In this episode, Marie shares her thoughts on semantic search. Semantic search is search that’s based on understanding the meaning of words and the connections between them. In 2013, the Hummingbird algorithm made it possible for Google to expand their semantic search capabilities. With each new advancement in AI and NLP, they get a little closer. Semantic search could possibly explain how Google can algorithmically tackle the questions they give us in their article on what site owners should know about core updates. This episode discusses how SEOs can use a knowledge of semantic search to improve the quality of their websites in Google’s eyes. Links mentioned in this episode: Sponsor: https://contentfly.com/searchnews Newsletter episode 232 https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-232-light-version/ MHC’s algo update list: https://mariehaynes.com/algo Danny Sullivan on Search Engine Land writing about Hummingbird: https://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 WSJ article with Amit Singhal describing Hummingbird calling it “semantic search”: https://web.archive.org/web/20150503223300/http://www.wsj.com/article_email/SB10001424052702304459804577281842851136290-lMyQjAxMTAyMDEwNDExNDQyWj.html What site owners should know about Google core updates: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates Stanford seminar by Xin Luna Dong on the knowledge vault and knowledge based trust: https://www.youtube.com/clip/Ugkxy93C30py9Kvj8Xd8pYYndOQghr6BKTis MHC’s QRG book: https://mariehaynes.com/book How AI powers Google’s search results: https://blog.google/products/search/how-ai-powers-great-search-results/ https://www.mariehaynes.com/google-ai-and-seo/ The Quality Update: https://searchengineland.com/the-quality-update-google-confirms-changing-how-quality-is-assessed-resulting-in-rankings-shake-up-221118 Amit Singhal Panda questions: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2011/05/more-guidance-on-building-high-quality Is MUM Google’s next step in becoming a semantic search engine? By Olaf Kopp: https://searchengineland.com/google-mum-update-seo-future-383551 Koray Tuğberk GÜBÜR on topical authority: https://www.oncrawl.com/technical-seo/importance-topical-authority-semantic-seo/ Some of Marie’s teachings on E-A-T: https://www.mariehaynes.com/resources/eat/ 3 part YT series on E-A-T: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vDUhcogUl44 Contact Marie and the MHC team: https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact Subscribe to the newsletter https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter Submit a question for the next Q&A https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Twitter @Marie_Haynes https://twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this special episode of Search News You Can Use, we welcome Glenn Gabe to the show! Glenn has been assessing traffic drops in websites for many years. He and Marie discuss the types of issues that can cause a site to see traffic drops in conjunction with a Google core update. Glenn breaks these down into three areas: Relevancy adjustments Intent shifts Overall site quality problems Glenn and Marie share examples of the types of problems they have encountered when analyzing traffic drops and what lead to sites recovering after making changes. Glenn’s post on traffic drops: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/google-broad-core-updates-difference-between-relevancy-adjustments-intent-shifts-overall-site-quality/ Contact Glenn: https://twitter.com/glenngabe Newsletter episode 230 https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-230-light-version/ Past episodes https://mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Subscribe to the newsletter https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter Submit a question for the next Q&A https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Twitter @Marie_Haynes https://twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this episode Marie shares information on how Google’s Hummingbird algorithm dramatically changed search to rely less on PageRank as their algorithms learned how to make use of entities. Understanding Google’s use of entities in their algorithms can help us improve E-A-T. More importantly, understanding how Google uses AI to extract entities from content can help us write and optimize content. Marie also discusses the third release of the product reviews update, sharing which types of sites saw changes and how Google could be algorithmically evaluating product review sites. Links mentioned in this episode: Product reviews update https://blog.google/products/search/more-helpful-product-reviews/ Interview with Jason Barnard re entity use and John Lennon’s confidence score in the knowledge graph   https://fajela.com/seobox/orm/ https://appft1.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-adv.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&d=PG01&p=1&S1=20050055341&OS=20050055341&RS=20050055341 FAQ:All About the New Hummingbird Algorithm:  https://searchengineland.com/google-hummingbird-172816 Google’s Hummingbird Takes Flight: SEOs Give Insight On Google’s New Algorithm: https://searchengineland.com/hummingbird-has-the-industry-flapping-its-wings-in-excitement-reactions-from-seo-experts-on-googles-new-algorithm-173030 This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 228:
 https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-228-light-version/ Past episodes https://Mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://Mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://Mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://Mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Submit a question for the next Q&A https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Subscribe to the newsletter https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter

