Cyrus Shepard – Inside info on working for Raterhub
Oct 24, 2023
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Cyrus Shepard, Google Quality Rater with Raterhub, shares insights on website quality including common issues, the role of quality raters, and the impact of algorithm updates. They discuss benchmark websites, adjusting display ad settings, and reviewing Boyd's Hampers website. They also touch on fake reviews, optimizing for featured snippets, and the power of unique internal links in SEO.
The importance of creating a high-quality website with valuable content and a positive user experience.
Insights into the role and responsibilities of a Google Quality Rater, including the evaluation of site quality, user experience, and relevance to queries.
The impact of recent Google updates on websites, emphasizing the need for originality, expertise, and avoiding excessive ads.
Deep dives
Importance of quality website and user experience
The podcast episode discusses the significance of having a high-quality website and ensuring a positive user experience. It emphasizes the importance of putting in extra effort to make a website stand out and provide valuable content for users. Examples of factors that contribute to a bad website user experience include the use of stock photos, lack of originality, and excessive ads that block content. The episode highlights the need to go above and beyond cookie-cutter content and differentiate oneself from other websites to gain user trust and satisfaction.
Role of Google Quality Raters
The podcast episode features an interview with a Google Quality Rater who sheds light on their job description and activities. The Quality Rater explains that their main task is to evaluate search results, websites, and experimental features on behalf of Google. They assess various factors such as site quality, user experience, and relevance to specific queries. The discussion emphasizes the importance of user-focused evaluation and judgment as quality raters consider how a website fulfills the needs of users and provides valuable content. The episode also clarifies that Quality Raters work for third-party companies contracted by Google and not directly for the search engine giant itself.
Insights on SEO and Google Updates
The podcast episode touches upon the impact of the recent Google updates on websites and SEO practices. It highlights how sites lacking originality, effort, and speed in providing answers to users' queries were negatively affected by the updates. Excessive ads, including auto-loading videos and content-blocking elements, were identified as red flags as well. The discussion emphasizes the importance of updating and refreshing content, demonstrating expertise and authority in the field, and avoiding cookie-cutter approaches. Additionally, the episode briefly explores the emergence of search engine-generated answers (SGE) and the possibility of optimizing for them in the future.
The importance of varying anchor text in internal links
Varying anchor text in internal links is important for SEO. When multiple internal links with the same anchor text are used, Google essentially treats them as a single link, resulting in a weakened ranking signal. By diversifying the anchor text, using variations and related terms, each internal link can carry its own unique value. This strategy helps to optimize the internal link structure and improve the overall SEO performance of a website.
The significance of images and headlines for Google Discover
When it comes to optimizing for Google Discover, two key factors stand out: images and headlines. Google Discover favors high-quality, attention-grabbing images that are descriptive and visually appealing. Having such images in the content helps increase the chances of being featured on Google Discover. Additionally, attention-grabbing and engaging headlines, which may include elements of clickbait, tend to perform well in Google Discover. A combination of compelling images and catchy headlines can significantly enhance the visibility and traffic potential of a website on the Google Discover platform.
Episode #11 of Forte Growth with Cyrus Shepard who is a Google Quality Rater with Raterhub.
James de Lacey quite candidly put it, Cyrus is "the guy that comes to your site and basically tells you if your site is shit or not".
This is an episode with an hour of golden nuggets. There are so many questions answered.
Find out more from Cyrus:
www.x.com/CyrusShepard | www.zyppy.com
