Search News You Can Use - SEO Podcast with Marie Haynes

This is an impromptu, unscripted episode with Dr. Marie Haynes, recorded because of a recent news headline from Search Engine Roundtable that said, "Google: Author Bylines Don't Help You Rank Better; Google Doesn't Check Credentials. Barry's article was prompted based on comments from Google's Search Liaison Danny Sullivan regarding yet another Verge article that does not look favourably on SEO.

Are author bios a ranking factor?

If you've followed my theories and teachings on Google's ranking systems, you know that I am indeed a proponent of using author bios in many situations. In the episode I share anecdotes of sites that did indeed see improvements after getting qualified authors and then doing more to share about their qualifications.

Are author bios a ranking factor? No.

Will having an author bio increase the chances that searchers will trust your site and find it useful. Sometimes, yes.

We have recently learned from the DOJ antitrust trial against Google that user engagement signals are incredibly important when it comes to shaping the algorithm.

In this episode, we go back to statements from John Mueller's help hangouts several years back to look at why the industry developed rules about author bios that most sites follow. They make so much more sense now that we understand how user engagement signals (called IS - likely information satisfaction) signals in the DOJ trial are used to train RankBrain.

RankBrain is Google's AI that is used to re-rank the top 20-30 results and SERP features you see when you do a search.

Hopefully this episode convinces you that both the following can be true:

1) Author bios aren't a ranking factor

2) Author bios can be a part of the entire package that helps improve user engagement and satisfaction signals, which in turn is what drives rankings.

SER article:

https://www.seroundtable.com/google-author-bylines-ranking-36684.html

Verge article:

https://www.theverge.com/c/23998379/google-search-seo-algorithm-webpage-optimization

Danny Sullivan's comments:

https://x.com/searchliaison/status/1744371735405772927?s=20

In this episode, we dive deep into Google's revolutionary new language model, Gemini, destined to be the most impactful technological shift of our time. Host Dr. Marie Haynes unravels its capabilities, which extend beyond text to encompass images, video, and beyond.

Discover how Gemini's potential to transform information access, problem-solving, and decision-making could reshape our lives. While we wait for its full potential to unfold in 2024, learn how Bard, soon integrated into Google Assistant, offers a taste of the future.

This episode delves into the criticisms of AI, encouraging listeners to actively engage with Bard and explore its possibilities. We also explore the exciting world of GPTs (apps built on chat GPT), which may possibly be seen in a similar form in Google AI Studio.

Oh boy, finally another podcast episode! This is an unscripted chatting episode where I share the story of what happened to my agency. It formed because of an understanding of AI - except I didn't know that at the time. Imagine my surprise when I realized that wait a second - Panda and Penguin - the Google algorithm shifts that made me obsess over SEO and leave my career as a veterinarian - were machine learning systems.

It was understanding AI that created my SEO agency. But, understanding and optimizing for Google search was also our downfall. I expect many of you are going down the same road I did.

It is time for a huge mindset shift when it comes to SEO. We found out in the Department of Justice's Trial against Google that user engagement plays a much bigger role in determining rankings than we thought.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Links mentioned:

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My Helpful Content Workbook

https://mariehaynes.com/product/creating-helpful-content-workbook/

The Search Bar: https://community.mariehaynes.com/

DOJ trial exhibits showing how much user engagement is used in the algo: https://www.justice.gov/atr/us-and-plaintiff-states-v-google-llc-2020-trial-exhibits

Marie's Thoughts (paid newsletter episode) where I explain this more:

https://community.mariehaynes.com/posts/ep-12-how-user-engagement-signals-are-used-in-ranking-new-info-from-the-doj-trial-against-google

Google has confirmed that SGE (Search Generative Experience) is not just an experiment, it is the future of search. Google's CEO Sundar Pichai said the SGE is "the next step in the journey" and also, "over time this will just be how search works."

Here's what we know so far about the SGE, including screenshots of it in action.

This is primarily a video episode, but even just listening, it should be quite helpful.

Links mentioned in this episode:

Marie's Helpful Content Workbook ($150) - This workbook will guide you through understanding user intent and creating content that meets it.

https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/c...