In this episode we talk about the latest news on Google’s MUM technology. The “Things to Know” SERP feature has been seen live. It is not yet MUM powered, but soon will be. Marie also does a website review for a small business website offering pressure washing. She shares how small business owners who want to work on SEO can do keyword research, use automated site audit tools, and work on things like building links and mentions and improving E-A-T to improve their Google presence. Links mentioned in this episode The Local Search Forum: https://localsearchforum.com/ Past episodes https://Mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://Mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://Mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://Mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Submit a question for the next Q&A https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - https://Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this episode, Marie discusses the idea of “toxic links” and whether they have the ability to hurt your site’s organic traffic. Discussed in this episode: What are toxic links? Semrush’s toxic links report: “Your risk of penalty is increasing” Google’s documentation on link schemes Unnatural links created by using automated tools to do spam comments, create forum profiles, etc. Link auditing in the early days of the Penguin algorithm Why I created a disavow blacklist Why we closed down MHC’s disavow blacklist tool Who needs to disavow in 2022? Also discussed as SEO news this week: Algorithmic turbulence Feb 24, but not likely a Google update “Things to Know” powered by MUM, seen live in the search results Links referenced in this episode: https://www.mariehaynes.com/disavow-blacklist-tool/ https://searchengineland.com/googles-project-owl-attack-fake-news-273700 https://developers.google.com/search/docs/advanced/guidelines/link-schemes https://www.mariehaynes.com/disavow-advice-2021/ Past episodes https://Mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://Mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://Mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://Mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Submit a question for the next Q&A https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter

In this special episode of Search News You Can Use, Dr. Marie Haynes speaks with Dawn Anderson about Google’s use of AI in search including BERT, RankBrain, Neural Matching and MUM. A lot has changed in Google’s algorithms. PageRank is still important when it comes to ranking, but as Google advances in language understanding, there is much more to performing well in search than getting good links. Links mentioned in this episode: Dawn’s slideshares on Passage Based Indexing and Zipf's law https://de2.slideshare.net/DawnFitton/passage-indexing-is-likely-more-important-than-you-think https://de2.slideshare.net/DawnFitton/zipfs-law-zipfian-distribution-in-seo-pubcon-virtual-fall-2020-dawn-anderson Reach Dawn at Bertey.com or on Twitter https://bertey.com/ https://twitter.com/dawnieando This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 222:
 https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-222-light-version/ Past episodes https://Mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://Mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://Mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://Mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Submit a question for the next Q&A: https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this special episode of Search News You Can Use, Marie interviews Lily Ray of Amsive Digital over Zoom. Topics discussed include: - Lily’s articles on the winning and losing sites in Google’s 2021 updates - Some sites affected by Product Reviews update don’t review products - Manual actions for Discover and News sites and what they can tell us about the direction search is heading - Title tag rewrites - Cyrus Shephard’s study Links mentioned in this episode: Lily’s article on SEO winners of 2021: https://www.sistrix.com/blog/indexwatch-2021-the-seo-winners-in-googles-us-search-results/ Lily’s article on SEO losers of 2021: https://www.sistrix.com/blog/indexwatch-2021-the-seo-winners-in-googles-us-search-results/ Cyrus Shephard’s study on Google rewriting title tags: https://zyppy.com/blog/google-title-rewrite-study/ Information on having the MHC team review your site in the eyes of Google’s blog post on core updates https://Mariehaynes.com/services/site-quality-assessments This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 220:
 https://mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-220-light-version/ Past episodes https://Mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast Contact MHC https://Mariehaynes.com/contact Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://Mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book Quality Raters Book https://Mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines Submit a question for the next Q&A: https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes @Lilyraynyc - https://Twitter.com/lilyraynyc

