The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #27 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

August 28, 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's Helpful Content Algorithm Update Launched

Google announced that the helpful content update began rolling out on August 25 and will take up to two weeks to complete.

Google announced that it has started rolling out the "Helpful Content" update this week, which it announced last week. I wanted to share with you the evaluations that I find most logical about this update, about which there is a lot of speculation.

The most important of these, in my opinion, was the following article published in the Search Engine Journal:

Google confirms the helpful content update begins rolling out on August 25 and will take up to two weeks to complete.

1. Do not stray too far from the main topic: 

Our editorial friends should not be offended, but they often like to make unrelated beginnings to the topic they wrote about, such as "the world was a cloud of dust." With this update, we need to make it a habit not to deviate too much from the subject anymore.

2. Show Your Experiences and Experiences:

Make it a principle not to write about any subject you have not personally or institutionally experienced.

3. Don't Treat More Than One Topic on One Site: 

Try to own a niche topic. Your Site should not have content about a lot of unrelated topics.

4. Provide Adequate Answers to Searchers' Questions:

With this advice, Google says that content is valuable when it teaches people something or helps them accomplish a task. Unfortunately, creating content for search engines can often require writing a lot without saying anything of value.

When writing content for people, you should help them answer a question or resolve a concern that caused them to find your website in the first place. Answering the relevant questions in your content's "People Also Ask" section will enable you to create helpful content for users.

5. Don't Neglect the Overall Reader Experience: 

Google encourages site owners to think about users' experience reading a piece of content on their Site. However, it may be possible to meet all of the above criteria and still not be able to provide a satisfactory experience. For example, consider reading a product review with first-hand expertise that doesn't include photos or videos.

While searchers may appreciate the textual content, a visual representation of the product will complete the experience. Meet the wants and needs of the callers, don't leave them looking for more.

6. Don't Answer a Question Without a Confirmed Answer: 

In your opinion, there may be an answer to a question, but it must have objective and factual grounds. If you're writing about a rumor or something speculative, explain it to the reader. Apart from keeping up with the helpful content update, this is also good advice for building and maintaining trust with your readers.

7. Follow Google's Guidelines for Other Major Updates: 

Google reminds us that guidance on core and product review updates also applies to helpful content updates. If you're already following Google's recommendations for core updates and product review pages, you will likely be in an excellent position to take advantage of the helpful content update.

Google Search Console Update: More Data in Core Web Vitals Reports

An update to Google Search Console has started to allow the Important Web Data report to show URL-level data.

Before this update, Search Console's Core Web Vitals report provided aggregated scores based on URL groups. Google will continue to evaluate Important Web Data for URL groups, but now you can dig one level deeper.

Clicking on a URL group in the Search Console report will open a new panel on the right with URL-level data. You can find an example in the screenshot below:

You can find more information in the following Search Engine Journal article:

An update to Google Search Console will allow the Core Web Vitals report to surface URL-level data.

Google Updated Article Structured Data Guidelines

Three changes to the article structured data documents flexed on "Top Stories" eligibility.

Google has updated its Article structured data guidelines to reflect its abandonment of the AMP requirement. In addition, changing the image guidelines for Top Storie's eligibility.

Three changes to the guidelines make it clear that the eligibility of the top stories section to appear at the top of search results is making it accessible to more publishers.

Three changes to Article structured data documentation relaxes Top Stories eligibility.

How Google Uses NLP to Better Understand Search Queries and Content

Learn the role natural language processing plays in making Google search more semantic and contextual.

Natural language processing is Google's gateway to Semantic SEO. SEOs need to understand the transition to entity-based search because it is the future of Google search.

In this article, SEO expert Olaf Kopp deeply delves into how Google uses natural language processing to interpret search queries and content, asset mining, and more.

Learn the role that natural language processing plays in making Google search even more semantic and context-based.

Google Updates Education Q&A Structured Data Documentation

Find a summary of Google's changes to the Education Q&A structured data documents.

Google has updated the Education structured data documents with new content guidelines and a manual action warning for sites that don't comply with the new requirements.

Google's new Education Q&A content guidelines state that inappropriate pages can result in penalties, including preventing a site from appearing in Google search results.

1. Publishers of Education Q&A pages are advised to refer to Google's Content Guidelines for Q&A pages.

2. The page should contain educational content in the form of questions and answers, and the answer should answer the question.

3. Answers must be correct. The guidelines state that if some (unspecified) amount of content is found to be inaccurate, Google will render all content unviewable in the Education Q&A loop.

You can find the details in the article below:

A summary of Google's changes to their Education Q&A structured data documentation.

How to Control Your Content Production Process: A Step-by-Step Guide

Learn to analyze your content production process to create a good content marketing strategy.

Regardless of the type of content your company creates (articles, videos, landing pages, or all at once), you should always control the process. Content audits must ensure you're keeping the right direction and using your resources effectively.

This post on the Serpstat blog will give you essential tips on how to do this.

Here we share some tips for creating a good content marketing strategy and carrying out a content audit to get the best results ever. Get yourself ready for a cool piece.

What is Conversion Rate and How Is It Calculated?

It's good to know that conversion rate is an important metric that requires definition, understanding, measurement, and specific improvement plans.

Conversion rate is one of the most common metrics used by marketers, salespeople, and business professionals.

It is often discussed and considered an important metric or key performance indicator (KPI) for most businesses. However, it can also be misapplied, misunderstood, or inappropriately constructed for use as a benchmark.

It's important to periodically review conversions, conversion rates, and use of the metric. Even more critical is that any new venture is well defined and understood before positioning a metric as a critical KPI.

This guide profoundly delves into the conversion rate, how it's calculated, why it's important, and ways to improve it.

Learn how conversion rate is an important metric that requires definition, understanding, measurement, and specific plans for improvement.

Comparison of 7 SEO Certification Programs

Do SEO certificates deserve the price they get? Should you get an SEO certification if you want to break into the SEO industry or improve your skills?

Certifications and courses are great for developing your core skills and familiarity with SEO tools. But SEO is evolving so fast that experience and tests often become the best teachers.

Experienced SEO professionals whose SEO strategies produce positive results do not need certifications for their current work. But you can still find something to help with the right training. For example, I benefited a lot from Blue Array Academy's Technical SEO course I attended earlier this year. Let me remind you once again that this course is free:

Search Engine Journal examines which certifications might be the most valuable for your time or money, using seven programs:

Are SEO certifications worth it? If you're looking to enter the SEO industry or expand your skills, should you get an SEO certification?

Book Of The Week: "Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain" - David Eagleman

I recommend reading this book to understand how our brain works and lead a more creative life.

What do substance deprivation and a broken heart have in common? Why is the enemy of memories not time but other memories? How can an armless person be the best archer in the world? Why do we dream at night, and what does this have to do with the rotation of our planet? How can a blind person learn to see with his tongue and a deaf person to hear with his skin?

The answers to these questions are right behind our eyes. The most advanced technology we've discovered on our planet is hidden in that one-pound organ we keep carrying around in the dark chamber of the skull.

Just as the excitement of life is not about who we are but who we are in the process of becoming, so the magic of the brain lies not so much in the parts that compose it but in the parts' constant re-weaving of themselves to form a dynamic and living tissue. Our brain, like our world, is a changeable and fluid system.

In Live Circuit, David Eagleman, one of the best science narrators of his generation, introduces us to the inside of our brain, which will change forever even by reading these lines, accompanied by the latest scientific research and compelling cases.

Amazon.com: Livewired: The Inside Story of the Ever-Changing Brain (Audible Audio Edition): David Eagleman, David Eagleman, Canongate Books: Audible Books & Originals

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