Episode 297 of Search News You Can Use

https://www.mariehaynes.com/newslette...

Google's Earnings Call where they discuss SGE being the future of Search

https://www.mariehaynes.com/googles-v...

Google's helpful content criteria

https://developers.google.com/search/...

Work with Marie

https://www.mariehaynes.com/work-with...

In this long-awaited return episode of Search News, Dr. Marie Haynes explains how Google's helpful content system has radically changed search rankings.

She provides background on her experience studying Google's algorithms for over 16 years, and how the company has shifted to relying more on AI systems like helpful content rather than just links and keywords.

Marie walks through the evolution of major algorithm updates like Panda and Penguin, and what they revealed about Google's capabilities and focus on content quality. She explains how machine learning models can now predict helpful content, with training data from quality raters.

The episode provides real-world examples of sites that were impacted by recent helpful content updates, and what specific changes Google rewarded. Marie also offers advice for those struggling with helpful content suppression and wanting to better align with Google's criteria.

This episode will completely change your understanding of modern search rankings, and what you should prioritize on your site for visibility and traffic in 2023 and beyond. Don't miss Marie's long-awaited insider perspective on Google's helpful content!

More from Marie:

Purchase my workbook to help you assess your content and improve its helpfulness

https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/creating-helpful-content-workbook/ 

Have me assess your site:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/work-with-marie/ 

Book time on my calendar to brainstorm with me about your site:

https://calendly.com/mariehaynes/brainstorming-with-marie?

Links mentioned in this episode:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-295/ (Latest episode of newsletter where we discuss Project Tailwind/NotebookLM)

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content (Google’s Guidance  on creating helpful content)

https://searchengineland.com/whats-now-next-with-google-search-smx-next-keynote-389628 (Barry Schwartz and HJ Kim interview)

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality (Panda questions)

https://www.mariehaynes.com/google-ai-systems/ (My article on how the helpful content system works)

https://moz.com/blog/nine-years-of-google-algorithm (Dr. Pete Myers heatmap showing Penguin algo turbulence)   

https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2023/02/what-is-chatgpt-doing-and-why-does-it-work/ (understanding the math behind systems like the helpful content system)

https://www.mariehaynes.com/what-we-know-about-googles-quality-raters/ How raters rate sites.

We've had so many updates lately! It's almost impossible to know why your traffic is down. And for many sites traffic *is* down tremendously.

In this episode I've discussed the craziness we've seen this year with Google updates. September Core Update. Helpful Content Update. Two spam updates...there are so many things that have happened!

On top of that many sites are losing traffic to Google Explore and because of ChatGPT.

We also discuss whether topic filter bubbles in search and continuous scroll on desktop could be impacting you.

And um, I just can't talk about E-E-A-T without bursting out laughing. Still, this is very important as Google is now valuing not just Expertise, but also Experience.

I hope you enjoy this episode!

Links:

Buy Marie's book on Google Spam Updates:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/spam-update-book/

Buy Marie's book on the QRG:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/

Contact Marie:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact/

I interviewed Charles Floate, an SEO known for ranking websites in ways that go against Google's spam guidelines. We discussed PageRank and the importance of links in Google's algorithms. Charles revealed ways he's been able to manipulate Google's guidelines and succeed, though I don't condone such practices.

Our chat helped me reform my thoughts on links and their power to move the needle for rankings. Links are most definitely important in Google's algorithms and will likely remain the core for quite some time. But as Google develops new ways to identify quality content, most of which comes with AI innovations, I believe PageRank is not as important to SEO as it used to be.

In this video Charles shows me how he is able to get sites to rank. Some of what he is doing is actually improving E-A-T!

I must reiterate that breaking Google's policies can lead to serious consequences While good links can be powerful, building your own links is often either ignored by Google, or can cause manual or algorithmic penalties which can be very difficult to identify and recover from.

My hope with this video is not to encourage blackhat SEO tactics, but rather, to talk about the power of GOOD links and how that power is much more than PageRank.

Thanks for doing this, Charles. I enjoyed our chat!

Charles Floate on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/charles_seo

https://www.youtube.com/user/D4rkHacking?app=desktop

Marie’s info:

https://twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

https://mariehaynes.com/contact/

Contact Marie for a referral to companies that can help you get good links and mentions from authoritative sites in ways that comply with Google’s guidelines.