What is YMYL, and does it matter to SEOS? In this episode, Dr. Marie Haynes discusses how Google’s Quality Rater Guidelines and other documentation describe the term YMYL. She shares example websites discussed in the QRG and why they should or should not be considered YMYL. While the QRG do not replicate Google’s algorithms, they show us what Google is trying to accomplish. We believe there is a lot to be learned that can be used to our advantage in understanding how Google’s algorithms treat sites differently depending on whether or not their content contains YMYL information. And even if you are a non-YMYL site like a recipe site, there is much to discover here about how Google could be valuing EAT in your niche. Also in this episode: - SERP turbulence Jan 11-12 and 14-16, 2022 - Could it be related to knowledge graph changes? - The page experience update is coming to desktop in February - Several sites are seeing large spikes in Google crawling This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 218:
 https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-218-light-version/ Google’s blog post on core updates https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html Search Quality Evaluator Guidelines (Quality Rater Guidelines) https://static.googleusercontent.com/media/guidelines.raterhub.com/en//searchqualityevaluatorguidelines.pdf Our book on how we analyze sites in the eyes of the QRG - Still valuable even though it’s the 2020 version https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/ Google’s blog post on core updates https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html Past podcast episodes https://www.mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast/ Information on having the MHC team review your site in the eyes of Google’s blog post on core updates https://www.mariehaynes.com/services/site-quality-assessments/ Contact MHC https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact/ Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book/ Submit a question for the next Q&A: https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc/ 
 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter 
 Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - https://Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this episode Marie discusses what SEO’s should focus on in the new year including - better serving user intent, EAT, getting content indexed, core web vitals, technical SEO changes that can move the needle, web 3.0, link building, MUM and other Google advancements. This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 216:
 https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-216-light-version/ Links mentioned in this episode: MHC’s blog post on EAT https://www.mariehaynes.com/eat  Perficient Digitals report on link building: https://www.perficient.com/insights/research-hub/links-as-a-ranking-factor Mike Ginley’s post on internal linking https://www.mikeginley.com/blog/internal-linking-best-practices-for-seo/ Google’s blog post on core updates https://webmasters.googleblog.com/2019/08/core-updates.html Andrei Prakharevich on MUM https://www.link-assistant.com/news/google-mum-update.html  Brave Search’s post on Web 3.0 https://brave.com/learn/what-is-web3/  Past podcast episodes https://www.mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast/ MHC’s book and checklist on analyzing your site in the eyes of the QRG https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/ Information on having the MHC team review your site in the eyes of Google’s blog post on core updates https://www.mariehaynes.com/services/site-quality-assessments/ Contact MHC https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact/ Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book/ Submit a question for the next Q&A: https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc/ 
 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter 
 Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - https://Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes

In this episode Marie recaps a year of algorithm updates giving her thoughts on how Google's algorithms have changed. She discusses how Google may be using machine learning, MUM and other methods to improve their results. Also discussed are Google's most recent algorithm updates - the local "vicinity" update and the newest product reviews update. This episode corresponds with newsletter episode 215:
 https://www.mariehaynes.com/newsletter/episode-215-light-version/ Links mentioned in this episode: Glenn Gabe's product reviews article: https://www.gsqi.com/marketing-blog/google-2021-december-product-reviews-update/ Google’s blog post on the Product Reviews Update: https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2021/12/product-reviews-update-and-your-site Google’s blog post on what webmasters need to know about core updates https://developers.google.com/search/blog/2019/08/core-updates Smashing Magazine’s Article on improving core web vitals: https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2021/12/core-web-vitals-case-study-smashing-magazine/ Marie’s article on Needs Met and Understanding User Intent https://www.mariehaynes.com/understanding-user-intent/ MHC’s book and checklist on analyzing your site in the eyes of the QRG https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/quality-raters-guidelines/ Information on having the MHC team review your site in the eyes of Google’s blog post on core updates https://www.mariehaynes.com/services/site-quality-assessments/ Past episodes https://www.mariehaynes.com/seo-newsletter/seo-podcast/ Contact MHC https://www.mariehaynes.com/contact/ Book on Unnatural Links and Manual Action Removal https://www.mariehaynes.com/product/unnatural-links-book/ Submit a question for the next Q&A: https://Mariehaynes.com/qa-with-mhc/ 
 Subscribe to the newsletter: https://Mariehaynes.com/newsletter 
 Twitter: @Marie_Haynes - https://Twitter.com/Marie_Haynes