The SEO WEEKLY

Episode 28 - Author Rank, an Apple Search Engine & 100 SEO Mistakes

Where queries are weird, advice is controversial, and everything depends.

A rough and tumble Twitter debate on the actual usage and existence of Author Rank. Fallout from the May 2022 Core Update. A 100 different silly SEO mistakes that you should avoid.

In this week’s episode, we also cover the rumor of a search engine competitor from Apple, the ins and outs of canonicals, and seoClarity’s acquisition of Hamlet Batista’s Rank Sense.

Also:

Host: Garrett Sussman | Demand Generation Manager 

Don’t forget to please SUBSCRIBE to the channel if you enjoy the episode.

THE SEO WEEKLY

Show notes / References:

Google/SERP Updates:

Google Search Central updated author markup best practices

Author markup can help with search enhancements. Google released some new best practice examples on the search central blog including:

  • Include all authors in the markup
  • Specify multiple authors when applicable
  • Use the additional fields that is available to you
  • Only specify the author’s name in the author.name property
  • Use the appropriate author type

The May 2022 Core Update: The Initial Impact – Mordy Oberstein via Semrush

Mordy Oberstein of Wix started to dig into the volatility of the rankings as a result of last week’s May 2022 Core Update. He worked with Semrush to compare how the SERPs were impacted compared to November’s update and found that initially, May was not as volatile.

Rumor: Apple To Announce New Search Engine Next Week

There are rumblings according to Robert Scoble that Apple’s long-gestating search engine will finally be announced this week. Apple already has developed Siri, Spotlight, and Apple Maps which serve to provide searchable information to users, but becoming a full-blown Google competitor may be a risky move for the tech giant. According to 9to5Mac, Google pays Apple up to $15 billion in 2021, and to between $18 billion and $20 billion in 2022 to not build a search engine.

Twitter Threads/Tweets:

How is the HTTP header different from the HTML <header> and the HTML <head>? – Jolle Lahr-Eigen via Semrush

In another great Semrush Twitter thread, Jolle Lahr-Eigen gets technical breaking down how you can use Chrome dev tools to analyze the metadata and resources in your HTTP header. She covers some tips about using the header for caching, SEO-related tags like ETag (entities), and sneaky notes you can leave there for the SEO dev geeks.

18 Content Writing Principles – Erica Schneider

Erica Schneider offers 18 tips for writing more effectively. While these aren’t exclusively SEO-focused, they all have merit and apply to quality content (which impacts SEO). She did have one SEO-specific tip:

If writing for SEO, answer intent right away. The BLUF framework works well here (Bottom Line Up Front).

H2: What is X?

First line: Answer.

Don’t mess about.

Looking for a quick fix during the #googleupdate limbo? – Gianna Brachetti-Truskawa

Gianna curated a few great Twitter threads, articles, and resources to mitigate a Core Update. They included content from Dr. Marie Haynes, Aleyda Solis, and Johannes Beus of Sistrix. There is some German to translate, but super helpful nonetheless.

General SEO:

Google Author Rank: How Google Knows which Content Belongs to Which Author?Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR 

Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR wrote an epic thesis all about how Google identifies expertise in authors. He looks at patents, quotes from Googlers, and the SERPs. He believes that Google does in fact rank authors, but it’s a controversial topic due to Google outright claiming that they do not use Author Rank as a direct ranking signal.

Top 100 SEO Mistakes I Identified In My Last 100 SEO AuditsOlga Zarzeczna

Olga Zarzeczna has worked with a ton of clients. She shared 100 really silly (and less obvious) mistakes that she’s seen in real-life situations. Everything from blocked pages to a lack of structured data, to AI-generated author images. Please. Don’t commit any of these mistakes.

Moz’s Professional’s Guide to SEO

Moz has had one of the most definitive beginner guides to SEO for the past 10 years. They just released their next-level blueprint for more intermediate and advanced SEO. It covers everything from strategy to technical SEO, to working in SEO. 

Why E-A-T Inspires Local Content Creation – Melissa Popp

Melissa explains the value of E-A-T at a local level. She provides strategies for identifying content that could benefit from including more expertise. She also offers some ways to come up with local content that would appeal to your target audience including:

  • Client’s most challenging issues 
  • Customer’s most common questions 
  • Review People Also Ask 
  • Review Google Trends 
  • Review Reddit 

Technical SEO Articles:

An introduction to Google Search Console – Sunny Matharu via SEO Testing

Sunny delivers everything you need to know about the most important Google Search tool, Google Search Console. He covers everything from the Setup to using the tool to diagnose issues and errors using advanced search.

Canonicalization: What It Is & How It Works – Patrick Stox via Ahrefs

Patrick Stox explains all there is to know about canonicals. What are they? What determines a canonical? He shows how to check what Google considers the canonical along with common mistakes made by SEOs when optimizing canonicals.

Tools/Features: 

seoClarity Acquires RankSense, World’s Leading Edge SEO Automation Solution

“Hamlet’s contributions to the advancement of SEO amplified the greatest need in our industry: a faster way to test and execute complex SEO projects. We are honored to continue Hamlet’s pioneering work and carry on his legacy in this way.”

Mitul Gandhi co-founder and Chief Architect of seoClarity

Topic Research Tools – The New Keyword Research – InLinks – Dixon Jones

The new Content Optimization Editor allows users to combine context, competition, and verbs to group relevant keywords into relevant topic clusters guiding your content plan. 

Rankable: 

[Webinar Replay] The Content Rebalancing Framework 

Check out the replay of iPullRank’s Content Rebalancing Framework webinar held last Tuesday. You can still sign up for the slide deck and spreadsheet on the registration page.

Join Garrett Sussman each week as he pulls out all of the biggest and smallest stories from the past week that touch the world of SEO.

Get the scoop on what’s happening to Google, game-changing strategies for SEOs, and the people that you should have on your SEO radar.

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