The SEOs Diners Club - Issue #45 - Weekly SEO Tips & News

January 01, 2023

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.

ChatGPT Application For Search Engines

Do you want ChatGPT to answer the same query while doing your Google search?

The wind that ChatGPT started to blow at the beginning of December does not stop. So here is another exciting and valuable option to use ChatGPT in SEO work.

With the ChatGPT for Search Engines Google Chrome plugin, you can view the ChatGPT response along with Google, Bing, and DuckDuckGo Search results. This extension makes it possible wherever you browse.

For example, below, you can see Google and ChatGPT responses to the search query "What are the benefits of potatoes." If you're logged into ChatGPT while doing a Google search, your question also makes ChatGPT respond. Although not regularly, I may prefer to use it for some search queries.

You can install this Google Chrome extension by clicking the link below:

Display ChatGPT response alongside Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo Search results

Google's Helpful Content and Backlink SPAM Updates Postponed Due to Holiday

Helpful content and link spam updates have not yet been completed due to the interference of the Christmas and New Year holidays.

Google has officially confirmed that completing the helpful content update takes more time. Likewise, the Backlink SPAM update has been going on for more than two weeks. However, Google's John Mueller said these updates might take longer to complete due to "holidays" and "security reasons."

When asked about the situation at Mastodon, John Mueller wrote: "Sometimes things take longer, for better or for worse. For example, we try to reduce the number of changes to our systems during the holidays for security reasons, which sometimes means things that started earlier take a little longer to complete."

Google officially confirmed that the helpful content update needs more time to roll out, but now the link spam update is also past the two-week mark, and it is not done rolling out yet either. John Mueller of Google said these updates may take longer to complete due to the

New Google Search Algorithm Experiencing Ranking Fluctuations

A new Google algorithm update is causing severe fluctuations in rankings.

According to the news of Seroundtable.com, there have been significant fluctuations in ranking tools since December 26. These are likely leading indicators of a new Google algorithm update.

You can see the ranking fluctuations captured by different ranking tracking tools by clicking the link below. Unfortunately, it seems that it will be necessary to wait until the following week for an official statement on this matter. 

While it has been calm for the past several days, today is a new day and I am seeing some signs of more volatility and ranking fluctuations as of the past 24 hours or less. Some of the automated tracking tools are picking it up, and I am seeing some renewed chatter in the SEO industry.

Google: “Here” Is Bad Anchor Text

It is helpful to consider Google's warnings when giving your anchor texts.

Google's Lizzi Sassman said in the Google SEO Hours program that the "here" anchor text is "bad anchor text." Instead, it would be best to use more descriptive text for the page you're linking to.

Considering the semantic SEO requirements, you should arrange the link between the page you link to and the page that goes to when the link is clicked in a way that will help both search engines and users. In this context, "here," "click," etc., are commonly used in the link text. But, unfortunately, these expressions are very inadequate.

Lizzi Sassman from Google said in this morning's Google SEO office hours that using the anchor text

Google: Don't Nofollow Links to Your Own Social Media Profiles

You should follow Google's recommendations when linking to your Social Media profiles.

When it comes to linking from your site to your social media profiles, Google's John Mueller said on Reddit that you shouldn't follow those links. He added that you should add the rel=me attribute to these links because it is an open standard that helps others verify that this profile is yours.

John wrote: "Links to your profile? not, "don't nofollow these links."

Of course, links on social media sites, in general, are nofollowed, including links on your bio on social media platforms. But John talks about the opposite: linking from your site to your social media profiles.

John says, "Add a rel=me (this is mostly true for Mastodon and open standards-based social media, but it's still good practice), don't add rel=nofollow. Promote your social profile!" says.

Google's John Mueller said on Reddit that when it comes to linking from your site to your social medial profiles you should not nofollow those links. He added that you should add the rel=me attribute to them because it is an open standard to help others validate that this profile is yours.

Backlinks You Get From YouTube Don't Help Your Google Rankings and SEO

Getting backlinks from YouTube does not affect your SEO efforts.

An SEO asked if links in YouTube videos would help your Google SEO. Then someone said it would help your content index faster. Both are false and mythical because YouTube links have nofollow attributes, so Google ignores them.

John Mueller even said that links on YouTube video pages don't help your content get indexed faster.

An SEO asked if links on YouTube videos will help with your Google SEO. Then someone said that it would help get your content indexed faster. Both are false and myths because YouTube links have nofollow attributes on them, so Google does not count them.

Google:Unique Text, Infographics, and Video Content Doesn't Make Good, Accurate, or Helpful

With the Helpful Content update, everyone started to define helpful content. So, does Google know about this?

John Mueller said that “writing unique text, adding infographics and a video” by default does not make content “good, accurate and useful.” “Doing anything good, especially for the healthcare field, takes much more than these three things,” John said.

The person who asked the question wrote, “My site with specialty content in the medical field has suffered a serious decline. Our content is unique. All articles have infographics. A special video was produced. Unfortunately, your algorithm is working incorrectly on the Persian web.”

To which John replied: “Frankly, none of these attributes mean that the content is good, accurate, or useful. Doing something well, especially for medicine, requires much more than writing unique text and adding infographics and a video.”

Google's John Mueller said that

Book Of The Week: Digital Body Language: How to Build Trust and Connection, No Matter the Distance - Erica Dwahan

What should we do to express ourselves correctly in the online working order?

In real life, we smile, nod, and make eye contact to show that we listen and care about the other person. Although until recently, we thought that body language was indispensable for communicating and building trust, we now believe that traditional body language has lost its importance in the new normal, where we share primarily through a screen. The world is changing; digitalization is rapidly surrounding us. Reading carefully online has replaced listening. While writing is a new form of empathy, a phone or video call is worth a thousand emails.

What should we do to express ourselves correctly in this new order? What mistakes do we make when we think we communicate clearly and reliably?

Communication expert Erica Dhawan deciphers new signs and clues that replace traditional body language across genders, generations, and cultures in Digital Body Language, arguing that body language is as vital as ever in the digital world. It synthesizes the latest research on the subject with exciting stories and presents it to the reader. From conferences to video meetings, from daily emails to instant messages and online conversations, it examines many possible environments, channels, and methods and examines the points we need to pay attention to in digital communication; In this ever-changing world, he shares his insights and proposes solutions to give confidence and clarity to the people we communicate with.

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