My book on auditing links (used by many agencies to train their link auditors).

My book on using the Quality Raters’ Guidelines as a checklist for site quality.

Wix SERPs Up Podcast with Mordy Oberstein and Crystal Carter:

https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/podcast

This week we learned from Google's HJ Kim that E-A-T is used for every single query searched on Google! In this episode Dr. Marie Haynes shares advanced information on how to assess E-A-T.

Audience questions answered:

Does E-A-T matter for tech blogs?

Is being mentioned on a big news site good for E-A-T?

Does adding expert reviewers help?

How would an ed-tech platform increase E-A-T?

How do you measure E-A-T?

Should you update old articles that were not written with E-A-T in mind?

Common E-A-T mistakes and misconceptions

Examples of sites doing well after improving E-A-T

How do you do an E-A-T audit?

Marie's QRG Book: https://mariehaynes.com/book

Links

SMX Next: https://marketinglandevents.com/smx/next/agenda/

About the QRG:

https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf

The QRG:

https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf

How search works:

https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/

Efficient storage and query of schemaless data

https://patents.justia.com/patent/20220358160

Google’s Guide to creating helpful content

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content

The video version of this podcast will be up on YT soon!

The October 2022 spam update had a massive impact on many sites. Many of these were "niche sites" - not overtly spammy, but still breaking Google's spam guidelines. With this update, it looks like Google's AI spam fighter - SpamBrain has gotten much better at finding unnatural links - links made for SEO purposes.

This is an important listen, even if you were not impacted by this update.

Buy Marie's Quality Rater's Guidelines Book/Checklist:

https://mariehaynes.com/book

Google's Spam Policies (If you were hit, you likely were doing one or more of these things)

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/essentials/spam-policies

Google's guidelines on creating helpful, reliable, people-first content:

https://developers.google.com/search/docs/fundamentals/creating-helpful-content

What Google has said about guest posting:

https://www.mariehaynes.com/google-guest-posting-recommendations/

Gary Illyes talking to Danny Sullivan about links being labeled as "footer", "penguinized" and so on:

https://searchengineland.com/googles-link-labels-260892

What links can you get that comply with Google's Guidelines?

Marie's Moz Whiteboard Friday. It's old, but still good.

https://moz.com/blog/what-links-comply-googles-guidelines-whiteboard-friday

The September Core update feels different to me! In this episode I share my thoughts after analyzing many pages that won and lost following this Google core update.

The most important thing a site can work on if hit is ensuring that you are the best option to meet the immediate needs of the searcher. If we thoroughly understand the intent of searchers, we can create content that helps them meet that need better than other sites.

In this episode I review two pages that did well following the September core update. They may look like they are lacking E-A-T, but I think Google promoted them because they quickly met searcher needs.

I also share how the Helpful Content Update may have introduced a way for Google to better determine which pages are meeting the needs of searchers.

https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates

https://www.amsivedigital.com/insights/seo/winners-losers-of-the-september-2022-core-update-product-reviews-update/

https://www.semrush.com/blog/september-2022-core-update-impact/

https://www.google.com/search/howsearchworks/how-search-works/ranking-results/

https://www.amsivedigital.com/insights/seo/winners-losers-of-the-september-2022-core-update-product-reviews-update/

https://www.wix.com/seo/learn/resource/content-lessons-google-may-2022-update

https://moz.com/blog/click-based-seo-engagement-signals

Interview with Alan Kent from Google. Machine learning is discussed at 18:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZuEQY11khw

How the quality raters work:

https://services.google.com/fh/files/misc/hsw-sqrg.pdf

Frédéric Dubut of Bing on SEOs shifting to intent research instead of keyword research

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NTriTRmEf34

Register for free to watch Marie’s talk on Google’s quality questions at SMX Next:

https://attend.marketinglandevents.com/smx-next-2022?i=H0RFJApYbpWJKGGJ1ihWY0ciBytHmhUB

Book a strategy session with Marie:

https://mariehaynes.com/contact

https://mariehaynes.com/book - QRG checklist book