chief Financial Officer."

In short, we can say “Finance Group President” or “Financial Affairs Manager.” CFOs, who represent the financial process in a company at the highest level and are the chief executives in charge of this field, are the most authorized persons responsible for financial affairs within the company they work for.

CFOs, who are also interested in issues such as crisis management and risk management due to their position, periodically report to their senior managers about the company's financial affairs.

CFOs, who play an essential role in the decision mechanisms of companies, manage the entire financial balance of the organization they are affiliated with and take the necessary decisions. CFOs, who are usually graduates of economics, business, finance, and similar departments, are well-educated and have a good command of the whole process in financial matters.

Informing CFOs and SEO experts about each other's roles and processes can enable these identical teams to better understand each other and create substantial synergies.

Here's a very nice summary of how we can do this in this article.

Improving the relationship between the SEO team and CFO can enhance business growth. Here are some strategies to achieve better alignment.

Book Recommendation: “Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Writing” — Maddy Osman

I highly recommend you read this book, which I think has gained even more importance after Google's "Useful Content" update.

I recommend this book to all digital content producers, written by Maddy Osman , the founder of Blogsmith content production agency. I think the suggestions in this book will gain more importance after Google's "Useful Content" update starting next week.

Through the book, you will learn about:

  • Choosing words deliberately.

  • Creating engaging titles and descriptive subheadings.

  • Improve formatting and readability for lists, links, images, and numbers.

  • Telling stories in content.

  • Creating your unique brand writing style guide.

  • Understanding search intent is an essential part of your content strategy.

  • Establishing a writing process for content creation that includes researching, outlining, drafting, and editing.

Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style [Osman, Maddy] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. Writing for Humans and Robots: The New Rules of Content Style

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

Best,

Mert Erkal